The 2016 State and Foreign Operations Appropriations bill drastically shortchanges critical components of our national security - diplomacy and development - cutting more than 11% from the President’s budget request. Additionally, it includes new and politically motivated ideological riders designed to feed Republicans’ sham Benghazi investigation and undermine President Obama’s normalization of relations with Cuba.
2015 base enacted: $40.01 billion
2015 OCO enacted: $9.26 billion
2016 base request: $46.90 billion
2016 OCO request: $7.05 billion
2016 Committee mark base: $40.50 billion
2016 Committee mark OCO: $7.33 billion
*Figures do not include FY2015 Ebola supplemental
The 2016 State and Foreign Operations Appropriations bill provides:
* $47.83 billion in total funding, which is $1.43 billion less than the FY2015 enacted level and $6.11 billion less than the President’s budget request.
* $8.04 billion for Diplomatic and Consular Programs, which is $226 million more than the FY2015 enacted level and $566 million less than the President’s budget request.
* $8.45 billion for Global Health, which is equal to the FY2015 enacted level and $273 million more than the President’s budget request.
* $8.61 in total funding for International Security Assistance, which is $165 million more than the FY2015 enacted level and equal to the President’s budget request.
** $3.1 billion for aid to Israel, fully funding the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
* $3.92 billion for Economic Support Funds, which is $823 million below the FY2015 enacted level and $2.2 billion below the President’s budget request.
* $2.51 billion for Development Assistance, which is equal to the FY2015 enacted level and $493 million less than the President’s budget request.
* $5 billion in total funding for Humanitarian and Disaster Relief, which is the same as the 2015 enacted level and $759 million above the President’s budget request.
* $1.12 billion in total funding for the operating expenses of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which is $93 million less than the FY2015 enacted level and $302 million less than the President’s budget request.
* $5.61 billion for Embassy Security and Diplomatic Security, which is $173 million more than the FY2015 enacted level and equal to the President’s budget request.
* $1.4 billion for Multilateral Assistance, which is $1.3 billion less than the FY2015 enacted level and $1.97 billion less than the President’s budget request.
** The Committee mark zeroes out funding for specific organizations including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, UN Population Fund (UNFPA), UN Women, UN Development Programme (UNDP), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Global Environmental Facility (GEF), and many others.
* $899.5 million for the Millennium Challenge Corporation, which is equal to the FY2015 enacted level and $350.5 million less than the President’s budget request.
Policy Riders
The Committee mark:
* Withholds 15% of Department of State operating funds until the State Department certifies policies related to document and electronic communication preservation and speeding up FOIA requests, a new, politically-motivated provision designed to feed the sham Benghazi investigation. Such a cut would have a drastic impact on diplomacy and development priorities and Department of State operations.
* Prohibits funding for establishment of an embassy or diplomatic presence in Cuba.
* Reinstates the Global Gag Rule, which prohibits organizations that provide abortion services or refer or counsel patients on the topic from receiving federal funding. Additionally, it prohibits funds for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and caps reproductive health funding at the FY2008 level.
* Overrides OPIC, Ex-Im Bank, and World Bank prohibitions on financing coal-fired and other power generation plants.
* Prohibits funds to implement the UN Arms Trade Treaty.
* Requires notification of foreign assistance to a government accepting Guantanamo detainees, and adds a reporting requirement if the Department of State is negotiating a transfer.
Source: U.S. Department of HCA
