Foreign Military Aid

The Senate Appropriations state, foreign operations, and related programs subcommittee has marked up a fiscal year 2015 spending bill that provides nearly $48.3 billion for the State Department, according to a panel statement issued this afternoon:

Of this amount, $8.625 billion is for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) in the frontline states (Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq) and other areas in political transition (including in the Middle East and North Africa) and to respond to humanitarian emergencies (e.g. Syria, Somalia, South Sudan). The bill is $285 million below the President's fiscal year 2015 budget request and $716 million below the fiscal year 2014 enacted level.

Subcommittee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said in the statement:

This was a difficult bill to draft because of the rapidly worsening humanitarian crises in Syria, Iraq, and Africa, and the dramatic surge in migration of unaccompanied minors from Central America. The bill includes additional funds to help Ukraine and other former Soviet republics counter Russian aggression. I am gratified that the bill includes full funding for diplomatic security, global health, U.N. peacekeeping, educational and cultural exchanges, and to support key allies. It also makes a number of reforms that will strengthen oversight and reduce waste. Ranking Member Lindsey Graham was, as usual, an able partner who provided essential input to produce a bill that is comprehensive in scope and balanced in approach.

A bill summary included in the subcommittee statement outlines FY-15 foreign military assistance funding, including:

* Israel. As in past years, the bill provides the President's request of $3.1 billion for military assistance for Israel;

* Jordan. The bill provides a total of $1 billion in economic and military assistance for Jordan, in addition to humanitarian assistance for Syrian refugees in Jordan;

* Egypt. The bill provides a total of $1 billion in military assistance, subject to democracy and human rights conditions, with exceptions for counter-terrorism and border security, and $150 million in economic assistance; and

* Ukraine and other former Soviet Republics. The bill provides up to an additional $100 million for economic and security assistance to counter Russian aggression in these countries.