The Administration requested $500 million for Mexico and $50 million for Central American countries in its FY2008 supplemental appropriations request. In the FY2009 foreign aid request, the Administration requested another $550 million for the MÃ©rida Initiative â $450 million for Mexico and $100 million for Central American countries. On May 14, 2008, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs approved H.R. 6028 (Berman), the Merida Initiative to Combat Illicit Narcotics and Reduce Organized Crime Authorization Act of 2008. The bill would authorize $1.6 billion over three years, FY2008-FY2010, for both Mexico and Central America, $200 million more than originally proposed by President Bush. In terms of appropriations legislation, FY2008 supplemental funding for the MÃ©rida Initiative was considered as part of a broader FY2008 Supplemental Appropriations Act, H.R. 2642 , that provides $465 million in FY2008 and FY2009 supplemental assistance for Mexico and Central America. 110-252 ) In the act, Mexico receives $352 million in FY2008 supplemental assistance and $48 million in FY2009 bridge fund supplemental assistance, while Central America, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic receive $65 million in FY2008 supplemental assistance.
In October 2007, the United States and Mexico announced the MÃ©rida Initiative, a multi-year proposal for $1.4 billion in U.S. assistance to Mexico and Central America aimed at combating drug trafficking, gangs, and organized crime. On May 14, 2008, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs approved a bill, H.R. 6028 (Berman), which would authorize $1.6 billion for the Initiative from FY2008 through FY2010. The Bush Administration requested $500 million for Mexico and $50 million for Central American countries in its FY2008 supplemental appropriations request. In late June 2008, Congress appropriated $465 million in FY2008 and FY2009 supplemental assistance for Mexico and Central America in the FY2008 Supplemental Appropriations Act, H.R. 2642 ( P.L. 110-252 ). In the act, Mexico receives $352 million in FY2008 supplemental assistance and $48 million in FY2009 bridge fund supplemental assistance, while Central America, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic receive $65 million in FY2008 supplemental assistance. The Administration has requested an additional $450 million for Mexico and $100 million for the Central American countries under the MÃ©rida Initiative in its FY2009 budget request. This report will be updated. See also CRS Report RL32724, Mexico-U.S. Relations: Issues for Congress , by [author name scrubbed] and [author name scrubbed], and CRS Report RL34112, Gangs in Central America , by [author name scrubbed].