Senate OKs $1-Billion Increase in Foreign Aid

The Senate voted Thursday to reverse a steady decline in foreign aid spending, approving a $1-billion increase in assistance next year that nonetheless imposes tough new restrictions on funding for Russia, Ukraine and the Palestinian Authority.

The measure, approved 91 to 8, appropriates $13.2 billion for economic and military assistance around the world.

“With this bill, we have turned a corner,” said Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.). “This is a modest increase in funding, but it is a significant departure from a trend that began a decade ago. We have stemmed the steady erosion of funds for these activities.”

Foreign aid spending declined as Congress probed for overall budget cuts that would not offend voters. As a result, the United States, which pioneered foreign assistance with the Marshall Plan after World War II and other programs, fell to dead last among developed nations in terms of the percentage of gross domestic product devoted to overseas assistance.

“The bipartisan establishment both inside and outside of Congress got together and decided the budget cutting had gone too far,” a Clinton administration official said in assessing Thursday’s vote. But even at the spending level approved by the Senate, the United States will not move out of last place among aid donors, the official said.

The House is nearing a vote on its own version of the legislation; it would appropriate $12.3 billion, a $33-million increase from this year’s level. Differences between the two bills will have to be thrashed out in a conference committee.

As usual, the Senate bill earmarks $3 billion for Israel and $2.1 billion for Egypt. Together these two countries will receive 38% of the total U.S. foreign aid budget.

Although the Senate total is slightly below the administration’s request, lawmakers approved almost $1.8 billion for bilateral development assistance, supporting projects in the poorest countries. That is almost $100 million more than the administration had proposed, and about $200 million above current spending levels.

The bill provides $800 million to the nations of the former Soviet Union without fixing the amounts for each country. The administration is expected to send $195 million to Russia and $225 million to Ukraine.

However, the Senate voted to suspend all aid to Russia if Moscow does not cancel the sale of nuclear technology to Iran. The Russians contend that the sale is limited to technology that generates electricity, but the administration fears the project may advance what it believes are Tehran’s ambitions to develop nuclear weapons.

The measure also suspends aid if Russia enacts a bill, already approved by its lower house of parliament, restricting the activities of Western religious organizations. The measure recognizes only the Russian Orthodox church and such other traditional faiths as Islam, Buddhism and Judaism. Unauthorized religious groups such as Western-based evangelicals would be prohibited from seeking converts in Russia.

The bill also withholds half of the aid from Ukraine unless the Clinton administration certifies that its government is taking adequate measures to stop corruption.

And the measure cuts off all aid to the Palestinian Authority until President Clinton certifies that it is doing all that it can to combat terrorism.

Administration officials say they hope to remove some of the restrictions in the congressional conference committee.