New foreign aid bill provides less funding for new independent states (11/19/00)

New foreign aid bill provides less funding for new independent states

by Michael Sawkiw Jr.
Ukrainian National Information Service

WASHINGTON - Nearly four weeks after the end of the 2000 federal fiscal year, Congress finally passed the FY 2001 foreign aid bill and appropriated funds for U.S. foreign assistance to countries throughout the world.

In what turned out to be a major victory for proponents of increasing U.S. foreign assistance amounts, the funds federally mandated for foreign aid total $14.9 billion - a $1.4 billion increase over last year's budget. The bill passed with an overwhelming majority on October 25 in both houses of the U.S. Congress - Senate: 65-27; House: 307-101. President Bill Clinton signed the bill into law on November 6 at a White House ceremony.

As part of the FY 2001 Foreign Operations Export Financing and Related Programs Appropriations Act, $810 million in funding was allocated for the Freedom Support Act (FSA) - that part of the bill designated for countries once part of the Soviet Union. This amount represents a decrease of $29 million from last year's funding for the new independent states. The Foreign Operations Export Financing and Related Programs Appropriations Act for FY 2001 included an earmark of assistance to Ukraine in the amount of $170 million. Of that amount, specific sub-earmarks were also allocated for the Ukrainian Land and Resource Management Center ($5 million), while "not less than $25 million should be made available for nuclear reactor safety initiatives." The remaining $140 million will be set aside for programs the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), in consultation with the Ukrainian government, believes are necessary to continue Ukraine's progress on the road to economic reform, as well as develop a strong civil society.

Other countries that received earmarks of assistance under the Freedom Support Act (FSA) include Armenia and Georgia, respectively $90 million and $92 million. There is a stipulation in the Georgian earmark that "$25 million should be made available to support border security guard and export control initiatives" pertaining to border controls and monitoring of the fighting in the breakaway Russian republic of Chechnya.

Other initiatives for the new independent states include $20 million for assistance to the Russian Far East and $1.5 million to "meet health and other assistance needs of victims of trafficking in persons."

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