“Omnibus” Appropriations Bill Includes Millions for Palestinians, Billions for Israel

By Shirl McArthur

On Dec. 19, 2007 Congress approved H.Rept. 110-497, the conference report for the “omnibus” appropriations bill for fiscal year 2008 (FY-08). President George W. Bush signed the bill on Dec. 26. Before it was approved by the joint House and Senate conference committee, the bill was known as H.R. 2764.

Officially the State Department and Foreign Operations (foreign aid) appropriations bill, H.R. 2764 expanded to include all the the remaining appropriations bills—for Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-Science, Energy-Water, Financial Services, Homeland Security, Interior, Labor-HHS-Education, Legislative Branch, Military-Veterans, and Transportation-HUD—Congress couldn’t manage to pass before it adjourned for Christmas recess. It also threw in for good measure $70 billion of the $196 billion Bush had requested in his FY-08 “emergency supplemental” budget request to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

To comply with budget restrictions, the bill includes an across-the-board rescission (cut back) of .81 percent of the amounts specified in the bill. The numbers discussed below reflect this rescission.

For the Middle East the bill includes few surprises. Among the general provisions is one that for birth registration, nationality certification, or passport issuance for a U.S. citizen born in Jerusalem, the place of birth shall, upon request, be recorded as Israel. This provision has previously been passed several times, and each time the president has declared it to be an unconstitutional infringement of his foreign affairs prerogatives.

Most other general provisions also are repeats of provisions included in past bills, including limitations on assistance for the PLO for the West Bank and Gaza, limitations on assistance to the Palestinian Authority (PA), and a requirement that no funds be used to support a Palestinian state unless the secretary of state certifies that it has met a list of requirements. All three of these provisions include presidential waiver authority.

Another provision, inserted in the House version by Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY), prohibits assistance to Saudi Arabia. However the provision includes presidential waiver authority, which Weiner’s amendment did not include. (The U.S. provides no assistance to Saudi Arabia, although it does fund some military training and anti-terrorism programs.)

One positive general provision states that “no military assistance shall be furnished for cluster munitions, no defense export license for cluster munitions may be issued, and no cluster munitions technology shall be sold or transferred unless (1) the submunitions of the cluster munitions have a 99 percent or higher functioning rate, and (2) the agreement applicable to the assistance, transfer, or sale of the cluster munitions or technology specifies that the cluster munitions will only be used against clearly defined military targets and will not be used where civilians are known to be present or in areas normally inhabited by civilians.”

The U.S. will provide Israel with $30 billion in military aid over the next 10 years.

For Israel, the bill provides $2.38 billion in military aid, no economic aid, and $39.7 million for “refugee assistance.” Of the military aid, $626.1 million can be spent in Israel. FY-08 is the last year of the 1998 agreement whereby for each of the following 10 years Israel’s economic aid would be reduced by $120 million and its military aid increased by $60 million. However, in 2007 the U.S. and Israel signed a Memorandum of Understanding that the U.S. will provide Israel with $30 billion in military aid over the next 10 years. In addition, as described in the previous issue of the Washington Report, the defense appropriations bill signed by Bush in early November includes about $450 million for so-called U.S.-Israeli joint projects, and the defense authorization bill passed by Congress in December includes a provision giving the non-binding “sense of Congress” that the U.S. “should have an active program of ballistic missile defense cooperation with Israel.” Also, the huge energy bill passed by Congress in December includes a provision requiring that the U.S. establish a new U.S.-Israel grant program to promote energy cooperation between the two countries.

For the West Bank and Gaza, the bill appropriates “not more than” $216.7 million in economic aid, including $150 million in emergency supplemental funds. Bush had requested for the Palestinians $63.5 million in the regular budget request and $350 million in the supplemental request. Furthermore, of the supplemental $150 million approved by Congress, if the president exercises his waiver authority to provide direct assistance to the PA, $50 million is withheld until the secretary of state certifies that the it has met certain requirements, mostly having to do with financial mechanisms.

Under refugee assistance, the bill also includes $198.4 million in emergency supplemental funds “to address the pressing needs of Iraqi refugees and Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza.” The administration’s supplemental request was for $160 million for assistance for Iraqi refugees and $35 million for Palestinian refugees, through UNRWA programs. In December Reps. Mark Kirk (R-IL), Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) and Ellen Tauscher (D-CA) circulated for signatures a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice repeating Kirk’s often-stated complaints about UNRWA and opposing U.S. funds for UNRWA until his complaints are addressed.

Aid to Egypt Comes with Strings

For Egypt, the bill includes $411.6 million in economic aid and $1,289.5 million in military aid. The economic aid is provided “with the understanding that Egypt will undertake significant economic and democratic reforms which are additional to those which were undertaken in previous fiscal years.” Of the military aid, a general provision, Sec. 690, “fences off” $100 million until the secretary of state certifies that Egypt has met certain requirements, including taking steps to adopt judicial reforms and “detect and destroy the smuggling network and tunnels that lead from Egypt to Gaza.” The secretary of state can waive this provision if it is in the U.S. “national security interest.” (No such waiver provision was included in the original House version.)

The bill provides $360.6 million in economic aid and $297.6 million in military aid to Jordan. Of the former, up to $40 million may be used to restructure or cancel debts Jordan owes the U.S. The bill also earmarks $44.6 million in economic aid for Lebanon, of which $10 million is for support for U.S. educational institutions in Lebanon. The non-binding conference report language also includes $6.94 million in military assistance for Lebanon.

Among the other amounts included in the report language are $21.6 million in economic aid available for Iran; $16.4 million in economic aid and $3.63 in military aid for Morocco; and $2 million in economic aid and $8.345 million in military aid for Tunisia.

No Restrictions to Supplemental War Funds

As mentioned above, the omnibus appropriations bill that Bush signed on Dec. 26 also included $70 billion in emergency supplemental funds for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. As passed, there is no requirement for troop withdrawal or phase-out. Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) described it as a “gigantic blank check.” The amendment to provide the $70 billion with no strings, offered by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), passed by a vote of 70-25. Sen. Russ Feingold’s (D-WI) amendment, which would have required troop redeployment to begin within 90 days and the remaining U.S. troops in Iraq be transitioned to a more limited mission, failed by a vote of 24-71. Even a non-binding “sense of Congress” amendment offered by Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), urging the president to transition the mission of U.S. forces in Iraq “to the more limited set of missions laid out by the president in his September 13, 2007 address to the nation” failed to get the required 60 votes, by a vote of 50-45.

With the tails of the wars’ opponents tucked firmly between their legs, there has been little action on the previously described Iraq-related measures. Only H.R. 3797, introduced in October by Rep. David Price (D-NC), has gained co-sponsors. It would require the president to “seek a regional diplomatic plan for the Middle East,” and has gained nine co-sponsors, for a total of 42.

However, following Bush’s announcement that he intended to conclude a cooperation and friendship agreement with Iraq by July 31, 2008, and Deputy National Security Adviser Gen. Douglas Lute’s statement that the White House didn’t anticipate formal congressional input to the agreement, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) introduced S. 2436 on Dec. 6. It would prohibit any funds from being “authorized or appropriated to carry out any bilateral agreement between the U.S. and Iraq involving ‘commitments or risks affecting the nation as a whole,’ including a status of forces agreement, that is not a treaty approved by two-thirds of the Senate under Article II of the Constitution or authorized by legislation passed by both houses of Congress.”

Another Constructive Congressional Middle East Peace Letter

The previous issue of this magazine described a bipartisan letter to Rice, sent prior to the Nov. 26-27 Annapolis conference, originated by Reps. Gary Ackerman (D-NY) and Charles Boustany (R-LA) and signed by 133 other House members, commending her for her “efforts to reinvigorate the Israeli-Palestinian peace process” and urging “robust, hands-on U.S. leadership and diplomacy.” In December, Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) began circulating for signatures another letter to Rice, applauding her work at the conference and saying that the U.S. “must continue to support the [PA President Mahmoud] Abbas government, politically as well as financially, as it works toward a final status agreement with Israel.” It also urges Rice to “call upon the government of Prime Minister [Ehud] Olmert to abide by Israel’s commitments to the 2002 Roadmap to Peace, including a freeze on the construction of new settlements beyond Israel’s 1967 borders, the dismantling of illegal West Bank settlements and ‘outposts,’ and a reduction of roadblocks and checkpoints in the Palestinian territories to allow increased movement for the Palestinian people.”

However, Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) S.Res. 321, which would reaffirm the Senate’s “commitment to a true and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” and Rep. Susan Davis’s (D-CA) H.Res. 143 “urging the President to appoint a Special Envoy for Middle East Peace,” have gained no co-sponsors, and still have 38 and 53, respectively.

Iran, Syria Still Getting Congressional Attention

Following the Dec. 3 release of a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) stating that Iran had halted its nuclear weapons program and that “Iran may be more vulnerable to influence on the issue than we judged previously,” Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and Peter Welch (D-VT) began circulating for signatures a letter to Bush saying that the NIE and recent indications that Iran has reduced the flow of arms across the Iran/Iraq border indicate “that diplomacy has produced concrete changes in the Iranian government’s behavior.” The letter concludes that “It is time to begin direct, unconditional, and comprehensive negotiations with Iran.”

Similarly, some of the previously described measures aimed at forestalling aggressive action against Iran continue to gain co-sponsors. H.R. 3119, introduced by Rep. Mark Udall (D-CO) in July, which would prohibit the use of funds for military operations within or above Iran’s territory without congressional authority, has gained 2 co-sponsors, and now has 28, including Udall. Introduced in September by Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC), H.J.Res. 53 would amend the War Powers Resolution “to ensure the collective judgment of both the Congress and the President will apply to the initiation of hostilities by the Armed Forces, the continued use of the Armed Forces in hostilities, and the participation of the Armed Forces in military operations of the United Nations,” has also gained two co-sponsors and now has nine. And S.Res. 356, introduced in October by Sens. Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT), “affirming that any offensive military action taken against Iran must be explicitly approved by Congress before such action may be initiated,” has gained three co-sponsors and now has 14.

On the other hand, some of the counter-productive, anti-Iran measures also have gained support. H.R. 2880, introduced by Kirk in June to amend the Iran Sanctions Act by adding to the list of sanctionable actions investment in Iran’s petroleum sector or providing Iran with refined petroleum resources, has gained eight co-sponsors and now has 35. S. 1430, introduced by Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) in May, to authorize state and local governments to prohibit state and local assets from being invested in companies having more than $20 million in investments in Iran’s energy sector, has gained three co-sponsors and now has 23. H.R. 1357, introduced by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) in March, to require divestment by U.S. public and private pension plans and mutual funds of companies having made more than $20 million in investments in Iran’s energy sector, has gained two co-sponsors and now has 82. Ros-Lehtinen’s H.Con.Res. 257, expressing “strong concern” over Russia’s sales of arms to Iran and Syria, and urging the president to impose sanctions on the Russian entities engaged in such arms sales, has gained three co-sponsors and now has eight.

Regarding Syria, H.R. 2332, the “Syria Accountability and Liberation” bill introduced in May by Ros-Lehtinen to expand and broaden the sanctions already passed into law by the “Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Act of 2003” continues to gain co-sponsors. It now has 120, including Ros-Lehtinen. H.Res. 835, introduced in November by Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), “condemning Syria for its destabilizing actions in the Middle East region and calling on Iraq not to reopen its oil pipeline to Syria,” has gained a co-sponsor and now has three.

A Positive Resolution for Jordan

On Dec. 19, Rep. Robert Andrews (D-NJ) introduced H.Con.Res. 276 that would give the sense of Congress that “the Secretary of Education should use any available resources of the Department of Education and other agencies of the Executive Branch to support and encourage the formation of a consortia between one or more prominent U.S. institutions of higher education and a Jordanian institution for the establishment of joint undergraduate and graduate programs of education.”

Shirl McArthur, a retired U.S. foreign service officer, is a consultant based in the Washington, DC area.