*EPF508 07/11/2003
House Panel Approves $17.1 Billion Foreign Spending Bill
(Includes funding for AIDS, Millennium Challenge Account) (490)

By Kathryn McConnell
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- A House of Representatives Appropriations subcommittee has approved a $17.1 billion foreign operations bill for the fiscal year beginning October 1 (FY04) that includes funding for President Bush's global program to fight HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases and the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA).

The measure is $1.8 billion below the amount the president had requested but 6 percent higher than the amount approved for foreign operations for the current fiscal year.

The measure, approved July 9, provides $2 billion to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, an amount in line with the administration's latest request but short of the $3 billion the administration originally announced. Representative Nita Lowey of New York, the subcommittee's senior Democrat, said she will introduce an amendment to boost the amount to the administration's original request when the bill comes up for approval by the full House, according to news reports.

The Senate Appropriations subcommittee is expected to take up its version of a foreign operations bill July 16, according to reports.

The next step is a vote in the full committee, where further changes could well be made before the bill goes to the House floor.

After the House and Senate vote their versions of the bill, both chambers must then negotiate and pass a final version before sending it to the president for signature or veto.

The House panel approved only $800 million of Bush's requested $1.3 billion for the MCA, which would provide additional funds to poor countries that implement free market and democratic reforms and invest in their people.

The subcommittee also approved $8.4 billion for the State Department and Broadcasting Board of Governors, including $1.5 billion for security improvements and replacement of vulnerable embassies.

The subcommittee approved $4.7 billion in funding for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), $46 million below the administration's request but $166 million more than the agency's approved budget for FY03.

Provisions of the approved measure include:

-- $2.7 billion for military and economic aid to Israel and $1.9 billion for Egypt, as requested by Bush.

-- $731 million to fight drugs in the Andean region, also as requested by the president.

-- A $10 million increase over the FY03 level to $456 million for aid to Jordan, as requested by the president.

-- $314 million for Peace Corps, $19 million more than the FY03 level but $45 million less than the administration's request.

-- $962 million for the World Bank.

-- $50 million for the Trade and Development Agency (TDA), $10 million less than the president's request but $3 million more than the agency's FY03 budget.

-- $65 million for the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the same as the FY03 level and slightly less than the administration's request.

-- $92 million for international military training, $12 million more than the FY03 level and the same as the president's request.

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

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