[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 21829]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 21829]]

   APPOINTMENT OF CONFEREES ON H.R. 2506, FOREIGN OPERATIONS, EXPORT 
        FINANCING, AND RELATED PROGRAMS APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2002

  Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the 
Speaker's table the bill (H.R. 2506) making appropriations for foreign 
operations, export financing and related programs for the fiscal year 
ending September 30, 2002, and for other purposes, with a Senate 
amendment thereto, disagree to the Senate amendment, and agree to the 
conference asked by the Senate.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Shaw). Is there objection to the request 
of the gentleman from Arizona? The Chair hears none and, without 
objection, appoints the following conferees: Messrs. Kolbe, Callahan, 
Knollenberg, Kingston, Lewis of California, Wicker, Bonilla, Sununu, 
Young of Florida, Mrs. Lowey, Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Ms. 
Kilpatrick, Mr. Rothman, and Mr. Obey.
  There was no objection.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, I very much appreciated the indulgence 
of the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Foreign Operations 
Appropriations Subcommittee earlier this year when we considered this 
appropriation on the House floor. We engaged then in a colloquy 
regarding the importance of funding for the U.S. Agency for 
International Development's Office of Environment and Urban Programs.
  I believe this is one of the important non-military components of the 
war on terrorism. When Secretary of State Powell appeared before our 
International Relations Committee late last month, he and I shared an 
exchange regarding the importance of investing in infrastructure, human 
capital, and entry-level industries in the urbanized regions of the 
developing world. As someone whose public service has focused on 
livable communities in the United States, I've been increasingly 
concerned about the urgent international implications.
  The cities of our world are already overwhelmed by human needs and 
economic instability. Today, 30 percent of urban residents throughout 
the world lack access to safe drinking water; waterborne disease kills 
5-12 million people each year; 50 per cent do not have adequate 
sanitation facilities. These conditions are getting worse by the day. 
Within the next 25 years, 2.5 billion more people will move to cities 
throughout the world; 95 percent of this movement will occur in 
developing nations. Here, the poverty, malnutrition, and chronic 
diseases of rural areas will become focused in new ``mega-cities'' of 
10-20 million people, creating an even greater strain on natural 
resources, human health, economic well-being--and the stability--of 
these nations and the entire world.
  This dangerous trend has not gone unnoticed. In its Outlook 2015 
Report, the CIA ranked rapid urbanization as one of its top seven 
security concerns. ``The explosive growth of cities in the developing 
countries,'' the report concludes, ``will test the capacity of 
governments to stimulate the investment required to generate jobs, and 
provide the services, infrastructure, and social supports necessary to 
sustain livable and stable environments. Cities will be sources of 
crime and instability as ethnic and religious differences exacerbate 
the competition for ever scarcer jobs and resources.''
  Foreign assistance programs are critically important if cities in 
developing nations are to meet the demands of their rapidly growing 
populations. We need to help them build the capacity to provide basic 
infrastructure needs, promote economic growth, reduce environmental 
degradation, and improve health services for their residents. Programs 
that focus on not only the symptoms but also the causes of growing 
poverty and social unrest are our best defense against increasing human 
misery and global instability.
  It is clear that we need additional resources to enable the U.S. 
Agency for International Development to address these challenges. Last 
year, its Office of Environment and Urban Programs operated on a budget 
of $4 million--the cost of four cruise missiles--down from an $8 
million budget in 1993. This steady pattern of disinvestment, which 
continues into this fiscal year, is dangerously eroding our ability to 
address urban problems just as they are becoming more critical to our 
own national security.
  Increased funding for the Office of Environment and Urban Programs 
would permit AID to build on its past successes and would encourage and 
strengthen the involvement of our public and private sector partners in 
these critical activities.
  I have asked Secretary Powell to provide information from AID 
identifying the role cities will play in economic, security, and social 
development issues and its intended response to the growing urban 
crises, including a description of current funding and staffing levels 
as well as projected future needs.
  I look forward to continuing to work with Chairman Kolbe's 
Subcommittee, and with my own Committee, the House International 
Relations Committee to strengthen funding for this vital purpose. AID 
allocates resources internally to its Office of Environment and Urban 
Programs. I hope its funding will be considerably higher for FY02 than 
the $4 million it was given in FY01.

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