May 16, 2019

Congresswoman Barbara Lee Applauds Foreign Appropriations Funding That Reject’s Trump’s Attempts to Undermine the U.S. Standing in World

WASHINGTON, DC – In response to the House Appropriations Committee’s passage of the fiscal year 2020 appropriations bill for State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPS), Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-13) issued the following statement:  

“The FY2020 State and Foreign Operations Appropriations bill resoundingly rejects the Trump Administration’s proposed foreign assistance cuts that would endanger our national security and undermine the United States’ standing in the world. Instead, this bill makes robust investments in diplomacy, our critical global health programs, humanitarian assistance, ensuring robust U.S. engagement with key multilateral organizations and international partners .”

“The bill empowers women and girls around the world by permanently repealing the Trump Administration’s expanded Global Gag Rule, and makes critical investments in programs that support women’s reproductive health.”

“I am also pleased that this bill includes $1.56 billion for the Global Fund and $4.37 billion for the President’s Emergency Relief Plan for AIDS Relief to ensure continued U.S. leadership in the fight against HIV and AIDS.”

“Additionally, the bill reaffirms America’s strong support for tackling climate change by prohibiting the Trump Administration from withdrawing from the Paris Agreement.   

“Our committee is surging forward in the SFOPS appropriations bill, which rejects harmful Trump budget cuts and makes necessary investments around the world.” 

A summary of the draft fiscal year 2020 State-Foreign Operations funding bill is below. The full text of the bill is here.

Family Planning & UNFPA: 

  • $750 million for family planning - $175 million above the fiscal year 2019 enacted level and $513 million above the President’s budget request. 
  • $55.5 million for UNFPA - $23 million above the fiscal year 2019 enacted level and $55.5 million above the President’s budget request. 

Other Global Health Programs: 

  • $2.616 billion for programs to improve maternal and child health and fight infectious diseases - $23 million above fiscal year 2019 enacted level and $818 million above the President’s budget request. 

Peace Corps:   

  • $425 million for Peace Corps - $14.5 million above the fiscal year 2019 enacted level and $28.8 million above the President’s budget request. 

President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), including the Global Fund: 

  • $5.93 billion for PEPFAR, including $1.56 billion for the Global Fund - $210 million above the fiscal year 2019 enacted level and $1.6 billion above the President’s budget request. 

International Basic Education: 

  • $925 million for basic education - $125 million above the fiscal year 2019 enacted level and $696 million above the President’s budget request. This includes $125 million for multilateral partnerships in education. 

Humanitarian Assistance: 

  • $7.97 billion for humanitarian assistance under the accounts Migration & Refugee Assistance (MRA), U.S. Emergency Refugee & Migration Assistance (ERMA), and International Disaster Assistance (IDA) - $150 million above the fiscal year 2019 enacted level and $1.63 billion above the President’s budget request.

Biodiversity, Wildlife Trafficking, & the Global Environment Facility (GEF): 

  • $295 million for biodiversity - $10 million above the fiscal year 2019 enacted level and $214.1 million above the President’s budget request. 
  • $100.7 million for wildlife trafficking - $10 million above the fiscal year 2019 enacted level and $67.7 million above the President’s budget request. 
  • $139.6 million for the GEF, of which $136.6 million is for the second installment of the seventh replenishment – consistent with fiscal year 2019 enacted level and $139.6 million above the President’s budget request, which was silent on the GEF. 

Other Environment Programs: 

  • $135 million for sustainable landscapes - $10 million above the fiscal year 2019 enacted level and $135 million above the President’s budget request. 
  • New directives on adaptation ($177 million) and renewable energy ($179 million), prioritizing these programs, unlike prior years and the President’s budget request.  

Assessed & voluntary contributions for peacekeeping activities: 

  • $2.128 billion for Contributions for International Peacekeeping Activities (CIPA) - $577 million above the fiscal year 2019 enacted level and $992 million above the President’s budget request.  
  • The House mark also fully pays the CIPA arrears from FY17 and FY18. 
  • $516.3 million for Peacekeeping Operations (PKO) - $47 million above the fiscal year 2019 enacted level and $224 million above the President’s budget request.

Support for women’s reproductive rights: 

  • The House mark includes the Global HER Act, which would permanently repeal the Global Gag Rule, reinstated by President Trump in January 2017. 
  • It also includes a prohibition on current and prior funds from being used to implement the Mexico City Policy. 
  • The House mark does not include a prohibition carried in prior House bills on assistance to UNFPA. 
  • The House mark ends the exclusion of family planning from global health authorities and allows family planning products to benefit from the HIV/AIDS Working Capital Fund.  

Emphasizes gender equality: 

  • The House mark includes $50 million to support women’s leadership, $165 million to prevent and respond to gender-based violence, and $15 million to address women at risk of violent extremism. 

Green Climate Fund: 

  • The House mark removes the prohibition on the Green Climate Fund from the fiscal year 2019 enacted bill and replaces it with permissive authority. It also prohibits the use of funds to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. 

Lautenberg Amendment: 

  • The House mark includes the "Lautenberg Amendment," which protects refugee eligibility for historically persecuted religious minorities. 

Restoring staffing levels: 

  • The House mark reverses the impact of the Administration’s hiring freeze and restores State Department and USAID personnel to 2016 levels. 

Protecting development priorities: 

  • The House mark protects development priorities by differentiating between funding of long-term development goals funded through Development Assistance in title III and shorter-term, political and diplomatic objectives funded through Economic Support Fund in title IV. 

Protecting critical partner agencies and organizations: 

  • The House mark rejects the Administration’s request to close or consolidate the U.S. African Development Foundation, the Inter-American Foundation, the East-West Center, the Asia Foundation, and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency. 

Nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia: 

  • The House mark includes new language prohibiting funds from supporting the sale of nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia.  

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