[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 117 (Friday, September 24, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S9670]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   FOREIGN OPERATIONS APPROPRIATIONS

  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I am pleased to support the fiscal year 
2005 Foreign Operations Appropriations bill.
  Recently, the release of the 9/11 Commission report gave us all 
reason to redouble our efforts to focus on the importance of the 
foreign policy and foreign assistance priorities that are addressed in 
this bill. The commission's intelligence reform proposals have been the 
focus of most of the media attention surrounding the 9/11 report, but 
the commission's call for more focused, effective ways to attack the 
terrorists and their organizations, and, critically, to prevent the 
continued growth of Islamist terrorism, deserve equally intense 
examination and certainly deserve action. If we are to leave our 
children a safer world, we must take the long view in this struggle, 
and we must find ways to regain the kind of international support and 
resolve that emerged in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. That 
support--so critical to any effort to deny terrorists sanctuary, to 
unravel their financial networks, and to effectively piece together the 
intelligence picture that can reveal their plans and weaknesses--has 
dipped dramatically in recent years, and we have sustained terrible 
losses of an extraordinarily valuable type of American power: our power 
to persuade, to lead, and to inspire. Throwing our support behind 
citizens fighting corruption abroad, helping to strengthen networks 
committed to fighting international crime, investing in the future by 
supporting child survival and health initiatives--all of these efforts, 
if pursued wisely, can help create a more secure world for the next 
generation.
  In this context, it is important to note that the entire Foreign 
Operations Appropriations bill amounts to less than the amount that the 
U.S. has already appropriated for reconstruction projects in just one 
country: Iraq. When I reflect on this disparity, and then reflect on 
the fact that resources in this bill are in many cases stretched very 
thin--for example, the appropriators, who I know strongly support the 
Peace Corps, were unable to meet the administration's requested funding 
level for that important program--I am concerned about the balance and 
focus of U.S. policy in the midst of what is a truly global struggle 
against the terrorists who attacked this country.
  I strongly support the provisions in this bill that provide resources 
for the fight against HIV/AIDS, and believe that the U.S. must continue 
to ramp up assistance--and to ensure that this assistance is 
effective--to honor the commitments that the President has made to the 
millions around the world struggling with this horrific pandemic.
  I am pleased that this bill fully funds the President's request for 
assistance for Israel, as well as requests for Egypt, Jordan, 
Afghanistan and Pakistan. While the U.S. relationship with each of 
these important countries is complex, there can be no question that 
continued U.S. investment in the future of these states makes good 
sense.
  I continue to have concerns about the assistance provided to Colombia 
under the Andean Counterdrug Initiative because of ongoing reports of 
human rights violations by armed groups in Colombia and links between 
paramilitary groups and the Colombian Armed Forces. I hope that the 
administration will take seriously the provisions in this bill 
conditioning the obligation of much of this assistance on whether human 
rights, alternative development, and fumigation requirements are met.
  I am pleased that an amendment I cosponsored, expressing the need for 
international support for the people of Haiti, was included in this 
bill. The latest disaster in Haiti, in which over 1,000 were killed in 
severe flooding caused by Tropical Storm Jeanne, has only intensified 
the suffering Haitians face on a daily basis from political insecurity 
and extreme poverty. This tragedy underscores the need for the 
international community to make a serious and sustained commitment to 
the future of Haiti.
  As the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's 
Subcommittee on African Affairs, I am especially pleased that this bill 
provides $5 million to establish pilot programs in the Democratic 
Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Burundi, and Liberia to address sexual 
and gender-based violence. My office worked with the appropriators on 
this important provisions.
  I also strongly support provisions in the bill calling for 
improvements in the human rights situation in Uganda, and particularly 
calling for greater efforts devoted to civilian protection and child 
protection in the North. These provisions dovetail with the Northern 
Uganda Crisis Response Act, a bill I authored which was passed by the 
Senate and House and signed into law this summer.

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