Byrd Suggests Aid Cuts of 10%-20% for Some Nations

Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) suggested today that countries receiving the biggest share of U.S. foreign aid, which includes Israel, could face cuts of as much as 10% or 20%.

Byrd, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, did not mention Israel or other major recipients such as Egypt, Greece, Turkey, the Philippines and Pakistan in a Senate speech.

But the former Senate Democratic leader said cuts in aid for some countries could be “substantially larger” than the 5% across-the-board reduction for all recipients proposed recently by Senate Republican leader Bob Dole in order to redistribute the funds to Eastern Europe and Latin America.

“Some countries, certainly the largest of our historic aid recipients, can probably take cuts substantially larger than 5%--somewhere between 10% and 20% would be more realistic, I would think,” Byrd said.

A cut of 20% for Israel, the largest single recipient at $3 billion, would reduce aid by $600 million.

“Some recipients might not take any cut at all,” Byrd said. “There is one thing for certain: No foreign aid country has earned the right to our money or resources. And no foreign country can assume it has an American entitlement program.”