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March 31 (UPI) -- Hillary Clinton described President Donald Trump's proposed budget Friday as a "a blow to women and children and a grave mistake for our country." Clinton, the former secretary of state and presidential candidate, spoke at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., during a ceremony to honor four recipients of the Hillary Rodham Clinton Awards for Advancing Women in Peace and Security.
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"We are seeing signals of a shift that should alarm us all," Clinton said. "This administration's proposed cuts to international health, development and diplomacy would be a blow to women and children and a grave mistake for our country."
The president's proposal cuts the State Department's budget by 28 percent ($10 billion) and the Environmental Protection Agency's budget by 31 percent, but boosts funding for the military by 29 percent.
"Turning our backs on diplomacy won't make our country safer," Clinton said.
Clinton mentioned a letter from 120 retired generals who urged Trump not to make major cuts to diplomacy and foreign aid.
"These distinguished men and women who served in uniform recognize that turning our back on diplomacy won't make our country safer," Clinton said. "It will undermine our security and our standing in the world. Defense Secretary Mattis said it well when he said if you cut funds to the State Department, that means he has to buy more ammunition."
She was referring to a statement made by Mattis to members of Congress on retiring as head of U.S. Central Command in 2013.
As she took the stage, Clinton was greeted with big applause and chants of "Hillary! Hillary!
"Wow, let's do that again," she joked. "This warm welcome is one of the many reasons that I always appreciate coming to this campus, to this great university, and I am so pleased to have a chance to talk with you today."
During her 20 minute speech, Clinton mainly spoke about the role of women in international politics and peace-building efforts.
Clinton praised the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, which hosted the event.
"As this institute has grown, so too has the body of evidence showing that when women participate in peacemaking and peacekeeping, we are all safer and more secure," she said. "Studies show — here I go again, talking about research, evidence and facts but, in fact, when women are included in peace negotiations, agreements are less likely to fail and more likely to last."
She drew big applause for the apparent jab at White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, who used the phrase "alternative facts" to defend the administration's inaccurate claim that Trump's inauguration crowd was larger than former President Barack Obama's inauguration.
She made another apparent dig at Conway when she said: "Now, before anybody jumps to any conclusions, I will state clearly: Women are not inherently more peaceful than men. That is a stereotype. That belongs in the alternative ...," she said with a pause, "reality."
The four recipients this year were former Colombian Vice President Humberto De la Calle, Colombian Deputy Attorney General Maria Paulina Riveros, thematic director of Colombia's Office of the High Commissioner for Peace Elena Ambrosi and journalist Jineth Bedoya, who has also advocated for sexual violence survivors.
