On September 25, the House approved, by voice vote, the conference report for the State Department authorization bill (H.R. 1646). The Senate cleared the measure by unanimous consent the same day. H.R. 1646 provides $8.6 billion for the State Department and its related agencies in FY2003.
In addition, H.R. 1646 authorizes $726 million for international peacekeeping activities, as well as $820 million for migration and refugee assistance.
H.R. 1646 extends provisions of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Prevention Act (P.L. 106-386), which authorize support for local, regional, and international nongovernmental organizations to provide services such as culturally and linguistically appropriate shelters, hotlines, education and training for trafficked women and girls, and other legal and social services.
Additionally, the bill extends the reporting requirements of the State Department regarding compliance with the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.
H.R. 1646 also contains a provision expressing the sense of Congress that the “President should direct the Secretary of State and the United States Representative to the United Nations to urge the United Nations to adopt an HIV/AIDS mitigation strategy as a component of United Nations peacekeeping operations.”
Another provision calls for the Secretary of State to establish an international HIV/AIDS “intervention, mitigation, and coordination task force to coordinate activities on international HIV/AIDS programs administered by agencies of the federal government and to work with international public and private entities working to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic.”
