Legislative and Policy Update
June 21, 2005FY 2006 Appropriations Update
On June 21, 2005, the House Appropriations Committee approved the fiscal year (FY) 2006 spending bill for Foreign Operations. Included in this annual spending bill is funding for all U.S. international development assistance, including family planning and reproductive health programs.
The FY 2006 bill largely maintains the status quo for international family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) programs. Total funding for FP/RH is $432 million, which represents a slight increase above the President’s request of $425 million and a slight reduction below the FY 2005 enacted level of $441 million. In addition, the bill includes $34 million for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), subject to restrictions first stipulated by Congress under the Kemp-Kasten amendment of 1984. For the past four years, the Bush Administration unjustifiably invoked the Kemp-Kasten amendment and withheld more than $90 million in U.S. funding to the UNFPA, incorrectly alleging that UNFPA supports involuntary sterilization and coercive abortion practices in China.
The Foreign Operations Appropriations total funding level of $20.3 billion represents an 11 percent reduction below the Presidents’ requested level of $22.8 billion. As a result of this funding decrease, the President's $3 billion request for the Millennium Challenge Account – a doubling from the current funding level of $1.5 billion – was funded at $1.75 billion.
The House is scheduled to take up the Foreign Operations appropriations bill the week of June 27. The Senate Appropriations Committee is tentatively scheduled to take up its version of the FY 2006 Foreign Operations Appropriations bill on June 30. More favorable treatment of FP/RH funding and policy issues is expected in the Senate bill.
