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November 4th, 2005 - -
I am proud to present the fiscal year 2006 foreign operations appropriations conference report for the bill H.R. 3057. The conferees had a difficult challenge this year, working with an overall funding allocation that is almost $2 billion below the fiscal year 2006 request. The conferees took on the challenge of making hard choices necessary to meet budgetary realities while funding this country's top foreign policy priorities at responsible levels.
The conference report continues strong oversight of the expenditure of taxpayer's dollars, consistent with the charge given to us by United States taxpayers and the leadership of this Committee and Congress. The conference report continues the Appropriation Committee's pursuit of accountability for the expenditure of tax dollars, and in particular, oversight of our foreign assistance program expenditures.
The conference agreement oversight of our primary agencies, State Department, Treasury Department and USAID, includes quarterly reporting of expenditures, consultation on major programmatic changes, and limitation on expenditures until conditions on Congressional notifications are met. The conference agreement also establishes, for the first time, an independent Inspector General for the Export-Import Bank.
Now, let me turn to highlights of the conference report:
Overall funding: The fiscal year 2006 budget request was $22.8 billion. This conference report funds the highest priorities of our country's foreign assistance portfolio at $20.9 billion, $1.9 billion below the President's request and $1.2 billion over the fiscal year 2005 conference agreement.
Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief: The conference report includes $2.8 billion for the third year of the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. This is $268 million over the request and $629 million over the fiscal year 2005 level. This conference report includes not less than $450 million, twice the amount requested by the President, for the U.S. contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC): This agreement funds the MCC at $1.77 billion, $270 million, 18%, above the $1.5 billion provided in fiscal year 2005 and $1.23 billion, 44%, below the $3 billion requested in 2006. The increase for the MCC in the conference report is due to the conferees' recognition that the White House communicated with Congress that the MCC was the top priority in our conference report. The constraints of the budgetary situation this year provided us with no flexibility to fully fund this important initiative.
Supporting the Global War on Terror: The agreement provides significant increases in our security assistance and anti-narcotics programs abroad for our allies in the war on terror. This includes fully funding the request for $2.3 billion for Israel and $1.8 billion for Egypt in economic and security assistance and $300 million for Pakistan in military assistance. Additionally, over $1.2 billion is provided to the anti-narcotics and law enforcement accounts, more than $155 million over last year levels. The conferees recognize that the illegal drug industry is no longer just a domestic issue facing the U.S. but one that funds international terrorism and organized crime, threatening our borders.
Afghanistan: The agreement dramatically increases economic and counternarcotics/law enforcement assistance for Afghanistan at a level of $665 million, $350 million above last year's level. This conference agreement fully funds the $430 million request in Economic Support Funds (ESF) for Afghanistan, an increase of $205 million over the 2005 level ESF. It provides $235 million for police and counternarcotics programs. However, the conference report includes new language that limits expenditure of about half of the ESF funds until the Secretary of State certifies to the Committee that the Government of Afghanistan, at both the national and local levels, is fully cooperating with United States on narcotics eradication and interdiction efforts.
Iraq: In the case of Iraq, the conference agreement provides $61 million in ESF funds. The fiscal year 2006 request included $458.5 million from a variety of accounts to support a number of activities in Iraq. Given that more than $3.5 billion of the $18.4 billion appropriated in 2003 for Iraq Relief and Reconstruction remains unobligated, the conferees did not think it responsible to direct new taxpayer resources to Iraq. The conferees expect the Administration to fund the remainder of its request for Iraq from the unobligated portion of the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund, and are convinced the Administration has the flexibility to do just that.
West Bank and Gaza Program: This agreement fully funds the request of $150 million for the West Bank and Gaza Program, an increase of $75 million over the 2005 level, and retains the fiscal year 2005 prohibitions and restrictions on the expenditure of these funds, including a GAO audit of U.S. assistance. There is no request for direct cash assistance for the Palestinian Authority and nothing in this conference report or accompanying statement of the managers, provides for such assistance.
MDB oversight: The agreement includes a provision addressing anticorruption measures for the World Bank and other reform provisions for all multilateral development banks. It is the hope of the conferees and myself that these provisions will lead to greater transparency, less corruption, and more effective operations of our multilateral contributions.
Global Environment Facility (GEF): The agreement includes $80 million for the Global Environment Facility, $27.5 million below the request but $80 million more than the House passed level. The conferees were pleased to see that the GEF finally agreed to establish a performance-based allocation system for the disbursement of funds as it had committed to do in 2002. Next year my Subcommittee will continue to conduct oversight of the GEF to monitor how this allocation system is implemented.
There are many other items in the conference agreement that I will not have time to mention in detail but include:
--$322 million for the Peace Corps, which is $5 million above last year and $23 million below the President's request,
--$4.3 billion in total for USAID, $121 million above the request and $93 million below last year's enacted level.
--$440 million for bilateral international family planning programs, and $34 million for the UNFPA. The conference agreement retains current law on restrictions and prohibitions on assistance.
--The conference report does not include the $100 million for a Conflict Response Fund as requested.
I would like to close by thanking my ranking member, Mrs. Lowey, for her continued cooperation and support to me as Chairman, and her commitment to producing a bipartisan conference agreement. I would also like to thank the other members of the Subcommittee who served on this conference and provided assistance and support during deliberations.
I would also like to extend my thanks to the staff of the Foreign Operations Subcommittee. On the House side: Alice Hogans, Rodney Bent, Rob Blair, Lori Maes, Betsy Phillips, and Nisha Desai as well as Sean Mulvaney from my staff and Beth Tritter from Mrs. Lowey's staff. On the Senate side: Paul Grove, Tom Hawkins, Tim Rieser, Jennifer Park, Bob Lester, and Harry Christy.
This is an especially poignant time for the Subcommittee as it will be the last bill for Rodney and Sean who are leaving for different opportunities. While we wish them well in these new pursuits, it is true they will be missed by me and by the staff of the Subcommittee.
I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this conference report and I reserve the balance of my time.
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