Congress nearly finishes the 2009 aid bill - An Analysis from CIP

Five months into Fiscal Year 2009 (which began October 1), the U.S. Congress has almost completed the 2009 federal budget. The House and Senate have developed an “omnibus” spending bill combining ten sections of the budget, which the House is expected to vote on today.

One of those ten sections funds foreign assistance for the rest of the world. The 2009 State Department and Foreign Operations bill provides Colombia with US$547.05 million in aid for 2009. Of that total, 55.8 percent (US$305.05 million) would go to Colombia’s armed forces and police.

An additional amount of military and police aid goes separately, through accounts in the Defense Department’s budget. In 2007, the Defense budget added an additional US$114.26 million in military and police aid. If that amount is similar in 2009, then total aid to Colombia this year will add up to US$666.31 million. Of that total, 62.9 percent (US$419.31 million) will be military and police aid.

The 2009 aid bill’s Colombia outlay almost exactly resembles the amounts and military-economic splits that Congress provided to Colombia for 2008. The Bush administration, which heavily favored military aid to Colombia, had sought to undo the Democratic Congress’s far less military 2008 aid package for Colombia; in February 2008 it requested a 2009 aid package for Colombia that was 72.9 percent military and police aid (76.9 percent when Defense-budget aid is added). Congress denied this request and maintained 2008 aid levels.

Here are the details, from the House-Senate Conference Committee’s “Joint Explanatory Statement” (PDF).

Military and Police Aid:
(Thousands of dollars)

Aid program	2008	2009 - Bush administration request	2009 - H.R. 1105
Andean Counterdrug Programs	247,098	329,557	242,500
Foreign Military Financing (FMF)	55,050	66,390	53,000
International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement (INCLE)	0	19,247	5,000
Nonproliferation, Anti-terrorism, Demining and Related (NADR)	3,715	3,150	3,150
International Military Education and Training (IMET)	1,428	1,400	1,400
Subtotal: Foreign Operations programs	307,291	419,744	305,050
Defense-Budget programs (estimate based on 2007)	114,264	114,264	114,264
Total	421,555	534,008	419,314

Economic and Social Aid:
(Thousands of dollars)

Aid program	2008	2009 - Bush administration request	2009 - H.R. 1105
Economic Support Fund (ESF)	194,412	142,366	200,000
International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement (INCLE)	39,427	11,340	40,000
USAID Transition Initiatives (2009 est.)	2,000	2,000	2,000
Subtotal: Foreign Operations programs	235,839	155,706	242,000
Defense-Budget programs (2009 est.)	5,000	5,000	5,000
Total	240,839	160,706	247,000

Overall Total:
(Thousands of dollars)

	2008	2009 - Bush administration request	2009 - H.R. 1105
Economic Support Fund (ESF)	194,412	142,366	200,000
International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement (INCLE)	39,427	11,340	40,000
USAID Transition Initiatives (2009 est.)	2,000	2,000	2,000
Foreign Operations programs	543,130	575,450	547,050
Defense-Budget programs (2009 est.)	119,264	119,264	119,264
Total	662,394	694,714	666,314

The House-Senate Conference Committee’s statement [PDF] provides this additional detail about economic aid to Colombia, indicating how it recommends that the 2009 aid money be distributed.