Appropriations Subcommittee Passes Republican State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Bill that Threatens National Security

WASHINGTON — Today, House Republicans passed their fiscal year 2024 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations bill that threatens our national security and puts the American people and public health preparedness at risk.

With $11.1 billion in rescissions from the Environmental Protection Agency programs in the Inflation Reduction Act, the draft bill includes $52.5 billion for global programs and activities, which is $7.2 billion below the 2023 level, a cut of 15 percent. The legislation:

• Threatens national security by abdicating U.S. leadership at the United Nations (UN) and other multilateral and international financial institutions by not including any funding for the UN Regular budget, the UN Development Program, UN Women, and the World Health Organization (WHO).
• Underfunds the operations and staffing of the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). 
• Hampers the U.S. response to the climate crisis by eliminating support for adaptation, sustainable landscapes, and clean energy programming.
• Threatens women’s health globally by substantially underfunding bilateral family planning, prohibiting the United States from contributing to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and reinstating the Global Gag Rule on non-governmental organizations that receive U.S. assistance.
   

“This Republican bill starves our country of the tools we need to build a better, safer world,” State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Ranking Member Barbara Lee (D-CA-12) said. “The world is full of threats that don’t respect borders, from climate change, to pandemics, to assertive dictators. We can’t stick our head in the sand and think it will all go away. We need to work with partners to address these challenges. This Republican bill leaves America vulnerable and shirks our commitments.”

Congresswoman Lee’s full remarks as prepared for delivery are here.

“The greatest challenges facing the United States are multi-dimensional and cross borders. Foreign assistance is critical to bolstering and our national security, and the House Republican 2024 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs bill puts Americans at risk. The bill shortchanges foreign assistance, abdicates our country’s leadership on the global stage, harms women around the world, and hinders our ability to address the climate crisis,” Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) said. “By shortchanging humanitarian programs at a time when a historic number of refugees are fleeing conflict and instability, the United States will not have the tools to properly respond and assist our allies. We should be working with countries and institutions with mutual interests to solve real problems, not marking up partisan funding bills that do nothing to advance the process of funding the government.”

Congresswoman DeLauro’s full remarks as prepared for delivery are here.

Key provisions of the bill can be found here. The text of the draft bill is here.

###