House Panel OKs 8% Foreign Policy Cutback

A GOP plan to fold three foreign policy agencies into the State Department and cut U.S. foreign aid by 8% next year was approved Monday night by the House International Relations Committee.

On a 23-18 vote with Republicans voting in favor and Democrats in opposition, the committee approved spending $18.8 billion on foreign operations in fiscal 1996, compared to $20.5 billion being spent this year. The bill also would fold into the State Department the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Information Agency and the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency.