The Treasury Department is urging G-20 countries whose economies are growing to donate more foreign and global food security aid to make up for whatever reductions there may be from the traditional G-8 donor countries that are experiencing economic difficulties, a key Treasury official said today.

In a speech to the Women’s Foreign Policy Group that focused on the economic troubles in Europe, Undersecretary of the Treasury for International Affairs Lael Brainard said that the United States is encouraging the traditional donors to maintain foreign aid programs, but “is also looking outside the G-8 to make up some of the financing” of foreign aid programs, including global food security.

Brainard said the United States wants the flow of aid to Africa and the “Arab Spring” countries to continue. In a brief interview after the speech, Brainard praised Australia and Korea for their contributions.

Brainard’s comments came only days after the White House Office of Management and Budget said it would recommend to President Barack Obama that he veto the House version of the fiscal year 2013 Agriculture appropriations bill, partly over international food aid.

In a statement of administration policy issued last Thursday, OMB said, “The administration strongly opposes the $250 million reduction in funding from the FY 2013 budget request for Food for Peace Title II international food aid. The funding level would severely reduce the United States’ ability to respond to food crises abroad and to make investments that both save lives and help prevent future crises. Title II programs help to stabilize conditions for vulnerable groups in the face of drought, conflict, and other shocks.”

(See more details on the administration’s view on this bill in story below.)

Brainard said the Treasury Department is involved in trying to help the European Union with its economic problems and also encouraging China to change some of its economic policies as a way to boost the global economy.

She said she believes the European countries are strongly committed to keeping all 17 countries that use the euro currency in the eurozone and not willing to let Greece leave the zone.

“We don’t see any wavering from that commitment,” she said.

The difficulty, she added, is that making policy in the eurozone requires the approval of 17 country parliaments, while capital markets move much more quickly. In today’s fast moving economy, she added, finance ministry officials have had to try to make policy over a weekend before markets open again.

The U.S. economy “has gained some momentum, but is still fragile,” she said, adding that Europe is very important to the U.S. economy because 15 percent of U.S. exports go to Europe, and European banks are “highly active globally.”

China’s quick rise, Brainard said, “has presented a unique level of opportunities and challenges.” But China’s growth model of depending on exports, low protection of intellectual property and currency policies is not sustainable, she said. China needs to increase domestic consumption, she said, by cutting tariffs and consumption taxes.

Noting that there are more female heads of countries than there are female finance ministers, Brainard told the Women’s Foreign Policy Group, which includes women who are diplomats and corporate executives as well as young women training for those positions, that “The world of financial diplomacy could use a few more good women.”

The National Milk Producers Federation, whose members are dependent on immigrant labor in large dairies that produce the majority of the nation’s milk supply, said immigration reform remains an issue.

“The mixed high court ruling, along with the recent executive order by the Obama administration to stop the deportation of some younger, undocumented individuals, fully illustrates how that, regardless of which path is chosen, the few options for immigration reform remain controversial and divisive,” National Milk President the CEO Jerry Kozak said. “At the same time, these developments also show how critically necessary it is to resolve the immigration policy conundrum, especially for farmers and other employers concerned with maintain and recruiting a workforce.”

Kozak also noted, “The court upheld the law's directive that state and local police may check the immigration status of people they stop when they suspect them of lacking legal authorization to be in the United States. The justices unanimously stated that federal law already requires immigration officials to respond to status checks from local authorities, and therefore federal immigration law does not preempt this section of the Arizona law.

“However, much of SB1070 was overturned as interfering in the federal government’s role as the sole arbiter of immigration law,” Kozak said. “In a 5-3 ruling, the court said Arizona in effect had tried to set up a parallel enforcement system that punished illegal immigrants more harshly and interfered with congressional authority over the nation's borders. The court rejected parts of the state law that made it a state crime for illegal immigrants to seek work, to fail to carry immigration papers, and that authorized warrantless arrests of people suspected by state and local police of committing deportable offenses.”

Kozak concluded, “This decision highlights the need for continued efforts to reform federal immigration laws, and NMPF will continue to work with regulators and lawmakers to create workable solutions for dairy farmers and their workers.”

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who has written immigration legislation focused on farm workers, said in a news release that the ruling indicated the need for immigration matters to be handled in Washington.

“In overturning much of Arizona’s misguided immigration law, the Supreme Court sent a strong message today that immigration enforcement is the responsibility of Congress, not the individual states,” Feinstein said. “Border protection and immigration enforcement have been and will continue to be the legal preserve of the federal government."

“I remain concerned that the sole remaining provision — the requirement that police check the immigration status of a person they’ve otherwise stopped or arrested — raises serious constitutional concerns that will result in civil rights violations against citizens and immigrants alike,” Feinstein continued. “But it is important to note that while the court did not strike down this provision at this time, it made clear that Arizona must be very careful how it enforces this provision or it, too, will be overturned.”

“Washington has failed to fix our broken immigration system. I am hopeful that the court’s decision moves Congress to finally take action in a bipartisan manner to bring about responsible, comprehensive reform,” Feinstein concluded.