The report says when the Republican Party takes over Congress on January 4 one of their first priorities is to cut foreign aid funding; the Senator who will chair the committee responsible for foreign aid funds, Senator Mitch McConnell, has proposed the elimination of the fund which reserves a portion of the foreign aid budget for Africa. The report says although McConnell insists Africa will still receive funding out of the general money available for foreign aid worldwide, the proposal to eliminate the earmark which reserves special funds for the countries of sub-Saharan Africa would threaten aid for the continent. The report says the Development Fund for Africa was first proposed in the...
The report says when the Republican Party takes over Congress on January 4 one of their first priorities is to cut foreign aid funding; the Senator who will chair the committee responsible for foreign aid funds, Senator Mitch McConnell, has proposed the elimination of the fund which reserves a portion of the foreign aid budget for Africa. The report says although McConnell insists Africa will still receive funding out of the general money available for foreign aid worldwide, the proposal to eliminate the earmark which reserves special funds for the countries of sub-Saharan Africa would threaten aid for the continent. The report says the Development Fund for Africa was first proposed in the mid-1980s in an attempt to block Reagan administration efforts to divert several hundred million dollars away from Africa programs; this year the special Development Fund for Africa, which is now a part of the existing foreign aid program, set aside $802 million for specific health, education and economic development projects in Africa. The report says although this aid program could be improved, if the Congress takes away the Development Fund for Africa the important projects currently being funded will be eliminated and the opportunity to improve this program will be lost. The report says foreign aid has been under attack for several years, and the Republican Party has already indicated they intend to make additional cuts in foreign aid funding in 1995; Senator Mitch McConnell, who will chair the International Operations Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee that approves all federal expenditures, has proposed new draft legislation that would revise the foreign aid spending priorities. The report says McConnell's draft legislation eliminates special earmarked funds for Africa and for population activities and reduces the amount of funding available for the United Nations; but this legislation continues to set aside, or earmark, almost half of all foreign aid monies for the Middle East and Eastern Europe; if funding for Israel, Egypt and Eastern Europe are explicitly written in to the new bill, several Congressional critics are already asking why specific earmarks for the Africa program have been eliminated. The report says without specific protections for Africa there is a growing danger that in a decade of shrinking resources for foreign aid, the Africa budget will be further cut and Africa further marginalized; the McConnell legislation is still in draft form and was released without the approval of even the Senate Republican leadership; the House Republican in charge of approving money for foreign aid, Rep. Sonny Callahan, has not yet made a public statement on aid for Africa.
