To the editor:

I was happy to see the response to President Trump’s 2020 budget proposal. (Don’t cut budget for safety net programs)”.

Microbes are a growing and lethal global threat. This is where “defense spending” needs to significantly increase, as noted by Willie Dickerson’s letter. Yes, Trump’s budget is a nightmare!

Trump wants to cut the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development, a key vehicle for preventing and responding to microbe outbreaks before they reach our shores. Did you know that extremely drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) has now been documented in over 77 countries, including our own? This air-borne disease spreads the same way “regular” TB spreads: through the air near an infected person.

After giving 62 cents of every tax dollar to the military, Trump’s budget proposes leaving just 31 cents to the programs Americans rely on: education, housing, SNAP (“food stamps”), etc.

We need to email or call our Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell and our Representative and ask them to reject Trump’s FY2020 budget proposal.

DONNA MUNRO

Bremerton