On July 19, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs approved, by voice vote, the FY2014 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs spending bill (as-yet-unnumbered).
According to the committee summary, the bill would provide $34.1 billion in discretionary funds. This amount is $8 billion below FY2013 and $6 billion below the current level imposed by the across-the-board spending cuts, also known as sequestration (Budget Control Act, P.L. 112-25).
The measure includes $1.4 billion for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), $172 million below FY2013 and $1.571 billion below the administration’s request. Bilateral assistance would receive $17.3 billion, $5.8 billion below FY2013. The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which is included in bilateral assistance, would receive $6 billion. PEPFAR received roughly $5.6 billion in FY2013; the administration requested $5.67 billion for the program.
The bill would eliminate direct funding for several voluntary contributions to international organizations and programs, including the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
The legislation reinstates the Mexico City Policy, which prohibits funding to foreign nongovernmental organizations that promote or perform abortions. Family planning and reproductive health programs would be capped at $461 million, the level at which these programs were funded in FY2008. The legislation would maintain the Tiahrt Amendment, named after former Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS), which provided standards for voluntary family planning services; the Helms Amendment, named after former Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC), which bans foreign aid from being spent on abortion services; and the Kemp-Kasten Amendment, named after former Rep. Jack Kemp (R-NY) and Sen. Robert Kasten (R-WI), which prohibits funds to organizations the president determines to support coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization.
Additional details on programs important to women and their families will become available when the committee releases its report.
