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International Affairs Budget Update
September 8, 2017
1. Senate Overwhelmingly Defeats Paul Amendment; Three-Month CR
and Harvey Relief Headed to President's Desk
2. House State-Foreign Operations Bill on the Floor for First Time
in Seven Years
3. Senate State-Foreign Operations Bill Moves Through Committee
4. Redesign Recommendations Headed to OMB; Tillerson Previews Plan
for Envoys

This week saw a whirlwind of activity on the International Affairs
Budget - from consideration of the Senate State-Foreign
Operations (SFOPS) Appropriations bill, to an amendment by Senator
Rand Paul (R-KY) that would have cut USAID funding nearly in half, to
SFOPS programs being debated on the House floor for the first time in
seven years.

In the end, Congressional support for U.S. engagement in the world
came out on top. The Senate SFOPS bill flew through the Appropriations
Committee and was approved with unanimous support, Senator
Paul's amendment was overwhelmingly defeated, and bipartisan
members of the House spoke out in support of the International Affairs
Budget on the floor. A round-up of the week's news, including
movement in the reform and reorganization space, is included in the
update below.

1. Senate Overwhelmingly Defeats Paul Amendment; Three-Month CR and
Harvey Relief Headed to President's Desk

In the rush to deliver relief to victims of Hurricane Harvey, the
President and Congressional leaders agreed this week to provide
billions in funding for the hurricane, extend the debt ceiling, and
keep the government open through December 8. The deal won bipartisan
support in both the House and Senate and is headed to the
President's desk for signature. The story of this deal and its
impact on the International Affairs Budget, however, relates to an
amendment that would have cut foreign assistance by more than $15
billion.

When the spending package came up for a vote in the Senate, Senator
Rand Paul (R-KY) offered an amendment to offset the Hurricane relief
by slashing USAID's budget. Senate Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell (R-KY) moved to table - or set aside - Senator
Paul's amendment. Thanks to a quick mobilization by our
coalition members both in and outside of the beltway, the vote on the
motion to table the amendment, in which a 'yes' vote
amounted to opposition to the underlying amendment, was agreed to by a
strong bipartisan vote of 87-10. Senators who voted 'no'
on the motion to table included

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=8yEJhJf2m32wTJKqKiD9mw

Senators Dean Heller (R-NV), Pat Toomey (R-PA), Mike Lee (R-UT), Jeff
Flake (R-AZ), Rand Paul (R-KY), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Tim Scott (R-SC), Jim
Inhofe (R-OK), James Lankford (R-OK), and Jim Risch (R-ID).

USGLC President and CEO Liz Schrayer released a statement noting that
the Senate's rejection of Senator Paul's amendment
"to gut close to half of USAID's budget makes clear that
we must always care for our citizens in times of disaster without
undercutting our security and economic interests around the
world." USGLC is grateful for the swift action from our members
and partners that helped create the momentum for a sound defeat of the
amendment.

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=6gH-XDTqqzZRbDNx_MqWBA

2. House State-Foreign Operations Bill on the Floor for First Time
in Seven Years

In addition to passage of a three-month Continuing Resolution (CR),
this week the House began consideration of an eight-bill
appropriations omnibus that included the State-Foreign Operations
(SFOPS) bill. This is the first time the SFOPS bill has been
considered on the House floor since 2010.

A number of amendments to the SFOPS portion of the bill were
introduced and considered over two days, including a few that would
have reduced the topline funding level. Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) offered
an amendment to defund the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), which
failed by voice vote.

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=jdBhvarlyvfREtwEMGNy4w

Reps. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), Tom Rooney (R-FL), and Liz Cheney (R-WY)
circulated a letter opposing the amendment and several members from
both parties spoke out in strong opposition on the floor. As a
reminder, the last time an amendment of this nature was on the floor
it received 168 'yes' votes.

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=pse_UXD1-S1K0b5W7MMQ8g

Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI) also offered an amendment that would have
cut a scholarship program and reduced the SFOPS topline, which failed
105-307.
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=F00B0MUFed7WldiuYSAbTA

Other amendments related to the International Affairs Budget that
received a roll call vote include:

* An amendment offered by Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA) increasing
funding for the Western Hemisphere Regional Cooperation program
by $10 million and reducing contributions to the International
Organizations and Programs account accordingly. Agreed to,
217-193.
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=964mQPxM9jUS2rGL281oaQ

* An amendment offered by Rep. Keith Rothfus (R-PA) transferring
$30 million from the Fulbright Program to the International
Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement account. Failed, 163-248
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=lkJQZ3pKi-8gaZKSUGcnbA

.
* An amendment by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) - and
offered by Rep. Ted Yoho (R-FL) on her behalf -
prohibiting contributions to several UN bodies, including the UN
Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and the UN Relief and Works Agency
(UNRWA). Failed, 199-212
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=D7XUDfVAqWfIDf10B8ZGhA

.

Next Steps

In order to allow House members from the southeast region to return
home to prepare for Hurricane Irma, House leadership pulled the
omnibus bill from the floor late this week. Consideration and a final
vote on the package will occur next week, but debate over the SFOPS
portion of the bill is complete.

3. Senate State-Foreign Operations Bill Moves Through Committee

This week, the Senate State-Foreign Operations Appropriations
Subcommittee and full Committee approved the FY18 State-Foreign
Operations (SFOPS) bill. Notably, Subcommittee Chairman Lindsey Graham
(R-SC) and Ranking Member Patrick Leahy (D-VT) included particularly
strong language in the bill's accompanying report repudiating
isolationist policies and reaffirming Congressional support for
development and diplomacy. The report did not shy away from
criticizing the Administration's foreign policy, stating its
"apparent doctrine of retreat... serves only to weaken
America's standing in the world."

As mentioned previously, the SFOPS bill provides $51.2 billion in
discretionary funding for State-Foreign Operations, split between
$30.4 billion in base funding and $20.8 billion for Overseas
Contingency Operations (OCO) funding. While this funding level is
still below current levels, it is far above the Administration's
request and also above the allocation proposed in the House. During
debate, Senators Graham and Leahy also noted that "now is not
the time to retreat" and more funding is needed for development
and diplomacy programs.

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=Gzhb4Tg3qRvVgrc7f1LG2w

International Affairs Budget Snapshot


FY17 Enacted
FY18 Request**
FY18 House
FY18 Senate

Base
$38.4 billion
$28.5 billion
$36.9 billion
$32.2 billion

OCO
$20.8 billion*
$12.0 billion
$12.0 billion
$20.8 billion

Total
$59.1 billion
$40.5 billion
$48.9 billion
$53.0 billion

*Includes $4.3 billion provided in the FY17 Security Assistance
Appropriations Act
**Based on CBO's re-estimate of the Administration's
request

During the full committee markup, Senators offered nine amendments on
a variety of issues, including the Mexico City Policy or Global Gag
Rule, cholera victims in Haiti, climate change, arm sales to Turkey,
and Russia sanctions. A few amendments of note:

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=xQI6eXyWSqWf3MQwrlhLrw

* An amendment offered by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) to boost
the bill's topline and to shift $5.29 billion from OCO to
base funding. Failed.
* An amendment offered by Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Marco
Rubio (R-FL) to codify the Office of Global Women's Issues
within the State Department. Passed as part of the
Manager's Package.
* An amendment offered by Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and
others to ensure the State Department's Bureau of
Population, Migration, and Refugees maintains jurisdiction over
refugee policy. Passed as part of the Manager's Package.

Select Program Highlights

Next week, USGLC will release a comprehensive comparison of the
Senate, House, and Administration's FY18 proposals, but in the
interim below are some details on specific program funding levels in
the Senate bill.

* Reform and Reorganization: The Senate bill includes a number of
reporting and other requirements related to the
Administration's efforts to reform and reorganize the
State Department and USAID. A few highlights include:

* Global Health: The bill includes $8.71 billion for global health
programs, including the redirection of $120 million in
unobligated FY15 Ebola balances. In contrast to the
Administration's request to expand the Mexico City Policy,
or Global Gag Rule, to all global health funding, the Senate
Appropriations Committee adopted an amendment offered by Senator
Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) that repeals the policy, preserves funding
for USAID family planning programs, and restores the U.S.
contribution to UNFPA to FY17 funding levels.

* Development and Economic Assistance: The Senate bill cuts the
Economic Support Fund about 15% compared to FY17 levels, but
less deeply than the Administration requested. Development
Assistance (DA) is cut by 3% and funding for the Democracy Fund,
Millennium Challenge Corporation, and Peace Corps is kept flat
from FY17. Notably, the bill rejects the Administration's
proposal to consolidate several of these accounts into a new
Economic Support and Development Fund.

* Humanitarian Assistance: The Senate bill includes $3.11 billion
for refugee assistance, roughly $250 million less than in FY17.
It provides $3.13 billion for disaster assistance, which is an
increase compared to FY17 levels if the $990 million in famine
relief included in the FY17 Omnibus and the additional funding
provided in December 2016 are excluded.

* Peacekeeping: The Senate bill provides funding to cover the 25%
statutory cap on U.S. assessed contributions to UN Peacekeeping,
the same as FY17 levels. This amount likely falls short of what
is needed and could add approximately $230 million in arrears.

* International Security Assistance: The Senate bill provides
$8.29 billion for international security assistance, $1.1
billion less than FY17, and funds these programs entirely
through the OCO account. Notably, the bill rejects the
Administration's request to transition Foreign Military
Financing (FMF) from grants to loans.

* Agencies Slated for Elimination in Administration's
Proposal: The Senate bill rejects the Administration's
proposed elimination of six agencies.

Next Steps

Floor consideration of the Senate SFOPS bill is very unlikely, which
means we won't likely see a final bill until Congress approves a
comprehensive budget deal. Instead, with this week's passage of
a Continuing Resolution to fund the government through December 8th,
negotiations on a budget deal to raise the caps on defense and
non-defense discretionary spending will begin in earnest.

Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle acknowledge that a
budget deal must be reached in the next several months in order to
fund the government in FY18, and there is bipartisan support for
reaching a deal. As negotiations between Congressional leaders and the
Administration continue, it will be imperative that funding for
non-defense discretionary spending be increased in order to properly
fund America's development and diplomacy programs.

4. Redesign Recommendations Headed to OMB; Tillerson Previews Plan
for Envoys

Next week, the State Department is expected to submit its
"redesign" recommendations to OMB to meet a mid-September
deadline outlined in the President's March executive order on
reorganizing the federal government. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson
previewed his recommendations to consolidate or eliminate the large
number of special envoy positions in a letter to
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=vl0On5M9Ylh5EOL0xx3hUA

Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker (R-TN) last week.

In the letter, Secretary Tillerson noted at least 30 special envoy
positions are proposed for elimination including special envoys to
Syria and Sudan and South Sudan as well as the Transparency
Coordinator. Other positions are retained, including the
Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues, while the State
Department's Office of Global Food Security would be transferred
to USAID.

Members of Congress and outside stakeholders are also continuing to
advance a number of proposals and recommendations.

* The FY18 House and Senate State-Foreign Operations
Appropriations bills include strong language on Congress's
role in the redesign.
* This week, the Atlantic Council put forward its proposal to
improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability of
U.S. foreign assistance programs.

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=4u9ehOMtn4zHu9KibvVZFA

* Just before the August recess, the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee passed its FY18 State Department authorization bill
with strong language on:
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=mrTcNELH1gl8_pzib8ZoVw


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