Skip to content

Upcoming Events

Please see our calendar for more events.

Home » Blogs » Zack's blog

International Affairs Budget Update

U.S. Global Leadership Coalition
 
1.     FY10 International Affairs Budget in Home Stretch
2.     Record-Breaking Signatures on FY11 Congressional Letter
3.     New USAID Nominee Moves Closer to Confirmation
 
 
1.      FY10 International Affairs Budget in Home Stretch
 
House and Senate negotiators met on Tuesday to finalize the details of a $446.8 billion FY10 Omnibus Appropriations measure, which would complete the FY10 International Affairs Budget. The measure includes the $48.76 billion FY10 State, Foreign Operations Appropriations bill. When combined with the $1.9 billion in international food aid in the Agriculture bill, already signed into law, and the $300 million transfer to the Global Fund in the Labor-HHS bill, the International Affairs Budget will be funded at $51 billion, $1.7 billion or 3.2 percent below present spending and $2.9 billion or 5.4 percent below the Administration’s request.
 
The Omnibus package passed the House today by a vote of 221-201. The Senate is expected to begin consideration of the bill tomorrow, with a vote possible this weekend. Next week the USGLC will be providing a more detailed comparison of the final State, Foreign Operations bill with the President’s request and the House-passed and Senate Committee bills.
 
With the current Continuing Resolution set to expire on December 18th, Congress may have to pass another short-term one in order to finish the Defense Appropriations bill. The Omnibus package includes only six of the seven remaining appropriations bills that have not been enacted by Congress. The Defense bill is being held over to serve as a vehicle for any last minute must-pass legislation before Congress adjourns at the end of the year.
 
Summary of the FY10 State, Foreign Ops Bill
 
The FY10 State, Foreign Ops bill is $1.2 billion or 2.4 percent below current spending, including all supplemental funding, and $3.2 billion or 6.2 percent below the President’s request. The bill includes funding to increase personnel by up to 700 new State Department Foreign Services Officers (FSOs) and 300 USAID FSOs, aid to Afghanistan ($2.6 billion), Pakistan ($1.46 billion), and Iraq ($467 million), and funding for several of the President’s new Global Initiatives, including Food Security and Agriculture Development, Basic Education, and Global Health.
 
Key Highlights
 
Global Health and Child Survival: The bill includes $7.78 billion overall, $440 million above present spending and $184 million above the request. Key account allocations: Bilateral HIV/AIDS programs (PEPFAR) – $5.71 billion; Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria – $750 million, which when combined with the $300 million transfer in the Labor-HHS bill will bring the total U.S. contribution to $1.05 billion; Other global health programs – $2.42 billion, which includes maternal and child health, malaria, tuberculosis, and international family planning.
 
Development Assistance – $2.5 billion, $720 million above total FY09 spending and $214 million above the request.
 
Food Security and Agriculture Development – $1.2 billion, $193 million below the President’s request, but $698 million above FY09 spending.
 
Basic Education – $925 million, $56 million below the request, but $225 million above FY09 spending.
 
Humanitarian Assistance – $2.55 billion overall:
$1.7 billion for refugee assistance, which is $175 million above the request and $19 million above FY09 spending;$845 million for international disaster assistance.
 
Educational and Cultural Exchanges – $635 million, $97 million above present spending and $2 million above the request.
 
Peace Corps – $400 million, $27 million above the request and $60 million above FY09 spending.
 
Millennium Challenge Corporation – $1.105 billion, which effectively splits the difference between the House and Senate allocations. The amount is $320 million below the request, but $230 million above present spending.
 
2.     Record-Breaking Signatures on FY11 Congressional Letter
 
This week a record-breaking 247 Members of Congress – a solid majority of 58 Senators and 189 Representatives – will deliver their respective letters to the President in support of a robust FY11 International Affairs Budget request. The House and Senate letters, which come just as OMB is finalizing its top-line allocation for the International Affairs Budget, send a strong, bipartisan message to the Administration about the importance of continued investments in the smart power tools of development and diplomacy.
 
The FY11 letters galvanized support in Congress across partisan and ideological spectrums – from Blue Dogs and Freshmen Republicans to the Congressional Black, Hispanic and Progressive Caucuses. In addition, Freshman Representatives Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and Aaron Schock (R-IL) authored an opinion editorial on Monday in Roll Call highlighting their reasons for championing on the letter. 
 
The USGLC would like to thank each signatory for their contribution to this important letter campaign, with a special thank you to the 10 Senate and 12 House co-authors:
 
Senate                                                House
 
John Kerry (D-MA)                       Howard Berman (D-CA)
Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)                Mark Kirk (R-IL)
Richard Lugar (R-IN)                     Ike Skelton (D-MO)
Johnny Isakson (R-GA)                  Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO)
Richard Durbin (D-IL)                    Allyson Schwartz (D-PA)
Christopher Bond (R-MO)               David Reichert (R-WA)
Christopher Dodd (D-CT)               Jim Cooper (D-TN)
Bob Corker (R-TN)                        Aaron Schock (R-IL)
Robert Menendez (D-NJ)                Vic Snyder (D-AR)
George Voinovich (R-OH)               Leonard Lance (R-NJ)
Gerald Connolly (D-VA)
Jim Gerlach (R-PA)
                                                
We also extend our sincere thanks to all USGLC members who were instrumental in reaching out to Congress to achieve this very successful first step in the FY11 budget process. The letter is an extraordinary statement of support for the smart power agenda – and it sends a powerful message to the President that a broad, nationwide, constituency supports increased investments in the International Affairs Budget.
 
3.     New USAID Nominee Closer to Confirmation
 
On Tuesday, Dec. 8th, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee unanimously voted out of committee the nomination of Dr. Rajiv Shah as the next USAID Administrator. The full Senate is expected to take up the confirmation vote as early as Friday, but the vote may be delayed until next week. In this testimony last week, Dr. Shah indicated he would work hard to restore the effectiveness of USAID and play a leadership role in the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR) and the Presidential Study Directive (PSD) on Global Development Policy.

Recent Publications

sfy39587p04