“Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this bill.

“I want to begin by thanking Chairman Kolbe for the close working relationship we enjoy.  The bill we consider today is the result of our close collaboration, and represents the bipartisan commitment of the Foreign Operations Subcommittee to bring a bill to the House floor that accurately reflects U.S. foreign policy priorities.  As in the past, Chairman Kolbe has been a gracious colleague, and I am proud of the product of our cooperation.  I believe this bill successfully maintains our commitment to ensure that foreign aid remains one of the three pillars of U.S. national security policy, along with defense and diplomacy. 

“The bill provides nearly $19.4 billion in new discretionary budget authority, which is over $1.9 billion below the President’s request.  It contains substantial funding for pressing needs in support of the war on terror, such as the reconstruction of Afghanistan, and significantly increases funding for HIV/AIDS programs and the Millennium Challenge Corporation.

“The bill fully funds, and even slightly increases, the President’s request for the Emergency HIV/AIDS Initiative.  Since the very beginning of our efforts to fight HIV, the Subcommittee has led the charge to increase funding for this key priority.  While I would have preferred to include even more funding, our limited 302(b) allocation precluded us from doing so.  However, within the context of our allocation, the bill does provide $400 million for the Global AIDS Fund, the same as last year’s bill and $300 million above the President’s request.  It also provides $30 million for microbicides research and development and a similar amount for HIV vaccine research, and will allow for substantial program increases for all countries where the U.S. now conducts HIV programs – even those not among the 15 “focus” countries of the President’s Emergency AIDS Initiative.

“I am particularly pleased that we were able to preserve funding for other vital child survival programs, instead of cutting these programs as the President requested.  As we continue to ramp up funding for HIV programs and respond to the many Administration initiatives requested, most notably the Millennium Challenge Account, we cannot retreat from our child and maternal health commitments in the developing world.  The progress we have made on the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS will be lost if the U.S. does not maintain its leadership role in meeting the basic health needs of women and children in poor countries.   

“The bill provides $400 million for basic education, which is an increase of $75 million over last year.  Increasing our commitment to basic education has been one of my top priorities as ranking member of the Foreign Operations subcommittee, and I am proud that funding for basic education has increased from $98 million in FY 2000 to a total of $400 million for FY 2005.  For the first time, we have included funding specifically to address the issue of school fees in a comprehensive manner, in the form of a pilot project to be undertaken by USAID.  

“As we are all aware, crises in Haiti and Sudan have required us to reevaluate our funding priorities to ensure that the U.S. is leading the way to alleviate the horrible situations in those two countries.  The bill earmarks an additional $50 million above the President’s request for Haiti, and provides a total of $311 million, $25 million above the request, for urgent humanitarian needs in Sudan. 

“Congress has already responded to the evolving humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan by adding $95 million in emergency funding to the DOD bill.  There may be additional funds needed, as we intend to simultaneously fund the rebuilding of southern Sudan if and when a peace treaty is completed.  The bill prohibits assistance to the government of Sudan until it has disarmed and disbanded government-supported militia groups and allows full and unconditional access to the Darfur region to the U.N. and other humanitarian organizations.  The Government of Sudan should get the clear and unambiguous message from this bill that we will not tolerate continued brutality and cover-ups. 

“I am particularly pleased that the bill provides funding to combat terrorist financing in three different accounts, along with report language requiring the Administration to analyze the total level and distribution of funding for this priority across all government agencies.  This analysis will be a critical tool in ensuring that our efforts are coordinated and efficient. 

“The bill also provides full funding for Israel’s aid package, increased funding for conflict resolution programs in the Middle East and elsewhere, and increased funding for UNICEF, UNDP, and UNIFEM’s programs to prevent violence against women. 

“While Chairman Kolbe and I are in agreement on the vast majority of issues and funding levels, we do disagree in a few areas.  Once again, the bill fails to include language that will restore funding for the life-saving activities of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).  I had hoped to offer an amendment today to restore funding to UNFPA, on a limited basis, to countries of clear strategic importance to U.S. foreign policy. 

“My amendment would have maintained the restrictions in the bill prohibiting funding to any organization that supports coercive abortion and sterilization.  It would have provided funding for UNFPA’s activities in only six countries, all of which are strategically important to U.S. national security: Iraq, Afghanistan, Jordan, Pakistan, Kenya, and Tanzania.  And if UNFPA were found to be supporting coercive practices in any of these countries, the amendment would have prohibited funding for the UNFPA program in that country. 

“Ultimately, my amendment would have addressed a very simple question: Should we let concerns about UNFPA’s programs in one country – China – stop the United States from investing in a proven multilateral program that could, in fact, reap benefits for U.S. national security?  I had looked forward to a constructive debate about whether or not the U.S. should be making such investments, and I am disappointed that the House will not have that opportunity today.   

“I also want to say a few words about our overall allocation, to ensure that the funding levels in this bill are put into context.  As my colleagues are surely aware, the Foreign Operations subcommittee was asked this year to make room for new Administration initiatives alongside the core development, export financing, and military assistance accounts usually included in the bill.  The largest of these initiatives, the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA), was initially conceived of by the President two years ago, at which time he assured the American people that any funds devoted to it would be in addition to – rather than in place of – existing development funds.  With an allocation nearly $2 billion below the President’s request, however, we were hard pressed to provide significant increases for priorities such as non-AIDS child survival and health, development assistance, and refugees and migration assistance.  While we significantly cut MCA funding from the requested level, it is clear that, unless the President increases his requests and the Committee decides to grant us an adequate allocation, we will continue to have to scrape together the money to level-fund or slightly increase our core development priorities.  This trend is of serious concern to me, and I am sure many of my colleagues share it.     

“Essentially, however, the bill we are recommending to the Committee today represents a truly bipartisan effort, and funds accounts as equitably as possible in the context of the deep cut from the President’s request.  I will support the bill enthusiastically, and I hope my colleagues will do the same.

“In closing, I’d like to thank the Chairman again, as well as all of the Members of the Subcommittee and their associate staff.  The majority staff – John, Alice, Rodney, Rob, Lori and Sean, and the minority staff, Mark and Beth, have been extraordinarily helpful in crafting the bill, and I thank them for their efforts. ”