[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 109 (Tuesday, July 22, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H7237-H7241]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 2800, FOREIGN OPERATIONS, EXPORT 
        FINANCING AND RELATED PROGRAMS APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2004

  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, by the direction of 
the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 327 and ask for its 
immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

                              H. Res. 327

       Resolved, That at any time after the adoption of this 
     resolution the Speaker may, pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule 
     XVIII, declare the House resolved into the Committee of the 
     Whole House on the State of the Union for consideration of 
     the bill (H.R. 2800) making appropriations for foreign 
     operations, export financing, and related programs for the 
     fiscal year ending September 30, 2004, and for other 
     purposes. The first reading of the bill shall be dispensed 
     with. All points of order against consideration of the bill 
     are waived. General debate shall be confined to the bill and 
     shall not exceed one hour equally divided and controlled by 
     the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on 
     Appropriations. After general debate the bill shall be 
     considered for amendment under the five-minute rule. Points 
     of order against provisions in the bill for failure to comply 
     with clause 2 of rule XXI are waived except as follows: 
     sections 568(a)(3), 572, and 575. Where points of order are 
     waived against part of a section, points of order against a 
     provision in another part of such section may be made only 
     against such provision and not against the entire section. 
     During consideration of the bill for amendment, the Chairman 
     of the Committee of the Whole may accord priority in 
     recognition on the basis of whether the Member offering an 
     amendment has caused it to be printed in the portion of the 
     Congressional Record designated for that purpose in clause 8 
     of rule XVIII. Amendments so printed shall be considered as 
     read. At the conclusion of consideration of the bill for 
     amendment the Committee shall rise and report the bill to the 
     House with such amendments as may have been adopted. The 
     previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill 
     and amendments thereto to final passage without intervening 
     motion except one motion to recommit with or without 
     instructions.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Bass). The gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
Lincoln Diaz-Balart) is recognized for 1 hour.
  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, for purposes of 
debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern), pending which I yield myself such time as 
I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time 
yielded is for purposes of debate only.
  (Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida asked and was given permission to 
revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 327 
is an open rule that provides for the consideration of H.R. 2800, the 
fiscal year 2004 Foreign Operations, Export Financing and Related 
Programs Appropriations Act.
  The rule provides 1 hour of general debate equally divided and 
controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member on 
Appropriations. The rule also provides one motion to recommit with or 
without instructions.
  The legislation we bring today to the floor, Mr. Speaker, 
appropriates over $17 billion for operations across the globe. This 
bill is fiscally sound while at the same time, I think, is responsive 
to many of the needs that we are seeking to address throughout the 
world where there are extraordinarily difficult issues related to 
disease and famine and many other forms of international disaster.
  H.R. 2800 provides over $1.4 billion to combat HIV/AIDS, 
tuberculosis, and malaria. It is $86 million above the President's 
request. The funding will continue its important mission to provide 
training and technical assistance to private and voluntary 
organizations that work to eradicate debilitating diseases from both 
individuals and, in fact, societies.
  The majority of this funding will be included in the Child Survival 
and Health Programs Fund, dedicated to lowering infant, child and 
maternal mortality rates in developing countries. The fund will see, 
through this legislation, a substantial increase of over $400 million 
over last year's appropriation.
  The Agency for International Development, AID, will receive over $4.7 
billion, $166 million above last fiscal year. Continuing its mission 
first defined by the Marshall Plan following World War II, AID has 
embarked on aggressive plans to promote health and economic strength 
through environmental protection, agricultural assistance and 
educational programs.
  As with many other agencies following September 11, 2001, AID has 
recently seen its work extend to essential tasks related to the 
elimination of terrorism and social unrest through programs that 
attempt to contribute to stability. Although AID's work on terrorism is 
vital, H.R. 2800 goes much further, seeking to ensure significant 
funding for international security through assistance programs and 
activities in other realms.
  The bill provides over $2.6 billion for assistance to Israel. As the 
roadmap to peace in this very delicate process

[[Page H7238]]

moves forward, it is our obligation, it is the obligation of this 
Congress to ensure support for Israel in every way necessary.
  In other foreign assistance, H.R. 2800 funds the Andean Counterdrug 
Initiative, at the President's request, $731 million. For years, 
terrorists in Colombia have plagued efforts in that democratic country 
for peace. We believe that proactive action must continue to be taken 
to help the Colombian people defeat the armed rebels and to, as much as 
possible, stabilize that democratic society.
  With the current landscape in the world today, foreign assistance is 
as strategically just, really, as it is a moral imperative. Instability 
in the world creates, Mr. Speaker, an environment in which terrorism 
finds it easy to breed new converts. We must not take progress, in the 
Andean region for example, for granted. If the United States turns its 
back on that region, the possible scenarios are extremely worrisome.
  For the first time, Mr. Speaker, this bill appropriates $800 million 
for the President's Millennium Challenge Account. This historic 
expansion in foreign aid serves to bring economic security and basic 
tenets of democracy to those that really have not seen them in the past 
or to societies where democracy is extremely fragile. The Millennium 
Challenge Account will be administered by a government corporation held 
responsible to results and yet benefiting from flexibility to provide 
innovative solutions to the problems of poverty.
  H.R. 2800, Mr. Speaker, was introduced by the gentleman from Arizona 
(Mr. Kolbe), chairman of the subcommittee, and was reported out of the 
Committee on Appropriations on July 16 by a voice vote, in other words, 
with extraordinary bipartisan support. It is very good legislation.
  Chairman Kolbe has long worked on this, as well as the members of the 
subcommittee, and I think they all deserve our gratitude. So I thank 
Chairman Kolbe and the ranking member, the gentlewoman from New York 
(Mrs. Lowey), for their leadership on this important issue. And I urge 
my colleagues to support both the rule and the underlying legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Florida for 
yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself 8 minutes.
  Mr. Speaker, adoption of this rule will allow the House to consider 
H.R. 2800, the Foreign Operations Appropriations Act for fiscal year 
2004. This rule exposes to points of order three sections of the bill, 
a section relating to debt forgiveness through the Commodity Credit 
Corporation for poor countries; a section relating to open bidding 
process for reconstruction contracts in Iraq; and a section relating to 
the duties of the Millennium Challenge Commissioner. And we are very 
concerned about that, Mr. Speaker.
  Although this rule allows any Member to offer amendments under the 5-
minute rule, it is not completely open. The standing rules of the House 
severely restrict the amendment process on all appropriations bills. 
Therefore, even though the Committee on Rules granted a rule that 
technically does not restrict the amendment process, by its nature, 
that amendment process for appropriations bills is still limited.
  Spending amendments almost always require funding offsets elsewhere 
in the bill. Limitations must be very narrowly crafted and cannot 
impose any new duty on the agency or department to which the limitation 
is directed.

                              {time}  1030

  Whether or not an amendment is germane is just one criterion that 
must be met in order for an amendment to be made in order on an 
appropriations bill. House rules prohibit amendments to appropriations 
bills if they contain authorizing language, if they provide funding for 
unauthorized programs, services or projects, and if amendments violate 
the Budget Act. In general, nearly all substantive amendments require 
some type of waiver, waivers that are rarely granted by the Committee 
on Rules.
  Mr. Speaker, several Members came before the Committee on Rules last 
night and requested waivers for their amendments. I supported the right 
of every Member who came before the committee to offer their 
amendments. They are serious amendments and this is an important bill.
  However, I am particularly disappointed that a very thoughtful 
amendment offered by the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Foreign 
Operations, Export Financing and Related Programs, the gentlewoman from 
New York, was not made in order by this rule. The Lowey amendment would 
designate as emergency funding an additional $1 billion for HIV/AIDS 
programs. Had it been made in order, the Lowey amendment would have 
given this body the opportunity to help President Bush fulfill the 
promises he has so recently made to African nations to provide $3 
billion in fiscal year 2004 in the global campaign against HIV/AIDS.
  The gentleman from Arizona and the gentlewoman from New York are to 
be commended for the funding for HIV/AIDS that is provided in the bill 
given overall funding constraints placed on foreign aid funding for 
fiscal year 2004. The bill contains a total of $1.43 billion in global 
assistance to combat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, most of which 
is within the Child Survival and Health Programs Fund. But even when 
this amount is combined with the funding in the Labor-HHS 
appropriations bill, it is still nearly $1 billion short of the $3 
billion for fiscal year 2004 pledged by President Bush and authorized 
by this Congress with great fanfare just a few weeks ago. Mr. Speaker, 
I fear that once again this House may be making promises that it has 
absolutely no intention of keeping.
  And although the House will not have the opportunity to consider the 
Lowey amendment, Members will have a chance to consider at least two 
other amendments that attempt to address the shortfalls. The 
gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Kilpatrick) will offer an amendment that 
would transfer $300 million from the Millennium Challenge Account to 
the Child Survival and Health Programs Fund to boost the amount for 
HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases. And the gentleman from Missouri 
(Mr. Skelton) and I will offer an amendment to make very modest 
reductions from two accounts that provide military aid for Colombia in 
order to add $75 million to the Child Survival and Health Programs Fund 
for programs that combat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other 
deadly infectious diseases.
  If adopted, Mr. Speaker, each of these amendments will save hundreds 
of thousands of lives. $75 million alone, the funding in the McGovern-
Skelton amendment, would ensure that an additional 250,000 people could 
receive the HIV/AIDS generic drug treatment for an entire year. Think 
of it, Mr. Speaker. If the McGovern-Skelton amendment is approved, 
250,000 more fathers and mothers and children will have access to these 
lifesaving drugs. The Kilpatrick amendment would increase the expansion 
of mother-to-child transmission programs, expand prevention programs 
and establish drug purchase and distribution centers in Africa and 
throughout the developing world.
  Forty-two million people are currently living with AIDS around the 
world. Last year, 3 million people died of AIDS and 5 million more were 
infected. Mr. Speaker, the House has the opportunity to do the right 
thing, to save more lives this afternoon, by supporting both the 
McGovern-Skelton and Kilpatrick amendments. I would urge my colleagues 
to support both of them.
  H.R. 2800 provides $17.1 billion, far below the fiscal year 2003 
total spending level of $23 billion for foreign operations and $1.7 
billion below the amount requested by President Bush. While it 
increases moneys for basic education and funds reconstruction in 
Afghanistan and U.S. commitments in the Middle East, it still falls 
short of what the United States should do, indeed must do, to ensure 
our long-term security at home and abroad.
  Development assistance, for example, is cut by $63 million from last 
year's level. This is the account that funds microenterprise programs, 
clean water projects, agricultural and rural development and a wide 
variety of USAID-supported projects that move impoverished communities 
toward food security, self-sufficiency, and economic prosperity. What 
does a cut of $63 million mean? It means thousands of

[[Page H7239]]

women who were enrolled in microenterprise projects will be cut off. 
Small farmers who were encouraged to cultivate new crops that might be 
able to compete in regional or even global markets will find that their 
project funding has disappeared and they have been left to fend for 
themselves without seed, without credit, without technical assistance.
  So not only will these programs not expand; we will be cutting off 
precious aid, support, and hope to tens of millions of people around 
the world. From East Timor to Mali to Bolivia, from eastern Europe to 
the Balkans to South Asia, people will be cut off. These are people and 
communities and governments who have chosen to be our partners. What 
kind of partner does the United States show itself to be when we turn 
our backs on the very people we just shook hands with?
  Mr. Speaker, we need a foreign operations bill that honors the 
promises our Nation has already made to the nations and peoples of the 
world and one that seeks to expand our very best programs even further. 
We need such a bill not only because it helps those in need but because 
it is essential for our own national security. This bill, in my 
opinion, does not meet those needs. It cannot, because from the very 
start this House simply failed to make those resources available.
  Mr. Speaker, I regret that this bill is so restricted in funding. I 
regret that several amendments that required waivers were not made in 
order.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as 
he may consume to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Knollenberg), a 
distinguished, fine leader of the Committee on Appropriations.
  Mr. KNOLLENBERG. I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time.
  Mr. Speaker, as a member of the Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, 
Export Financing and Related Programs, I rise to strongly support this 
bill. I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will do likewise. 
I commend and thank the gentleman from Arizona for his hard work and 
leadership as the chairman of the subcommittee. He has consistently 
sought to accommodate the many concerns expressed by Members while 
remaining focused on bringing a responsible and effective bill before 
us here today. That, of course, is not an easy task; but he has 
accomplished it effectively, and he has the good help obviously of the 
ranking member, the gentlewoman from New York. I also thank the 
committee staff for their tireless work. They are an excellent group, 
and we are lucky to have them in this House.
  Mr. Speaker, foreign assistance remains an inseparable part of our 
Nation's overall foreign policy, national security and economic 
interests. This is a responsible bill that effectively allocates the 
foreign assistance that we have available. For the first time ever, 
this foreign operations bill includes funding for the Millennium 
Challenge Account, some $800 million. Our President deserves some great 
credit for proposing this initiative. The strength of the MCA, or 
Millennium Challenge Account, is that it focuses responsibility for 
economic growth on the policies of the governments of developing 
countries. One important lesson the United States has learned from our 
experience is financial assistance can only be effective when 
developing countries are committed to establishing the necessary 
economic, legal, and political reforms.
  With our financial assistance, we can help a country grow; but we 
cannot make a country grow. The governments have to have the right 
policies in place. In light of this reality, MCA funding will be 
targeted to projects in specific nations that govern justly, invest in 
their people, and encourage economic freedom. I urge my colleagues to 
support the funding for this very important initiative.
  Mr. Speaker, one of the most important contributions this bill makes 
to our foreign policy is the annual assistance package to the Middle 
East. Israel, of course, is our closest ally in the region and shares 
our values of democracy and freedom. I am pleased that this bill fully 
supports the administration request of $2.6 billion in military and 
economic assistance to Israel as well as $50 million to support the 
resettlement of Jewish refugees. The United States must continue to 
stand in strong support of Israel. In addition, this bill provides some 
$1.9 billion to Egypt and over $450 million to Jordan, both critical 
allies of the United States.
  Further, I am pleased that this bill provides $35 million for Lebanon 
to support the American educational institutions and the excellent 
USAID mission there. Combined with our funding for Morocco, Yemen, the 
West Bank and Gaza, and our regional programs like the Middle East 
Partnership Initiative, our programs in the Middle East, if focused 
properly, can help foster changes in the region.
  The Middle East faces severe development challenges. Reports such as 
the ``2002 Arab Human Development Report'' by the United Nations 
Development Program has provided a clear diagnosis of this problem. It 
is my hope that American assistance to our Arab allies will help 
support institutional changes that lead to greater freedom, political 
empowerment, and economic growth.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill also helps to strengthen our relationship with 
our friend and ally, Armenia. Armenia continues to suffer from 
blockades by its neighbors. Our assistance to the country helps to 
offset these conditions. Therefore, I am pleased that this bill 
increases assistance to Armenia to $70 million, some $20.5 million 
above the President's request. I look forward to working with the 
chairman in conference on this issue.
  Mr. Speaker, there are other important elements of this bill, 
including trade capacity building, foreign military financing for new 
NATO members and, of course, significant funding beyond the President's 
request to continue the fight against the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa and 
around the world. I believe this to be a good bill, within the 
allocation provided to the subcommittee, and represents a responsible 
contribution to our Nation's foreign policy, national security, and 
economic goals.
  I once again want to commend the chairman for his efforts on this 
bill. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this 
what I believe to be a great bill, a balanced bill. We need to do it 
right here in the House today.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
New York (Mrs. Lowey), who has taken the lead in fighting for 
additional funds for HIV/AIDS programs.
  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, although I am a strong supporter of this 
bill, I rise to express my disappointment with the rule. On a party-
line vote, the Committee on Rules refused to make my amendment in order 
to add $1 billion in emergency funds for HIV/AIDS. I requested that it 
be made in order so that the full House would have the opportunity to 
vote to provide the $3 billion authorized in the recently passed HIV/
AIDS bill. Unfortunately, we are being denied the opportunity to live 
up to the promises we have made. It is truly a shame that the White 
House opposed this amendment when I offered it during full committee 
consideration of the bill. These funds are needed and can be used 
effectively next year.
  The gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Kilpatrick) will be offering an 
amendment to the bill adding $300 million for HIV/AIDS, which I urge 
Members to support. The amendment will be offset with $300 million from 
the Millennium Challenge Account, which in my judgment is overfunded in 
the bill at $800 million, because I do not believe they can spend it in 
this appropriations cycle.
  I am perplexed by other aspects of this rule. Apparently, the 
Committee on Rules feels compelled not to protect language in 
appropriation bills if authorizing committee chairmen object. A 
provision requiring competitive contracting in Iraq has been left 
unprotected. Language allowing bilateral agricultural debt to be 
rescheduled along with all other U.S. Government debt has also been 
left unprotected. And language clarifying how AID should interact with 
the new Millennium Challenge Corporation is unprotected as well. All of 
these provisions were included for sound policy reasons and were 
supported by the Committee on Appropriations. It was necessary to 
include them only because the authorizing committees have failed to 
address the issues involved. It is my hope that

[[Page H7240]]

the authorizing committee members involved would think twice before 
making their points of order, but the practical implications of 
dropping the language in the bill seem to be of secondary concern to 
jurisdictional interests.
  The rule also failed to make in order a number of important 
provisions, including a request from the Committee on Financial 
Services to authorize several international banks. This authorization 
is badly needed and long overdue. There were other Democratic 
amendments that were not given protection from points of order, 
including amendments by the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Jackson), a 
member of the Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, Export Financing and 
Related Programs, which would have helped fill the gap in our funding 
for various programs in Africa. Again, my colleagues, it is very 
disappointing that the full House will not be allowed to consider a 
number of sound policy initiatives today.
  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to 
the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Ballenger), the distinguished 
chairman of the Subcommittee on The Western Hemisphere of the Committee 
on International Relations.
  Mr. BALLENGER. Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to thank the 
gentleman for yielding me this time. I want to say some good words 
about something that very few people say in a positive fashion and that 
is the AID supplement that goes on by our State Department in handling 
disastrous areas and helping develop countries that need all the 
assistance in the world.

                              {time}  1045

  As I am chairman of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, I have been 
heavily involved in Central and South America for 35 years, and I have 
watched AID build and construct efforts on growing democracy in all of 
these areas, as well as trying to take care of people who are starving.
  It is hard to believe it, but in Venezuela after the floods killed 
close to 50,000 to 75,000, AID was there immediately to supply 
equipment for fresh water, to help supply foods, to help supply all of 
the necessary things to rebuild that country.
  In Honduras, I do not know how many people remember Hurricane Mitch, 
but it almost wiped out the whole country of Honduras. AID helped 
build, at least I know I was involved with them in 3,000 homes that 
they helped build, and to rebuild their banana crops which were 
completely destroyed.
  In El Salvador after the earthquake that people may or may not 
remember, 1,000 people were killed. AID furnished a hospital in the 
area that had been completely just about wiped out by landslides caused 
by the earthquake, and also helped to rebuild the homes that were 
destroyed in the countryside of El Salvador.
  But mostly I want to thank AID for the effort that they have done in 
Colombia in developing alternative crops, every type of crop that one 
can think of, trying to develop some with a method of replacing coca, 
which is the major producer of cocaine. They supply pretty close to 100 
percent of all the cocaine that is used in this country, killing our 
children on a daily basis; and AID and its workers have been all over 
Colombia developing anything they can to strengthen their economy and 
to give them some other way of earning a living, rather than growing 
coca.
  Coffee itself was Colombia's major crop, and then some brilliant mind 
came along with the idea of let us teach the Vietnamese how to grow 
coffee. The Vietnamese expanded coffee growth and so forth, along with 
the Brazilians. It just about destroyed the market for coffee. So the 
area that AID is trying to help the Colombian people, where the major 
production of coffee exists, is to somehow strengthen the product in 
such a way of making it cleaner and easier to sell it in this country. 
And they are doing a wonderful job, and they need all the assistance 
they can get.
  They are also working in the area of Putamayo, which is the heaviest 
area of growth of coca in the whole country of Colombia, in developing 
what people would say is something that makes a great deal of sense. 
They happen to be in almost the Amazon area of South America with large 
amounts of lumber, timber, and so forth and so on; and they have been 
cutting trees and shipping the whole tree to Bogota where it is cut up 
and sawn and so forth, and they have a fairly large furniture industry 
that happens to be tied into the furniture industry in Hickory, North 
Carolina, where I come from.
  What they are doing is, they are trying to help these people down 
there in Putamayo, a very poor area of their country, to develop an 
actual timbering process where they cut the trees down, they saw them 
up into boards, and then they kiln dry it in such a way that it all of 
a sudden is usable as lumber in the industry of manufacturing 
furniture.
  Also, the shipment of the goods from Putamayo to Bogota, if they ship 
the whole tree, they are shipping half water. With this effort that 
they are putting in right now, it is an effort to really be able to 
upgrade the living standard of those people there, and I would just 
like to say that any time anybody questions what AID is doing, I hope 
they will speak to me.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
New Jersey (Mr. Pallone).
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to take the opportunity to 
thank the ranking member on the subcommittee and the chairman of the 
subcommittee and also the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Knollenberg), 
the cochair of the Armenia Caucus, for the increased funding for 
Armenia that is in the Foreign Ops appropriations bill. The 
administration had requested only $49.5 million for humanitarian 
assistance to Armenia this year, and the subcommittee increased the 
funding by $20.5 million. Basically, it is $70 million now. In 
addition, they allocated $2.5 million in foreign military financing and 
$900,000 for International Military Education and Training, as well as 
$5 million in assistance to Nagorno-Karabakh.
  I will say, Mr. Speaker, of course, the overall funding for the 
former Soviet states that was recommended by the administration was 
significantly lower, so this amount still does not reach the $90 
million that Armenia received last year. But I know that the 
subcommittee was working with tremendous constraints, and so what they 
accomplished to get us up to the $70 million was truly exceptional. I 
am hoping, of course, that during the conference with the Senate, we 
can do more, but I just wanted to take this opportunity to mention how 
important this aid is.
  Armenia continues to be blockaded on both sides by Turkey and 
Azerbaijan. There is a continued need for humanitarian assistance. 
There continue to be improvements in the Armenian economy in their 
efforts to achieve a market economy, but unemployment is still very 
high in the majority of the population. So this type of assistance is 
important, and the fact that the subcommittee and the members on a 
bipartisan basis were willing to increase the funding is certainly 
appreciated.
  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, we have no further 
speakers, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I just want to point out one thing that is of great 
concern to me. I am extremely disappointed that the majority in the 
Committee on Rules exposes to a point of order a section requiring an 
open bidding process for reconstruction contracts in Iraq. This 
section, included by the gentleman from Arizona (Chairman Kolbe) in the 
fiscal year 2004 Foreign Operations bill requires competitive bidding 
for any new reconstruction contract in Iraq. Without this provision, 
the administration will be able to award enormously valuable contracts 
to large corporations without any competition and all behind closed 
doors, if they so chose.
  Mr. Speaker, we have seen this happen before. After the war in Iraq 
began, the Department of Defense began to negotiate and award contracts 
for the reconstruction of Iraq. One contract was awarded to 
Halliburton, the Vice President's former employer. This contract to 
clean up the oil wells and to get them ready for mass production was 
awarded without competition and behind closed doors to Halliburton.

[[Page H7241]]

  The gentleman from Arizona (Chairman Kolbe), to his great credit, 
wants to end this practice and return to the standard of competitive 
bidding. But there is opposition to this effort. The chairman of the 
Committee on Government Reform and a former chairman of the National 
Republican Congressional Committee requested that this section be 
exposed to a point of order.
  Mr. Speaker, that is very unfortunate. We must make sure that the 
rebuilding effort in Iraq is above-board without the appearance of 
shady dealings and smoke-filled rooms. So I would urge my colleagues to 
make sure that we retain this important provision.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, I again want to commend the gentleman from 
Arizona (Chairman Kolbe) and the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. 
Lowey), ranking member, for all the good that they have done in this 
bill. I only wish they had had more resources to work with.
  To me, the major shortfall of this bill is the inadequate funding for 
HIV/AIDS programs. It is important that the United States keep its 
promise. And Members will have two opportunities later this afternoon 
to do just that, by supporting the McGovern-Skelton amendment and the 
Kilpatrick amendment. Both of these amendments will in the end increase 
the amount of money for HIV/AIDS programs.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such 
time as I may consume.
  The legislation that we bring to the floor today is extremely 
important to the national interests of the United States. The $17-plus 
billion in this legislation helps millions of people throughout the 
world. This is an extremely important piece of legislation.
  We bring it to the floor with an open rule. In other words, any 
relevant amendment, any germane amendment by any Member of this House 
will be able to be introduced and debated. It is an open rule.
  So again I thank the gentleman from Arizona (Chairman Kolbe) and the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey), ranking member, and members of 
the subcommittee for their hard work on this important issue; and at 
this point, once again, urge all of our colleagues to support the 
underlying legislation and this open rule.
  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this rule. 
This rule has been designated as ``Open'' but the truth is that a 
number of important amendments were defeated in Committee on a party 
line vote.
  I am disappointed that the Maloney/Crowley amendment that would 
direct the $25 million appropriated in this bill for the United Nations 
Population Fund (UNFPA) to prevent, treat, and repair obstetric fistula 
was ruled out of order.
  Two weeks ago, President Bush visited Senegal, South Africa, 
Botswana, Uganda and Nigeria. This was an important visit which 
demonstrated that this Administration is willing to work with and 
commit resources to the continent of Africa. Two of the countries he 
visited, Uganda and Nigeria, were included in a recent report released 
by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and EngenderHealth, 
Obstetric Fistula Needs Assessment: Findings from Nine African 
Countries. The report determines the capacity of 35 hospitals in Benin, 
Chad, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Uganda, and Zambia to treat 
patients with obstetric fistula and assess their need for additional 
supplies, staff, and surgical supplies.
  Obstetric fistula is a horrible condition. More than two million 
woman world-wide are living in shame and suffering with this 
devastating condition, which results from obstructed labor during 
childbirth. In the United States and the rest of the developed world, 
fistula was once as common as it is now in Africa--the Waldorf Astoria 
in New York was built on the site of a fistula repair hospital. But 
Caesarean section changed history in the wealthier countries, and it is 
now our automatic response to obstructed labor. In poor areas of Africa 
and elsewhere, where health care is scarce and where undernourished and 
stunted young girls may be required to marry before their bodies have 
matured, a pregnant woman (usually a young girl) may be in agonizing 
labor for days. The baby usually dies, and if the woman survives, her 
birth canal may be damaged, creating an opening between her vagina and 
her bladder or her rectum, sometimes both. The result is an 
uncontrollable leakage of urine or feces, or both. The women is 
constantly wet and highly unpleasant; she suffers recurrent infections 
and shame, and is usually abandoned and ostracized by her community. No 
one knows the true extent of this problem, for the women tend to hide, 
not knowing that help is available--from programs supported by UNFPA.
  Fortunately, UNFPA provides the very maternal health care that helps 
save the lives of women and their babies and avoids medical 
complications like fistula. I have always said that USAID does 
important work, but one thing they don't do is prevent and combat the 
incidence of fistula. In my opinion, it is a terrible lapse on the part 
of our government and gives added incentive and reason to fund UNFPA.
  This amendment is a positive compromise. If it has been ruled in 
order, I am confident that this is the kind of program that no one 
would object to. It would have been a dramatic initiative demonstrating 
a commitment to Africa' poor and in particular to saving the lives of 
African women. Providing funding to UNFPA to fight fistula would have 
shown immediate results in the form of thousands of grateful women 
whose lives could resume. And it would have resolved the contentious 
issue of UNFPA funding that has repeatedly stalled the passage of 
urgent State Department initiatives and international aid programs 
worldwide.
  Once again, I would like to say that I am very disappointed that the 
full House will not be allowed to consider this important, thoughtful 
compromise that will help save the lives of millions of women around 
the world.
  I urge a ``no'' vote on the rule.
  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the 
balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.
  The previous question was ordered.
  The resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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