Congressional Record, Volume 150 Issue 98 (Thursday, July 15, 2004)

[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 98 (Thursday, July 15, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H5804-H5825]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

FOREIGN OPERATIONS, EXPORT FINANCING, AND RELATED PROGRAMS
APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2005

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 715 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. 4818.
The Chair designates the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Thornberry) as
chairman of the Committee of the Whole, and requests the gentleman from
Nebraska (Mr. Terry) to assume the chair temporarily.

{time} 1203

In the Committee of the Whole

Accordingly, the House resolved itself into the Committee of the
Whole House on the State of the Union for the consideration of the bill
(H.R. 4818) making appropriations for foreign operations, export
financing, and related programs for the fiscal year ending September
30, 2005, and for other purposes, with Mr. Terry (Chairman pro tempore)
in the chair.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The CHAIRMAN pro tempore. 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.
I am pleased to present to the House today the funding
recommendations of the Committee on Appropriations for fiscal year 2005
for foreign operations, export financing, and related programs. The
bill provides important funding for programs designed to support the
global war on terrorism, the battle against HIV/AIDS and other
infectious diseases, and to support the national interests of the
United States. In the wake of September 11, 2001, such funding for our
critical friends and allies is more important than ever.
The committee recommends a total of $19,385,645,000 in new
discretionary budget authority for fiscal year 2005. This represents a
reduction of $1.932 billion from the President's budget request. On the
other hand, the bill before us is $1.905 billion above the fiscal year
2004 enacted level when we exclude the supplemental appropriations. If
supplemental appropriations are included, the recommendation represents
a decrease of $19.287 billion over the 2004 level.
Having gotten those numbers out of the way, let me just say it is
important that we know that this bill was developed in a bipartisan
way, and I want to pay special tribute and give credit to the
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey), my ranking minority member, for
the fine work that she has done on this bill and for engaging in a
process that resulted in basic agreement on the components of this
package, even if funding compromises happen to be found on both sides.
Mr. Chairman, I believe this is the way the House of Representatives
ought to work, and I think the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey)
and I have worked in a bipartisan fashion.
In preparing this legislation, we have three overriding priorities:
first, supporting our allies on the war on terrorism; second,
responding to the global HIV/AIDS pandemic; and, third, supporting
innovative approaches to foreign assistance through the Millennium
Challenge Corporation.
Let me summarize how this recommendation responds to those
challenges. First, the President's budget request included important
military assistance and counternarcotics increases for our allies in
the global war on terrorism. That includes an increase of $350 million
to equip the new Afghan National Army; an increase of $90 million for
law enforcement and counternarcotics programs in Afghanistan; a new
base program of $300 million for military assistance for Pakistan as
they assist us in hunting terrorists along the Afghan border; an
increase of $46 million for a total of $66 million for Poland, a major
ally in Operation Iraqi Freedom; and an increase of $73 million, for a
total of $2.22 billion for the State of Israel, which is our closest
ally in the Middle East.
The committee recommendation includes full funding for these
increases both through new budget authority and, in the case of
Pakistan, use of $150 million of transfer authority.
The second priority in the President's budget request is one that we
also met with an increase of $593 million to combat HIV/AIDS and
related diseases, for a total of $2.2 billion. The committee
recommendation fully meets that funding level. It includes a grant of
$400 million for the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis, and
malaria, subject to conditions that improve the fund's accountability
and efficiency. Together with the money that we expect that the House
Labor Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies
Subcommittee will include, that will mean over $2.8 billion will be
available for HIV/AIDS programs around the world in fiscal year 2005.
The Global AIDS Initiative is making treatment and care available to
a record number of people affected by the disease. In 2003, only 50,000
people in the developing world had access to the drugs that
dramatically reduced the impact of AIDS and extend life for years. By
next summer, 200,000 people will have access to these drugs; and over
the next several years, millions of infected people will be treated
through the use of the Nevirapine for pregnant women.
The third priority, of course, in the President's budget was a
request for a $1.5 billion increase for the Millennium Challenge
Corporation, for a total of $2.5 billion. Mr. Chairman, given our
allocation, we could not recommend full funding for this initiative,
important though it is and though I am very personally committed to it.
However, to demonstrate our commitment to this important foreign
assistance reform effort and to respond positively to

[[Page H5805]]

the President's proposal, the recommendation does include $1.250
billion for the Millennium Challenge Corporation. That is an increase
of $256 million over last year.
As chairman, I have made the MCC a priority in this bill. I believe
in the President's vision of a new form of development assistance where
a country's commitment to fighting corruption, its commitment to
reform, and its commitment to investing in its people is complemented
by an assistance package from the United States, negotiated by the
country in the form of a signed compact. We included the authorization
that created the MCC in last year's appropriation bill, and the
President can continue to count on me as a strong supporter.
In preparing this bill, we were also faced with decreases in some
areas of the budget, including some key non-HIV/AIDS health programs,
and in the development assistance account. We have restored those
reductions and, in the case of development assistance, added funds for
basic education. I believe our development assistance program is a key
component of our national security strategy, and it is critical to a
positive U.S. image in foreign countries.
Including funding for HIV/AIDS, this bill makes available $3.079
billion for health programs overall, and that is an increase of $600
million over last year's House-passed bill. Of this total, over $332
million will be made available to fight TB and malaria. These funds
help to continue the global fight against malaria, which kills one
person every 30 seconds, most of them African children. USAID
implements a comprehensive approach against this disease supporting the
purchase and distribution of malaria medicines, a search for a vaccine,
and strong prevention efforts.

Basic education has become a signature issue for the gentlewoman from
New York (Mrs. Lowey); so I will let her describe the details of our
recommendation in that regard. Suffice it to say that I fully support
her efforts to provide more educational opportunities to the
impoverished youth of the world, especially women and children. This
bill recommends $400 million for basic education activities. That is an
increase from $326 million in fiscal year 2004. Report language
accompanying the bill requires the Secretary of State to articulate an
interagency strategy on the use of those funds so that we have a
coherent, coordinated effort that can produce meaningful results in
reducing illiteracy.
The bill also supports USAID's work to support microenterprise
lending. Report language accompanying the bill references the fiscal
year 2004 authorization ceiling of $200 million as the program level
the committee expects in fiscal year 2005. It is also important that
USAID continue to use the traditional providers of microenterprise
lending and not rely excessively on contractors for implementing this
program.
We continue an emphasis in our bill on helping developing countries
build their capacity to participate in the international trading
system. We have $517 million in the bill for trade capacity building,
and that is the same amount as the House passed version last year.
Fiscal year 2005 is the final year of the President's Water for the
Poor Initiative, announced in August, 2002, in Johannesburg, South
Africa. In all likelihood, we will exceed the 3-year goal of spending
$970 million on water projects. Report language urges the President to
direct $50 million to water programs in Africa with $9 million targeted
to programs in East Africa.
The committee continues its strong support for women's programs,
provides that not less than $15 million in development assistance shall
be made available to improve women's leadership capacity in recipient
countries. This is an increase from the $11 million that we provided
last year. In addition, from our Afghanistan assistance program, we set
a goal of $60 million in fiscal year 2005 for programs for women and
girls.
The committee recommendation also responds to emerging needs, such as
the provision of an additional $50 million for assistance for Haiti.
Following up on my amendment to the Defense appropriation bill that
included $95 million in supplemental assistance for the victims of the
violence in the Darfur region of Sudan, we recommend $311 million in
this bill for humanitarian assistance for Sudan and for the refugees
affected by that conflict.
Although there are no funds for Iraq in this bill, we continue our
oversight responsibilities by mandating the continuation of an
independent inspector general to audit the Iraq Reconstruction program.
Without new authority, the inspector general will go out of business on
December 28 of this year, 6 months after the Coalition Provisional
Authority was disbanded. Section 573 of the bill provides for continued
operations of the CPA Inspector General's Office operating under the
supervision of the Secretary of State and providing that the $75
million previously appropriated for the IG is to be made available only
to the IG for his continued audit and investigative work in Iraq.
We also provide the administration the authority they need to reduce
Iraq's debt to our government so that the United States can negotiate
an international debt reduction for Iraq. The sooner Iraq has financial
stability, the sooner the government of Iraq can fund its own security
and reconstruction needs. No new funds are provided for this purpose.
Any funding for debt relief will come from previously appropriated
funds.
The bill fully funds the President's request for export finance
agencies to promote U.S. investment overseas and create jobs in United
States export sectors. The bill provides $317 million for those
agencies, which include the Export-Import Bank, the Overseas Private
Investment Corporation, and the Trade and Development Agency. About
$311 million of that $317 million is offset by collections.
Mr. Chairman, the United States leads the international fight against
coca and poppy cultivation overseas. The narcotics industry has become
a source of funding for terrorists, as well as, of course, a source of
drugs worldwide. As part of the war on terror, the committee fully
funds the President's request for the Andean Counterdrug Initiative at
a level of $731 million for antinarcotics, interdiction, for
development programs, and rule-of-law and institution-building programs
in Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador.

{time} 1215

Under the general anti-narcotics account, the bill fully funds anti-
narcotics and law enforcement programs in Afghanistan at a level of $90
million, in Mexico at $40 million, and supports an existing program in
Pakistan at $32 million.
To support continuing United States leadership in the world for
humanitarian responses to refugee crises, we include $776 million for
refugee programs, and that is $26 million more than the President
requested.
We have $19 million, $1.5 million more than the request, for the
Department of Treasury, to provide technical advisors to developing
countries throughout the world.
The committee includes full funding of $20 million for the
President's request for debt relief for countries who qualify under the
Tropical Forestry Conservation Act and $75 million for multilateral
debt relief for the poorest nations that receive assistance from the
Heavily Indebted Poor Countries, or the HIPC, trust fund.
The committee supports contributions to the Multilateral Development
Bank and includes $1.3 billion for such contributions. While the
committee was not able to fund the World Bank incentive fund or all the
arrears requested by the budget because of the budgetary restraints I
mentioned earlier, we have provided full funding of the regularly
scheduled contributions to these banks.
Finally, the committee has provided $323 million for voluntary
contributions to international organizations and programs, a level $19
million more than the request. It includes $125 million to the United
Nations Childrens Fund, or UNICEF, an increase of $5 million for this
important organization.
We also have $107 million for the United Nations Development Program,
or UNDP, and $7 million for the Fund for Victims of Torture. A total of
$25 million is available through the United Nations Population Fund, or
UNFPA, under the same ``Kemp-Kasten'' restrictions as exist in current
law.
We have had to reduce this bill by $1.9 billion from the President's
request, as I mentioned, Mr. Chairman.

[[Page H5806]]

Therefore, we did not or could not provide funding for a number of new
and expanded initiatives requested by the President or brought to the
committee's attention by committee members, other Members of Congress
and outside groups.
The major reductions to the President's budget include, as I have
already mentioned, a cut of $1.25 billion to the request for the
Millennium Challenge Corporation; a reduction of $224 million for the
World Bank Group, including the International Development Association;
and a cut of $95 million in debt relief. There are other reductions to
the President's request, but we tried to retain the base funding for
most of the programs.
I believe this balanced bill provides important support for our most
critical national security needs, while substantially increasing
funding to respond to the global HIV/AIDS pandemic. It enhances our
support for overseas development assistance and humanitarian
assistance. It meets the high priorities of the President in these
areas and accommodates congressional concerns as well.
As I have said, this bill was developed in a very bipartisan manner
and should have broad support in the House. I urge a yes vote on this
bill.
Before I yield the floor, I want to call the attention of the House
to two matters that were inadvertently left out of the committee
report. One matter involves the Surgical Implant Generation Network,
based in Richland, Washington, which is the only organization in the
world that provides, free of charge, an ongoing supply of training and
orthopedic materials to surgeons in developing countries who repair
fractures of the very poor.
The second matter involves the Vishnevskaya Rostropovich Foundation,
a charitable organization based in Washington, D.C., that conducts a
mass children's vaccination initiative in the Russian Federation.
I would urge the United States Agency for International Development
to give strong consideration to funding proposals for these funding
organizations.
Mr. Chairman, I include the following charts for the Record.

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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 rise in strong support of this bill. I want to begin
by thanking the gentleman from Arizona (Chairman Kolbe) for the close
working relationship we enjoy. The bill we consider today is the result
of our close collaboration and represents the bipartisan commitment of
the Subcommittee on Foreign Operations to bring a bill to the House
floor that accurately reflects United States foreign policy priorities.
As in the past, the gentleman from Arizona (Chairman Kolbe) has been
a gracious colleague, and I am proud of the product of our cooperation.
I believe this bill successfully maintains our commitment to ensure
that foreign aid remains one of the three pillars of the United States
national security policy, along with defense and diplomacy.
The bill provides nearly $19.4 billion in new discretionary budget
authority, which is over $1.9 billion below the President's request. It
contains substantial funding for pressing needs in support of the war
on terror, such as the reconstruction of Afghanistan, and significantly
increases funding for HIV/AIDS programs and the Millennium Challenge
Corporation.
The bill fully funds and even slightly increases the President's
request for the Emergency HIV/AIDS Initiative. Since the very beginning
of our effort to fight HIV, the subcommittee has led the charge to
increase funding for this key priority. While I would have preferred to
have included even more funding, our limited 302(b) allocation
precluded us from doing so. However, within the context of our
allocation, the bill does provide $400 million for the Global AIDS
Fund, the same as last year's bill, and $300 million above the
President's request. It also provides $30 million for microbicides
research and development and a similar amount for HIV vaccine research
and will allow for substantial program increases for all countries
where the United States now conducts HIV programs, even those not among
the 15 ``focus'' countries of the President's Emergency AIDS
Initiative.
I am particularly pleased that we were able to preserve funding for
other vital child survival programs, instead of cutting these as the
President requested.
As we continue to ramp up funding for HIV programs and respond to the
many administration initiatives requested, most notably the Millennium
Challenge Account, we cannot retreat from our child and maternal health
commitments in the developing world. The progress we have made on the
prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS will be lost if the United States
does not maintain its leadership role in meeting the basic health needs
of women and children in poor countries.
The bill provides $400 million for basic education, which is an
increase of $75 million over last year. Increasing this commitment to
basic education has been one of my top priorities as ranking member of
the Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, and I am proud that funding for
basic education has increased from $98 million in fiscal year 2000 to a
total of $400 million for fiscal year 2005. For the first time, we have
included funding specifically to address the issue of school fees in a
comprehensive manner in the form of a pilot project to be undertaken by
USAID.
As we are all aware, crises in Haiti and Sudan have required us to
reevaluate our funding priorities to ensure that the United States is
leading the way to alleviate the horrible situation in these two
countries. The bill earmarks an additional $50 million above the
President's request for Haiti and provides a total of $311 million, $25
million above the request, for urgent humanitarian needs in Sudan.
Congress has already responded to the evolving humanitarian crisis in
the Darfur region of Sudan by adding $95 million in emergency funding
to the DOD bill. There may be additional funds needed, as we intend to
simultaneously fund the rebuilding of southern Sudan if and when a
peace treaty is completed. The bill does prohibit assistance to the
government of Sudan until it has disarmed and disbanded government-
supported militia groups and allows full and unconditional access to
the Darfur region to the UN and other humanitarian organizations. The
government of Sudan should get the clear and unambiguous message from
this bill that we will not tolerate continued brutality and cover-ups.
I am particularly pleased that the bill provides funding to combat
terrorist financing in three different accounts, along with report
language requiring the administration to analyze the total level and
distribution of funding for this priority across all government
agencies. This analysis will be a critical tool in ensuring that our
efforts are coordinated and efficient.
I am very pleased that this aid bill once again demonstrates our
strong commitment to maintaining Israel's economic health and its
qualitative edge in the region. The bill also provides increased
funding for conflict resolution programs in the Middle East and
elsewhere and increased funding for UNICEF, UNDP and UNIFEM's program
to prevent violence against women.
While the gentleman from Arizona (Chairman Kolbe) and I are in
agreement on the vast majority of issues, and, as I did say, we worked
so well together, there are a few areas where we may disagree.
Once again, the bill fails to include language that will restore
funding for the life-saving activities of the United Nations Population
Fund. I had hoped to offer an amendment today to restore funding to
UNFPA on a limited basis to countries of clear strategic importance to
the United States foreign policy.
Because I discussed this amendment in depth during debate on the
rule, I will not repeat the discussion again during the general debate,
but I want to make it clear that I think it was a grave error not to
include this funding for UNFPA for the six countries strategically
placed who have clear laws against abortion and the other provisions of
that bill which I believe make a great deal of sense and are very
important to the entire world.
I also want to say a few words about our overall allocation, to
ensure that the funding levels in this bill are put into context. As my
colleagues are surely aware, the Subcommittee on Foreign Operations was
asked this year to make room for new administration initiatives
alongside the core development, export financing and military
assistance accounts usually included in the bill. The largest of these
initiatives, the Millennium Challenge Account, was initially conceived
of by the President 2 years ago, at which time he assured the American
people that any funds devoted to it would be in addition to, rather
than in place of, existing development funds.
With an allocation nearly $2 billion below the President's request,
however, we were hard-pressed to provide significant increases for
priorities such as non-AIDS child survival and health, development
assistance and refugees and migration assistance.
While we significantly cut MCA funding from the requested level, it
is clear that, unless the President increases his request and the
committee decides to grant us an adequate allocation, we will continue
to have to scrape together the money to level fund or slightly increase
our core development priorities. This is a real concern to me. I am
sure many of my colleagues share it. I am sure my committee chairman
shares it as well.
However, in conclusion, the bill we are recommending to the committee
today represents a true bipartisan effort and funds accounts as
equitably as possible in the context of the deep cut from the
President's request. I support the bill enthusiastically. I hope my
colleagues will do the same.
In closing, I would like to thank the gentleman from Arizona
(Chairman Kolbe) again, as well as all the members of the subcommittee
and the associate staff. The majority staff, John, Alice, Rodney, Rob,
Lori and Sean, and the minority staff, Mark and Beth, have been
extraordinarily helpful in working with the chairman and me in crafting
the bill, and I do thank them for their efforts.
Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 4 minutes to the
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Knollenberg), one of the very
distinguished members of the subcommittee who has

[[Page H5815]]

made some very significant contributions to this bill and has been one
of our most valuable members through the years.
Mr. KNOLLENBERG. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of this bill
and encourage all of my colleagues to vote in favor of it today.
I want to thank the gentleman from Arizona (Chairman Kolbe) and the
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey) for their working together to
produce a very, very good bill. Let me also commend the staff for the
work that they have contributed. They have addressed the chairman's,
ranking member's and as many of the other Members' problems and
interests as possible and done a very good job in producing an
effective bill. I hope and expect it will receive broad bipartisan
support today.
Mr. Chairman, the foreign operations bill is arguably the most
important contribution to America's foreign policy that the House of
Representatives makes. Let me briefly highlight a few areas.
Assistance to the Middle East is always a central part of this bill.

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For fiscal year 2005, Israel will receive $2.2 billion in military
assistance, $360 million in economic assistance, and $50 billion to
resettle Jewish refugees in Israel. I strongly support all of that
funding.
The U.S.-Israel relationship is a cornerstone of our overall foreign
policy, and Israel is our critical ally in the Middle East. We do
disagree from time to time, but the U.S.-Israel relationship is
incredibly strong.
I also support the military and economic assistance to Egypt in this
bill. Because of the level of cooperation we are receiving from Egypt
in the war on terrorism and the peace process, I believe the bill
contains the right balance of military and economic assistance for each
at this time.
I understand that an amendment will likely be offered today to change
the balance of assistance to Egypt. I will strongly oppose that
amendment, and I urge my colleagues to join me in opposing it as well.
I am also very pleased this bill contains $35 million in economic
support funds for Lebanon, including $4 million for the American
educational institutions that are there. Lebanon has great potential,
and USAID's Village Cluster Program has played an important role in the
development of villages throughout Lebanon. I know many Members agree
with me on that and that the continuation of this program of $35
million is critical.
Let me just highlight what this bill provides for Armenia.
Unfortunately, Armenia is a landlocked country surrounded by nations on
both sides that are hostile to it. Because transportation routes into
Armenia are sealed, the Armenian economy is being strangled. Therefore,
it is appropriate for the U.S. to provide substantial economic
assistance. This bill provides $65 million in economic assistance to
Armenia, which is an increase above the administration's request.
We also must be very careful with the military assistance we provide
in the Caucasus, in the South Caucasus. I believe it is absolutely
critical to maintain complete parity in military assistance to Armenia
and Azerbaijan. I am pleased that this bill does exactly that.
The State Department's Middle East Partnership Initiative is becoming
one of the most progressive reform programs in the Middle East. I am
pleased that this bill continues to provide funding for this important
initiative.
There are many more valuable programs in this bill, including the
Millennium Challenge Corporation, IMET to Greece, microcredit, and, of
course, funding to fight the scourge of HIV/AIDS.
Mr. Chairman, in closing, let me once again urge everybody on this
floor, all Members on both sides, to support this bill, a good bill.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the
gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Kilpatrick), an outstanding, effective
member of the committee.
Ms. KILPATRICK. Mr. Chairman, to my ranking member, I thank her for
yielding me this time.
I first want to commend the gentleman from Arizona (Chairman Kolbe)
for running and steering the committee in such a way that we all have
input and are able to offer our deals and suggestions, and that he
incorporates them in this bill.
I rise to support the Foreign Operations bill that is before us this
afternoon. It is a good bill. If we had more money, of course we could
do better and do more things; but the bill before us is a good bill,
and I would urge all of our colleagues to support it.
The funding that is included for Haiti is to be commended, $50
million more than was asked for; and, as my colleagues know, they have
been under floods and other kinds of problems, and people are dying
daily. Children are dying daily. In the Sudan as well. I call upon the
United Nations to get involved, Security Council. We have $311 million
in this bill, and I as one Member would ask that we not move forward
until the Sudanese government works for all of its people to protect
all of the women and children and the people of the Sudan.
I want to thank the chairman for accepting the amendment that we
offered for our small businesses here in America. Already, small
businesses can contract with our government and get contracts after
they go through a procurement process. This Foreign Operations bill
under my leadership also now allows our American businesses to contract
and do business abroad under the same provisions that we have for our
domestic businesses. So it is another opportunity for businesses to
grow their bottom line and to employ more people.
I too rise against the amendment that will be offered later that will
take money out of Egypt's foreign military assistance and put it in
another part of the Egypt budget. I am told from my staff and others
and the Egypt embassy that they do not want that money moved at this
time, and they work well with Israel to keep that money in their
foreign military assistance account.
UNICEF, United Nations Children's Education Fund, we have upped the
number in this bill, so there are many good provisions in this bill. I
urge my colleagues to support it. I commend the gentleman from Arizona
(Chairman Kolbe), and our ranking member, the gentlewoman from New York
(Mrs. Lowey) and all our committee for working together in a bipartisan
way to bring a good Foreign Ops bill to the floor. I urge the
acceptance of my colleagues.
Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 4 minutes to the very distinguished
vice chairman of the committee, the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr.
Wicker), who has also been a great member of this committee. I have had
the opportunity to travel with him on a number of occasions and he has
contributed greatly to the drafting of this bill.
Mr. WICKER. Mr. Chairman, I thank Mr. Kolbe for those words. I want
to begin by agreeing with the gentlewoman from Michigan who just spoke
about the bipartisan nature of this subcommittee and the product that
we have come up with. Sometimes we are accused of partisan bickering on
the House floor, and from time to time it is necessary to air our
differences and raise our voices to bring attention to those
differences in philosophy. But I just wish that the American people had
an opportunity to watch my distinguished chairman and my distinguished
ranking member, the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey), and the way
they work together on this very important aspect of our national
security program. I want to commend them both and the full committee
for the bipartisan nature of the bill.
A couple of things that I would mention about it. This bill addresses
the AIDS pandemic by providing a total of $2.2 billion in global
assistance to combat HIV/AIDS, as well as other very serious diseases.
I think President Bush deserves to be commended for his world
leadership in fighting HIV and AIDS.
Mr. Chairman, in the year 2000, Mr. Bush ran as a compassionate
conservative, and some people smiled about that and doubted that. I
think President Bush has shown his leadership and strength in the
things that he has done with regard to Afghanistan and Iraq. But when
it comes to HIV and AIDS, President George W. Bush has shown the world
the level of his compassion in bringing people from the conservative
side of the spectrum to support his worldwide effort to combat HIV and
AIDS. This is the highest level of AIDS

[[Page H5816]]

funding in the history of our Republic, and so I want to commend the
subcommittee, but also the President of the United States for his
compassionate leadership in this matter.
The bill provides an increase in foreign assistance for Israel. As we
move toward a peaceful resolution to the Middle East issue, it is
important for us in America to remember that Israel is our steadfast
friend and ally, that they are one of the few democracies in the
region, and that they are surrounded by sworn enemies. So as we try to
bring the Palestinians in and we try to make everyone a little more
friendly in that area, we do not need to forget the fact that Israel is
our faithful ally.
The chairman mentioned that he and I have traveled together, and
sometimes we do not like to talk about travel when we go back to our
constituents. But I have had an opportunity as vice chairman of this
committee to visit in Asia and Iraq and in Afghanistan, and, with the
ranking member, in some of the poorest areas of Africa; and it is
heartening, Mr. Chairman, to see the level of involvement of so many
Americans. Certainly we are proud of our troops. It just takes your
breath away to see the young men and women of America who volunteer to
support our country in uniform. But also, when you go to Africa and you
see the Peace Corps volunteers, highly educated graduates of
universities who are willing to serve for very, very little pay; when
you see the personnel of the USAID agency and realize the fact that
they are willing to go in harm's way, though not in a military
capacity, but to risk their lives in very, very hostile environments to
advance the cause of the United States, and also to do some good in an
altruistic way, it is absolutely astonishing. It renews my faith in the
American people and in our spirit of volunteerism.
This is a balanced bill. I commend both the ranking member and the
subcommittee chairman.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, I am very pleased to yield 1 minute to the
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Andrews), our distinguished colleague
who happens to have his daughter in the audience with her really
distinguished road show for the show ``Oliver.'' So we are very happy
to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Andrews).
(Mr. ANDREWS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. ANDREWS. Mr. Chairman, I thank my very gracious friend, the
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey), for yielding me this time.
Mr. Chairman, the story of boys and girls living on the street and
starving to death in our culture is a matter of fiction. It is the
story of Oliver Twist. But for huge numbers of people in the world
today, it is not a matter of fiction; it is a matter of fact. Seventy
percent of the world's population lives in countries where the per
capita income in 1 year is equal to what Americans make in a month.
Seventy percent of the people live in desperate poverty, and many of
those people live in countries where the debt owed by those countries
to Western lending institutions is huge.
I commend the chairman and the ranking member for their initiative in
the Millennium Challenge Account. By putting $1.25 billion into debt
relief for these struggling countries, this is not only an act of human
mercy; it is an act of economic intelligence that will benefit our own
country as well as the people living in these very troubled and
destitute countries.
So I thank the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Kolbe) in the majority. I
thank my dear friend, the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey), in
the minority. I urge a ``yes'' vote on the bill.
The Chairman pro tempore (Mr. Terry). The Chair would announce that
the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Wicker) has 7 minutes remaining;
the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey) has 16\1/2\ minutes
remaining.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, I am very pleased to yield 3 minutes to the
gentleman from New York (Mr. Weiner), a distinguished New Yorker who
happens to represent my former district in Queens.
Mr. WEINER. Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman and the ranking member
for their fine work on this bill. This is an extraordinarily important
bill each year. It is very easy to demagogue that we should provide the
funding that we do; but, in fact, for relative pennies on the dollar,
we get an enormous amount of benefit for our country.
I rise to engage the chairman of the subcommittee in a colloquy to
discuss the continuing humanitarian crisis in the Dominican Republic.
This last May, as many as 2,000 Dominicans and Haitians were killed
during flooding in the region surrounding the Haitian-Dominican border.
In what was perhaps the worst natural disaster ever to hit the
Caribbean, there are over 660 dead in the Dominican Republic alone, and
tens of thousands lost their homes as entire towns were washed away.
The flooding was a result of a confluence of two unfortunate
circumstances. The first is obvious. It was hurricane season in the
Caribbean and there were heavy rains. But the second, as the chairman
knows, was that poverty in the Dominican Republic and Haiti has forced
Haitians and Dominicans to raze entire forests. The wood they harvest
allows them to just barely scrape by. Without trees to hold the soil
firm, the beautiful hills of the Dominican Republic and Haiti were laid
bare, and those living in the valleys below were made susceptible to
the mudslides which have wreaked so much devastation.
Mr. Chairman, the chairman of the subcommittee, the gentleman from
Arizona (Mr. Kolbe), and the ranking member have worked hard to provide
assistance for both the Dominican Republic and Haiti in this bill, and
they deserve to be commended for their efforts. Haiti, torn apart
recently by a political crisis, has been provided an additional $50
million in an effort to jump-start their economy and stabilize the new
government.
The Dominicans are suffering as well. In the late 1990s, the
Dominican economy was growing by 8 percent a year, a remarkable
achievement. Last year, the economy shrunk and is expected to shrink
another 1 percent this year. Inflation is near 30 percent, and
unemployment is at 16 percent.
Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman of the subcommittee for his
continuing interest in helping the people of the Dominican Republic. I
hope he will work in conference to provide additional aid to them.
Before the chairman has an opportunity to respond, I will yield to
the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Solis) to add her words.
Ms. SOLIS. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from New York, and I
also thank the ranking member on this committee, the gentlewoman from
New York (Mrs. Lowey), and I also want to congratulate the chairman of
this subcommittee as well.

{time} 1245

I rise today to speak about the Dominican Republic as well. I have
some deep concerns regarding the lack of emphasis to provide sufficient
funding to allow for people there to gather their lives again. We lost
414 people there, 274 missing, 1,600 families displaced, 3,000 homes
destroyed.
We need infrastructure funding. We need homes. We need to bring some
social awareness and hopefully infrastructure dollars there to put back
the lives of the people that live in the Dominican Republic. Many of
their family members live in the States. They do send remittances, not
nearly enough as what I think should be required or given and would ask
that in your discussions that we can include them further in detail.
Mr. WICKER. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 15 seconds to respond to the
previous speakers on behalf of the gentleman from Arizona (Chairman
Kolbe). Between now and conference the gentleman from Arizona (Chairman
Kolbe) will work with USAID to determine the needs of the government of
the Dominican Republic with regard to this issue and to ensure the U.S.
is being as responsive as possible.
Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr.
Kirk), a valuable member of our subcommittee.
Mr. KIRK. Mr. Chairman, I rise in very strong support of this bill
and the work of the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Kolbe) and the
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey), our chair and ranking minority
member.

[[Page H5817]]

Mr. Chairman, many have said that the United States in this current
campaign should build allies, that we should strengthen our ties with
other governments, that we should back peace treaties and agreements
that make war much less likely. This bill does that.
In 1917, the U.S. went to war in Europe and lost hundreds of
thousands of young men. In the following years, our government took the
easy way out. We demobilized. We saddled allies with debt. We focused
resources at home. It was a very popular set of decisions but also laid
the foundation for World War II.
One man who understood this well as a mistake was Harry Truman, a
veteran of World War I. He saw the waste of a Second World War and knew
that he had to do everything to prevent another conflict.
We had to keep an army overseas. We had to lead international
organizations. We had to help allies. These were not popular decisions,
and Truman made these tough decisions that started this appropriations
bill when he stood at 32 percent in the polls.
The lessons he learned were well applied to the world after September
11. This bill backs our allies, especially in the Middle East. It also
provides debt relief and reduces the growth of population in countries
that can barely create jobs for the people they already have. We have
learned that we must be engaged and aggressive with aid and provide
leadership in conflict regions.
One institution Truman created was the World Bank, officially titled
the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The bank
moved quickly into occupied Japan and Germany to rebuild those
countries. We fulfilled our obligations and built not just security
relationships but allies.
Years after the Bank moved in, we finally created new governments in
Germany and Japan. The Bank has a proud tradition of moving quickly and
keenly in new states emerging from civil war. I am the only Member of
Congress that is an alumni of the Bank, and during my time we opened
offices in zones of conflict in quasi states and Eastern Europe and the
former Soviet Union.
The Bank also provided aid to Croatia and Bosnia and Haiti. It had a
proud staff that knew their work was dangerous but important. Given
this, it is surprising the World Bank is now so slow to help the people
of Iraq. Iraq is a founding member of the World Bank. After the
coalition moved into Baghdad, the Bank launched a timely study of
Iraq's needs, but then most action stopped.
After the U.N. Baghdad bombing, the Bank lost a staff member and
withdrew all of its international staff from Iraq. No one has returned,
and the Bank has no plans to put international staff in Iraq.
Worse, the Bank staff spent from May, 2003, until 2004 debating
whether to recognize a new government. I think this is a call to action
to Secretary Snow to rectify the situation and hope that we can act.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from New
Jersey (Mr. Rothman), a good friend and distinguished, effective member
of the committee.
(Mr. ROTHMAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. ROTHMAN. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentlewoman from New York for
yielding me the time.
Allow me, Mr. Chairman, to first thank the gentleman from Arizona
(Mr. Wicker) for all of his cooperation and that of his staff in taking
into consideration all of our concerns, including those in the
minority. It is greatly appreciated, and the spirit of bipartisan that
you bring to the committee is very welcome and I believe has produced a
very fine bill overall.
Of course, my ranking member, the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs.
Lowey), has done a magnificent job in leading us in so many ways to
improve the condition of peoples around the world.
A lot of Americans wonder why we spend any money on foreign aid at
all. Well, it is really very simple. Of course, we have a humanitarian
interest in making sure that people do not suffer, and we help our
neighbors, not just those next door but across the border.
But if one were to look at it purely selfishly, in America's national
interest, we do not want people to go hungry. We do not want them to be
brutalized by dictatorships. We do not want them to become resentful
and frustrated and angry, and we do not want them to lash out at all of
the powers in the world who live in a democracy and live in freedom,
which is what we are facing now, people who have been deprived or who
feel deprived, who have nothing to lose by giving up their lives, so
they think, to destroy a world order that has ignored them.
Mr. Chairman, I am so delighted that this bill provides money, for
example, for microloan projects, where $100 literally given to a small
village in Africa or in Latin America or even in Eastern Europe can
change the whole town's economy. Buy a sewing machine and create
garments, sell those garments and buy another sewing machine.
Along with our aid to our allies such as the state of Israel, to
Jordan in the Middle East, our assistance to Egypt, which hopefully
will continue to help the situation in Gaza, number one, by preventing
smuggling of arms from Egypt to the Palestinians that are being used
against Israeli civilians but also to help train a security force in
Gaza so that when Israel pulls out of Gaza, as they have announced
their intention to do, there will be a civil order in Gaza and the
Palestinians can control Gaza themselves and hopefully develop a
moderate leadership that is interested in living in peace next to its
neighbor, our number one ally and friend for 55 years, the state of
Israel.
I am also delighted that we have provided sufficient money for
Armenia and Azerbaijan, money for Cyprus for bicommunal activities,
because these are ways that areas, countries where there was
traditionally tension between the two countries or the two entities
within one country can find common ground, get over their historical
differences and work together. Hopefully, that is an example for the
whole world.
Of course, in Haiti and the Sudan there is much to do. There is so
much suffering in Haiti, and that is why I am proud that $75 million in
humanitarian aid for Haiti's recovery is in the bill, and that $310
million is in the bill for the Sudan, where there have been and are
presently ongoing horrors, murders and rapes and slavery, literally
slavery of men, women and children in that region. So that $310 million
will be very well spent.
Again, this foreign aid bill not only is in our humanitarian interest
to do to make the world a better place and to help our neighbors live a
better life, we want to make sure that the people of the world are well
fed, have a job, have a chance to be free, have a chance to take care
of their families.
This is so important and especially now when, regardless of the
cause, and we can debate the cause, I think it is fair to say, and most
Americans believe, that many people in the world wonder about America's
character. They wonder about that great Nation, shining Nation on a
Hill, if we still have the kind of values that they thought we had.
Well, this foreign aid bill should let them know that the people of
the United States of America are as generous as always and interested
in their well-being.
Mr. Chairman, I ask for the support of this bill.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes and 10 seconds to the
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).
(Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to revise
and extend her remarks.)
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Chairman, there is no doubt that this
must be the most popular appropriations subcommittee, because so many
of us have come to the chairman and the ranking member on many of our
issues. Really, it deals with world harmony and world peace and the
United States largesse or generosity to the world.
It also has its criticisms; and I might say that, along with my
appreciation for the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey) and the
gentleman from Arizona (Chairman Kolbe), I do want to acknowledge some
concerns as I give applause.
First of all, I want to acknowledge the strong statement that was
made as it regards to Sudan. So many of us have lent our voices to this
issue. I

[[Page H5818]]

know many have traveled, and many will travel, to Sudan to look at the
heinous and horrific acts occurring in Darfur, where Muslim is killing
Muslim, where Arab Muslim is killing black Muslim, where women are
being pillaged and killed. And we know for sure that there needs to be
definitive peacekeeping.
We also know that the governor of Khartoum needs to act, and I would
hope when we finish this bill we will have strong, pointed language
that the killing must stop and that we will not allow this to be
another Rwanda.
I also hope that we will strengthen the peace effort in Haiti,
recognize that some of us are still concerned about the deposing of a
democratically elected leader, but we want most of all for Haiti to be
able to rebuild itself, and we look for those resources in this
legislation.
I add my voice to the concern of the Dominican Republic and Haiti in
terms of dollars to help reconstruct.
I also support amendments that are adding to the HIV/AIDS killer. As
we know, the efforts in Thailand suggest that HIV/AIDS is still killing
around the world, but I offer an amendment as well to recognize that it
is important to provide U.S. aid to the starving countries around the
world.
But, Mr. Chairman, I want to add, if you will, something to
sustainable development, to provide resources so that farmers can be
shown how to work in droughts in Arab communities so that they can
provide for themselves around the world. This is an important step.
And lastly, Mr. Chairman, I hope that we will not underfund Pakistan
when they are helping us in the war on terror. We should not vote
against any amendment that cuts the resources for Pakistan.
Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Florida (Mr. Crenshaw), another distinguished member of our
subcommittee.
Mr. CRENSHAW. Mr. Chairman, there are a lot of good reasons to
support this legislation, but let me just touch on one, the Millennium
Challenge Account. It is a new way to deal with foreign aid and foreign
assistance.
The old way has run its course. We would appropriate money, hold our
breath and hope the countries might reallow some of the things that we
wanted to happen. And, yet, now we have a results-oriented approach.
Because built in to these Millennium Challenge Accounts are incentives
for countries to adopt new policies, to provide for economic and
personal freedom, and that is a giant step forward.
If you stop and think about it, our threats to this country in terms
of terrorism are not going to come from rival global powers. They are
going to come from the smaller emerging countries, smaller failing
countries. Those are countries where they lack education, they lack the
rule of law, they lack personal freedom; and those are countries where
terrorism can flourish, where terrorism can fester, where terrorists
can find sanctuary. If we want to deal with those kinds of threats, it
seems to me we can prevent that from happening through this new
approach where we encourage policies like the rule of law, encourage
human rights, civil liberties, and we can build the kind of countries
through our foreign aid that will prevent this from happening in the
future.

{time} 1300

Mr. Chairman, I encourage all of my colleagues to support this
legislation for these and other good reasons.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Millender-McDonald).
Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Millender-McDonald).
Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Chairman, let me thank the gentlewoman
from New York (Ms. Lowey) for her ongoing strong leadership. She has
been upfront on this issue since I have been in Congress and even
before that.
I would like to take this opportunity to engage in a colloquy with
the distinguished chairman, the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Kolbe),
regarding pediatric HIV/AIDS treatment and care. I would also like to
thank him for his strong leadership on this issue and his ongoing
commitment to this cause.
As the chairman knows, I have worked consistently for global HIV/AIDS
treatment and prevention programs, particularly for children and
orphans in Africa. Currently, over 14 million children have been
orphaned by HIV/AIDS, 95 percent of them in sub-Saharan Africa. And
while Africa is the epicenter of the pandemic, the next wave is
projected to include China and India with between 1 to 15 million and
20 to 25 million infected people, respectively, by 2010.
Mr. Chairman, there is a shortage of trained health care providers
who understand and are knowledgeable of the special needs that children
with HIV/AIDS have.
I have introduced H.R. 4191 that calls for establishing pediatric
HIV/AIDS centers in 10 countries, seven in Africa and the rest in India
and China and Guyana. These are countries with epidemic rates of HIV/
AIDS resulting in children and orphans with no social support system.
These centers would not only provide treatment but also critical
training and research, and they are essential.
I hope that the chairman and the ranking member would bring forth
their leadership in providing some assistance here.
Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, will the gentlewoman yield?
Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. I yield to the gentleman from Arizona.
Mr. KOLBE. I thank the gentlewoman for her attention to this
important issue. Children that are affected by HIV/AIDS are a group
that tugs at the heart strings of all people. I have worked closely
with USAID and the Global AIDS coordinator to develop an integrated,
comprehensive approach to fighting this disease, and pediatric AIDS is
a core component of that approach.
While I applaud the gentlewoman's intentions, I believe that in some
circumstances, integrated treatment and care centers where both adults
and children can receive attention would be more appropriate. However,
I will be happy to work with the gentlewoman, the Global AIDS
coordinator, USAID, and other concerned parties to ensure that orphans
and vulnerable children receive proper treatment, care and support, as
part of a comprehensive approach to fighting this disease.
Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. I thank the distinguished chairman and the
gentlewoman.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer).
Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me
time.
I would join in the praise that I think is well deserved, commending
the committee for what it has accomplished within a 302(b) allocation
that is far too small, given the immense task that they have been
assigned.
There is truly no money that is more important for humanitarian and
national security purposes than the money that is spent under this
bill. For example, 10,000 people per day needlessly die from waterborne
diseases. That is why I am pleased that the chairman mentioned the
funding for Water For the Poor, the $970 million 3-year program to
finish our commitment that was launched at the United Nations
Environmental Summit in Johannesburg.
I note the report language on Urban Programs that is to be found on
page 21 where it is pointed out that massive urbanization occurring
throughout the developing world is a significant problem. It has been
identified by the CIA as one of the seven top threats to American
security. The committee is suggesting the USAID focus on urban issues
appears to be diminishing as the urban-specific problems are
accelerating and seeks to have a report on this issue.
This is critically important, and very necessary at this point.
I would also urge continued oversight on the part of this
subcommittee about the balance of aid between Iraq and Afghanistan. We
have already spent 10 times as much on development assistance for Iraq,
a smaller, richer and less seriously damaged country than Afghanistan,
where, after all, the 9/11 attacks were launched and where we are now
seeing over two-thirds of the global illicit heroine production.
I am hopeful that the subcommittee can use its oversight power to
deal with the correction of that imbalance toward this needy country.
The CHAIRMAN. The gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey) has 2\1/4\

[[Page H5819]]

minutes remaining. The gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Kolbe) has 1\1/2\
minutes remaining.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Providence, Rhode Island (Mr. Kennedy).
Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentlewoman
from New York (Mrs. Lowey) and the chairman for their work on this
legislation.
I too want to join any colleagues in saying how important a bill like
this is, and I only hope this Congress recognizes how critical the kind
of aid that is provided through legislation like this is in a time
where we are trying to combat international terrorism.
Terrorism feeds on instability. Terrorism feeds on poverty. Terrorism
feeds on the loss of hope. And unless we build these economies, unless
we provide stability to these countries, such as Sudan, which is
obviously such a great tragedy, and I am pleased to see this committee
work to try to address the needs of the Sudanese who are starving and
dying every day. But in addition to that, Liberia; and I wanted to make
a special note. Liberia has been racked with a civil war for over 10
years or more. A third of their population has been driven from their
country.
We need to continue to support the effort to connect and build
Liberia so that the refugees that have been scattered all around the
world can come home and help make that country a country that can move
into the future.
The United States has a very close relationship with Liberia. Liberia
was founded for former American slaves, hence the name Liberia. Its
capital city was named after the President who did that, President
Monroe, Monrovia. And I know that within the bill also there are funds
for the John F. Kennedy Hospital which is the primary health care
facility in Monrovia. And I am pleased to see that the committee has
acknowledged that in the efforts to help rebuild Liberia and make it so
that those people can move forward in their country.
I thank the gentlewoman for the time.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, how much time remains?
The CHAIRMAN. The gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey) has 15
seconds remaining.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, I yield 15 seconds to the gentlewoman from
Texas (Ms. Granger).
Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, I yield the balance of my time to the
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Granger).
The CHAIRMAN. The gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Granger) is recognized
for 1\3/4\ minutes.
Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Arizona (Mr.
Kolbe) and ranking member, the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Lowey),
for their hard work on this bill.
This is a tough appropriations year. The chairman, the ranking member
and the entire subcommittee staff worked very diligently to create a
good bill. It addresses some of the pressing issues: education,
narcotics abuse, and worldwide terrorism.
Earlier this week I had the opportunity to meet with some of the most
well-educated Iraqi women, many with Ph.D.s and layered graduate
degrees. Now that Saddam Hussein's oppressive regime has been removed,
these women are socially active and involved in Iraqi politics. This
bill recognizes that education increases awareness and activism in
developing countries.
The bill supports the war on terrorism by training international
forces in hunting down al Qaeda. It increases funding to train and
equip the new Afghan National Army. It provides money for Pakistan's
military efforts.
I want to thank the chairman for helping to look into the issue of
pay for Afghanistan police recruits and instructors, a concern that I
had and that I learned primarily of from my district. I look forward to
working with the chairman to find a solution.
The bill also funds programs that alleviate the international
narcotics program. I am a member of the Speaker's Drug Task Force and
know that narcotics control is a pressing international issue,
especially for Afghanistan. This bill provides $329 billion to
international narcotics control. In doing this we are showing our
commitment to root out the main source of terrorism funds.
I thank the chairman, the ranking member, and the subcommittee staff
for their help on this bill.
Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to speak out
against H.R. 4818, this year's Foreign Operations Appropriation Bill. I
want to state my apprehension about what has been this Nation's
philosophy toward international aid. Perhaps I should say, I rise today
to restate my concerns, as much of what troubles me about our foreign
aid philosophy is unchanged from year to year. In fact, Mr. Speaker,
none of my worries have been reconciled. In some cases, my fear has
grown.
A year ago I found myself in exactly the same position. I expressed
grave reservations regarding the way the American taxpayers' money was
squandered abroad. I had reservations about sending so much of our
money away when we have dire needs and deficits here at home. I had
serious reluctance about giving money to the UN, an institution that is
grossly inefficient, fosters anti-American sentiment, attacks our
values and, I believe, furthers anti-Semitism. I had grave reservations
that our money was spent to prop up regimes that oppose the war on
terror and, in some cases, even help terrorists.
It is often said that the definition of insanity is doing the same
thing over and over again, expecting a different result. After voicing
my concerns, I waited and have yet to see a significant change. I am
someone who is accustomed to results. Because I haven't seen any, I am
going to change my vote. Last year, I voted for the Foreign Operations
Appropriation Bill. This year I am voting against.
I am voting against the Foreign Operations Appropriation because I do
not believe America should be sending money to nations that have turned
their backs on our efforts in fighting the War on Terror when our young
men and women are sacrificing on foreign soil. I do not believe we
should be sending money to the UN until we can be sure that it was not
propping up Saddam's regime through the oil for food program. We should
not send money to the World Bank when so many of its loans have been
failures; and I do not believe we should be sending money to fight AIDS
in Africa when we have Americans who need healthcare here at home.
While I am voting against the Foreign Operations Appropriation Bill,
I know there are worthwhile causes in the bill. I am torn about my
vote. I have always been such a strong and staunch supporter of Israel.
As the only established democracy in the Middle East, I have always
wholeheartedly supported aid for Israel. As one of our strongest and
unflagging allies in the region, Israel indeed deserves our support.
Israel has been on the frontlines in the war on terror. The Israeli
people understand America's need to take the battle to our enemies,
unless we want to be fighting it on the streets of New York. Our
support for this nation is fully justified and I just wish there was
more we could do.

I would like to point out that there is hope. We have learned some of
the lessons of our foreign aid insanity. I have much admiration for the
President's Millennium Challenge Accounts. The Millennium Challenge
Corporation changes the direction of our foreign aid. This assistance
is based on criteria that reflects our values. In order to receive aid
through Millennium Challenge Accounts countries must sign compacts that
they pledge to govern justly, invest in their people, promote economic
freedom and fight corruption. In addition to acknowledging to these
principles in advance, these countries also agree to be monitored and
will forfeit future aid if they don't make regular progress towards
meeting these goals. There are 16 criteria by which countries agree to
be judged and I am hopeful this results based approach will promote
greater responsibility in our foreign aid programs.
Mr. Chairman, I am voting against the foreign aid bill because too
much of our taxpayer's dollars are wasted on misguided and misdirected
programs. It is my hope that in the future we will hold international
institutions to higher standards of accountability and promoting
freedom.
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the
amendment that was to be offered by Congressman Ron Paul, which seeks
to strip Pakistan of necessary resources.
H.R. 4818, without the Paul amendment, allocates up to $200,000,000
to Pakistan in the form of direct loans and guarantees; enables unused
funds (up to $150,000,000) appropriated under the ``Economic Support
Fund'' and ``Foreign Military Financing Program'' to provide assistance
for Pakistan; makes funds appropriated in title I and II of this bill
available to Pakistan, as well as victims of war, displaced children
and victims of trafficking; and finally, it allows funds allocated to
Department of Defense to be expanded for crafting, packing, handling
and transportation of excess defense articles to various countries,
including Pakistan.
The funding provided in the bill, without the Paul amendment, will
act as a tool in the global war against terrorism, as Pakistan has been

[[Page H5820]]

our partner in this effort. This assistance will create programs
combating the spread of disease such as HIV/AIDS, and will continue to
foster a much needed trusted relationship in that region of the world.
Finally, our assistance will help educate the children of Pakistan, who
will be the leaders of tomorrow. As chair of the Congressional
Children's Caucus, I have witnessed how often we forget to provide for
our children, who lose international attention and priority during
times of active military engagement.
With our assistance, we have been able to witness Pakistan's economic
trade and investment improvements, health care improvement, the
promotion of democracy and human rights, increased education provision,
and the further development of science and technology in Pakistan. By
continuing to assist this nation, we will continue a true partnership
that promotes world peace and security, and uncaps Pakistan's vast
untapped economic potential to the benefit of both Pakistan and the
United States.
The United States has enjoyed a strong relationship with the
government and people of Pakistan since the founding of the modern
state in 1947, and Pakistan has proven to be an indispensable ally
during both the Cold War and the War on Terror.

Pakistan's strategically important location and unwavering support
have played a decisive role helping to remove the Taliban regime from
Afghanistan and the capture of hundreds of wanted al-Qaeda terrorists.
Pakistan has suffered thousands of casualties and has been a victim of
numerous terrorist acts on their own soil because of their
steadfastness with our nation in the War on Terror.
Stripping assistance from Pakistan sends out the wrong message; such
an act is disrespectful and most importantly it is dangerous. By
choosing to single out and exclude Pakistan from access to our
financial assistance, we show them how unappreciative we are for their
efforts to aid us in the War against terrorism. Pakistan has been
committed to assisting us in the effort to stomp out terrorism, and has
proven this commitment by capturing hundreds of terrorists found in
Afghanistan and all over the world.
Congressman Paul asserts that, ample evidence exists proving that
Osama bin Laden is a current free resident of Pakistan, and highlights
the ineffectiveness of their aid thus far. I ask you to question the
validity of this intelligence. Is this the same intelligence used,
which caused our nation to believe that Sadam Hussein was harboring
weapons of mass destruction? I ask that you also reflect upon our own
nation as to how effective we have been in capturing Osama bin Laden
ourselves. Playing the blame game has no place here, and only acts to
alienate and ostracize a valued ally in the War on Terrorism.
Congressman Paul's amendment suggests that because Osama bin Laden may
be currently at-large in Pakistan, we should strip our funding from a
nation that has provided us with enormous amounts of aid in our effort
to stomp out terrorism.
Finally, Mr. Chairman, I would like to urge my colleagues to remember
the fact that we called upon the help of Pakistan during both the Cold
War and the War on Terrorism, and in both instances they helped us.
Without the knowledge of the future, it would be very unwise to cut off
a country that we may need yet another time in the future. There is
absolutely no reason to strain our ties with Pakistan by denying them
the assistance needed.
Mr. JACKSON of Illinois. Mr. Chairman, I rise to commend Chairman Jim
Kolbe, Ranking Member Nita Lowey, the other members of the Foreign
Operations Appropriations Subcommittee and the majority and minority
staffs for the bipartisan, collegial spirit during our oversight
hearings and the subcommittee and full committee markups.
I feel privileged to have worked with such a fine group of people. We
all know this is a difficult appropriations year, and I am grateful to
Chairman Kolbe and the subcommittee staff for their even-handed
approach to drafting the FY 2005 Foreign Operations bill.
I support this bill, despite the lack of resources. The Chairman and
the subcommittee staff incorporated most of my requests that
significantly improve funding for health and development programs for
those suffering in the developing world--especially in Africa. I thank
them for that.
During my tenure on this subcommittee, I have always fought for more
funds for sub-Saharan Africa. When the President submitted his budget
for the Foreign Operations bill earlier this year, he proposed several
cuts in Development Assistance and Child Survival funds to scores of
specific African countries. Development Assistance funds are crucial to
the long-term, sustainable development of these countries because they
fund agriculture, education, environment, democracy, and governance
programs. Child Survival funds are important because they combat
infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis.
Moreover, during our oversight hearings, administration witnesses did
not put forward a coherent or credible plan when it came to solving the
long-term health and development problems of sub-Saharan Africa.
After working with the Chairman and the Ranking Member, we restored
these cuts and improved the bill.
Let me be the first to say that this bill is not perfect. Overall, it
is almost $2 billion below the President's request. Our commitment to
the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria is severely underfunded
by possibly hundreds of millions of dollars, and although funding for
the Peace Corps has been increased from last year relative to FY 2004,
it is $70 million below the President's FY 2005 request.
Moreover, this bill is $95 million below the President's request for
Debt Restructuring and $13 million below our commitment for the Global
Environment Facility.
One of the more troubling aspects of this bill is that the Rules
Committee did not make in order a very thoughtful amendment by my
Ranking Member, Representative Lowey.
Representative Lowey's amendment would have provided much needed
health care resources through UNFPA programs in only 6 countries of
strategic and national security importance to the U.S.: Iraq,
Afghanistan, Jordan, Pakistan, Kenya and Tazania and would continue to
prohibit funding for any individual UNFPA country that has been cited
for violating Kemp-Kasten.
Despite these omissions, I plan to support this bill. The House
should not let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
Although I think this bill underfunds the Global Fund, it is $300
million above the President's request. This bill is $228 million above
the President's request for Child Survival and Health Programs. It is
$100 million above the President's request for Development Assistance,
and $27 million above the President's request for Migration and Refugee
Assistance.
Also, this bill includes $12 million for conflict resolution and a
$17 million increase for International Organizations and Programs.
All of the cuts requested in the Child Survival and Health Programs
were restored, and $6 million has been included for obstetric fistula
prevention and repair. All of the cuts requested for sub-Saharan
African countries in Child Survival and Development Assistance accounts
have been restored and there is a $15 million African school fee
reduction incentive fund.
The Chairman and the Ranking Member have produced a solid piece of
legislation despite the lack of resources they were provided. I cannot
stress enough how much I have enjoyed my work this year on the Foreign
Operations Subcommittee as we addressed the problems and concerns of
the developing world. I encourage my colleagues to support this bill.
Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in strong support of this
bipartisan legislation crafted by Mr. Kolbe and my good friend from New
York, Ms. Lowey.
Representing one of the most diverse Congressional districts, I know
how important U.S. foreign assistance is to nations around the world
and I have seen the success of our assistance firsthand.
I am pleased to see the committee increased international development
assistance--this is a positive step by the U.S.
We cannot afford to offer only military assistance to front line
states in the war on terrorism. Our Nation must address some of the
root causes that attract young men and women to the extremists like
poverty, lack of education, and the lack of freedom in their countries.
I thank the Chairman and Ranking Member for supporting priorities of
mine, including the Asian University for Women that is located in
Bangladesh and increased funding for the Peace and Reconciliation
programs in this legislation. I believe these types of programs are a
step in the right direction to help solve some of the problems that we
face around the world.
This bill also includes $25 million for the United Nations Population
Fund. But we all know that money will not be released by this
administration, because the administration seems determined to hinder
the health of women around the world. And this bill continues to
mandate the onerous Global Gag Rule, which keeps funding away from
groups such as the Bangladeshi Rural Advancement Committee and their
work to improve child and maternal health.
While I am saddened to see these horrible policies continued there is
much good in this bill particularly when you look at the Middle East. I
strongly support the $2.2 billion in foreign military funding and
economic aid in this bill for Israel. At this critical point of the
peace process we must make sure that our friend and close ally receives
all the support they need to protect themselves from terrorists and the
states that support them.
While I am pleased about the support for Israel as well as Jordan, a
steadfast ally and

[[Page H5821]]

proponent of stability, I believe the United States must do more to
combat the anti Israeli and Western stances taken by our supposed
allies like Saudi Arabia. The anti-Semitic statements made by Crown
Prince Abdullah show the true feelings of this so called ally--my
colleagues and I have raised our outrage and it is time for the
Administration to speak out against these types of slanderous
statements.
Egypt will all receive full funding under this bill and I am pleased
to see that the Egyptians are starting to take a more active role in
the peace process and working to close terrorist smuggling rings in
Gaza.
I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
Mr. NUSSLE. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to speak on H.R. 4818, the
Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs
Appropriations Act of Fiscal Year 2005. This is the [seventh] bill we
are considering pursuant to the 302(b) allocations adopted by the
Appropriations Committee on June 9th. I am pleased to report that it is
consistent with the levels established by the conference report to S.
Con. Res. 95, the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year
2005, which the House adopted as its fiscal blueprint on May 19th.
H.R. 4818 provides $19.429 billion in new budget authority, which is
within the 302(b) allocation to the House Appropriations Subcommittee
on Foreign Operations, Export Financing and Related Programs, and
outlays of $26.742 billion. The bill contains no emergency-designated
new budget authority, nor does it include rescissions of previously-
enacted appropriations.
Accordingly, the bill complies with section 302(f) of the Budget Act,
which prohibits consideration of bills in excess of an appropriations
subcommittee's 302(b) allocation of budget authority and outlays
established in the budget resolution.
I commend Chairman Kolbe's efforts to prioritize our foreign
operations funding to respond to the global HIV/AIDS pandemic, to
support our allies in the global war on terrorism, and to support
innovative approaches to foreign assistance.
In addition, I strongly support the record level of $2.2 billion in
funding provided in the bill to combat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and
malaria; of which almost $1.26 billion is funded under the Global HIV/
AIDS account, $885 million under the Child Survival and Health Programs
Fund, and $54 million through other accounts.
I am pleased the Appropriations Committee was able to prioritize our
critical funding needs for foreign operations within the fiscally
responsible manner outlined in the budget resolution and, therefore,
urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4818.
Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to express my support for
H.R. 4818, the FY 2005 Foreign Operations Appropriations bill, and I
want to commend Chairman Kolbe and Ranking Member Lowey for including
$20 million for the Tropical Forest Conservation Act. This is the
amount requested by President Bush in his FY 2005 Budget submission.
The TFCA is based on the previous Bush administration's Enterprise
for Americas Initiative, and authorizes the President to restructure
debt in exchange for conservation of threatened tropical forests
worldwide.
Tropical forests are important. They absorb carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere to help reduce greenhouse gases. They help regulate rainfall
on which agriculture and coastal resources depend, and their plants are
a vital source of new medicines, including treatments for cancer.
Regrettably, about 30 million acres of tropical forests (an area
larger than the State of Pennsylvania) are lost each year because many
countries are forced to exploit timber and other natural resources to
generate revenue to pay their external debt.
Seven TFCA agreements have been concluded to date: Bangladesh, El
Salvador, Belize, Peru, the Philippines, Panama and Colombia. These
agreements have generated more than $70 million in long-term income
tropical forest conservation and will contribute to the conservation of
40 million acres of tropical forests. Private donors have contributed
more than $5 million to TFCA swaps, leveraging the U.S. government
funds. Active deals are currently being negotiated with Jamaica and Sri
Lanka. Several other countries that have expressed interest or are
eligible for TFCA.
On June 24th, The International Relations Committee unanimous
approved H.R. 4654, a bipartisan bill I introduced with our colleague,
Tom Lantos, and 32 other cosponsors to reauthorize TFCA through FY
2007. That bill was developed with the Bush administration, the Nature
Conservancy, the World Wildlife Fund, Conservation International and
the Wildlife Conservation Society. We expect H.R. 4654 to come to the
floor in the near future.
TFCA is a worthy program that is working well. The Bush
Administration is a strong proponent of the Tropical Forest
Conservation Act, and it has bipartisan support in the Congress. I
again thank the leadership for providing the funding in H.R. 4818 so
TFCA can continue to protect some of the world's most threatened
natural resources.
Mr. GREENWOOD. Mr. Chairman, today, as the House considers the
Foreign Operations Appropriations Act of 2005, I respectfully submit
the following statement into the record in order to raise awareness of
an issue that I have found most distressing. For over three years, I
have been working on behalf of a company in my district, Pennsylvania
Ship Supply Inc. (PA Ship) to resolve a financial dispute with a
Ukrainian entity, the Black Sea Shipping Company (BLASCO).
PA Ship is a company that provides ancillary services to ships at
ports around the world. My office has been working on behalf of this
company since June of 2001, although PA Ship's problems with BLASCO
began much earlier. In 1996, PA Ship provided services to the BLASCO
ship m/v Sosnogorsk in the amount of $17,242.44. Shortly thereafter,
BLASCO filed for bankruptcy. To this date, PA Ship has yet to receive
payment for the services it provided BLASCO.
This matter is made all the more alarming by the fact that BLASCO is
a state owned company. My office has made numerous attempts, through
the Department of State, to resolve this issue. Unfortunately, the
government of the Ukraine has been either unwilling or unable to
provide much more than contact information for the Director and Deputy
Head of the Ukrainian State Department of Sea and River Transport.
Further inquiries from the U.S. Embassy to these agencies in the
Ukrainian government have been ignored.
I find this lack of concern on behalf of the Ukrainian government
unacceptable. Ukrainian officials have indicated to my office that
BLASCO's bankruptcy had been a major scandal in the Ukraine when it
first surfaced in the mid-1990s. It is also my understanding that PA
Ship was not the only company that has yet to receive payment for
services rendered prior to BLASCO filing for bankruptcy.
The government of the Ukraine has a well-established history of
ignoring the concerns of its international partners. Since 1993,
Ukraine has been seeking to gain accession to the World Trade
Organization (WTO). Negotiations between the government of the Ukraine
and the WTO working party assigned to examine its application have
yielded very little progress. Concerns about Ukraine's persistent
failure to take effective action against significant levels of optical
media piracy and to implement intellectual property laws that provide
adequate and effective protection have prompted the United States Trade
Representative to place Ukraine on its ``Priority Foreign Country''
list in its 2004 special 301 report, an action which could ultimately
lead to an investigation. This dubious distinction is highlighted by
the fact that the Ukraine is the only country to be placed on this list
for this year.
I urge the office of the United States Trade Representative to
advocate for the suspension of the WTO working party's negotiations
with the Ukrainian government until these and other outstanding issues
have been resolved.
Mr. STARK. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the Foreign Operations
Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2005.
There are many important initiatives in this bill, specifically: the
extra funding for economic assistance to some of the poorest countries
in the world, the additional funding for the Emergency Plan for AIDS
Relief, and the sizable funding allocation for the implementation of
development programs to support women in Afghanistan. This will help
improve the lives of poor people in every corner of the globe.
As the AIDS epidemic continues to wipe out enormous segments of the
world's population, funding to improve and implement effective medical
programs and infrastructure is vital. America has a responsibility to
stem this horrific epidemic that claims hundreds if not thousands of
lives every day. This bill provides significant funds toward that
effort and thus deserves our support.
Even as I vote for this bill today, however, I have serious concerns
about this Congress' proclivity for taxpayer subsidization of foreign
militaries and U.S. defense contractors. The bill continues this
wrongheaded policy when Congress ought to be working to reduce the
number of weapons in the world.
I am also strongly concerned about the restrictions placed on the $25
million provided to the U.N. Population Fund or UNFPA. Throughout the
last three decades, UNFPA has provided over $6 billion in assistance to
more than 150 countries for maternal and child health care and
voluntary family planning. My Republican colleagues have successfully
sought, year after year, to hobble this international health program
under the dictates of their extreme ideological agenda, despite its
success in lifting the yoke of poverty and disease from people around
the world. Simple compassion tells us to provide funding for this
effort without unfounded restrictions preventing UNFPA from fully
addressing the interconnected issues of health, family planning and
poverty.

[[Page H5822]]

Although I am frustrated by the lack of commitment to disarmament and
family planning programs in our annual foreign operations bills, I
cannot deny the significance of so many other initiatives included in
this bill, most notably the commitment to fighting global AIDS. I look
forward to working with like-minded colleagues and advocates to improve
this bill before it returns to the House as a conference report.
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I rise to support the current
bill and to applaud Chairman Kolbe and Ranking Member Lowey for their
hard work and leadership in crafting an effective piece of legislation.
However, in making appropriations for the entire nation, it is
virtually impossible to have a complete assessment or to profess a
complete breadth of knowledge of the regions that need the most
assistance--because this is an ever-changing issue.
Thus, I have offered an amendment. I support H.R. 4818, but I also
urge that not less than $5 million be appropriated for agricultural
development in sub-Saharan Africa. This money would not only provide
assistance to needy farmers and villages, but it would also strengthen
infrastructure and encourage sustainable agriculture growth.
Providing small farmers and villages within the assistance and the
resources necessary to plant, harvest, and distribute food crops is an
essential component of development in Africa. In my amendment I propose
doing much more than just giving small farmers money to buy farming
products such as shovels, seeds, and livestock. I propose that we also
improve infrastructure such as roads, irrigation canals, wells, and
storage facilities. From this small investment, rural farmers will be
able to reap profits for seasons and years to come. This is essence of
sustainable development.
Mr. Chairman, without such measures toward systemic change,
populations all over the world will continue to be faced food
shortages. It is estimated that there are already 842 million
undernourished people in the world, 798 million of which lived in
developing countries and 34 million of which live in developing
countries. It is clear that this is an issue that affects both poor and
rich countries.
The African continent, however, is undeniably the hardest hit. The
continent claims 24 of the 34 countries experiencing food emergencies.
The sub-Saharan African region is feeling the brunt of this crisis with
some 207 million people in 1999-2001 facing and experiencing food
shortages. That amounts to nearly 26 percent of the sub-Saharan
population facing inadequate access to nutritious food supplies.
Such widespread hunger plays a crucial role in sub-Saharan African
societies. There are implications for education. When a child does not
have the proper nourishment in his breakfast, it is impossible to
expect him to perform well in school. There are implications for public
health. When a mother's body is ravaged by the effects of HIV/AIDS, it
is impossible to expect that anti-retroviral drugs will ameliorate her
situation when food is a requirement for taking such powerful drugs.
There are implications for peace and security. When a young man's
meager wages are not enough to help provide for his family, it is
implausible to expect that he will not go to whatever lengths necessary
to secure some sort of food for his family. Mr. Chairman, the United
States is invested in improving the state of education, health, and
peace in sub-Saharan countries. This will not be possible without
providing for improvements in rural agriculture by providing assistance
to small farmers.
Those living in poor, rural areas are the most vulnerable. They
comprise 70 percent of the continent's population and are the most in
need of agricultural development because their livelihoods are
dependent on agriculture.
Small farmers produce the food that feeds the men, women, babies, and
the elders living in the small villages scattered across the arid
landscape of Africa. If we neglect Africa's rural population, we
neglect Africa's backbone. If we provide these farmers with the
necessary resources to shore up inefficient and antiquated
infrastructure we open the door to alleviating a host of other problems
that plague almost 70 percent of Africa's rural population that depend
on agriculture.
My proposal would allow for the development of small-scale
irrigation, water and drainage, post-harvest storage, crop
intensification, crop and livestock diversification, and rural
infrastructure. Such improvements to infrastructure would encourage
sustainable development and lead to a decrease in food shortage in the
short and long run.
The Special Programme for Food Security of the Food and Agriculture
organization of the United Nations (FAO) along with other international
NGOs is already making headway in Africa and other continents to reduce
the food shortage crisis. We must acknowledge the benefits of
agricultural improvement and its subsequent benefits for other areas of
life for those living in rural communities and villages.
Mr. Chairman, for the reasons stated above, I support H.R. 4818 with
the principles set forth in the amendment that I offer.
The CHAIRMAN. All time for general debate has expired.
Pursuant to the rule, the bill shall be considered for amendment
under the 5-minute rule.
During consideration of the bill for amendment, the Chair may accord
priority in recognition to a Member offering an amendment that he has
printed in the designated place in the Congressional Record. Those
amendments will be considered read.
The Clerk will read.
The Clerk read as follows:

H.R. 4818

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the
following sums are appropriated, out of any money in the
Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the fiscal year
ending September 30, 2005, and for other purposes, namely:

TITLE I--EXPORT AND INVESTMENT ASSISTANCE

Export-Import Bank of the United States

The Export-Import Bank of the United States is authorized
to make such expenditures within the limits of funds and
borrowing authority available to such corporation, and in
accordance with law, and to make such contracts and
commitments without regard to fiscal year limitations, as
provided by section 104 of the Government Corporation Control
Act, as may be necessary in carrying out the program for the
current fiscal year for such corporation: Provided, That none
of the funds available during the current fiscal year may be
used to make expenditures, contracts, or commitments for the
export of nuclear equipment, fuel, or technology to any
country, other than a nuclear-weapon state as defined in
Article IX of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons eligible to receive economic or military assistance
under this Act, that has detonated a nuclear explosive after
the date of the enactment of this Act: Provided further, That
notwithstanding section 1(c) of Public Law 103-428, as
amended, sections 1(a) and (b) of Public Law 103-428 shall
remain in effect through October 1, 2005.

subsidy appropriation

For the cost of direct loans, loan guarantees, insurance,
and tied-aid grants as authorized by section 10 of the
Export-Import Bank Act of 1945, as amended, $125,700,000, to
remain available until September 30, 2008: Provided, That
such costs, including the cost of modifying such loans, shall
be as defined in section 502 of the Congressional Budget Act
of 1974: Provided further, That such sums shall remain
available until September 30, 2023, for the disbursement of
direct loans, loan guarantees, insurance and tied-aid grants
obligated in fiscal years 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008:
Provided further, That none of the funds appropriated by this
Act or any prior Act appropriating funds for foreign
operations, export financing, and related programs for tied-
aid credits or grants may be used for any other purpose
except through the regular notification procedures of the
Committees on Appropriations: Provided further, That funds
appropriated by this paragraph are made available
notwithstanding section 2(b)(2) of the Export-Import Bank Act
of 1945, in connection with the purchase or lease of any
product by any East European country, any Baltic State or any
agency or national thereof.

administrative expenses

For administrative expenses to carry out the direct and
guaranteed loan and insurance programs, including hire of
passenger motor vehicles and services as authorized by 5
U.S.C. 3109, and not to exceed $30,000 for official reception
and representation expenses for members of the Board of
Directors, $73,200,000: Provided, That the Export-Import Bank
may accept, and use, payment or services provided by
transaction participants for legal, financial, or technical
services in connection with any transaction for which an
application for a loan, guarantee or insurance commitment has
been made: Provided further, That, notwithstanding subsection
(b) of section 117 of the Export Enhancement Act of 1992,
subsection (a) thereof shall remain in effect until October
1, 2005.

Overseas Private Investment Corporation

noncredit account

The Overseas Private Investment Corporation is authorized
to make, without regard to fiscal year limitations, as
provided by 31 U.S.C. 9104, such expenditures and commitments
within the limits of funds available to it and in accordance
with law as may be necessary: Provided, That the amount
available for administrative expenses to carry out the credit
and insurance programs (including an amount for official
reception and representation expenses which shall not exceed
$35,000) shall not exceed $42,885,000: Provided further, That
project-specific transaction costs, including direct and
indirect costs incurred in claims settlements, and other
direct costs associated with services provided to specific
investors or potential investors pursuant to section 234 of
the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, shall not be considered
administrative expenses for the purposes of this heading.

program account

For the cost of direct and guaranteed loans, $24,000,000,
as authorized by section 234

[[Page H5823]]

of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, to be derived by
transfer from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation
Non-Credit Account: Provided, That such costs, including the
cost of modifying such loans, shall be as defined in section
502 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974: Provided
further, That such sums shall be available for direct loan
obligations and loan guaranty commitments incurred or made
during fiscal years 2005 and 2006: Provided further, That
such sums shall remain available through fiscal year 2013 for
the disbursement of direct and guaranteed loans obligated in
fiscal year 2005, and through fiscal year 2014 for the
disbursement of direct and guaranteed loans obligated in
fiscal year 2006.
In addition, such sums as may be necessary for
administrative expenses to carry out the credit program may
be derived from amounts available for administrative expenses
to carry out the credit and insurance programs in the
Overseas Private Investment Corporation Noncredit Account and
merged with said account.

Funds Appropriated to the President

trade and development agency

For necessary expenses to carry out the provisions of
section 661 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961,
$51,500,000, to remain available until September 30, 2006.

TITLE II--BILATERAL ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE

Funds Appropriated to the President

For expenses necessary to enable the President to carry out
the provisions of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, and for
other purposes, to remain available until September 30, 2005,
unless otherwise specified herein, as follows:

united states agency for international development

child survival and health programs fund

(including transfer of funds)

For necessary expenses to carry out the provisions of
chapters 1 and 10 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of
1961, for child survival, health, and family planning/
reproductive health activities, in addition to funds
otherwise available for such purposes, $1,648,500,000, to
remain available until September 30, 2006: Provided, That
this amount shall be made available for such activities as:
(1) immunization programs; (2) oral rehydration programs; (3)
health, nutrition, water and sanitation programs which
directly address the needs of mothers and children, and
related education programs; (4) assistance for children
displaced or orphaned by causes other than AIDS; (5) programs
for the prevention, treatment, control of, and research on
HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, polio, malaria, and other infectious
diseases, and for assistance to communities severely affected
by HIV/AIDS, including children displaced or orphaned by
AIDS; and (6) family planning/reproductive health: Provided
further, That none of the funds appropriated under this
heading may be made available for nonproject assistance,
except that funds may be made available for such assistance
for ongoing health activities: Provided further, That of the
funds appropriated under this heading, not to exceed
$250,000, in addition to funds otherwise available for such
purposes, may be used to monitor and provide oversight of
child survival, maternal and family planning/reproductive
health, and infectious disease programs: Provided further,
That the following amounts should be allocated as follows:
$330,000,000 for child survival and maternal health;
$28,000,000 for vulnerable children; $330,000,000 for HIV/
AIDS; $185,000,000 for other infectious diseases; and
$375,500,000 for family planning/reproductive health:
Provided further, That of the funds appropriated under this
heading, and in addition to funds allocated under the
previous proviso, not less than $400,000,000 shall be made
available, notwithstanding any other provision of law, except
for the United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Malaria Act of 2003 (117 Stat. 711; 22
U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), for a United States contribution to the
Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the
``Global Fund''), and shall be expended at the minimum rate
necessary to make timely payment for projects and activities:
Provided further, That up to 5 percent of the funds made
available under the previous proviso may be made available to
the United States Agency for International Development for
technical assistance related to the activities of the Global
Fund: Provided further, That of the funds appropriated under
this heading, $65,000,000 may be made available for a United
States contribution to The Vaccine Fund, and up to $6,000,000
may be transferred to and merged with funds appropriated by
this Act under the heading ``Operating Expenses of the United
States Agency for International Development'' for costs
directly related to international health, but funds made
available for such costs may not be derived from amounts made
available for contributions under this and preceding
provisos: Provided further, That none of the funds made
available in this Act nor any unobligated balances from prior
appropriations may be made available to any organization or
program which, as determined by the President of the United
States, supports or participates in the management of a
program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization:
Provided further, That none of the funds made available under
this Act may be used to pay for the performance of abortion
as a method of family planning or to motivate or coerce any
person to practice abortions: Provided further, That none of
the funds made available under this Act may be used to lobby
for or against abortion: Provided further, That in order to
reduce reliance on abortion in developing nations, funds
shall be available only to voluntary family planning projects
which offer, either directly or through referral to, or
information about access to, a broad range of family planning
methods and services, and that any such voluntary family
planning project shall meet the following requirements: (1)
service providers or referral agents in the project shall not
implement or be subject to quotas, or other numerical
targets, of total number of births, number of family planning
acceptors, or acceptors of a particular method of family
planning (this provision shall not be construed to include
the use of quantitative estimates or indicators for budgeting
and planning purposes); (2) the project shall not include
payment of incentives, bribes, gratuities, or financial
reward to: (A) an individual in exchange for becoming a
family planning acceptor; or (B) program personnel for
achieving a numerical target or quota of total number of
births, number of family planning acceptors, or acceptors of
a particular method of family planning; (3) the project shall
not deny any right or benefit, including the right of access
to participate in any program of general welfare or the right
of access to health care, as a consequence of any
individual's decision not to accept family planning services;
(4) the project shall provide family planning acceptors
comprehensible information on the health benefits and risks
of the method chosen, including those conditions that might
render the use of the method inadvisable and those adverse
side effects known to be consequent to the use of the method;
and (5) the project shall ensure that experimental
contraceptive drugs and devices and medical procedures are
provided only in the context of a scientific study in which
participants are advised of potential risks and benefits;
and, not less than 60 days after the date on which the
Administrator of the United States Agency for International
Development determines that there has been a violation of the
requirements contained in paragraph (1), (2), (3), or (5) of
this proviso, or a pattern or practice of violations of the
requirements contained in paragraph (4) of this proviso, the
Administrator shall submit to the Committees on
Appropriations a report containing a description of such
violation and the corrective action taken by the Agency:
Provided further, That in awarding grants for natural family
planning under section 104 of the Foreign Assistance Act of
1961 no applicant shall be discriminated against because of
such applicant's religious or conscientious commitment to
offer only natural family planning; and, additionally, all
such applicants shall comply with the requirements of the
previous proviso: Provided further, That for purposes of this
or any other Act authorizing or appropriating funds for
foreign operations, export financing, and related programs,
the term ``motivate'', as it relates to family planning
assistance, shall not be construed to prohibit the provision,
consistent with local law, of information or counseling about
all pregnancy options: Provided further, That nothing in this
paragraph shall be construed to alter any existing statutory
prohibitions against abortion under section 104 of the
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961: Provided further, That to the
maximum extent feasible, taking into consideration cost,
timely availability, and best health practices, funds
appropriated in this Act that are made available for condom
procurement shall be made available only for the procurement
of condoms manufactured in the United States: Provided
further, That information provided about the use of condoms
as part of projects or activities that are funded from
amounts appropriated by this Act shall be medically accurate
and shall include the public health benefits and failure
rates of such use.

Amendment No. 20 Offered by Mr. Sherman

Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.
The CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:

Amendment No. 20 offered by Mr. Sherman:
In the item relating to ``United States Agency for
International Development-child survival and health programs
fund'', after the aggregate dollar amount, insert the
following: ``(increased by $290,000,000)''.
In the item relating to ``United States Agency for
International Development-child survival and health programs
fund'', after the third dollar amount, insert the following:
``(increased by $290,000,000)''.
In the item relating to ``contribution to the international
development association'', after the aggregate dollar amount,
insert the following ``(reduced by $359,000,000)''.

Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that debate on this
amendment and any amendments thereto be limited to 20 minutes, to be
equally divided and controlled by the proponent and myself as the
opponent.
The CHAIRMAN. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from
Arizona?
There was no objection.
The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman) will

[[Page H5824]]

control 10 minutes on his amendment. The gentleman from Arizona (Mr.
Kolbe) will control 10 minutes in opposition to the amendment.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman).
Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 3 minutes.
I introduced this amendment on behalf of myself and the gentlewoman
from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen). The gentlewoman is the chairwoman of
the subcommittee that deals with the Middle East on the Committee on
International Relations. I am the ranking member of that subcommittee
of that committee that deals with terrorism and nuclear proliferation.
We are both concerned that the World Bank has decided to make loans
of $359 million to the government of Iran. We are also both concerned
that we have an opportunity here to help the Child Survival Account, to
save perhaps millions of children's lives simply by providing it more
funding than this bill provides, to those programs that provide
immunization, those that treat diarrhea and other easily curable
diseases. So we see an opportunity both to deal with the World Bank's
decision and to increase child survival.
Mr. Chairman, just a couple of months ago, the World Bank, over
American objections, approved $359 million for Iran. They did so at the
same time that the IAEA was deliberating not whether Iran was
developing nuclear weapons, we all know that they are, but the degree
to which they should be sanctioned for their clear violation of nuclear
proliferation control agreements.
Now, the government of Iran spends the minimum necessary on domestic
projects in order to stay in power. This $359 million allows them to
fund those minimal domestic projects. Then the government of Iran uses
what is left over to develop nuclear weapons and to support terror. It
is the number one state sponsor of terror as identified by the United
States State Department.
So this bill as presently written puts money in the World Bank. One
quarter of the World Bank's assets and funds, roughly, are those of the
American taxpayer, and then $359 million is going from the World Bank
to Iran.

{time} 1315

We need to make it clear that Members do not have to go back to their
districts and defend sending American tax dollars to Tehran at a time
when they are developing nuclear weapons.
We also need to help the child survival accounts. I would have wanted
to cut $359 million from the World Bank and add a full $359 million to
child survival. As a result of the outlay rules and timing of outlays,
this amendment was in order only if we increased child survival by $290
million. So if my colleagues are fiscal conservatives, this amendment
saves the government $69 million, but, more importantly, it funds some
of the very best U.S. AID programs. It provides additional money for
child survival and maternal health. It provides for those very
effective treatments for easily curable and preventable diseases.
This amendment enhances the bill.
Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the
distinguished gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey), the ranking
member.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition reluctantly to this
amendment.
While I have absolutely no sympathy for the government of Iran and
would strongly prefer that the World Bank not approve loans to that
country, I oppose this amendment because its passage will not in any
way affect lending to Iran.
What the amendment would do is cut $359 million from the
International Development Association, which is almost half of the
proposed fiscal year 2005 U.S. contribution. IDA funds loans to the
poorest countries in the world, mostly African countries, at low rates
of interest and on a long-term repayment schedule.
IDA is the source of much of the capital that poor countries use to
rebuild vital infrastructure and deal with the chronic problems of poor
health and education systems. The World Bank, through the IDA loan
window, has spent over $1 billion to combat HIV/AIDS to date. The bank
is also the center for the ``Education for All'' initiative, which aims
to provide a free, primary education to the 110 million children around
the world who currently do not attend school.
Because the subcommittee's 302(b) allocation was $1.9 billion below
the President's request, we had to make some tough choices. In that
context, the funding currently in the bill for IDA represents a $200
million cut from the President's request. I am certainly not totally
satisfied with the quality of the World Bank's lending programs and
will be monitoring closely the result of the new Performance Evaluation
Scheme. The cuts the committee made were in that context, but cutting
further would be a mistake and would only serve to reduce the bank's
overall lending capacity without in any way affecting Iran.
I urge opposition to the amendment.
Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Chairman, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from
Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen).
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Chairman, I thank my friend, my distinguished
colleague from California, for the time, and I rise in strong support
of the Sherman/Ros-Lehtinen amendment and ask my colleagues to render
their full support to it.
Iran's unconventional weapons program, and its fondness for using
terrorism as statecraft, have made this pariah state a litmus test of
the war on terror.
For at least two decades, the Iranian regime has been pursuing a
covert nuclear program. It has undertaken a number of efforts for the
manufacture and testing of centrifuge components, including at
facilities owned by military industrial organizations.
According to multiple reports of the International Atomic Energy
Agency, the Iranian regime's deceptions and nuclear activities have
dealt with the most sensitive aspects of the nuclear cycle.
Just last month, after the international community once again called
on Iran to ``come clean'' with its efforts to develop a nuclear weapons
capability, the Iranian foreign minister and the secretary of Iran's
Supreme National Security Council retorted that Iran has to be
recognized by the international community as a member of the nuclear
club and that Iran is on an irreversible path, their own words, toward
becoming a nuclear state.
It is, therefore, imperative that the international community join
forces to deny Iran any and all avenues to bring to a halt Iran's
progress on this path.
This Chamber has repeatedly articulated this position. Most recently,
we adopted by an overwhelming vote H. Con. Res. 398 which clearly
underscored the denial of financial and other resources to Iran is an
overarching priority for the United States.
Yet, through the World Bank, Iran is receiving hundreds of millions
of dollars in loans.
Now, we will hear some argue that these loans are for nonlethal
programs. However, given the fungible nature of the fund, there is no
effective way of preventing the manipulation of these funds.
We certainly cannot trust the terrorist regime in Teheran to apply
those World Bank funds to good, humanitarian use; and, as we have
discovered recently with the investigations into the UN's handling of
the Oil-For-Food program, we certainly cannot trust international
institutions to practice due diligence and oversight.
Further, even if the loans are applied for basic services in Iran,
that just enables Iran's mullahs to increase their budget allocations
to fund terrorist activities and intensify their efforts to develop
nuclear weapons.
The Sherman/Ros-Lehtinen amendment seeks to bring an end to this
farce. Given that this is an appropriations bill, we cannot go even
further. However, the amendment is a good first step.
The amendment seeks to cut U.S. contributions to the World Bank by an
amount equal to its recent loans to Iran. In turn, it shifts these
funds to U.S. AID's child survival programs; that is, it denies funds
to the Iranian regime while helping prevent children from dying from
preventable or easily treatable diseases, providing them with
immunizations and other inexpensive treatments.
I ask my colleagues to vote an overwhelming ``yes'' on the Sherman-
Ros-Lehtinen amendment.

[[Page H5825]]

Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, I am the only other speaker I have, if the
gentleman is prepared to yield back the balance of his time.
The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman) has 3\1/2\
minutes remaining.
Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
First, let me deal with this view that somehow the World Bank is not
the World Bank, it is separate agencies. It is true the World Bank has
five different departments, but as the World Bank's own Web site says
in referring to the two departments in question now, the IBRD and the
IDA are run on the same lines. They share the same staff and
headquarters, report to the same president and evaluate projects with
the same standards. They go on to say the IDA simply takes the money
out of a different drawer. So, if we are funding the World Bank, we
funding the World Bank.
This vote on this amendment is our only chance this year to vote to
put economic pressure on the government of Iran that is developing
nuclear weapons. It is the only chance we have this year to respond to
the World Bank and to show how we feel when they send our money to a
government that our State Department has identified as the number one
state sponsor of terrorism. It is our only chance to respond to the
investigation of Senator Lugar, who has shown that many experts
estimate that between 5 percent and 25 percent of the money we send to
the World Bank is misused; and it is our best opportunity to vote to
increase child survival and to save children's lives, whether they are
dying from diarrhea or dying from diseases for which immunization is
possible.
This is our chance to speak as a caucus and to say that time for
business as usual is over. We can walk out of here saying, well, we
disagree with the World Bank, but there is nothing we can do about it.
But then we have to go back to our districts, when a nuclear mushroom
cloud explodes first in a test in Iran and then, God forbid, in a
hostile use by the Iranian government, and defend our votes to support
a bill, part of the money of which ended up in Tehran.
I see the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Kennedy) here, and I do not
know whether he wishes time. I commend the gentleman for his efforts to
make sure that we deal with the World Bank, and I appreciate his
support for this amendment.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time.
The Sherman amendment is really not about Iran. It is about depriving
the poorest countries in the world of development assistance for basic
education, for health care, for HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, and
for environmental protection programs. It is about blocking the path
towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals. I do not think this
Congress wants to be remembered for this.
I know that Iran is a politically sensitive issue, and none of us
believe that the World Bank should be making loans in Iran, but the
funding contained in the foreign operations bill is for IDA, the
concessional lending program of the World Bank which is designed to
help the poorest countries of the world, with per capita incomes of $1
to $2 per day.
Mr. Chairman, Iran is not eligible to use the resources of IDA. The
projects approved for Iran were funded by the IBRD, which is the market
rate lending program of the bank. IBRD does not receive appropriated
funds. There is no fungibility between IDA and IBRD resources.
So, Mr. Chairman, restricting the appropriations of funds to IDA will
not affect Iran in any way. However, it will cut funding that supports
development and health programs in sub-Saharan Africa and the poorest
countries of Asia and Latin America. Over half of IDA resources are
programmed for sub-Saharan Africa, and many of the programs would be
supported on a grant basis, no longer just loans.
Diverting these funds into bilateral programs would deny six times,
that is, again, six times, as much funding as the gentleman's cut. For
every $1 of U.S. taxpayer money that goes into IDA, other donors and
resources provide $6 of support. So if we cut this, we cut out six
times as much of the money that goes to sub-Saharan Africa and other of
the poorest countries of the world.
Mr. Chairman, I have already made what I think is a difficult
decision to cut World Bank funding by $211 million below the request.
Another $359 million cut would probably put U.S. leadership at risk at
the bank, in addition to putting at risk billions of dollars of
assistance for poor countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
To reiterate, Mr. Chairman, Iran is not eligible for IDA finances.
IDA funding, which is the subject of this bill, the only source of
funding that is in this bill for the World Bank, Iran is not eligible
for any of those sources, and Iran would not be affected by a cut in
funding to the IDA.
I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
The CHAIRMAN. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman).
The question was taken; and the Chairman announced that the noes
appeared to have it.
Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.
The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further proceedings
on the amendment offered by the gentleman from California will be
postponed.
Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, I move that the Committee do now rise.
The motion was agreed to.
Accordingly, the Committee rose; and the Speaker pro tempore (Mr.
Cantor) having assumed the chair, Mr. Thornberry, Chairman of the
Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, reported that
that Committee, having had under consideration the bill (H.R. 4818)
making appropriations for foreign operations, export financing, and
related programs for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2005, and for
other purposes, had come to no resolution thereon.

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