MAJOR LOSERS:

• Congress punishes countries for supporting the ICC
House and Senate lawmakers have included legislative language (Sec. 574) within the Foreign Operations spending bill (H.R. 3057) that limits international aid to all countries that have ratified the International Criminal Court (programs/law_justice/faqs.html#uspolicy">ICC) but have not signed a Bilateral Immunity Agreement (BIA) with the U.S. Bilateral Immunity Agreements (programs/law_justice/icc/bias/bias_home.html">BIAs) prohibit nations that have ratified the ICC from sending any U.S. personnel – including U.S. service members, nationals, or U.S. government employees (past or current, including non-national contractors) – to the Court.

Countries that do not sign a BIA stand to lose Economic Support Fund (ESF) assistance. In the case of Jordan, an important U.S. ally in the Middle East, this loss amounts to $250 million. Many other U.S. allies, important strategic partners in Africa, and Latin America, will see their foreign aid cut by comparable amounts. These are dollars that would promote U.S. interests and image abroad, provide stability in troubled regions, and stimulate economic growth.

• Congress eliminates the Conflict Response Fund
For the second straight year, Congress completely gutted a State Department initiative designed to allow a rapid-response surge capability to prevent conflagration of conflicts abroad, and to allow the U.S. to quickly and effectively stabilize and reconstruct post-conflict zones. This is a vitally important mission with particular relevance to regions like Iraq and Afghanistan that have struggled with post-war reconstruction. President Bush first called for the Conflict Response Fund (CRF) last year, requesting $100 million in his FY06 budget, but similar programs have been proposed – and left unfunded by Congress – in the past.

• Congress makes U.S. delinquent on UN peacekeeping dues
Congress agreed to the President’s requested amount of $1.035 billion for the U.S.-share of UN peacekeeping activities.  However, lawmakers failed to provide authorizing language that would allow the U.S. to pay more than 25% of the UN ‘s peacekeeping assessment. Legislation dating back to 1994 caps the amount of the total UN peacekeeping budget that the U.S. can legally pay at 25 percent, 2.1 percent below the level the U.S. is assessed by the United Nations. In 2001, the Helms-Biden legislation forced a compromise and we began paying back the UN, Congress has authorized the lifting of this cap for periods of one or two years, allowing the payment of our peacekeeping dues. As of September 30th, 2005 the U.S. began accruing arrears to the UN. If the problem is not fixed in one year we will owe slightly under $100 million.

Updated December 15, 2005