SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE APPROVES FY2011 U.S. FOREIGN ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
06 August 2010
Washington, D.C. (UNIS) – After months of deliberations and hearings, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed its FY2011 proposed budget for U.S. foreign assistance programs. The Senate State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Subcommittee, chaired by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and ranking member Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH), approved the $54.1 billion bill on Thursday, July 29th. The President’s request, submitted in February to Congress, for FY (fiscal year) 2011 was $56.6 billion. Speaking during the Senate Committee vote, Chairman Leahy reiterated: “Although we could not fully fund the increases requested by the President, this bipartisan bill goes a long way to enhance the capacity of the department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to carry out security, diplomacy and development programs.”
The $54.1 billion bill is $5.3 billion higher than last year’s (FY2010) enacted amount. No earmarks are included in the bill; however, this year’s Senate version of the bill has an estimated $85 million for Ukraine for various programs. Several of the programs and accounts in the Senate bill raised their funding for FY2011, including: Educational and Cultural Exchange Programs (ECE) provides $654.3 million, an increase of $19.3 million from last year’s appropriated funds; Broadcasting Board of Governors, which overseas the Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), saw a $4.4 million increase over last year’s bill to a level of $750.8 million; Peace Corps is funded $420.2 million, a substantial increase of over year’s appropriated funds; and, Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) has been approved for $1.12 billion and remains at the same level as last year’s funding. Other programs include funding for countries in the former Soviet Union under the Freedom Support Act (FSA) for Armenia and Georgia. Countries such as Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq, also receive funding from the Senate State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Subcommittee bill.
As both the Senate and House of Representatives have recessed for the month of August, only to return after Labor Day, very few legislative days remain before the new fiscal year approaches (October 1st). It is conceivable that both chambers will pass a continuous resolution (CR) at the end of September 2010 to keep the U.S. government operating at last year’s appropriated levels. Whether Congress returns after the November elections in a “lame duck” session, or awaits the new 112th Congress in January 2011 to tackle issues of Appropriations, remains to be seen.
