February 24th, 2009 by Cecile

Yesterday, House Democratic leaders released a $410 billion omnibus spending bill (H.R. 1105) for fiscal year 2009, of which $36.6 billion would be set aside for the State Department, USAID, and foreign military and economic aid. This represents a 12 percent increase over last year’s levels.

Of the $36.6 billion appropriated for foreign operations $2.4 billion would go to Israel, $1.5 billion to Egypt, and $498.5 million to Jordan. As for strictly economic assistance, the West Bank and Gaza would receive $75 million, Lebanon would receive $67.5  million, and Afghanistan $200 million. Additionally, the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor as well as USAID’s Office of Democracy and Governance would receive a total of $116 million.

The Millenium Challenge Corporation would see a significant reduction in its budget to the tune of $875 million, down 40% from fiscal year 2008. According to CQ.com (requires subscription), Congress claims MCC has enough money in the bank to implement its current compacts.

For a summary of the State and Foreign Operations portion of the bill click here.

Posted in Congress, Democracy Promotion, Foreign Aid, Legislation, Military, US foreign policy, US politics |