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International Affairs Budget Update
May 20, 2016
1. House and Senate Pass Zika Proposals, Major Differences Remain
2. Senate Appropriations Committee Approves Food Aid Funding
3. Global Food Security Act Takes Another Step Forward

1. House and Senate Pass Zika Proposals, Major Differences Remain

Both the House and Senate passed legislation providing funding to
combat Zika but the path for a bill to reach the President's
desk remains unclear. The House-passed legislation, authored by
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=sqSpaU3tlM1CFzMlSKaOgw

Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY), proposes $622 million to
combat the virus, including $119 million for the State Department and
USAID. The legislation passed the House by a vote of 241-184 and
contains pay-fors (offsets) through redirecting unspent Ebola funding
and other funds within the Department of Health and Human Services.
The Administration quickly issued a veto threat against the House bill
noting that it provides less than one-third of the
Administration's $1.9 billion request.
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=Xt3SP30ietgYBlMavkqD_g

On the other side of the Capitol, by a vote of 68-30, the Senate
approved a bipartisan proposal by

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=YkjQMstubL0F-Y4qD7dxJQ

Senators Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Patty Murray (D-WA) to provide $1.1
billion for the reponse via an amendment to the Transportation,
Housing, and Urban Development Appropriations bill. The amendment,
which includes $258 million for the State Department and USAID,
designates the spending as emergency funding and therefore is not
offset.

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=RhPGd7MGqI9sXgj6gk-Y-A

Notably, the Senate voted on two other proposals this week to fund the
response to Zika, although both failed on a procedural motion:

* An amendment offered by Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) to provide
$1.1 billion, with funding fully offset, failed on party lines;
and

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=Sm1hR3CfMkAQxq9NvvUQYA

* An amendment offered by Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Bill
Nelson (D-FL) to fully fund the Administration's $1.9
billion request also failed, although five Republicans supported
the measure.

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=jRxSoDjJ6eM4ZOgw7kLXgg

Next Steps

The significant differences between the House and Senate funding
approaches to address Zika have likely set up a protracted negotiation
before a package gets to the President's desk. Negotiations
between the chambers will hinge not only on funding levels, which vary
considerably, but also on whether to offset funding. The legislative
vehicle-whether a stand-alone bill as the House passed or an
amendment to another bill as the Senate passed-will also need to
be negotiated.

2. Senate Appropriations Committee Approves Food Aid Funding

Earlier this week, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved its
FY17 Agricultural Appropriations bill, which includes funding for two
food aid accounts: Food for Peace (P.L. 480 Title II) and the
McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition
program. The bill provides $1.6 billion for Food for Peace, $120
million (7%) below current levels, but $250 million (19%) above the
request. Notably, the Senate bill provides $130 million more for Food
for Peace than provided by the House bill, which was marked up in
April.

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=W6x_BQ05JM9jouFkkBr7Ww

The Senate bill also provides $202 million, $20 million more than
requested, for the McGovern-Dole program-the same level included
in the House bill and provided in FY16. Neither bill includes the $15
million requested by the Administration for purchasing some food aid
locally or regionally, but the Senate bill would allow $10 million
from the existing McGovern-Dole account to be used for this purpose.

FY17 Agriculture Appropriations International Programs Snapshot

FY16 Enacted
FY17 Request
FY17 House
FY17 Senate

Food for Peace/P.L. 480 Title II
$1.72 billion
$1.35 billion
$1.47 billion
$1.6 billion

McGovern-Dole
$202 million
$182 million
$202 million
$202 million*

Local and Regional Procurement
$0
$15 million
$0
$0*

Total
$1.92 billion
$1.55 billion
$1.67 billion
$1.8 billion

*Allows $10 million of McGovern-Dole funding to local and regional
procurement.

3. Global Food Security Act Takes Another Step Forward

On Wednesday, the House Foreign Affairs Committee approved the
Senate-passed Global Food Security Act (S. 1252) led by
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=W2b1Ffiw63AGDAyKve3OJA

Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Johnny Isakson (R-GA). At the markup,
Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) noted that the bill
"advances policies that will improve food security and better
enable people to grow their own way out of poverty," and thanked
Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) for his leadership on the House bill
(H.R. 1567), which passed the chamber 370-33 on April 12
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=T2KO7cG5J5Wz_DQhCdDOzQ
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=g2xDaH6WRtZAnuWMgvl7sw

th.


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