BACKGROUND: In July, the House Subcommittee on Foreign Operations approved U.S. foreign assistance levels less than the $18.8 billion originally requested by the President. The House Subcommittee’s appropriation ($17.1 billion) fails to provide adequate funding for a number of new initiatives, specifically the Global AIDS initiative and the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA), as well as existing programs which are critical to reinvigorating America’s role in combating poverty in the poorest countries. (The relevant Senate subcommittee has not met, so the Senate will be addressing the foreign operations budget for the first time when the full Committee meets on Thursday).

ACTION REQUESTED: Contact SENATOR KOHL who serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee and urge him to support increasing our nation’s funding to meet critical development and humanitarian needs in the poorest countries by maintaining at least $18.8 billion in foreign assistance for 2004, as requested by the President. Specifically, urge your Senator Kohl to:

• Appropriate $3 billion for morally appropriate programs to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and other infectious diseases in FY04.

• Appropriate $1.3 billion for the MCA in FY04, the amount originally requested by the President.

• Appropriate $927 million for the Department of State's Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA) account and $50 million for the Department's Emergency Refugee Migration Assistance (ERMA) account for fiscal year 2004.

• Preserve funding for the core development assistance accounts.

• Retain the Mexico City policy, which prevents our foreign aid program from being misused to subsidize organizations that perform and promote abortions in developing nations under the guise of family planning. The Kemp-Kasten appropriations rider preventing support for organizations involved in coercive population programs should also be retained.