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INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS SPENDING IN THE 2005
APPROPRIATIONS BILL: WINNERS AND LOSERS
On November 20, Congress completed the appropriations process for 2005. There
were some big losers and a few winners. U.S. contributions to UN
peacekeeping missions and President Bush’s Millennium Challenge Account both
received far less than the President requested. HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and
Tuberculosis funding was one of the few areas that received more than the
administration requested, but the majority of this money is dedicated to the
President’s unilateral AIDS initiative, PEPFAR, rather than to the Global
Fund.
Click
here for a table of 2005 appropriations for
International Affairs Contributions for International Peacekeeping
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UN Peacekeeping received only $490 million, despite a
request of $650 million by the Bush administration.
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The U.S. has approved three new UN peacekeeping
missions (Haiti, Burundi and Cote d’Ivoire) since the initial request was
drafted. The UN is also currently planning a peace support mission for
Sudan. The 2005 appropriations bill contains nothing for these new
missions. Instead, the House and Senate “expect” that the administration
will submit a supplemental appropriation request to provide for the “full
UN peacekeeping assessments.” Congress also registered its “concern” that
President Bush approved new peacekeeping missions “without presenting the
Committees on Appropriations with a viable plan to meet the current and
future costs” of the missions.
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By most estimates, Congress will have to approve more
than $500 million more in supplemental appropriations during 2005 to cover
the peacekeeping missions the U.S. has already approved.
Click here to learn more about U.S. funding of UN peacekeeping in 2005.
Millennium Challenge Account
HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Tuberculosis
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Congress approved $2.29 billion to fight HIV/AIDS,
malaria and tuberculosis, a number which exceeds the administration’s
request by nearly $100 million. However, $1.4 billion, over half of the
appropriated funds, is designated for the President’s Emergency Plan for
AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which has been widely criticized. In contrast, the
multilateral Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria receives
only $250 million of new appropriations, half the amount it received in
2004.
Global Peace Operations Initiative
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The appropriations bill allows for the transfer of $80
million from the Department of Defense to the Department of State to
finance the Global Peace Operations Initiative, which is intended to
double the number of trained peacekeepers worldwide.
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The bill also contains $104 million for non-UN
peacekeeping funding.
Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and
Stabilization
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Congress also created an Office of the Coordinator for
Reconstruction and Stabilization within the Department of State with the
mandate of “monitoring political and economic instability worldwide to
anticipate the need for mobilizing United States and international
assistance.”
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However, Congress did not specifically fund the Office,
which may leave it incapable of carrying out its mandate.
Click here to learn more about the Office of the Coordinator for
Reconstruction and Stabilization.
Miscellaneous
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Congress allocated $1.5 million for the creation of a
Task Force on the United Nations at the United States Institute of Peace.
Pushed by Congressman Frank Wolf of Virginia, the Task Force on the United
Nations will probably look at many of the same issues that are currently
being considered by the United Nation’s High Level Panel on Threats,
Challenges and Change.
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Congress prohibited the use of any appropriated money
to pay for U.S. expenses to attend any UN body that is chaired by a
country that the Secretary of State has determined to be providing support
for international terrorism.
Updated December 1, 2004 |
