*EPF502 09/06/2002
House Panel Approves $16,500 Million Foreign Assistance Bill
(Aid to Indonesian military, future Palestinian state debated) (680)

By Andrzej Zwaniecki
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- A House of Representatives subcommittee has approved a foreign aid bill that would ease restrictions on military aid to Indonesia, make assistance to a future Palestinian state conditional on its becoming a democracy and provide more money for the global fight against AIDS.

The House Appropriations Foreign Operations subcommittee approved the $16,500 million foreign aid spending bill for fiscal year 2003, which begins October 1, and sent it to the full committee without a vote.

The bill calls for providing slightly higher funds for international operations than the $16,400 million version passed in July by the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Republican members of the House subcommittee fended off efforts by Democrats to strike a provision in the bill that would reinstate funds for training Indonesian officers at U.S. academies and training institutions. This assistance was cut off in 1999 due to allegations about human right violations by the Indonesian military in East Timor.

Recently the Bush administration has been working closely with Congress to reestablish ties with the Indonesian military. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld called Indonesia May 13 "a moderate Muslim state" that is "addressing the human rights issues in an orderly, democratic way."

But Democrats raised doubts about the Indonesian military's commitment to a reform that could ensure that such abuses would not happen in the future.

Subcommittee Chairman Jim Kolbe, Republican from Arizona, prevailed, however, arguing that the aid was needed to prevent terrorists from gaining ground in the world's largest Muslim nation.

Another hotly debated issue was aid for a new Palestinian state that President Bush has envisioned as a milestone in the Middle East peace process. The bill would bar assistance to such a state unless it had a democratically elected leadership.

Rejected was an amendment offered by David Obey, Democrat from Wisconsin, to delete that restriction. He said that a democratically elected government is no guarantee that a future country will contribute to stability in the region.

"I care more about whether they are trying to kill than whether they are a Jeffersonian democracy," Obey said.

Not all Democrats shared this view.

"I think it is important that we set these standards," said Nita Lowey, the highest ranking Democrat on the subcommittee.

The bill would add $200 million to the nearly $3,000 million in aid Israel receives annually and add $50 million for a total of $125 million in spending on humanitarian assistance for the West Bank and Gaza.

An effort to increase by $400 million funds appropriated for combating HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases also failed as an amendment proposed by Nancy Pelosi, Democrat from California, was defeated. Kolbe objected to the amendment arguing that the increase would have to come at the expense of other health programs. However, the subcommittee agreed to provide the $150 million in additional money for HIV/AIDS that President Bush lately requested on top of the $536 million he had originally asked for.

Several members said they would offer amendments related to these and other issues, including aid to Afghanistan, when the bill comes up for approval in full committee.

In addition the foreign operations bill would provide money for military assistance for Egypt and Jordan, peacekeeping operations, counter-narcotics efforts, development assistance, child survival and health programs, disaster assistance and other purposes. It also would fund the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Export-Import Bank, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation as well as U.S. contributions to the World Bank and the Global Environment Facility.

The bill now goes to full committee and then to the House floor for a vote. The Senate version of the foreign operations bill has not yet reached a full Senate vote. Differences between the House and Senate bills must be reconciled and then approved by both chambers before a final compromise measure can be sent to the president for his signature.

Because the bill funds foreign operations in the fiscal year that starts October 1, it should be enacted by Congress before that date. If Congress, however, fails to meet the deadline it may pass a continuing resolution to fund U.S. government activities in the international arena until the work on foreign operations appropriations is finished and the bill is signed into law.

(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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