WASHINGTON, DC – “I want to first take this opportunity to thank the Chairman for his hard work this year, and throughout his tenure, in creating a bipartisan environment for examining our foreign policy priorities and addressing the funding needs of our foreign assistance programs. The Chairman has shown tremendous leadership in steering this subcommittee and setting an example of bipartisan cooperation and collaboration that is rare in Congress today, and leaves behind an impressive legacy. Chairman Kolbe has overseen the largest increases in the foreign aid budget post-Cold War. Under his stewardship, funding in the bill to combat HIV/AIDS has increased from $485 million in FY02 to $3.43 billion in the mark before us today, and basic education has increased from just $100 million to $550 million. I know he is particularly proud of his work on trade promotion and trade capacity building as well as on shaping and promoting the Millennium Challenge Account.
“At this meeting of the Committee, the last time he will steer a bill through full Committee markup, I hope we can all take a moment to express our appreciation for the Chairman’s service and his friendship. The Committee will feel your absence in the 110th Congress.
“Turning to the bill before us, Mr. Chairman, I know we were presented with challenges but, with a couple of exceptions, the provisions included in the bill before us today represent the product of bipartisan negotiation and cooperation. I will be supporting the bill, and I urge my colleagues to do the same as it moves through the legislative process.
“The Subcommittee’s 302(b) allocation is a full $2.4 billion below the request level, and into this reduced allocation we have had to fit increases in Presidential priorities such as the Millennium Challenge Account and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief as well as increased funding for Afghanistan and Iraq.
“I generally agree with my chairman on the spending levels recommended within the reduced allocation. We worked closely together to ensure that, in the face of devastating cuts, we at least level-funded child survival and health and development assistance priorities. We provide the President’s request for HIV/AIDS, increasing the overall amount in this bill for HIV/AIDS and TB by $751 million over the FY06 enacted levels and more than doubling the President’s request for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria to the FY06 enacted level of $444.5 million. Although I wish we could have done more for the Global Fund, I believe we are doing the best we can with the resources we have.
“The bill maintains level funding for basic education in the Development Assistance account at last year’s level of $365 million, and I am pleased that we have been able to increase non-DA funds for basic education for a bill total of $550 million. We also continue the U.S. reconstruction program in Afghanistan, fully fund the requested levels for Liberia, Haiti, and Sudan, and fully fund our strategic commitments in the Middle East.
“I am pleased that we have also restored deep cuts the President requested in family planning and reproductive health programs. The bill substantially increases family planning funding in the Child Survival and Health account from the President’s request, fully restores bill-wide bilateral funding to $432 million, the FY06 House-passed level, and earmarks $34 million bill-wide for the United Nations Population Fund.
“I am also pleased that we were able to restore funding for several key UN agencies, including UNICEF, UNDP, UNIFEM and the UNIFEM Trust Fund.
“I want to commend the Chairman for his willingness to take a critical look at the Andean Counternarcotics Initiative, and specifically how the continuation of a special program aimed primarily at eradication of coca is consistent with the myriad U.S. foreign policy goals in the Andean region. I believe that our overemphasis on the drug war has caused us to neglect many other critical objectives throughout Latin America, and I hope the changes made by the Chairman in the allocation of these funds in this bill are the first steps toward a wholesale reevaluation of our foreign aid program in the region.
“I want to point out a few specific concerns I have with the bill at this time. Our shamefully low allocation required us to make cuts from the request in several key areas, including Migration and Refugee Assistance, peacekeeping, programs for Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union, key Economic Support Fund programs, and Congo debt relief. It is my hope that we will be able to restore these cuts, and even provide increases where warranted, in conference, and that funding for many of these priorities will survive conference negotiations on the FY06 Supplemental. I am also hopeful that we can restore full funding for the U.S. commitment to the Global Environmental Facility – the President’s requested level, granted in this bill, is a little more than half of what is actually needed.
“I am disappointed that this bill places no conditionality whatsoever on U.S. military assistance to Indonesia and Guatemala. Despite constructive language on Indonesia included in the FY06 bill, this bill fails to send the message that the U.S. expects Indonesia to continue on the path of achieving true civilian control over the military and accountability for human rights abuses.
“I look forward to continuing to work with the Chairman and with our Senate counterparts as the bill moves to the House floor and into conference to remedy some of the concerns I have expressed. However, I think the Chairman’s mark before us today is a good start to this process. I appreciate the Chairman’s help, the involvement of all of our Subcommittee members and associate staff, and, of course, the hard work of the Subcommittee staff – Nisha, Beth, Betsy, Craig, Rob, Delia, Lori, and Todd, in crafting this bill.”
