Foreign Aid Bill Narrowly OKd by House
The House narrowly passed a $12.6-billion fiscal 2000 foreign aid bill Tuesday that the White House has threatened to veto on grounds that it shortchanges vital international programs.
The bill was approved, 214 to 211, all but ensuring that a veto would be sustained. The Senate has yet to take up the bill, which is a compromise version of legislation passed earlier by both chambers.
The bill would cut nearly $2 billion from President Clinton’s request, including $500 million he had requested as a first installment on last year’s Wye River peace accord between Israel and the Palestinians.
The administration and its Democratic allies in the House also complained that the legislation cuts many economic assistance programs, including those for poor countries in Africa.
Conferees agreed to eliminate an anti-abortion provision that social conservatives had championed. The measure would have prohibited U.S. funds from going to international family planning organizations that support or promote abortion rights.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) said the bill “does not measure up, even in the slightest way, to our leadership role in the world.”
But Republicans said there wasn’t any more money available under spending caps set up by a balanced-budget law.
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