Senior executive branch officials had advisedthe President to veto these earlier measures because of inadequate funding. Asenacted on October 21 in H.R. 4328 , the Omnibus Consolidated andEmergency Supplemental Appropriations, 1999, Foreign Operations funds total$31.63 billion, including $12.827 billion for regular programs, $539 million forMDB arrears payments, $399 million in Child Survival, former Soviet aid, Africaembassy bombing-related, and counter-narcotics "emergency" supplementalspending, and $17.9 billion for the IMF. Much of the additional ForeignOperations resources added in H.R. 4328 is allocated for former Sovietaid, USAID operating expenses, disaster relief, the Peace Corps and U.S.contributions to the Global Environment Facility. The bill caps internationalfamily planning aid at $385 million but drops House-passed abortion restrictions. Introduction

The annual Foreign Operations appropriations bill is the primary legislativevehicle through which Congress reviews and votes on the U.S. foreign assistancebudget and influences executive branch foreign policy making generally. But unlike a year ago,when the President concentrated most of the added funds requested on a few highpriority areas, most notably for payment of arrears at multilateral development banks,the FY1999 request asked for increases across a wide array of Foreign Operationsprograms. The Senate allocation set budget authority for Foreign Operations about$1 billion below the President's request and nearly $250 million less than enacted forFY1998. During executive-legislative budget discussions duringthe final days of the 105th Congress, negotiators added more than $880 million forForeign Operations spending in FY1999 to amounts approved by the House andSenate in September. Under the terms of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, appropriations for multilateral development bank(MDB) arrearage payments and the IMF do not score against budget allocations forForeign Operations programs in FY1999. In addition, H.R. These "emergency" supplementals also do score againstForeign Operations budget caps. 4569 , provided $635million for the Eximbank and other export promotion agencies, meeting about halfof the proposed increase from FY1998, while the Senate appropriated $674 millionin S. 2334 . Development assistance. Peace Corps. Demining aid would growfrom $20 million to $50 million. Multilateral Development Bank arrearage payments. H.R. 4328 . Leading Recipients of U.S. Foreign Aid:FY1997 -- FY1999 (appropriation allocations -- $s inmillions)
* Total or partial earmarks enacted in FY1997, FY1998, and FY1999 Foreign Operations bills. Both House and Senate bills proposed the initiation of a ten year process to phase outeconomic aid to Israel and to reduce Egypt's aid by half, cutting total assistance tothe two countries for FY1999 by $100 million to just over $5 billion. Policy Issues in the Foreign Operations Debate

In addition to funding decisions made by Congress in the Foreign Operations appropriation bill, the annual spending measure also includes a wide range of policyprovisions that frequently raise contentious foreign policy disagreements between thePresident and Congress. Policy priorities of U.S. development aid. U.S. international family planning programs had been one of the largest growth areas of the foreign aid budget in the 1990s. Middle East aid and Israel's plan to phase-out economic assistance. The Omnibus Appropriation, H.R. Aid Restrictions for Russia and Ukraine.
The annual Foreign Operations appropriations bill is the primary legislative vehicle through which Congress reviews the U.S. foreign aid budget and influences executive branch foreign policymaking generally. It contains the largest share -- over two-thirds -- of total U.S. internationalaffairs spending. For Foreign Operations programs, President Clinton sought $13.6 billion indiscretionary budget authority for FY1999, nearly $800 million, or 6% higher than available forFY1998. But unlike a year ago, when the President concentrated most of the added funds requestedon a few high priority areas, the FY1999 request asked for increases across a wide array of ForeignOperations programs, including export promotion agencies, development assistance, debt reductioninitiatives, the Peace Corps, drug control aid, arrearage payments for multilateral development banks,and others. Israel, Egypt, Russia, Ukraine, and Bosnia would be the largest recipients of bilateralaid, as has been the case in the recent past. Beyond these regular Foreign Operations programs, thePresident also sought $17.9 billion for U.S. contributions to two IMF facilities and $502 million forU.S. arreage payments to multilateral development banks.
In addition to funding questions, the Foreign Operations debate also included important policy issues, such as priorities of development aid strategies, abortion restrictions on international familyplanning programs, adjusting Middle East aid allocations, policy restrictions on aid to Russia andUkraine, and the use of American assistance as a tool in the Armenian-Azerbaijan dispute overNagorno-Karabakh.
Foreign Operations is one of eight appropriation bills incorporated and enacted in H.R. 4238 , the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental AppropriationsAct, 1999. As passed on October 20/21, H.R. 4328 includes $12.827 billion fordiscretionary Foreign Operations. In addition, the omnibus bill includes $539 million to clear U.S.arrears at multilateral development banks, $399 million in "emergency" Foreign Operationssupplementals, and $17.9 billion for the IMF, funds that are not "scored" against the ForeignOperations budget cap, but which provide additional resources for U.S. foreign aid activities. Intotal, H.R. 4328 provides $31.63 billion for Foreign Operations in FY1999.
Although this still falls about $385 million below the President's request, it provides a substantial increase from what the House and Senate had approved in bills ( H.R. 4569 and S. 2334 ) passed in September. Senior executive branch officials had advised thePresident to veto these earlier measures because of inadequate funding. Compared with theSenate-passed bill, the higher of the two, budget negotiations between congressional leaders and theWhite House during the final days of the 105th Congress resulted in $880 million more for ForeignOperations in FY1999. Much of the additional money included in H.R. 4328 isallocated for former Soviet aid, USAID operating expenses, disaster relief, the Peace Corps and U.S.contributions to the Global Environment Facility. The bill caps international family planning aid at$385 million, but drops House-passed abortion restrictions. The enacted legislation also initiates aten year process to phase out economic aid to Israel and trim by half Egypt's aid, reducing totalcombined assistance for FY1999 by $100 million to just over $5 billion.
Key Policy Staff