Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations for 1997, Vol. 2: Hearings Before a Committee of the Committee on Appropriations House of Representatives One Hundred Fourth Congress Second Session (Classic Reprint) - Softcover
Excerpt from Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations for 1997, Vol. 2: Hearings Before a Committee of the Committee on Appropriations House of Representatives One Hundred Fourth Congress Second Session
Fiscal Year 1997, so, we don't know vet what the subcommittee's allocation from the full committee will be. But, I think it is safe to say that this subcommittee will be able to mark up a 1997 bill that is closer to the President's request than was the case last year.
What is more striking this year is the disproportionate amount of our bill that will go to a very small part of the world, the Middle East and the neighboring eastern Mediterranean region. By my staffs calculation, the President's new budget allocates $5,345 billion; for the Middle East. Depending on the outcome of the pending supplemental request for Jordan and Israel, that number could climb by another $120 million. That's close to 50 percent of this subcommittee's expected allocation. It's more than 50 percent of the total foreign aid in our bill once the appropriation for OPIC and Ex-Im Bank, which in my opinion is not foreign aid, are deducted from the allocation.
The taxpayers of the United States have already provided $85.5 billion in support of the 1978 Camp David agreements. We have now complied with three successive emergency requests totalling $444 million for Jordan, in support of its involvement in the peace agreement with Israel. We've provided at least $200 million in support of the Palestinian authority in support of its peace agreement with Israel. And 1 know that you're negotiating with Syria, and I certainly hope that you're successful in seeing that Syria joins in the peace initiative of the Middle East, but, once again, I want to forewarn you that any monetary commitment to Syria is going to be very seriously scrutinized by me as well as some of the other members of this committee.
You're also requesting another $52.5 million for a new Middle East development bank. You and I have discussed this in the past, and I want to let you know, that in these times of budget realities, it's not the time to be seriously committing $50 million for any development anywhere in the world. Let me reiterate our concern for the Middle East peace and the security of Israel, but isn't it time to recognize that a cap has to be put on aid to this region? Discretionary appropriations are going down, not up, and will go down faster if we cannot slow down the growth of entitlements.
With both the President and the Congress pledged to work towards a balanced budget by the year 2002, if we don't cap and reallocate our assistance to the Middle East, there will soon be nothing left for the rest of the world. Think of all the children not helped; some of the diseases not fought, and export markets not taken advantage of because Congress and the Executive branch just can't say no to any request from the Middle East. And I'd welcome your response to that during your statement.
Mr. Secretary, the conference on the omnibus appropriations bill and the supplemental will be meeting as soon as this hearing ends. Our conference will have to resolve still another Middle East issue, and that's the $50 million Israeli anti-terrorism supplemental - the first half of the $100 million that you requested on the telephone.
Your request to use DOD funds to pay for additional foreign aid for counterterrorism is just not going to happen, if I have anything to do with it, in part, because of the Senate firewalls for defense.
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Fiscal Year 1997, so, we don't know vet what the subcommittee's allocation from the full committee will be. But, I think it is safe to say that this subcommittee will be able to mark up a 1997 bill that is closer to the President's request than was the case last year.
What is more striking this year is the disproportionate amount of our bill that will go to a very small part of the world, the Middle East and the neighboring eastern Mediterranean region. By my staffs calculation, the President's new budget allocates $5,345 billion; for the Middle East. Depending on the outcome of the pending supplemental request for Jordan and Israel, that number could climb by another $120 million. That's close to 50 percent of this subcommittee's expected allocation. It's more than 50 percent of the total foreign aid in our bill once the appropriation for OPIC and Ex-Im Bank, which in my opinion is not foreign aid, are deducted from the allocation.
The taxpayers of the United States have already provided $85.5 billion in support of the 1978 Camp David agreements. We have now complied with three successive emergency requests totalling $444 million for Jordan, in support of its involvement in the peace agreement with Israel. We've provided at least $200 million in support of the Palestinian authority in support of its peace agreement with Israel. And 1 know that you're negotiating with Syria, and I certainly hope that you're successful in seeing that Syria joins in the peace initiative of the Middle East, but, once again, I want to forewarn you that any monetary commitment to Syria is going to be very seriously scrutinized by me as well as some of the other members of this committee.
You're also requesting another $52.5 million for a new Middle East development bank. You and I have discussed this in the past, and I want to let you know, that in these times of budget realities, it's not the time to be seriously committing $50 million for any development anywhere in the world. Let me reiterate our concern for the Middle East peace and the security of Israel, but isn't it time to recognize that a cap has to be put on aid to this region? Discretionary appropriations are going down, not up, and will go down faster if we cannot slow down the growth of entitlements.
With both the President and the Congress pledged to work towards a balanced budget by the year 2002, if we don't cap and reallocate our assistance to the Middle East, there will soon be nothing left for the rest of the world. Think of all the children not helped; some of the diseases not fought, and export markets not taken advantage of because Congress and the Executive branch just can't say no to any request from the Middle East. And I'd welcome your response to that during your statement.
Mr. Secretary, the conference on the omnibus appropriations bill and the supplemental will be meeting as soon as this hearing ends. Our conference will have to resolve still another Middle East issue, and that's the $50 million Israeli anti-terrorism supplemental - the first half of the $100 million that you requested on the telephone.
Your request to use DOD funds to pay for additional foreign aid for counterterrorism is just not going to happen, if I have anything to do with it, in part, because of the Senate firewalls for defense.
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- PublisherForgotten Books
- Publication date2020
- ISBN 10 1331697662
- ISBN 13 9781331697664
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages233
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: New. Print on Demand. Excerpt from Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations for 1997. About the Publisher, Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works. This text has been digitally restored from a historical edition. Some errors may persist, however we consider it worth publishing due to the work's historical value. The digital edition of all books may be viewed on our website before purchase. print-on-demand item. Seller Inventory # 9781331697664_0
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