Super Bowl Sunday is upon us! Did you know that televisions alone will use more than 11 million kilowatt-hours of energy during the game? As you turn on your TV, it’s worth taking a moment to note that Congress had a rare and important moment of agreement this week: increasing access to electricity in Africa. The bill creates a sustainable framework for the Power Africa initiative, which represents a new strategic model of development, leveraging public and private partnerships to deliver better results.

With the Zika virus spreading rapidly through South and Central America – and with more than 30 cases found in travelers returning to the U.S. – this is an important moment to look back on some global public health lessons that we’ve learned in recent years. While there are certainly comparisons with Ebola, Zika is a very different disease: it’s transmitted by mosquitoes – not people – and affects pregnant women and their newborn infants.

In December 2014, only 9 percent of Americans cited foreign policy as the country’s most important issue. A year later, that number had jumped to 32 percent, with 18 percent citing terrorism concerns. There appears to be a consensus among presidential candidates that a military component will be required to counter violent extremism, at least in the short term. But what’s equally vital, and much less often discussed, is a long-term strategy that utilizes all the tools of American leadership – including strategic investments in development and diplomacy.

As we begin 2016, several key pieces of global development legislation await Congress, having moved forward during December’s end-of-year rush. These bills on energy access, hunger, and transparency and accountability could have a lasting and positive effect on U.S. foreign assistance. Here’s an update on where they stand in Congress.

The U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC) hosted the second event of its Impact 2016 initiative in New Hampshire on December 4, 2015 to discuss how America’s development and diplomacy efforts are critical issues for this election.

USAID is pursuing a new model of development focused on partnering with a diverse array of partners to create innovative, cost-effective, and results-oriented development solutions. And we believe the private sector has a unique and growing role to play in global problem-solving, particularly when efforts are linked to a shared value approach or inclusive business approach which engages the bottom-of-the-pyramid markets as suppliers and producers in their value chains.

In the midst of impassioned presidential debates on national security following the terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, a recent report by the American Enterprise Institute makes a powerful case for why America should not scale back its global leadership, but instead must leverage its influence to support the liberal world order it has helped establish. Spearheaded by former U.S. Senators Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) and Jon Kyl (R-MO), the report argues that if the U.S. were to retreat from its global leadership, it would leave a vacuum of power that almost certainly would be filled by actors that are hostile to America’s values and national interests.

A little-noticed but important development is underway in Congress that could improve the way the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) promotes economic growth: regional compacts. The idea behind regional compacts is that constraints to economic growth in areas like water, transportation, and energy infrastructure may not be met most effectively within national boundaries. Accelerating regional integration has been identified as one of the keys to economic growth in Africa, and a study by the World Bank last year estimated that regionally integrated infrastructure could double Sub-Saharan Africa’s share of global trade.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal is the first U.S. trade deal with a chapter exclusively focused on development. This suggests that the old “trade vs. aid” debate is finally over, and that there is wide support for “trade and aid.” Today, most experts agree that foreign assistance creates the enabling environment for trade to flourish by strengthening the rule of law, fighting corruption, and creating a climate that is attractive to foreign investment.

Senator Joni Ernst, Governor Terry Branstad and Lt. General Daniel Christman joined the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC) in Iowa on November 23, 2015 for the first event of its Impact 2016 initiative and to discuss how America’s development and diplomacy efforts are critical issues for this election.