[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 110 (Wednesday, July 23, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H7369-H7376]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      FOREIGN OPERATIONS, EXPORT FINANCING, AND RELATED PROGRAMS 
                        APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2004

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 327 and rule 
XVIII, the Chair declares the House in the Committee of the Whole House 
on the State of the Union for the consideration of the bill, H.R. 2800.

                              {time}  1525


                     In the Committee of the Whole

  Accordingly, the House resolved itself into the Committee of the 
Whole

[[Page H7370]]

House on the State of the Union for the 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, with Mr. Thornberry in the chair.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to the rule, the bill is considered as having 
been read the first time.
  Under the rule, the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Kolbe) and the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey) each will control 30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Kolbe).
  Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to present, at long last I should say, 
present H.R. 2800, the Foreign Operations appropriations bill for 
fiscal year 2004. In almost all the instances that we will see here 
today, this is a joint recommendation, which means that there are 
compromises that are made on both sides; and it is one of which I am 
very proud.
  I am very proud to have worked with the gentlewoman from New York 
(Mrs. Lowey), my colleague, the ranking member from the minority side. 
Working with her has been absolutely a joy. She has been wonderful in 
her spirit of trying to find a bipartisan approach to foreign policy. 
It is in that spirit, I believe, that this bill is presented today; and 
I want to thank her and her staff for the tireless work that they have 
done on this bill.
  I might add, I want to thank the staff that surrounds me here, led by 
the able Clerk of our subcommittee, Charlie Flickner, and my personal 
staff for the extraordinary work that they have done to get us to where 
we are today.
  Mr. Chairman, the subcommittee's recommendation for fiscal year 2004 
foreign assistance and export financing funding is $17.1 billion. That 
is $1.7 billion below the administration's request. We worked to 
accommodate as many of the Members' interests as possible, while 
keeping in mind the broader national and international situation.
  In the papers, on TV, in the streets, we are faced daily with the 
ramification of the issues that are covered by this bill. This bill 
provides vital funding to fight wars against disease and drugs, for 
building peace and democracy, and for building economic prosperity 
around the world.
  The President's trip to Africa a few weeks ago highlighted the 
opportunity we have this year to embark on a bold new direction in 
international assistance. During his trip, the President championed 
initiatives to address two of the greatest problems facing our world 
today, persistent poverty and HIV/AIDS. The Millennium Challenge 
Account and the emergency plans for AIDS relief are the most innovative 
programs that we have seen in decades that reshape foreign assistance.
  The Millennium Challenge Account will provide an incentive for 
countries to build a political and economic infrastructure which leads 
to long-term development, which leads to sustainable development, which 
leads to the improvement in the lives of the citizens of the countries 
involved.
  The AIDS initiative will bring medicine and care and hope to millions 
of people. The very promise of care and treatment has already brought 
hope to millions.
  These initiatives may be innovative new approaches, but the work of 
our subcommittee has not changed. We must distribute the resources that 
are allotted to us, resources that are never quite enough, across a 
wide range of competing priorities. We have to make difficult choices 
among deserving programs, and we are charged with ensuring that 
taxpayer money is spent wisely and efficiently. We all must remember 
that effective programs require a firm foundation and good management.
  This year we have once again provided more funds than the President 
requests for HIV/AIDS, for its prevention, treatment, care and support. 
Our bill recommends $1.43 billion for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and 
malaria. Add to that the $645 million that was recommended by the 
Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related 
Agencies and that the House approved last week, this body now proposes 
to spend nearly $2.1 billion for these three diseases, an amount that 
more than meets the President's request of $2.04 billion.
  This $2 billion represents the first installment of $15 billion to be 
spent against these three diseases over the next 5 years. Let me make 
that crystal clear. This administration and this subcommittee and, I 
believe, this Congress are fully committed to spending $15 billion on 
prevention and life-saving treatments for those afflicted with AIDS 
around the world. This $2 billion that is in these two bills, last week 
and here today on the floor, is only our first installment in that 
program.

                              {time}  1530

  Now, the Millennium Challenge Account is a new component of our bill 
this year. I fully support the MCA. I am excited about it. I believe it 
can make our investments in developing assistance more effective and 
more sustainable. Our bill recommends $800 billion for the MCA, or 
Millennium Challenge Account, and we believe that is the amount that 
can be effectively spent in fiscal year 2004.
  Of course, in future years more resources are going to be needed to 
fight HIV/AIDS and to support the initiatives of the MCA. I have 
confidence that the Congress will meet the 5-year pledge for AIDS and 
that additional funds will be forthcoming to support the creative 
delivery of foreign assistance through the MCA in years ahead. But it 
is the very size of the task facing us over the coming years that 
counsels patience today. Our recommendations for the HIV/AIDS 
initiative and for the MCA are the first steps in two very ambitious, 
very innovative, and very new programs. With this $2 billion the House 
provides for AIDS this coming year, agencies can build a solid 
framework to support the $13 billion that will follow. With our $800 
million for the Millennium Challenge Account, we will have a structure 
that can effectively and wisely use the added $5 billion in development 
assistance that the President has pledged to put on top of existing 
development assistance. But our recommendation is not so extravagant, 
Mr. Chairman, that money will lay waiting to be spent, gathering 
pressure that might lead to waste and to unwise expenditures, eroding 
public confidence in these two initiatives.
  Some of our colleagues are pressing to take even more, to move money 
into AIDS from the MCA for other programs. Such an approach, Mr. 
Chairman, would, in my opinion, be an unwise one. What we have provided 
for the President's new HIV/AIDS initiative is prudent, when we 
consider that the coordinator, who has been named for these programs in 
the State Department, has not yet been confirmed by the Senate. Taking 
more money from the MCA would signal a lack of confidence in the 
approach of the MCA. We should instead be recognizing the President for 
his vision, and $800 million to launch this program is an appropriate 
level.
  The final priority I want to mention in this bill is funding for 
Israel, Egypt, and Jordan. This funding accounts for nearly $5 billion 
of the total. Let me add that the major refugee account and the key 
military assistance accounts, so vital in our war against terrorism and 
to protect our national security, are all fully funded.
  Of course, the funding priorities I have laid out for my colleagues 
add up to more than the increase in our budget allocation. So the 
subcommittee has gone to great lengths to avoid reducing appropriations 
in order to make room for the AIDS emergency plan and the Millennium 
Challenge Account, and for the admirable commitment of the gentlewoman 
from New York (Mrs. Lowey) to improving basic education globally. 
Within Child Survival and Health, we have succeeded in holding the 
levels for Child Survival and Maternal Health, for Vulnerable Children, 
for Family Planning and Reproductive Health, and our unrestricted grant 
to UNICEF at last year's level.
  Our funding for international funding institutions, the Economic 
Support Fund, which is used by the State Department and the President 
to support economic development assistance around the world, and two of 
the President's lesser initiatives, has been reduced or eliminated to 
accommodate the initiatives within the allocation that was given to us.

[[Page H7371]]

  Separately, I would note that there is no money in this bill for the 
reconstruction in Iraq. None has been requested by the administration. 
Although many of us expect and many of us heard yesterday from 
Ambassador Bremer that more money may well be required shortly, we will 
await a Presidential decision on this matter.
  In closing, let me say, and I say this with some confidence, that 
this is a good bill, one which I believe that all Members can be proud 
of and which I hope will have the support of all the Members of this 
body. It is fiscally responsible. It is within the subcommittee's 
budget allocation. It is a bill that helps to lay the groundwork for 
the important work that is ahead of us as we launch these major 
initiatives in development assistance and HIV/AIDS prevention and 
treatment. It is a bill that meets our challenges overseas and impacts 
the national security of this Nation. I urge the Members to support 
this legislation.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Chairman, I want to begin by thanking our distinguished chairman, 
the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Kolbe), a good friend, who has worked 
very closely with me, and I appreciate our extremely cooperative 
relationship. I also want to thank the chairman of our full committee, 
the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young). I appreciate the leadership he 
provides to this committee.
  And I want to say at the outset that while Chairman Kolbe and I may 
differ fundamentally on the adequacy of our allocation he certainly 
accommodated most of my priorities, and I believe we have a bill that 
indeed is worthy of Members' support, despite the fact that we had to 
cut $1.7 billion from the President's request, and I urge my colleagues 
to support it.
  The bill contains $17.1 billion, which is an increase of $900 million 
over last year, and I generally agree with my chairman on the spending 
levels recommended for specific accounts within the reduced allocation. 
We did work together closely to ensure that in the face of devastating 
cuts we at least level funded Child Survival and Health accounts and 
increased education as a priority area. We provided funding for 
reconstruction in Afghanistan, an issue on which the chairman and I 
have collaborated often in the last year. The bill also funds fully our 
commitments in the Middle East, a powerful statement at such a critical 
time in the peace process. And there are many more very positive 
aspects I will discuss further in a moment.
  I do have some concerns as well. At the $17 billion spending level, 
we as a country will devote less than 1 percent of our GDP to foreign 
assistance. Actual spending in 2003 for foreign aid will total over $23 
billion, including $7.5 billion in emergency supplemental funding for 
war-related needs in Iraq and Afghanistan. That additional spending 
sped through Congress without a hint of controversy because it was 
judged vital to our national security. As the conflict and 
reconstruction continue in Iraq on parallel tracks, there is a good 
chance we will need more, and Members should know that there are no 
funds in this bill to address Iraq reconstruction needs. This means 
that those additional needs will be addressed in a supplemental, which 
will undoubtedly also contain billions to fund the defense-related 
costs of the war and which will again be requested by the President as 
emergency spending.
  I do believe that our response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic is 
underfunded and should be dealt with as the emergency it is now. In 
response to the President's extraordinary initiative on HIV/AIDS, 
Congress overwhelmingly passed and the President signed a bill 
authorizing $3 billion for fiscal year 2004. While in Africa 2 weeks 
ago, the President repeatedly touted this $15 billion 5-year plan, and 
he and his advisers called on Congress to fund it. This created the 
impression that we the Congress were the obstacle to providing $3 
billion, despite the fact that the President himself only requested $2 
billion in appropriations.
  Now, while I am pleased that this bill provides $1.43 billion for 
HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases, we supported the $3 billion 
authorization on this floor in this Congress, and now the bill has come 
due. I believe it is disingenuous for us to make promises we have no 
intention of keeping, and so I offered an amendment at full committee 
to provide an additional $1 billion for HIV/AIDS as emergency spending. 
I asked that this amendment be made in order under the rule so every 
Member of Congress would have the opportunity to fulfill our pledge, 
but it was not. It is truly a disgrace, in my judgment, that we will 
not have the opportunity to take this vote today.
  Additional resources for Africa are also vitally needed. Everyone is 
aware of the long history of devastating and destabilizing humanitarian 
and political crises on that continent. And although this bill will 
slightly increase resources for Africa above last year, it merely 
begins to address the ongoing tragedies there. Unfortunately, the 
amendment of the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Jackson) to add emergency 
resources for Africa was also not made in order.
  The sad fact is that we as a Nation have neglected the problems of 
Africa for decades; chronic poverty, the spread of infectious disease, 
and lack of good governance remain. And despite all the efforts we have 
undertaken so far across many Congresses and administrations, we must 
no longer shy away from addressing these problems with sufficient 
resources and political will.
  It serves no one when the current presidential initiatives are touted 
as ultimate answers for these tragedies. Both the Millennium Challenge 
Account, MCA, and the HIV initiative hold the promise of getting 
increased resources to Africa, but the actual effects they will have 
remain unclear.
  I support the conceptual approach embodied in the proposal to 
establish a Millennium Challenge Account, however, budget realities we 
face this year, and will likely face next year, make it highly unlikely 
that the promise made by the President that the $10 billion intended 
for the MCA will be additive to current levels of foreign assistance 
will be kept. Much of the bipartisan support in Congress for the MCA is 
based on the fact that it is supposed to help the poorest countries of 
the world and that MCA resources will add to amounts currently spent on 
foreign assistance. Cuts to discretionary spending in this year's 
budget resolution, combined with unrealistically low budget requests 
for many domestic programs, have translated into cuts in this bill of 
$1.7 billion. This situation is likely to worsen in fiscal year 2005. 
The President cannot expect Congress to support full funding of the MCA 
initiative if other vital programs in the foreign operations bill have 
to be cut.
  The bill contains $800 million for the MCA, largely at the insistence 
of the White House; the Senate bill contains $1 billion for MCA; and 
the White House is still pushing for the full $1.3 billion requested. 
It is highly likely that the final allocation for the foreign 
operations bill will be $1 billion to $1.5 billion below the 
President's request. Now, in plain English, this means that other 
accounts in the bill will be cut severely if MCA is fully funded.
  Members should also know that only 3 of 11 potentially qualifying 
countries for MCA resources in 2004 are in Africa. In 2005, of the 12 
countries most likely to qualify, again, only 3 are in Africa. In all, 
after $2 billion over 3 years is provided to the MCA, only a small 
number are African countries are likely to have benefitted.
  I have taken the time in my opening remarks to address this situation 
because this initiative marks the beginning of a shift in how we in 
Congress effect foreign aid programming. As we provide more resources 
for MCA, our ability to direct funds to specific purposes, such as 
health and education, will diminish significantly. My support for this 
initiative going forward will thus depend on whether resources going to 
it are truly additive and whether Congress maintains some measure of 
control and oversight over country eligibility and program planning.

                              {time}  1545

  I am especially proud, and I want to personally thank the gentleman 
from Arizona for the $350 million in the bill for basic education, 
which is $100 million above last year's level. In addition, we require 
a detailed report on how the administration will organize and implement 
our expanded efforts in basic

[[Page H7372]]

education. Virtually everyone I speak to agrees that providing more and 
more focused resources for basic education throughout the world is one 
of the best possible ways we can combat the extremism and hopelessness 
that breed terrorism. I again want to thank the gentleman from Arizona 
for working with me on what I think is a very critical issue.
  The bill also provides an increase in resources for Treasury 
technical assistance which will help countries that are major source 
and transit points for terrorist financing close the gaping holes in 
their financial systems that let this funding slip through.
  However, the fact that we took care of administration priorities such 
as the Millennium Challenge Account and AIDS required that we make some 
hard choices. As a result, some programs will suffer. There is no 
funding recommended for debt relief for the Democratic Republic of 
Congo. Cuts in economic support funds, Eastern Europe, the New 
Independent States, and development assistance translate into probable 
cuts to many countries and a limited capacity to restore misguided cuts 
proposed by the administration to others, including Cyprus, East Timor, 
Armenia, Ukraine, and Russia.
  Mr. Chairman, as a final note, I want to make a few comments about 
the importance of this bill we consider on the floor today. I have 
always viewed foreign assistance as one of the three pillars of 
national security, along with defense and diplomacy. I believe the 
value of foreign assistance in spreading the ideals of democracy and 
freedom around the world and in eliminating the poverty that causes 
widespread instability in developing regions cannot be underestimated. 
However, except for a handful of notable instances directly linked to 
front-page current events, it has been difficult to ensure adequate 
funding for foreign aid priorities. Despite the new Presidential 
initiatives in this bill, and again I want to congratulate the 
President on these initiatives, this year, unfortunately, is no 
different. We still require far more resources than have been made 
available. I look forward to working with my colleagues in future years 
to ensure our priorities are adequately funded.
  In closing, I once again want to emphasize that I appreciate the 
close working relationship I have enjoyed with the gentleman from 
Arizona. He is a distinguished chairman, he is committed to this bill, 
and it truly has been a pleasure for me to work with our chairman. 
Considering the obstacles we faced, the product we present today is 
very good. I look forward to working with him as we move the process 
forward. I would also like to thank our able staff, Mark Murray, 
Charlie Flickner, Alice Grant, Scott Gudes, Rob Blair, Lori Maes, Sean 
Mulvaney, Beth Tritter, and Joe Weinstein, for their hard work.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield as much time as he may 
consume to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young), the distinguished 
chairman of the full committee, who, I must say, along with his staff, 
has been so supportive of our efforts in getting us to the floor at 
this stage. I am very grateful for his confidence and his support.
  Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the gentleman's 
comments, and I want to compliment him for having done a tremendous 
job. This is not the easiest bill to pass because a lot of folks just 
do not like foreign aid. Period. The chairman has developed a very 
responsible response to the issues that are facing us around the world. 
He has done a really good job. I would say that the gentlewoman from 
New York, as a working partner, has been very much a contributor to the 
success of this bill.
  I hope that we can conclude this bill today. We will see how long it 
takes. But it would be nice if we could. Although the committee got off 
to a late start this year, we passed the ninth appropriations bill just 
about an hour ago, the Commerce-Justice-State Department appropriations 
bill. This will be the 10th bill that we have passed on the floor 
despite a late start. As of tomorrow morning, we will have marked up 
all 13 appropriations bills in the full committee and we completed 11 
of last year's bills early this year, and we marked up two 
supplementals. So the committee has been very effective and very busy 
this year. This bill is the culmination of a strong effort by the 
gentleman from Arizona and the gentlewoman from New York to meet the 
responsibilities that we have in the world. I compliment them. They 
have done a really good job. I think that they join me in hoping that 
we can conclude the tenth appropritions bill before it gets too late 
tonight.
  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, I am very pleased to yield 6\1/2\ minutes 
to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Jackson), a distinguished member of 
our committee who has made sure that we focus on our priorities every 
day he is there.
  (Mr. JACKSON of Illinois asked and was given permission to revise and 
extend his remarks.)
  Mr. JACKSON of Illinois. Mr. Chairman, first I want to thank the 
chairman and ranking member of the Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, 
Export Financing and Related Programs and the subcommittee staff for 
their hard work. I think they did a reasonable job, considering the 
amount of money they had allocated to them.
  Mr. Chairman, the President requested $18.8 billion for the accounts 
that make up the foreign operations bill. Unfortunately, the leadership 
of the House only gave the bill $17.1 billion. That is where our 
problems began. From the outset, we were forced into a position of 
robbing Peter to pay Paul.
  The President's top priorities are to fund the Millennium Challenge 
Account, MCA, and his bilateral HIV/AIDS initiative. To fully fund the 
MCA and the HIV/AIDS initiative would take up almost 25 percent of this 
bill's allocation. Leadership and legislating require making tough 
choices, but that is not the whole story here. We have the ability and 
the resources to adequately fund these accounts. We have chosen not to. 
Over the last 3 years, Congress has chosen to provide tax cuts 
decreasing revenue by $310 billion for the 2004 fiscal year. We have 
chosen to provide $8.9 billion for a ballistic missile defense system 
that will not work. We have chosen to ignore the type of rampant 
poverty, illness and hopelessness in sub-Saharan Africa that create a 
breeding ground for terrorism.
  Africa today, Mr. Chairman, is in a state of emergency. This bill 
makes a valiant attempt but falls short of addressing this emergency in 
sub-Saharan Africa. The Congress' approach has been disjointed. In 
1999, this Congress said ``trade, not aid'' in the Africa Growth and 
Opportunity Act, that trade was Africa's future. Today Congress says 
aid, yes, but aid for AIDS. Africa deserves more than a hodgepodge, 
disjointed approach to its development. An emergency exists on the 
continent. Africa is the poorest region of the world, containing a 
majority of the world's poorest countries. Only one in three people in 
sub-Saharan Africa get enough to eat every day, and one out of two do 
not have access to clean drinking water. An emergency.
  Only one in three children completes elementary school. An emergency.
  Average life expectancy in Africa is just 49 years of age and in 
countries hardest hit by AIDS, just 30. An emergency.
  While poverty has fallen in much of the rest of the world, 20 African 
countries are poorer today than they were 20 years ago. An emergency.
  Overwhelming debt burdens, falling international development 
assistance levels, the onslaught of AIDS, and a combination of falling 
prices for Africa's exports and unfair international trade policies are 
pushing Africa backwards, stealing the gains of a generation of 
hardworking African people. An emergency.
  Africa is now at the epicenter of the greatest catastrophe in 
recorded human history, the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The gentlewoman from 
Michigan (Ms. Kilpatrick) will offer an amendment which I hope all 
Members of this Congress will support to fully fund the President's 
AIDS initiative. Since its first discovery 2 decades ago, more than 18 
million Africans have died of AIDS out of 25 million AIDS deaths 
worldwide.
  All day, Mr. Chairman, we are going to hear Members of the Congress 
come to the floor and say, We are doing something for AIDS. We are 
helping the Africans. We are doing something. We are showing something 
for Africa. But what about this bill addresses the

[[Page H7373]]

more than 300 million people in sub-Saharan Africa who survive on under 
$1 per day? AIDS has nothing to do with that massive economic 
inequality. Infant and child mortality rates remain high, AIDS 
notwithstanding; and access to health care and education is shrinking 
in many countries. Food insecurity is growing, most seriously in 
southern Africa and in the horn of Africa. Sub-Saharan Africa's massive 
external debt is the single largest obstacle to the continent's 
economic development, not the criteria established by the Millennium 
Challenge Corporation or the Millennium Challenge Account. We will hear 
other Members of Congress come to the floor and say, The Millennium 
Challenge Account, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, we are doing 
something through the MCA. Out of 48 sub-Saharan African countries, 
only three qualify for the benefits offered by the Millennium Challenge 
Corporation.
  I have laid out many of the statistics about the crisis on the 
continent, an emergency in Africa. But my colleagues would come and 
say, We are doing something because we are talking about AIDS. We are 
not discussing development and growth; we are not talking about a 
Marshall Plan for Africa. And this bill woefully undermines the amount 
of resources that this Congress could provide.
  Over the past 2 decades, African governments have paid out more in 
debt service than they have received in development assistance or new 
loans. My colleagues are going to come to the floor and say, We are 
doing something for Africa in terms of development assistance and 
loans. Here is the problem. Too few African countries will be 
benefiting from U.S. development assistance in the midst of a severe 
emergency on the continent. The MCA is the equivalent of saying, 
Africa, do what we want you to do and we will relate to you. But if you 
do not do what we want you to do, we will have no relationship to you 
at all in the midst of a profound emergency. Debt repayments divert 
money directly from spending on basic social needs, including the 
response to the HIV/AIDS crisis, trapping countries in a cycle of 
underdevelopment and dependency. From 1990 to 2000, sub-Saharan Africa 
experienced more than twice the number of casualties from conflict than 
any other region in the world.
  Mr. Chairman, I close on this note. In Sudan, Africa's largest 
country, civil war has raged for 36 of the last 46 years. It has cost 
more than 2 million lives and has displaced more than 4 million people. 
What about this bill does anything to address that problem? Since 1998, 
the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has cost an 
estimated 2 million lives, a holocaust of sorts, most the victim of 
hunger and disease; and at least another 2 million have been displaced. 
What about this bill does anything to address that problem?
  Mr. Chairman, these are serious problems that require real resources 
to address them, not just lip service. After general debate, I will 
offer an amendment that offers a comprehensive approach to addressing 
this emergency in sub-Saharan Africa.
  Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 6 minutes to the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Kirk), an absolutely invaluable member of our 
subcommittee, extraordinarily knowledgeable and has really contributed 
to the work of this subcommittee.
  Mr. KIRK. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this 
time. I want to thank the gentleman from Arizona and the gentlewoman 
from New York for one thing in particular. They have created a work 
atmosphere between the two parties on this bill that is the envy of the 
Committee on Ways and Means. I really take my hat off to both of them. 
I also wanted to take one moment to talk about the bill we just passed, 
the Commerce-State-Justice bill, which every Member of this Congress 
has helped fund the rewards program.
  The State Department rewards program is the key program that led to 
the incident with Uday and Qusay Hussein and their untimely demise. It 
is this program which sometimes gets down to one basic fact: Who 
helping the United States wants to be a millionaire? We will pay this 
$15 million set of rewards, and it is this program that I think gives 
us the best chance to capture Saddam Hussein.
  But turning now to the foreign operations bill, this bill represents 
a bipartisan decision by the American people since World War II that 
foreign policy matters, a subcommittee created by the Marshall Plan 
that is designed to reduce or prevent war and to lower the number of 
casualties or deployments by the U.S. military around the world. This 
bill visibly helps us respond to new challenges, Iraq and North Korea, 
Iran and Liberia, by substantially reducing the chance that the U.S. 
military will be deployed in other places in support of our allies. And 
look particularly at the Middle East where the little democracy of 
Israel has not faced a direct threat to her existence in the 1980s or 
1990s, largely because of support from this legislation.
  One of the big questions that we face today is funding to support our 
war against HIV/AIDS. As a staffer in this Congress, I helped start 
this program in 1987 with a small earmark of $30 million. Since that 
time, our commitment has grown substantially. If we look in this bill 
and years prior, what has our commitment to AIDS funding been? In 
fiscal year 1999, $139 million; in fiscal year 2000, $200 million; in 
2001, $415 million; in 2002, $485 million; in 2003, $893 million; and 
in this bill, $1.27 billion, just in the foreign operations bill, just 
to fight AIDS, a substantial commitment, one that I am proud having 
seen in 1987, the start of this program that we have funded.

                              {time}  1600

  And it underscores one key point when we take on the commitment to 
treat someone with HIV, we need to fund a program that can sustain that 
commitment. If we provide money in ways that are not politically 
sustainable, we could have some sort of scandal in a provider that 
would undermine political support for this. That would lead to the 
international community withdrawing support for an HIV patient. By 
having a responsible uptick in our support for the fight against AIDS, 
we are understanding a key point. When we make a commitment to a 
patient with HIV, we are going to do so in a way that sustains that 
commitment because success right now in this battle is that this 
patient will survive, and therefore we need to continue funding our 
battle. If we do it in an unsustainable way or in an irresponsible way 
that undermines political support, bad GAO investigations, exposes on 
the fleecing of America, we will undermine political support. People's 
lives are at stake here, and that is why doing it in a responsible way, 
when we make a commitment to a patient we can keep that commitment.
  And to the chairman, I really thank him for his personal commitment 
on the HIV issue because he has really sustained one of the highest 
ideals.
  So when we look at the United States, we have to see what have we 
done as compared to other countries. The nearest commitment of any 
other country to the 1.27 billion commitment in this bill is the 
government of the United Kingdom, which provided $313 million in the 
fight against AIDS. In fact, the United States gives more money to 
fight AIDS than all of the European Union and Japan combined. That is a 
monument to the idealism and foreign policy foresight of the United 
States. It is underscored in this bill.
  And to the chairman and to our ranking minority member I really want 
to take my hats off to them for sustaining this commitment. Hundreds of 
thousands of people's lives will be sustained by this, and this ramp-up 
in just several years from under $139 million to now $1.27 billion is a 
real testament to our idealism.
  I also want to thank the chairman for his commitment to cross-border 
programs in Tibet. We understand that there are 140,000 Tibetans 
outside China, 6 million inside China, and this bill sustains a 
political effort to enhance the authority and role of the Dalai Lama in 
Tibet, and I really want to thank them because there is no voice for 
the Tibetans inside China, and this bill underscores that voice and 
gives them a real role in their own country where an overwhelming 
number of Tibetans live, and I want to thank the chairman for that.
  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Michigan (Ms. Kilpatrick), distinguished member of the committee.

[[Page H7374]]

  Ms. KILPATRICK. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Arizona 
(Chairman Kolbe) for his leadership in steering another bill to 
committee under difficult times. To the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. 
Lowey), our ranking member, who is committed to the international 
community and has shown that in the leadership, I thank her for 
yielding me this time and for crafting a bill that I will support in 
the end as we go through this debate.
  As most Members of Congress know and very few members of the country 
know, the foreign assistance bill is only 1 percent of the total budget 
of the United States of America. Our budget is $2.2 trillion, and as 
the leading power in the world, this foreign assistance bill is not 
quite 1 percent of that. A good sum and we should be there for the 
other countries of the world. This budget funds many countries of the 
world, as was mentioned by our chairperson. Israel, Jordan, and Egypt 
are fully funded, and I think they should be. Other countries of the 
world are not so taken care of, and I think we can do better.
  At a time when we find the budget shrinking, deficits soaring, and 
this year we expect a $455 billion deficit at least, we do have to make 
certain decisions in how we fund our Government, how we fund our 
domestic programs, how we fund education, health care, housing, and 
those things that Americans need. So I understand it when some 
Americans do not understand that we have a responsibility as a 
superpower in the world to help other countries less fortunate and who 
are strategic allies to this country of the United States of America. 
So the budget before us today crafted by both the gentleman from 
Arizona (Mr. Kolbe) and the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey) is a 
good budget. It does have shortcomings, as was mentioned, and I would 
like to go over a few of those.
  The Child Survival and Health account needs to be more fully funded 
to take care of the problems of the world. We have heard much 
discussion and we will hear more today about the pandemic of HIV and 
AIDS. India with over 1 billion people, China with nearly the same or 
more people, the Caribbean, Russia, and other countries are now finding 
epidemic proportions of HIV and AIDS. We have servicemen and women in 
those countries who may be afflicted if we do not act now.
  The President was recently in Africa, and I commend him for going. I 
also commend him for beginning in setting up the Millenium Challenge 
Account. Any additional foreign assistance that we can give, and the 
President has shown that he understands this, as the superpower in the 
world, I believe we must do and I commend him for that.
  The HIV/AIDS epidemic is at pandemic proportions. All over this world 
where our servicemen and women now represent our Nation and in some 
instances fight to secure the world, we must as the superpower in the 
world fund this pandemic appropriately and we have not done that. 
Malaria, tuberculosis, maternal health, family planning we have to step 
up as the superpower in the world and help those countries as partners 
in this humane society that we live in. Postnatal care, those kinds of 
things that help various countries who are less fortunate and who are 
not able to help themselves, we should be there for them, and many 
times in this budget we are unable to do that.
  Agriculture, in many of those same countries, agriculture is how they 
not only feed themselves but are able to export their agriculture 
products, thereby making it a revenue base for their countries. It is 
our responsibility to join with them in partnership to help them with 
that. In some instances we do, but I believe that we can do better. The 
ESF account, the Economic Support Fund, that we also use to help other 
countries is also underfunded. It could be better and it is less than 
what the President recommended and less coming out of our budget. Those 
are just a few areas.
  We are the superpower of the world. It is up to us as leaders of the 
free world to maintain stability around the world where we can, and we 
must not forget the men and women who risk their lives every day for 
us, freedom in this country and around the world, to make sure that 
they have the best health care that they need to sustain themselves and 
their families.
  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro), my good friend.
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this bill. This bill 
appropriates $17.1 billion for foreign aid and export assistance, $1.8 
billion less than the President requested and $6.5 billion less than 
what we provided last year. And while I am disappointed that we fall 
short of the $3 billion that the President promised for combating 
global AIDS and HIV, I commend the committee for taking the first steps 
by appropriating $2 billion in fiscal year 2004.
  Last year 2.4 million Africans died of AIDS-related illnesses while 
nearly 30 million continue to live with the disease, irrevocably 
changing the lives of millions of women and children. I have spent a 
lot of time in South Africa. I have seen how this devastated this land, 
and we cannot only take the opportunity to go on trips and take 
photographs and believe that we are addressing the problems of Africa. 
Just as we have an opportunity with this bill to make a difference in 
those lives, to change those lives for the better and to offer some 
small measure of hope, we have an opportunity to make a real difference 
in the lives of millions of women and children in this country by 
extending the child tax credit to them. Six and one half million 
families, 12 million children were left out of the child tax credit 
expansion, almost 4 million single mothers, 56 percent of all single 
parents. Women are experiencing the very worst of the economic 
slowdown. Average annual earnings of low-income single mothers in 
decline for 3 years running, the unemployment rate of low-income single 
mothers rising twice as fast as the overall rate. Single and married 
women both are less likely than men to receive unemployment benefits to 
help them through their period of joblessness, and we are nearing a 
crisis level for these women and their families.
  Tax relief is supposed to be about lifting these families up and out 
of such circumstances. If we extend the child tax credit to these 
families, they will on average receive $276 in this year alone. To some 
it might not seem like a lot of money, but $276 can mean all the 
difference. Health insurance for the 9 million children in this country 
without health care, clothes on their backs, school supplies. Two 
hundred thousand military families, 900,000 Head Start families, 42,000 
families of those teaching in Head Start were left out. Just as playing 
a role in the battle against global HIV/AIDS, it is a matter of values, 
morals, something that we ought to be committed to doing. So is 
assisting women and the 12 million children in this country who need 
our help the most.
  So we want to call on the President to use his moral leadership to 
urge this House to accept the other body's bill and bring justice to 
these families. They deserve it. Let us give them that.
  Mr. Chairman, as my colleagues know, we went to conference on the 
child tax legislation on June 12. It is now July 23. The conference 
committee has never met.
  In light of the fact that 6.5 million American families, including 
our military families fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, will not 
receive their child tax credits when they are mailed out on Friday, I 
move that the Committee do now rise.
  The CHAIRMAN. Does the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey) yield 
to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro) for the purposes of 
offering a motion?
  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentlewoman from Connecticut 
for the purposes of offering a motion.


               Preferential Motion Offered By Ms. DeLauro

  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, I move that the Committee do now rise.
  The CHAIRMAN. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro).
  The question was taken; and the Chairman announced that the noes 
appeared to have it.


                             Recorded Vote

  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 84, 
noes 318, not voting 33, as follows:

[[Page H7375]]

                             [Roll No. 423]

                                AYES--84

     Ackerman
     Alexander
     Allen
     Andrews
     Baca
     Baird
     Baldwin
     Ballance
     Bell
     Berry
     Bishop (NY)
     Brown (OH)
     Brown, Corrine
     Capps
     Capuano
     Carson (IN)
     Clay
     Clyburn
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Crowley
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (IL)
     DeFazio
     DeLauro
     Doggett
     Doyle
     Eshoo
     Evans
     Filner
     Frank (MA)
     Grijalva
     Hastings (FL)
     Hill
     Hinchey
     Honda
     Hoyer
     Israel
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Jones (OH)
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick
     Kind
     Kleczka
     Kucinich
     Lantos
     Lewis (GA)
     McCollum
     McDermott
     McIntyre
     Meehan
     Meek (FL)
     Michaud
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, George
     Napolitano
     Pallone
     Pastor
     Payne
     Pelosi
     Rangel
     Reyes
     Rodriguez
     Ross
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sandlin
     Schakowsky
     Slaughter
     Snyder
     Solis
     Stark
     Stupak
     Tanner
     Thompson (MS)
     Udall (NM)
     Van Hollen
     Waters
     Watson
     Watt
     Waxman
     Woolsey

                               NOES--318

     Abercrombie
     Aderholt
     Akin
     Bachus
     Baker
     Ballenger
     Barrett (SC)
     Bartlett (MD)
     Barton (TX)
     Bass
     Beauprez
     Becerra
     Bereuter
     Berman
     Biggert
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (GA)
     Blackburn
     Blumenauer
     Blunt
     Boehlert
     Boehner
     Bonilla
     Bonner
     Bono
     Boswell
     Boyd
     Bradley (NH)
     Brady (PA)
     Brady (TX)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Burgess
     Burns
     Burr
     Burton (IN)
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp
     Cannon
     Cantor
     Capito
     Cardin
     Cardoza
     Carson (OK)
     Carter
     Castle
     Chabot
     Chocola
     Coble
     Cole
     Collins
     Costello
     Cox
     Cramer
     Crane
     Crenshaw
     Cubin
     Cummings
     Cunningham
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (FL)
     Davis (TN)
     Davis, Jo Ann
     Davis, Tom
     Deal (GA)
     DeGette
     DeLay
     DeMint
     Deutsch
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Dicks
     Doolittle
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Dunn
     Ehlers
     Emanuel
     Emerson
     Engel
     Etheridge
     Everett
     Farr
     Fattah
     Feeney
     Flake
     Fletcher
     Foley
     Forbes
     Fossella
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gibbons
     Gilchrest
     Gillmor
     Gingrey
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Gordon
     Goss
     Granger
     Graves
     Green (TX)
     Green (WI)
     Greenwood
     Gutierrez
     Gutknecht
     Hall
     Harman
     Harris
     Hart
     Hastert
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayes
     Hayworth
     Hefley
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Hinojosa
     Hobson
     Hoeffel
     Hoekstra
     Holden
     Holt
     Hooley (OR)
     Hostettler
     Houghton
     Hunter
     Inslee
     Isakson
     Issa
     Istook
     Janklow
     Jenkins
     John
     Johnson (CT)
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones (NC)
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Keller
     Kelly
     Kennedy (MN)
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Kline
     Knollenberg
     Kolbe
     LaHood
     Lampson
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Latham
     Leach
     Lee
     Levin
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Lofgren
     Lowey
     Lucas (KY)
     Lucas (OK)
     Lynch
     Majette
     Maloney
     Manzullo
     Markey
     Marshall
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCarthy (MO)
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCotter
     McCrery
     McGovern
     McHugh
     McInnis
     McKeon
     McNulty
     Meeks (NY)
     Mica
     Millender-McDonald
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Miller, Gary
     Mollohan
     Moore
     Moran (KS)
     Moran (VA)
     Murphy
     Murtha
     Musgrave
     Myrick
     Nadler
     Neal (MA)
     Nethercutt
     Neugebauer
     Ney
     Northup
     Norwood
     Nunes
     Nussle
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Osborne
     Ose
     Otter
     Owens
     Oxley
     Pascrell
     Paul
     Pearce
     Pence
     Peterson (MN)
     Peterson (PA)
     Petri
     Pickering
     Pitts
     Pombo
     Pomeroy
     Porter
     Portman
     Price (NC)
     Putnam
     Quinn
     Radanovich
     Rahall
     Ramstad
     Regula
     Rehberg
     Renzi
     Reynolds
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Roybal-Allard
     Royce
     Ruppersberger
     Ryan (WI)
     Sabo
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sanders
     Saxton
     Schiff
     Schrock
     Scott (GA)
     Scott (VA)
     Sensenbrenner
     Serrano
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shaw
     Shays
     Sherman
     Sherwood
     Shimkus
     Shuster
     Simmons
     Simpson
     Skelton
     Smith (MI)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Souder
     Spratt
     Stearns
     Stenholm
     Strickland
     Sweeney
     Tancredo
     Tauscher
     Taylor (MS)
     Taylor (NC)
     Terry
     Thompson (CA)
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Tierney
     Toomey
     Towns
     Turner (OH)
     Turner (TX)
     Udall (CO)
     Upton
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Vitter
     Walden (OR)
     Walsh
     Weiner
     Weldon (FL)
     Weldon (PA)
     Weller
     Wexler
     Whitfield
     Wicker
     Wilson (NM)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wolf
     Wu
     Wynn
     Young (FL)

                             NOT VOTING--33

     Berkley
     Bishop (UT)
     Boozman
     Boucher
     Case
     Culberson
     Delahunt
     Dingell
     Dooley (CA)
     Edwards
     English
     Ferguson
     Ford
     Frost
     Gephardt
     Gerlach
     Gonzalez
     Hulshof
     Hyde
     Jefferson
     Kennedy (RI)
     LaTourette
     Menendez
     Platts
     Pryce (OH)
     Rothman
     Ryun (KS)
     Smith (WA)
     Sullivan
     Tauzin
     Thomas
     Wamp
     Young (AK)


                      Announcement by the Chairman

  The CHAIRMAN (during the vote). Members are advised that 2 minutes 
remain in this vote.

                              {time}  1703

  Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, and Messrs. BACHUS, INSLEE and COX changed their 
vote from ``aye'' to ``no.''
  So the motion was rejected.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  The CHAIRMAN pro tempore (Mr. Terry). The gentleman from Arizona (Mr. 
Kolbe) has 12\1/2\ minutes remaining. The gentlewoman from New York 
(Mrs. Lowey) has 4 minutes remaining.
  The gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Kolbe) is recognized.
  Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Much time has passed since the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. 
DeLauro) spoke; but I did want to make one comment about her remarks, 
and I appreciate her support for the bill. She made a comment about how 
the level of funding in this bill is significantly less than last year. 
We need to remember that this is just about $1 billion more than the 
previous year's regular appropriation bill for foreign assistance. If 
we are going to consider apples to apples, that is what we need to 
consider.
  We have no idea what level of a supplemental appropriation request we 
might receive from the President that might be transmitted during the 
coming year for foreign assistance; but if we are going to consider the 
regularly funded, basic programs, apples to apples, we need to remind 
ourselves that we are $1 billion above where we were last year. This is 
the second largest increase of any subcommittee's allocation. Only the 
Subcommittee on Homeland Security has a bigger increase than this 
subcommittee received for its allocation.
  So we have been, I think, generously treated; and I think our 
programs are well funded.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, I am very pleased to yield 2 minutes to my 
distinguished colleague, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley).
  (Mr. CROWLEY asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Chairman, I want to commend my colleagues, the 
gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Kolbe), the chairman, and the gentlewoman 
from New York (Mrs. Lowey), the ranking minority member and my good 
friend, for their work to craft a fair and balanced bill. Representing 
the most diverse congressional district in the country, I know how 
important U.S. foreign assistance is to nations around the globe, and I 
have seen the success of our foreign assistance firsthand.
  This is a fair and balanced bill. I thank the chairman and ranking 
member for supporting priorities of mine, including the Middle East 
Children's Association and increased money for the International Fund 
for Ireland, in this legislation.
  Mr. Chairman, this is a good bill, but it could be a great bill. The 
President recently hopscotched around Africa talking about his global 
HIV/AIDS initiative, which this Congress passed. What he did not talk 
about, though, was that his request for funding for HIV/AIDS was $1 
billion less than the authorizing legislation provided. Think about the 
lives $1 billion could save.
  This bill includes $25 million for the U.N. Population Fund, but we 
all know that the money has about as much of a chance of being released 
by this administration as the New York Mets do to win a World Series 
this year; and this bill continues to mandate the onerous global gag 
rule which keeps funding away from groups such as Bangladeshi Rural 
Advancement Committee, or BRAC, and their work to improve child and 
maternal health. Mr. Chairman, while the administration should fulfill 
its commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS, support UNFPA and remove the 
onerous global gag rule.
  There is much work in this bill, particularly to be done when we look 
at the Middle East. The selection of a new prime minister for the 
Palestinian Authority, along with the concerted effort

[[Page H7376]]

of the European Union and Russia, along with Israel, shows that 
progress can be made in the Middle East.
  The support in this bill for Israel, as well as Jordan, a steadfast 
ally and proponent of stability, is worthwhile. I am encouraged by 
movements from countries such as UAE, Oman and Qatar to reestablish 
contact with the Israeli government, and I urge the government of Egypt 
to make the moves to take what is a cold peace with the Jewish state 
and turn it into a warmer and deeper relationship.
  I also want to take this opportunity on behalf of my colleague, the 
gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Berkley), who is unable to be here because 
of the death of her mother, to express the support she has in this 
legislation for the State of Israel.
  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, I am very pleased to yield 2 minutes to the 
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the distinguished minority whip of 
the House.