A House panel on Wednesday approved legislation that would make
deep cuts in State Department money and foreign assistance, a
reflection of lawmakers' debt-driven demands for austerity but a blow
to assistance programs for famine-stricken parts of Africa.
The
Republican-crafted bill would provide $47.2 billion for the next
budget, $8.6 billion less than the current amount. Included in the
overall amount is close to $8 billion for the Global War on Terror
Fund, which covers the cost of security and counterterrorism operations
in Iraq and Afghanistan. The House Appropriations subcommittee on
foreign operations approved the bill by voice vote.
Democrats
opposed to the measure decided to wait until the next step in the
legislative process — action in the full Appropriations Committee later
this year — to try to change the bill.
As Congress and the
administration struggle to resolve the fight over spending, the panel
approved $11.9 billion for the State Department and operations such as
diplomatic and consular offices, embassy security and contributions to
international organizations and international broadcasting. The amount
is a cut of $3.9 billion from current levels and $3.1 billion below
President Barack Obama's request.
"We are facing a global
recession unlike anything in recent memory," said Rep. Kay Granger,
R-Texas, chairwoman of the subcommittee. "Our debt is well over $14
trillion. Today, every dollar counts. This bill reflects these new
realities."
Among the many reductions are cuts to programs that
could aid the millions in Africa. The United Nations has said two
regions of Somalia are suffering from famine and 11 million people are
in need of aid. As of Aug. 1, the U.N. is preparing to declare all of
southern Somalia a famine zone.
Among the cuts are an 11 percent
reduction in the funds for the Migration and Refugee Assistance program
to $190 million, and a 12 percent cut in the Disaster Assistance
program to $105 million. The Emergency Migration and Refugee Assistance
program would be reduced by 36 percent, to $18 million.
Rep. Nita
Lowey of New York, the top Democrat on the subcommittee, said it was a
mistake "to cripple the agencies" trying to provide relief in Africa.
"This
legislation would be a step back from U.S. leadership and substantially
weaken the United States' efforts overseas by decreasing economic
opportunity, stability and access to critical services for millions of
the world's poorest people," Lowey said.
The bill would bar aid
to Pakistan unless the U.S. secretary of state can certify to Congress
that Islamabad is pursuing terrorists and helping investigate how
al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden managed to hide for years inside
Pakistan.
The measure presses the Obama administration for
evidence of cooperation in the terror war by Egypt, Lebanon, Yemen and
the Palestinian Authority before providing U.S. dollars.
"We will insist on full transparency and accountability for every dollar we invest in Pakistan," Granger said.
Rep.
Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., vowed to go a step further when the
Appropriations Committee considers the bill, promising to offer an
amendment to eliminate all aid for Pakistan. Jackson said it made no
sense for the United States to provide $2.96 billion for Pakistan,
nearly the same amount as the $3.07 billion in assistance to a far more
reliable ally, Israel.
Reviving a divisive policy, the bill would
ban federal money from going to international family planning groups
that either offer abortions or provide abortion information, counseling
or referrals.
The policy has bounced in and out of law for the
past quarter century since Republican President Ronald Reagan first
adopted it 1984. Democrat Bill Clinton ended the ban in 1993, but
Republican George W. Bush re-instituted it in 2001 as one of his first
acts in office. Within days of his inauguration, Obama reversed the
policy.
In the Senate, Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John
Kerry, D-Mass., introduced a bill far more in line with administration
policy and lacking many of the restrictions on aid in the House
legislation.
Kerry said the country faces "tremendous foreign
policy and national security challenges worldwide, from helping
countries manage peaceful, democratic transitions in the Middle East,
to preventing violence, conflict, and terrorism from engulfing key
partners, and to leading humanitarian responses to forestall drought,
famine, and natural disasters."
He said a robust State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development are critical to meeting those challenges. AP
