Floor Statements
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STATEMENT OF SENATOR JOHN McCAIN H.R. 3057, THE FOREIGN OPERATIONS APPROPRIATIONS ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2006
July 22, 2005
MR. McCAIN. Mr. President, I support passage of the Foreign Operations Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2006. This important legislation funds the international development and assistance portion of our national budget and with its passage, we acknowledge the vital nature of these programs. Supporting foreign aid, military assistance, development funds, democracy promotion activities and other programs should be a matter of course – something that America does as part of its responsibilities as the global superpower.This year's bill provides $31.8 billion to carry out our many foreign operations programs. I commend Senator McConnell, Chairman of the Foreign Operations Subcommittee, and Senator Leahy, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee, on developing an appropriations measure that is generally light on pork. There are, nevertheless, dozens of earmarks, especially in the report language, including a few that simply leaving me scratching my head. I am a longstanding champion of robust funding of America’s international affairs budget. But I ask, Mr. President, whether that budget should include an earmark of half a million dollars for the Neotropical Raptor Center in Panama. I wonder if the birds of prey the Center seeks to protect have instead descended on our appropriations bill. Likewise, the report includes a $2 million earmark for “activities to protect the orangutan from extinction” and directs that some of these funds go to the Orangutan Foundation. I note with regret that, once again, the Senate has failed to pass an authorization bill prior to considering this legislation. Again, the responsibilities of authorizors and appropriators are expected to be distinct. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has the responsibility for laying out a blueprint for the policies and funding levels of USAID and the Department of State and their programs. I hope that the Senate will finish consideration of the State Department Authorization Bill, so that the Senate will have the benefit of the Foreign Relations Committee’s recommendations. We should not continue to fund unauthorized programs and risk marginalizing our authorizing committees.
With that said, most of the provisions in the bill under consideration serve America’s interests and values in powerful ways. Let me comment on just one group. This year’s version of the foreign operations bill states that $495 million of our annual aid to Egypt “shall be provided with the understanding that Egypt will undertake significant economic and political reforms which are additional to those which were undertaken in previous fiscal years.” The bill also withholds $227 million in economic reform assistance until the Secretary of State determines that the Government of Egypt has met its 2005 economic reform commitments – commitments it made to the United States. Finally, the bill directs that nongovernmental organizations providing democracy and governance assistance shall not be subject to prior approval by Government of Egypt. Mr. President, I believe that we should have conditioned aid to Egypt in this way for years, and I commend my colleagues on the Appropriations Committee for these bold steps. The Government of Egypt has, for too long, gotten a free pass from the United States. We are grateful for its friendship with the U.S. and its peace agreement with Israel, but its lack of real reform offends the universal values we hold dear and poses a security threat to the United States.
I would also like to note that the report language contains words of support for the ADVANCE Democracy Act. Working with Senator Lieberman and the other cosponsors of the ADVANCE Democracy Act, I will continue to work toward passage of that bill this year, and I thank my colleagues on the Appropriations Committee for their support. I hope that we can work together to move the ADVANCE bill through the Senate in the near future.
Mr. President, I must once again convey my gratitude to the members of the subcommittee. Their attention and commitment to supporting vital programs has provided a sound bill with which to fund our foreign operations for the coming fiscal year.
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