House Votes to Give Third World a Break

The House voted Thursday to significantly boost funding for international debt relief and for fighting AIDS overseas, handing unexpected victories to two Democratic lawmakers from California.

Reps. Maxine Waters of Los Angeles and Barbara Lee of Oakland exulted after their amendments to a foreign aid bill drew support from enough Republicans to overcome opposition from GOP leaders.

The House voted 216-211 to approve a Waters amendment to add more than $155 million in funding to erase debts owed by some of the poorest countries. Lee’s amendment to add $42 million for treatment and prevention of the AIDS pandemic in other nations passed by a larger margin, 267-156.

Waters called the votes “extraordinary,” noting that Democrats “don’t override [GOP] chairmen of the appropriations subcommittees, and they don’t override them for that amount of money--you know what I’m saying?”

The votes on the two amendments were all the more remarkable because they cut money dedicated to foreign military ventures, a top priority for many influential lawmakers. Those cuts helped balance the increases sought by Waters and Lee.

“Do we really want to cut off support for military education training for countries such as Sierra Leone and Nigeria and South Africa at the same time that regional conflicts are threatening to engulf most of West Africa?” asked Rep. Benjamin A. Gilman (R-N.Y.), chairman of the House International Relations Committee.

In another vote, Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks) sponsored an amendment to boost international funding to combat AIDS by $10 million. It was approved by voice vote.

After action on these and other amendments, the House approved, 239-185, the $13.3-billion foreign operations spending bill.

The House measure must still be reconciled with a version of the foreign operations bill passed by the Senate. The final legislation faces a veto threat from President Clinton, who has complained about antiabortion language in the House bill that would affect international groups.

But even if the overall bill is ultimately vetoed, the amendments approved Thursday will give significant leverage to Lee, Waters and their allies when the president negotiates a final spending package with congressional leaders.

The votes culminated a debate in which House members argued about how much the United States, riding a continuing economic boom, can afford to help countries that have missed out--including many in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.

Waters, noting that a coalition of religious groups called Jubilee 2000 supports debt relief, told the House: “Forgiving the debts of the world’s most impoverished countries is simply the right and Christian thing to do. . . . Most of the debts owed by poor countries were accumulated during the Cold War, and many are the result of loans to corrupt dictators who are no longer in power.”

Her amendment added $155.6 million to a debt-relief fund that the Republicans in charge of spending bills had set at $69.4 million, bringing the total to $225 million. Twenty-six Republicans--including Reps. Brian P. Bilbray of San Diego, Stephen Horn of Long Beach and Tom Campbell of San Jose--joined 189 Democrats and one independent in voting for the measure. Among California Democrats, only Rep. Gary A. Condit of Ceres voted no.

Lee’s amendment, coupled with Sherman’s, raised international AIDS funding to $254 million in the next fiscal year. That was $52 million more than House Republican leaders had originally sought.

The large margin of victory for her measure was a major boost for Lee, who was elected to Congress in 1998 and has had a low profile. However, she increasingly has made a name by focusing on issues related to acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

Bilbray, Horn and Campbell again broke with GOP leaders to support Lee’s amendment. They were joined by six other GOP members of the state delegation: Mary Bono of Palm Springs, David Dreier of San Dimas, Elton Gallegly of Simi Valley, Steven T. Kuykendall of Rancho Palos Verdes, Dana Rohrabacher of Huntington Beach and Ed Royce of Fullerton.

Lee credited “a coalition of conscience” for passage of her measure. “Members are really becoming aware of the enormity of the crisis.”