Originally published on the CGS blog on May 20, 2009.
I attended the House Foreign Affairs Committee Mark-Up Hearing for the Foreign Relations Authorization Bill today, and I was pleased to see that the Bill will be accepted with limited amendments. The amendments that have been added only seek to expand and suggest areas that the State Department should use its funds, not to inhibit the progress of or cut back on the amount of funding for State Department actions. Though it went through successfully, it was not without opposition from the Republican minority. They suggested an amendment in the form of a substitute Bill that would have eliminated the repayment of arrearages to the United Nations, capped increases in funding at 3.7% (the current rate of inflation) of the previous year’s numbers, and eliminated funding for U.N. peacekeeping operations, Though the substitute was voted down, I think it’s time for our Republican Congresspeople to learn from their elders…
