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House passes compromise international aid bill
November 5, 1999 WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The House passed a compromise $15.3 billion international aid bill Friday after the Clinton Administration and the congressional GOP leadership reached a late-night agreement on the measure. The House vote was 316-100. Rep. Bill Young (R-Florida), the House Appropriations Committee chairman, acknowledged the unpopularity of yearly foreign aid spending with many lawmakers, particularly Republicans. But he predicted Congress would approve the legislation and "get it to the White House." "This is not the easiest bill to deal with and get votes for," Young said But after Republicans added nearly $3 billion to the original international aid bill, which President Bill Clinton vetoed last month, large numbers of Democrats joined Republicans in supporting the new deal. Working late Thursday night, White House budget negotiators and congressional leaders reached a tentative deal on the bill during telephone negotiations. The measure is the first of the handful of disputed fiscal 2000 spending bills that must be passed before Congress can go home for the year. The deal raised optimism that negotiations on other bills will go quicker. House and Senate GOP leaders hope to end this year's session of Congress next Wednesday. Clinton had made agreement on the foreign aid bill the prerequisite for settling disputes on the other four remaining spending bills for the new fiscal year. "This is the key that opens us up to negotiate" the rest of the spending battles, House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Illinois) said in a brief interview. Republicans moved substantially toward Clinton's spending demands on the international aid bill. In return, the two sides have been agreeing to savings they say would avoid using Social Security surpluses to finance federal programs. Most of the savings for the foreign aid measure would come from paying military aid to Israel over the course of the fiscal year, rather than in a lump sum at the beginning of the year. The compromise legislation provides $800 million more than the original GOP proposal, and about $150 million less than the administration originally demanded. It includes the full $1.8 billion the president requested to help Israel, Jordan and the Palestinians comply with the Wye River Middle East peace agreement, a key provision Clinton wanted in the bill. The two sides also agreed to an additional $799 million for a range of programs, including $75 million more for U.S. contributions to U.N. peacekeeping operations, $170 million more for overseas economic aid, and $104 million more for former Soviet republics, all administration priorities. They also agreed to raise the bill's total for international debt relief by $90 million to $123 million, about one-third of what the administration had originally wanted. Conservatives won a victory as aides to House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) said he blocked administration efforts to include language that would have allowed the International Monetary Fund to raise money for loans by selling its gold reserves. Also on Thursday, the House voted 417-6 for a temporary measure, known as a continuing resolution, to keep still unfunded portions of the government operating through the ongoing budget fight. The Senate did the same by voice vote, sending it to Clinton for his expected signature. This temporary spending bill, the fourth since fiscal 2000 began October 1, would be effective through next Wednesday. Tough negotiations lie ahead on several other spending bills. Differences remain over funding for additional police officers, education spending, payment of money owed to the United Nations, and GOP provisions helping mining, timber and other Western industries in ways that the White House argues would harm the environment. Eight of the 13 annual spending bills for fiscal 2000 have become law. The five remaining cover seven Cabinet departments, dozens of other agencies, foreign aid and the District of Columbia |
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MORE STORIES:Friday, November 5, 1999
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