[Budget of the United States Government]
[VI. Investing in the Common Good: Program Performance in Federal Functions]
[13. International Affairs]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


 
                        13. INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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                       Table 13-1.  FEDERAL RESOURCES IN SUPPORT OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS                       
                                            (In millions of dollars)                                            
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                                                                               Estimate                         
               Function 150                   1997   -----------------------------------------------------------
                                             Actual     1998      1999      2000      2001      2002      2003  
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Spending:                                                                                                       
  Discretionary Budget Authority..........    18,150    19,034    20,150    19,234    18,947    18,836    18,777
  Mandatory Outlays:                                                                                            
    Existing law..........................    -3,754    -4,464    -4,130    -3,764    -3,637    -3,396    -3,201
Credit Activity:                                                                                                
  Direct loan disbursements...............     1,755     2,148     2,050     2,770     1,831     1,548     1,524
  Guaranteed loans........................    13,022    12,826    12,188    12,747    13,357    13,867    13,884
Tax Expenditures:                                                                                               
  Existing law............................     7,090     7,685     8,305     8,950     9,625    10,335    11,045
  Proposed legislation....................  ........  ........      -580    -1,356    -1,456    -1,545    -1,634
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  The Administration proposes $20.2 billion for International Affairs 
programs in 1999, including arrears on contributions to the multilateral 
development banks (MDBs). By fully funding these programs, the United 
States can continue to provide critical international leadership to 
accomplish key strategic goals, such as enhancing national security, 
fostering world-wide economic growth, supporting the establishment and 
consolidation of democracy, and improving the global environment and 
addressing other key global issues. The State Department outlined these 
goals more fully in its September 1997 report, ``United States Strategic 
Plan for International Affairs.''
  The performance goals that follow are from agency strategic or 
performance plans. In addition to these goals, agencies have established 
other performance goals for themselves to ensure that they fulfill their 
legislative mandates in ways that also contribute to U.S. national 
interests.

National Security

  U.S. security depends on active diplomacy, steps to resolve 
destabilizing regional conflicts, and vigorous efforts to reduce the 
continuing threat of weapons of mass destruction. Strong diplomatic 
engagement depends on a clear foreign policy vision, built on a 
vigorous, carefully coordinated process of formulating policy.
  A strong, active United Nations enhances U.S. diplomatic efforts, and 
the budget proposes to fund assessed contributions to this and other 
international organizations, as well as annual assessed and voluntary 
peacekeeping contributions. The budget also proposes the necessary funds 
to support the Middle East peace process through the Economic Support 
Fund (ESF) and the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) programs. ESF also 
provides direct assistance to address the root causes of other regional 
conflicts, such as the lack of fair and effective systems of justice, 
and FMF also provides funds to help the incoming NATO members--Poland, 
Hungary, the Czech Republic, and other East European nations.
  Economic and reconstruction assistance and police training are 
critical to our effort to support the Dayton Accords on Bosnia, and 
funding under the FREEDOM Support Act helps foster the transition to 
market democracies in the former Soviet Union. Finally, the budget fully 
supports further progress

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on our efforts to control weapons of mass destruction by funding the 
Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA) and other programs that seek 
to negotiate cuts in, or the elimination of, such weapons.
  Relevant agencies will meet the following performance goals in 1999:
   The State Department, in seeking to advance the Middle East 
          peace process, will achieve significant progress towards 
          fulfilling the goals of the Oslo Accord.
   The State Department will avert or defuse regional conflicts 
          where critical national interests are at stake through 
          bilateral U.S. assistance and U.N. peacekeeping activities.
   The State and Defense Departments will ensure that the armed 
          forces of NATO's ``candidate countries'' can operate in a 
          fully integrated manner with other NATO forces upon their 
          planned entry into NATO.
   The State and Defense Departments and the Agency for 
          International Development (USAID) will achieve significant 
          progress toward implementing the Dayton Accords in Bosnia.
   The State Department and USAID will help Russia and the other 
          former Soviet republics strive to achieve a per capita Gross 
          Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate, a share of GDP generated 
          by the private sector, and an average of Freedom-House 
          indicators of democratic and political liberties higher than 
          the comparable 1997 levels.
   The State Department and ACDA will achieve full compliance 
          with, and verification of, treaties regarding weapons of mass 
          destruction and, if necessary, combat suspected development 
          programs.
   The State Department will fully certify mission critical 
          systems for year 2000 compliance and complete a world-wide 
          upgrade of the information technology infrastructure that 
          supports U.S. embassies and consulates.

Economic Prosperity

  International affairs activities increase U.S. economic prosperity in 
four ways.
  First, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), supported by the State 
Department and other agencies, works to reduce barriers to trade in U.S. 
goods, services, and investments by negotiating new trade liberalizing 
agreements and strictly enforcing existing agreements.
  Second, the Export-Import Bank (Eximbank) and the Trade and 
Development Agency (TDA) provide grant and credit financing to correct 
market distortions that can put U.S. exports at a competitive 
disadvantage, and the budget provides a major increase in Eximbank 
funding to cover increased demand from U.S. exporters. The Overseas 
Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) provides investment insurance and 
financing for development projects with U.S. trade benefits.
  Third, development assistance from the MDBs and USAID, along with debt 
reduction, help increase economic growth in developing and transitioning 
countries, creating new markets for U.S. goods and services and reducing 
the economic causes of instability in these regions.
  Fourth, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is instrumental in 
maintaining the underlying economic prerequisites for prosperity world 
wide by mitigating the effects of country and regional financial crises, 
such as those recently experienced in Asia, while helping individual 
developing countries to create and maintain stable market-oriented 
economies.
  Relevant agencies will meet the following performance goals in 1999:
   USTR will negotiate cuts in specific, identified barriers to 
          U.S. and global trade, and will effectively enforce 
          international trade agreements.
   The Export-Import Bank will develop new mechanisms to expand 
          the availability of financing for U.S. exports by pioneering 
          joint ventures with the private sector, as well as innovative 
          financing programs that

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          will increase the Bank's support for small and medium-sized 
          exporters.
   OPIC will increase, from 1997 levels, the amount of U.S. 
          investment in developing countries assisted through OPIC-
          sponsored projects.
   TDA will increase, from 1997 levels, the ratio of TDA-
          supported exports to TDA expenditures and the percentage of 
          TDA projects that ultimately yield U.S. exports.
   USAID, through bilateral assistance, and the Treasury 
          Department, through its contributions to the MDBs, will 
          provide assistance that helps to increase the real annual per 
          capita GDP growth rate from 1997 levels in developing 
          countries.
   Treasury will work to provide the IMF with sufficient 
          resources to address monetary crises in Asia and other parts 
          of the world and reduce the amount of supplemental U.S. 
          bilateral resources needed to address these crises.

American Citizens and U.S. Borders

  The State Department, through the U.S. passport office and the network 
of embassies and consulates overseas, helps and protects Americans who 
travel and reside abroad--most directly through various consular 
services, including citizenship documentation and help in emergencies. 
The Department also helps to control how immigrants and foreign visitors 
enter and remain in the U.S. by effectively and fairly administering 
U.S. immigration laws overseas and screening applicants, in order to 
deter illegal immigration and prevent terrorists, narcotics traffickers, 
and other criminals from entering the United States.
  The State Department will meet the following performance goals in 
1999:
   Improve U.S. passport security by issuing U.S. passports with 
          a digitized passport photo.
   Maintain uninterrupted screening capabilities to ensure that 
          only qualified applicants receive visas for travel to the 
          United States.
   Complete the world-wide modernization of consular systems and 
          meet year 2000 requirements, thus ensuring border security.

Law Enforcement

  The expansion and rising sophistication of transnational crime 
represents a growing threat to the property and well-being of U.S. 
citizens. In particular, the threat of terrorism and the continued 
supply of illegal drugs to the United States represent direct threats to 
our national security. The budget funds the State Department's 
diplomatic efforts to convince other countries to work cooperatively to 
address international criminal threats; it also funds assistance and 
training that helps other countries combat corruption, terrorism, and 
illegal narcotics, and provides the developing countries with economic 
alternatives to narcotics cultivation and export.
  The State Department, working with the Departments of Justice, 
Treasury, and Defense, will meet the following performance goals in 
1999:
   Increase, from 1997 levels, the number of foreign governments 
          that enact and enforce legislation to combat corruption, money 
          laundering, and other transnational criminal activities.
   Reduce, from 1997 levels, the hectares of coca and opium 
          poppies being cultivated in producing countries.

Democracy

  Advancing U.S. interests in the post-Cold War world often requires 
efforts to support democratic transitions, address human rights 
violations, and promote U.S. democratic values. The budget supports 
these efforts in two ways. First, it funds the State Department's 
diplomatic efforts that discourage other nations' interference with the 
basic democratic and human rights of their citizens, and it funds direct 
foreign assistance through USAID and other agencies that helps countries 
develop the institutions and legal structures for the transition to 
democracy. Second, it promotes democracy by funding exchanges of people 
and ideas with other countries. The exchange, training, and foreign 
broadcasting programs of the U.S. Information Agency (USIA) seek to 
spread U.S. democratic values

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throughout the world and ensure that Americans understand and value the 
peoples and cultures of other nations.
  Relevant agencies will meet the following performance goals for 1999:
   The State Department, USAID, and USIA will provide assistance 
          that lead to the improvement of Freedom House ratings of 
          countries in which the United States is assisting the 
          transition to democracy.
   As a result of State Department diplomacy and direct 
          assistance, the instances of human rights abuses as reported 
          by the State Department in the annual U.S. Report on Human 
          Rights will be reduced from 1997 levels.
   USIA will increase, from 1997 levels, the support for 
          democracy, democratic institutions, and human rights in 
          selected countries that participate in USIA programs, as 
          measured through polling.

Humanitarian Response

  U.S. values demand that we help alleviate human suffering from foreign 
crises, whether man-made or natural, even in cases with no direct threat 
to U.S. security interests. The budget provides the necessary funds to 
address and, where possible, try to prevent, humanitarian crises through 
USAID's Foreign Disaster Assistance and Transition Initiatives programs, 
through the State Department's Migration and Refugee Assistance program, 
and through food aid provided under ``Public Law 480'' authorities. Much 
of this funding is implemented through U.S. private voluntary 
organizations that provide humanitarian, as well as development, 
assistance overseas. The budget also funds a significant contribution to 
the UNICEF program of the United Nations, and a significant increase for 
U.S. bilateral demining efforts to address the growing humanitarian 
crisis caused by landmines in areas of former conflict.
  Relevant agencies will meet the following performance goals for 1999:
   USAID, in conjunction with other public and private donors, 
          will provide humanitarian assistance that will maintain the 
          nutritional status of children aged five or under living in 
          regions affected by humanitarian emergencies.
   The State Department will reduce refugee populations, from 
          1997 levels, through U.S.-sponsored integration, repatriation, 
          and resettlement activities.
   The State Department will increase, from 1997 levels, the 
          number of mines detected and neutralized.

Global Issues

  The global problems of environmental degradation, population growth, 
and the spread of communicable diseases directly affect future U.S. 
security and prosperity. As a result, the Nation has targeted 
significant diplomatic and assistance efforts to address these issues. 
For example, the State Department's negotiation of the Kyoto global 
climate change treaty and USAID's five-year, $1 billion global climate 
change assistance effort will reduce the threat of this global problem. 
Full funding of current commitments and arrears to the Global 
Environment Facility remains critical to this effort.
  Similarly, U.S. leadership, USAID assistance efforts, and funding of 
the U.N. Population Fund are critical to maintain the rate of increase 
in global prosperity, reduce the pressures of illegal immigration on the 
U.S. economy, and help alleviate the causes of regional conflict. U.S. 
support, mainly through USAID, for bilateral and multilateral activities 
to reduce the global threat of AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and other 
communicable diseases not only saves the lives of millions of children 
world-wide but also reduces the direct threat to the United States that 
these diseases pose if they spread unchecked.
  Finally, the volunteer programs of the Peace Corps serve U.S. national 
interests by promoting mutual understanding between Americans and the 
people of developing or transitional nations and providing technical 
assistance on a range of issues to interested countries that request it.
  Relevant agencies will meet the following performance goals in 1999:
   The State Department and USAID, working with the 
          Environmental Protection

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          Agency and with other bilateral and multilateral donors, 
          through diplomacy and foreign assistance will slow the rate of 
          increase, from 1997 levels, of climate change gas emissions 
          among key developing nation emitters.
   USAID will provide assistance in conjunction with other 
          donors that will cut, from 1997 levels, the total fertility 
          rates in developing countries.
   USAID, working with the Department of Health and Human 
          Services and with other bilateral and multilateral donors, 
          will provide assistance that will reduce, from 1997 levels, 
          the infant mortality rate and the rate of new cases of AIDS, 
          malaria, tuberculosis and other critical communicable diseases 
          in developing countries.
   The Peace Corps will provide opportunities for 50 percent 
          more Americans than in 1997 to enter service as new 
          volunteers.
   The Peace Corps will increase Americans' understanding of 
          other peoples by tripling, from 1997 levels, the number of 
          American teachers participating in the World Wise Schools 
          partnership with Peace Corps volunteers, bringing the total 
          number of teachers to 10,000.