[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000, Book II)]
[July 14, 2000]
[Pages 1434-1435]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Statement on House of Representatives Action on Foreign Operations 
Appropriations
July 14, 2000

    Yesterday the House of Representatives passed a foreign operations 
bill which includes certain positive elements but is nonetheless deeply 
flawed. I am pleased that members of both parties joined together to 
support debt relief for the poorest of the poor nations, as illustrated 
by the vote on Representative Maxine Waters 
amendment. While this is an encouraging step, I urge Congress to build 
on this support by fully funding my request for debt reduction to fully 
implement the landmark Cologne debt initiative. I am also pleased that a 
majority in the House supports our efforts to halt the global spread of 
AIDS. In Africa, AIDS is a leading cause of death and is undermining 
decades of effort to reduce mortality, improve health, expand 
educational opportunities, and lift people out of poverty.
    However, it is unfortunate and unacceptable that this bill fails to 
provide the resources necessary to support our efforts to keep building 
peace and stability around the world. The House bill imposes deep, 
untenable cuts to U.S. contributions to multilateral development banks, 
including the International Development Association which provides loans 
for the world's neediest countries in areas like health, clean water 
supplies, education, and other infrastructure needed for lasting poverty 
reduction. It is counterproductive to slash development loans that are 
aimed at lifting the world's poorest nations from poverty, as they 
reform their social and economic policies, while providing debt relief 
to these same nations for the same purpose. To do so undermines efforts 
to lift these countries from deepest poverty and sends them in the wrong 
direction just when they are working to reverse the devastating spread 
of AIDS among their people. This bill also denies funding for other 
multilateral development banks, including draining resources from 
efforts to encourage developing nations to promote sound environmental 
policy. We must support the efforts of multilateral development banks, 
and we must fully fund our obligation to debt relief for the world's 
poorest nations.
    This bill includes deep cuts in military assistance for nations 
working with the United States to advance stability; in particular, it 
would drain essential funds necessary to support Mid-East peace. It also 
cuts funding from the Ex-Im Bank which supports the export of American 
products overseas.
    Support for combating terrorism and nuclear proliferation is 
inadequate. This bill fails to provide sufficient resources for work 
with scientists of other nations to reduce the threat of nuclear 
proliferation, and it denies funds to an administration initiative for 
anti-terrorism security training. By significantly cutting my request 
for funds to support Eastern Europe and voluntary peacekeeping, the bill 
also fails to provide the resources needed to implement a lasting peace 
in Kosovo and the Balkans and to bring our troops home from that region 
as quickly as possible.
    In addition, Congress should not maintain the unnecessary 
restrictions on international family planning. We should not impose 
limitations on foreign nongovernmental organizations' use of their own 
money or their ability to participate in the democratic process in their 
own country. The bill also fails to provide sufficient funding for 
international family planning and other USAID development activities, 
thereby inhibiting our efforts to increase development assistance to 
Africa and Latin America. As this bill moves forward, I call on Congress 
to address the numerous and serious problems in it and to produce a 
foreign operations bill I can sign.

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