Jim Kolbe

Mr. KOLBE

Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that the remainder of the bill through page 91, line 17 be considered as read, printed in the Record, and open to amendment at any point.

Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, what is the time remaining on both sides?

Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 5 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Tom Davis).

Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the very distinguished gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton) who has certainly been at the forefront of this issue. (Mr. BURTON of Indiana asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. KOLBE. And reclaiming my time, Mr. Chairman, I would say that yes, we are looking at it on the whole, and I believe that on the whole we are adequately covering these accounts. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I just want to respond to one thing that the gentlewoman said before I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Arkansas. I just want to respond to what she said about the Migration and Refugee account and Darfur. She made a reference to the fact that food rations in Darfur might be cut in half. We have provided in the fiscal year 2006, the current year's bill, we have $320 million for Darfur for food programs. When the United Nations said they might still have to cut the rations in half, the President, out of Public Law 480, pledged another $200 million. That is $520 million that the United States has pledged for food in Darfur. You know what the next largest country is? Libya at $4 million. So I hardly think the United States has been delinquent in the amount of money that we have provided in Darfur. Meanwhile, we have problems in our own hemisphere and we have problems on our own streets. We have problems in our schools and in our families with drugs that run rampant in our society. We do have an obligation to ourselves to try to prevent that from happening. We have a partner in Colombia that is attempting to do that. This amendment is a signal to that partner that we do not believe his country should be a partner in our attack on drugs in this country. This would be the wrong thing for us to do at this time. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Boozman).

Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I want to just correct, for the record, a couple of comments that the gentleman from Wisconsin made for whom I have the greatest respect. He talked about a $107 million cut in these accounts. Let me just make it clear what we are really talking about. There is an $82 million reduction in the migration refugee assistance account. That $82 million, however, has nothing to do with refugees abroad. That is for admissions to the United States. And the numbers, 55,000 persons that are coming in, are exactly the same as last year. So we are continuing the program exactly as we have it. I yield to the gentleman from Wisconsin.

Mr. KOLBE. I am trying to explain what it is.

Mr. KOLBE. It is not the money, however, that goes to assist refugees overseas. It is admissions.

Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, if you will close on your side and yield back, I will close on our side.

Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, I won't take the time, but I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Chairman, I think we have had a thorough debate on this. I will be very quick in my close here simply to say this is the wrong policy and the wrong message at the wrong time. This is not what we need to be doing with Colombia. This is not what we need to be doing on drug interdiction. We need to be saying to this country which has stood strong, to this country which has been courageous in its efforts to provide security for its own citizens, to provide for drug eradication, to provide for drug interdiction, we need to say to this country, to its leadership, to its president who was just elected by the largest margin in modern history in Colombia, we need to say to them, we stand with you. We support you in your efforts, because what you are doing in Colombia is on behalf also of the American citizens in the United States that we can save our children from drugs. This is not the time to send the signal that we do not believe that Colombia is doing what it needs to be doing.

Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that the remainder of the bill through page 60, line 18 be considered as read, printed in the Record, and open to amendment at any point.

Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, regrettably, I concede the point of order with regard to the private enterprise development fund in the Middle East.

Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, regrettably, I would concede the point of order.

Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that the remainder of the bill through page 74, line 11 be considered as read, printed in the Record, and open to amendment at any point.

Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, I regret to say that I would concede the point of order and that these funds for the Reagan/Fascell Democracy fellows program would be stricken.

Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that the remainder of the bill through page 87, line 13 be considered as read, printed in the Record, and open to amendment at any point.

Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, I rise to claim the time in opposition, though I do not intend to oppose this.

Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, as I have the right to close and I am the only speaker on my side, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, I would claim the time in opposition.

Mr. KOLBE. I would make the point of order unless the gentleman would like to say anything further before I make my point of order.

Mr. KOLBE

Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Florida for yielding this time, and I also want to thank him for the very kind remarks that he made a few moments ago. As he pointed out, this will be the last regular, foreign ops appropriation bill that will be brought to the floor under my tutelage as chairman of that subcommittee. It has been a great privilege and a pleasure for the last 6 years to bring this bill to the floor. It has also been a great pleasure to work with the gentleman from Florida, who has the responsibility for foreign affairs issues in the Rules Committee. Mr. Speaker, I do rise in support of the rule. I will be very brief because I will make most of my remarks during the debate, when we get to general debate on the bill itself, but I do rise in support of the rule for consideration of H.R. 5522, which is the fiscal year 2007 appropriations bill for foreign operations, export financing and related programs. As has been pointed out, the total in this bill is $21.3 billion. That is $597 million over the amount provided in fiscal year 2006, not counting supplementals; but it is fully $2.4 billion below the President's request. This means that there is $2.4 billion elsewhere in the budget for critical needs. The gentleman from Florida on the other side also spoke about some of those. Whether we are talking about veterans care or education or health programs, it is $2.4 billion that is freed up by the fact that our allocation has been reduced, and yet our allocation is still more than 5 percent over the amount that we had last year, and I think it is a fair amount. We are once again faced with difficult choices in developing this recommendation because we are significantly below the President's request. The President's budget request had significant increases for the Millennium Challenge Corporation, for HIV/AIDS, and reconstruction and stabilization efforts in both Iraq and Afghanistan. While no one got everything they wanted, the recommendation I think strikes a difficult balance among the competing priorities, and at the same time fiscally responsible. Our priority has been to increase funding for the war on terror. We have also increased the Millennium Challenge Corporation by about $245 million, enough of an increase to make clear our commitment to the Millennium Challenge Corporation. We believe the MCC is working. We believe they are doing the right thing, and we are going to continue on a path towards increasing it as a vehicle for delivering foreign assistance around the world. We have also increased international health spending, and those are the three priorities which lie at the core of U.S. interests abroad. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 5522 is a package of foreign assistance which has been formed by experience. It funds programs that are accountable and transparent; and most importantly, it helps to secure and protect the United States abroad. It was developed in a bipartisan manner, and I believe that it should have wide support on the floor of the House. This is a fairly standard rule. It is an open rule, allowing for amendments; and we have a number of amendments which will be discussed here later today. I expect a thorough and complete debate on a number of areas of U.S. foreign policy, and I believe that this will be the House of Representatives at its finest hour. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this rule.

Mr. KOLBE

Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Lewis), the distinguished chairman of the Appropriations Committee.

Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased today to present to the House of Representatives H.R. 5522, the fiscal year 2007 appropriation bills for foreign operations, export financing and related programs. And I might say, Mr. Chairman, that I am pleased to have you back in the Chair for I am not sure how many of the consecutive years since I have been doing this bill that you have been there, but it feels very good to have you back with us. Before I turn to the bill, let me just mention that this is the last appropriations bill that I will be bringing to the floor, at least the last regular foreign operations appropriations bill. As with nearly every other foreign operations bill over the last 6 years, this bill is a product of bipartisan cooperation, something I could not have done without the support and cooperation of my esteemed ranking member, Mrs. Lowey, or my vice chairman, Mr. Sherwood and every member of the subcommittee. I am proud of this bill. I can honestly say it has probably been one of the more difficult ones that we have put together. The bill before you totals $21.3 billion. While this level is $597 million above the amount provided in fiscal year 2006, not counting supplementals, it is fully $2.4 billion below the amount requested by the President. In other words, by reducing the allocation by $2.4 billion, we have freed up that amount for pressing domestic needs. The bill includes increases for three priorities, the war on terror, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and international health spending, priorities which lie at the core of the United States interests abroad. For the war on terror, this bill includes $962.3 million for Afghanistan. This amount is $137 million below the President's request, but $85 million over fiscal year 2006. As with last year's bill, this bill continues a provision that withholds $385 million until the Afghan government, both at national and local levels, fully cooperates with our efforts against narcotics production and trafficking. I want to be clear that I appreciate the support of the government of Afghanistan in the war on terror. However, that government must take difficult but necessary measures to fight narcotics production and trafficking, measures that it has so far been unwilling or unable to take. The bill also includes $521.9 million for Iraq. While below the President's request, it represents a very large increase of $461 million over what we provided in fiscal year 2006. That is because last year we required the administration to fund Iraq programs from unexpended relief and reconstruction funds that were in the very original supplemental appropriation. Now, however, these funds are nearly all expended. This bill would normalize Iraq and Afghanistan assistance programs, moving them away from emergency supplementals that exceed budget limits. The bill contains no funding in the economic support fund for West Bank and Gaza programs. Although the President's requested $150 million for this purpose, the request was made before Hamas was elected to lead the Palestinian Authority. The subcommittee believes that humanitarian assistance must continue to the Palestinian people, a view, I might add, that is shared by the Israeli government and by the administration. Such funding is not affected by this bill. It does contain humanitarian pro democracy funding with restrictions and safeguards that have been included in the past. For international health, the bill contains the President's requested amount of $3.4 billion for the emergency plan for AIDS relief, and increase of $751.6 million. Within this sum, we more than double the President's request for a contribution to the global fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, to attain last year's level of $444.5 million. At the same time, I am pleased that the bill maintains last year's funding levels for other health programs, including an increase for malaria programs of $243 million. For several years now the President's budget request has included deep cuts to international health programs. We have worked hard to restore them to at least the level of the previous year. In order to bring these accounts back up, we have had to cut some other programs that are also priority programs. We provide $2 billion for the Millennium Challenge Corporation, but that is $1 billion below the request of the President. It is $248 million above the amount that we provided in 2006. This is a difficult decision for me, but I saw no way to move forward with a bill that gave the full amount that the President asked for the Millennium Challenge Corporation. My goal was very simple, I wanted to send a clear message that Congress supports the MCCs innovative, accountable approach to help countries move away from reliance on donor funding. I think a $248 million increase does send that very clear message, while it frees up funds above that level that enables us to bring before you today a bipartisan bill. The bill contains two important innovations. First, it includes a Trade Capacity Enhancement Fund which consolidates trade capacity funding from a variety of accounts. This new account includes $522 million, virtually all of what is spent for trade capacity by agencies and accounts that are under the jurisdiction of this subcommittee. And it is about half of the $1.3 billion that is spent on a government-wide basis. Since we will now require a coherent strategy for the use of these funds, it is my hope and my belief that this new account will provide a strong incentive for countries to liberalize their trade regimes. This bill would also restructure assistance to Colombia, formerly provided only through the Andean Counterdrug Initiative, or ACI. I want to be very clear about one point. This bill does not cut funding from the President's request for Colombia. It simply reallocates the funds requested and appropriated to regular assistance accounts. It begins to treat Colombia as we treat other strategic partners. I think it should be clear to all of us by this time that Colombia has made significant progress in the war on drugs. They are now bringing guerilla forces in from the jungle, they are prosecuting those who are implicated in serious crimes, and they are reintegrating others back into society. Coca interdiction, although not eradication, but interdiction, continues to improve. I spoke with Speaker Hastert, who years ago fathered the legislation creating the ACI, about this reformulation of assistance. It has his support. The Colombian government also supports this move. It is time to recognize both successes of Colombia and its strategic importance to the region. Finally, this bill includes the President's full request for Israel and for Egypt, our two partners of longstanding in the Middle East. Report language from previous years is continued directing $50 million of Egypt Economic Support Fund assistance to be used for democracy and another $50 million for education. Other language, again the same as last year, would withhold expenditures until Egypt implements financial sector reforms. Importantly, this bill would also rescind $200 million from unexpended balances made available for Egypt in previous years. In closing, let me say, again, it has been a great pleasure to work with my distinguished colleague, ranking member on the minority side, Mrs. Lowey, who I have the greatest respect and affection for. It has been a pleasure to work with her and with her staff, with Beth Tritter and Nisha Desai. And I don't want to neglect mentioning the fine work of the majority staff, Betsy Phillips, Rob Blair, Craig Higgins, Delia Scott, and Lori Maes, and also Todd Calongne, a USAID fellow working on my personal staff. They are all competent, professional, and a joy to work with. The work that we have accomplished together, and I want to underscore the word ``together,'' has helped make America more secure. It has improved the lives of millions throughout the world. We have accomplished much over these last 6 years. My colleagues have often heard me say that foreign assistance is a vital component of United States economic and security interests, to say nothing of the humanitarian imperative. And while two significant initiatives were begun under my watch, the Emergency Plan For Aids Relief and the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the changes we have implemented in 6 years of appropriations run even deeper. We have worked to direct our nonsecurity foreign assistance around three primary issues, which I believe are at the heart of global development: Health, trade, and governance. This bill continues that direction. In 2001, international HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis spending from these accounts was $535 million. Today, just 5 years later, we are at $3.4 billion. With these steady increases, we have provided life-saving medicines to hundreds of thousands of people in the developing world, people who are still alive to take care of their children and be productive members of their economies, thanks to the antiretroviral drugs that we are now providing to them and other important therapies. As importantly, these are people who now live with hope, and I believe that people with hope are less likely to be attracted to crime and violence. The New Trade Capacity Enhancement fund will place trade where it belongs, at the center of our international development agenda. Without trade, sustained global development is simply not possible. This new account will provide further incentives for countries to enter constructive trade agreements with the United States and others. It will also help to ensure that the right programs and policies are in place to make sure the poor are not left behind as economies improve. Finally, the bill provides further support, as I mentioned, to the Millennium Challenge Corporation, which I see as our best hope for weaning countries from foreign assistance. The MCC provides another set of incentives to countries to make the correct policy decisions, policies which improve rule of law and economic policies, investments in the health and education of people. I am proud to have served in this institution, and I am especially proud of the work of this committee and this subcommittee. The package of foreign assistance before you is built on a solid basis of experience, funds programs that are more accountable and transparent, and, most importantly, helps to protect U.S. security at home and abroad. It is an example of the good that can be accomplished with a bipartisan effort, and I can think of no arena more important for a unified American voice than in foreign affairs. Mr. Chairman, fellow members, I am pleased to submit this bill and urge your favorable consideration. Mr. Chairman, I include the following for the Record. [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH08JN06.001 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH08JN06.002 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH08JN06.003 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH08JN06.004 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH08JN06.005 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH08JN06.006 Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.