Project on Middle East Democracy

Project on Middle East Democracy
The POMED Wire Archives


Category: Congress

House Foreign Affairs Committee Members Named, RSC Unveils Plans for Cuts

January 24th, 2011 by Naureen

Last week, Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) released the names of committee members, including Ron Paul (R-TX), Mike Pence (R-IN), Joe Wilson (R-SC) and eight members of the new Congressional freshman class. With committee assignments made, Ros-Lehtinen prepared to keep to her previously stated mission of cutting state and foreign aid budgets. Also, the Republican Study Committee, with support of 165 members of the House, released their plan for government cuts which includes eliminating federal funding for USAID, economic aid to Egypt, the Woodrow Wilson Center, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency amid many other programs. USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah condemned calls for cuts to foreign aid budgets, stating, “development is, in fact, a core part of both our economic security and our national security.” He also pointed out that Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen, and ISAF Commander Gen. David Petraeus have all come out in strong support of increasing USAID’s capacity to implement foreign aid.


Posted in Congress, Egypt, Foreign Aid | Comment »

Forecast of US Aid to the Middle East

January 14th, 2011 by Kyle

On January 10, former Congressmen Dan Glickman and Vin Weber addressed a special Policy Forum luncheon at The Washington Institute. The discussion focused on the future of US Foreign Policy in the Middle East in regards to the incoming Congress and potential new initiatives under the Obama Administration. Glickman suggested that, “If the President can recapture the agenda in a State of the Union message with a couple of big bold ideas, he can be the prime determiner on a lot of issues including foreign aid and foreign assistance.” Weber addressed fears of an isolationist Congress, “Illeana Ros-Lehtinen…has strong views but she is very definitely an internationalist and she is a passionate supporter for instance of democracy and democracy assistance around the world.”


Posted in Congress, US foreign policy, US politics | Comment »

Kay Granger to Chair State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee

January 7th, 2011 by Kyle

House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers today announced the Appropriations subcommittee Chairs and members for the 112th Congress. Congresswoman Kay Granger was selected to serve as the Chairwoman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations.  The State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee has the responsibility of overseeing and allocating all foreign aid spending. In addition, Granger will continue to serve as a member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. With the two subcommittee assignments, Granger will oversee nearly $750 billion in government spending with the combined defense and foreign operations budgets.


Posted in Congress, Foreign Aid | Comment »

The Cost of International Affairs Budget Cuts

December 27th, 2010 by Evan

Washington Post opinion writer Conor Williams has a new piece arguing against the reductions to the international affairs budget proposed by incoming House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL). Williams writes that the spending cuts would devastate American diplomatic efforts, while doing little to trim the deficit. Citing statements from U.S. military leaders, Williams explains that “well-funded diplomacy is crucial to national security,” and that reductions will only cost the U.S. more in the long run.


Posted in Congress, Diplomacy, Foreign Aid | Comment »

House Passes Continuing Resolution

December 22nd, 2010 by Jason

The House of Representatives passed a continuing resolution last night by a vote of 193-165, which President Obama signed today, that will keep spending levels at Fiscal Year 2010 levels through March 4, 2011. The bill, HR 3082/SAmdt 4885, will fund the International Affairs Budget at “$52.9 billion, 10% lower than the President’s FY11 request.”


Posted in Congress, Foreign Aid, US foreign policy | Comment »

Chabot to Chair Subcommittee on Middle East and South Asia

December 22nd, 2010 by Evan

Incoming Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) announced subcommittee chairs Tuesday. Ros-Lehtinen tapped Steve Chabot (R-OH), a veteran House Foreign Affairs Committee member who won back his seat in November after a two-year absence, to chair the Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia. A member of the Human Rights Caucus, Chabot has co-sponsored legislation sanctioning Iran for failing to pursue political reform and Syria for occupying Lebanon, in addition to his support for legislation praising successful elections and condemning human rights violations around the world. Also, Chabot co-sponsored a resolution honoring Seeds of Peace for promoting peace and reconciliation in the Middle East.

In 2003, during a hearing on the Middle East Partnership Initiative, Chabot spoke about the challenges and opportunities facing the region: “The potential of that particular region of the world is almost without limit if one could resolve some of the problems that have seemed over the years to be unresolvable […] But when you consider just a couple of things that they have going for them, I mean, having the oil that is there; there is that resource, which many of the other parts of the world do not have, that if it could be used actually for the benefit of the people as opposed to just building up military arsenals […] There are just so many things that that region has going for it.”


Posted in Congress, US foreign policy | Comment »

Senate Releases FY2011 Budget Text

December 14th, 2010 by Jason

The Senate Appropriations Committee has released the text of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 Omnibus Appropriations Act late Tuesday. Under the $1.1 trillion spending bill, $53.5 billion would be spent on State, foreign operations, and related programs, $3.1 billion less than requested. Should the language of the bill remain unchanged, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) would receive $128.5 million, $23.5 million more than requested and $10.5 million more than FY 2010 levels, while bilateral economic assistance would be funded at $22.97 billion, $1.6 billion below the requested amount and $1.12 billion above the FY 2010 level . Egypt, Israel, the West Bank/Gaza, and Jordan would be funded at the level requested, while Lebanon would be funded at the level requested, “subject to conditions.” The House and the Senate have until Saturday to either agree on an omnibus bill or pass a continuing resolution.


Posted in Congress, Foreign Aid, Legislation, US foreign policy, US politics | Comment »

Congressman Obey Unveils Spending Bill, Republicans Announce New Appropriations Committee Chair

December 8th, 2010 by Evan

The outgoing Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee David Obey (D-WI) announced a new $1.25 trillion spending bill (full text here, summary here) that excludes all earmarks, freezes government salaries for civilian employees, and maintains funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on Wednesday. Funding for state, foreign operations, and related programs increased $2.2 billion to a total of $51 billion with most of new funding going to Iraq, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. The draft also maintains funding for Jordan and Egypt at 2010 levels. The legislation is expected to the pass the House but may face opposition in the Senate. Late Tuesday, the House GOP Steering Committee announced that it has tapped Hal Rogers (R-KY) to be the new Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. According to Politico, Rogers has promised to reduce discretionary spending to 2008 levels. In contrast to Rogers’ rhetoric, the congressman has a history of using earmarks to fund local projects. In other Congressional news, House Republicans have released the calendar for the upcoming year.

Posted in Congress, Foreign Aid | Comment »

Egypt: Congress’ Push for Democracy and Human Rights

September 1st, 2010 by Anna

In the Wall Street Journal today, Jay Solomon reports on pressure directed at the Obama administration regarding human rights and political freedoms in Egypt. It is not clear whether President Barack Obama plans to bring up issues about next year’s elections in Egypt during President Hosni Mubarak’s meeting with Obama today. The Senate is reportedly considering a non-binding resolution that encourages additional dialogue between Washington and Cairo about democracy and human rights issues, and calls for that dialogue to be a formal part of bilateral U.S.-Egypt relations. More specifically, the resolution recommends that the U.S. pressure Egyptian leaders to end the country’s decades-old emergency law.

In an op-ed for Al-Ahram recently, Mohamed Abdel-Baky expressed skepticism at Congress’ resolutions on the political situation in Egypt, calling the most recent proposal the “same old story.” He notes that although a formal statement by Congress can carry moral force and places additional pressure on the State Department in its relations with the Egyptian government, the resolutions use “soft language” and rarely make large demands.


Posted in Congress, Egypt, Elections, Human Rights, US foreign policy | Comment »

Morocco: “Beacon” of Religious Tolerance, or Repressor?

June 30th, 2010 by Jennifer

Menachem Rosensaft, founder and Chairman of the International Network of Children of Jewish Holocaust Survivors, writes at the Huffington Post that recent reactions by some U.S. Congressmen to the deportation of American citizens from Morocco on charges of proselytizing, are overly harsh and not merited. Rosensaft says that Jews and Christians practice their faith openly in Morocco without persecution, calling the North African nation “a rare beacon of tolerance in an otherwise mostly religiously xenophobic Muslim world.” He notes that Morocco is only one of many nations in the Arab and Muslim worlds with laws against proselytism on the books, and argues that the foreign citizens were expelled for violating national laws, not for their personal religion.

Rosensaft’s commentary comes in light of a hearing on religious freedom in Morocco held by the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the U.S. House of Representatives in mid-June, in which several Congressmen leveled heavy criticism against the Moroccan government and called for repercussions. Rosensaft notes that Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA) went so far as to equate Morocco’s actions to those of the Nazi regime in Germany, commenting, “these comparisons are over the top and betray either an ignorance or a disregard of history.”


Posted in Congress, Human Rights, Morocco | 1 Comment »

Rep. Lowey: No Aid to Fund Corruption in Afghanistan

June 30th, 2010 by Jennifer

Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY), chairwoman of the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs announced on Monday that she will not approve the inclusion of further aid to Afghanistan other than humanitarian assistance in the Fiscal Year 2011 Appropriations Act, citing government corruption and misuse of funds as her motivation for the cuts. Lowey stated, “I do not intend to appropriate one more dime for assistance to Afghanistan until I have confidence that U.S. taxpayer money is not being abused to line the pockets of corrupt Afghan government officials, drug lords and terrorists. Furthermore, the government of Afghanistan must demonstrate that corruption is being aggressively investigated and prosecuted.”

The Congresswoman’s remarks come in the aftermath of an annual report released in November of last year by Transparency International, which ranked Afghanistan second worst in the world in terms of its levels of corruption, coming behind only Somalia.

James Traub asks in Foreign Policy whether Afghan president Hamid Karzai is worth the battle in Afghanistan, commenting that he was able to brainstorm a list of only 5 reasons for staying the course and 10 for abandoning the U.S. effort, among them “Karzai is too corrupt” and “Karzai doesn’t believe in it.” Nevertheless, Traub concludes that the consequences of leaving the war-torn country could prove too high, as a U.S. withdrawal would be likely to strengthen Islamic radicalism worldwide, in his assessment. If the U.S. is to carry on, Traub proposes, it must push Karzai to “take governance seriously” and remove his corrupt allies, or otherwise “get out of the way” so that others can lead.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Karzai disagreed with the negative assessments of his government coming out of Washington, stating, “We are accountable for the money that international community is donating for Afghanistan and there is transparency in usage of these donations.”


Posted in Afghanistan, Congress, Foreign Aid | Comment »

Steny H. Hoyer: Democracy Should Be A Pillar of U.S. Foreign Policy

June 28th, 2010 by Jennifer

Speaking on national security policy at Center for the Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD) highlighted democracy promotion as one of four “crucial tools” to safeguard national security and combat threats such as international terrorism. Calling democracy, human rights, and economic freedom “the most powerful weapons in an ideological struggle,” Rep. Hoyer pointed to the fall of the Berlin Wall as evidence that “experience shows that the values of free societies can break down the strongest walls of oppression. And American foreign policy has, at its best and most creative, taken advantage of that fact to keep our nation more secure.”

Hoyer went on to detail lessons learned on democracy promotion from the Bush era, arguing that “democracy cannot be imposed by force; that elections alone do not equal democracy; that democratization and economic growth do not always go hand-in-hand; and that failing to lead by example weakens democracy around the world.” In that light, he called for a renewed U.S. commitment to recognizing and supporting democratic movements publicly, mentioning Iran and Egypt specifically in that regard. Hoyer emphasized his belief in a dovetailing of U.S. interests and values on this issue, proposing that working to enable greater democracy and freedom worldwide would bring American foreign policy into line with national ideals, while ultimately making the country safer as well. “All of our presidents have understood the value of pragmatism,” he stated, “but they have also understood that it must be balanced with America’s historic role as the advocate of democratic values and democratic movements around the world.

Hoyer also criticized policies that violate the rule of law and human rights on the home front, including use of torture, rendition, and extrajudicial detention.


Posted in Congress, Democracy Promotion, US foreign policy, US politics | Comment »

Iran Sanctions Bill Passed

June 25th, 2010 by Farid

Yesterday, the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment Act (H.R.2194) was passed unanimously in the Senate , 99-0, and the House, 408-8. The final version of the bill can be found here in a pdf version. Josh Gorbin writes at Foreign Policy that a few changes have been made to the bill, including a request that the President address the impact of ethanol on Iran’s nuclear capacity and Iranian energy “know-how” through joint ventures that could potentially “aid Iran’s energy sector.”

Gorbin reports that both the House and the Senate are confident that President Obama will sign the bill into law, but some are worried about its implementation. “So lawmakers and staffers are planning to keep a close watch to see how the law is carried out,” says Gorbin. The U.S. administration has been reluctant to address the impact of these sanctions, as uncertainty still exists over their effect.


Posted in Congress, Iran, Legislation, US foreign policy, sanctions | Comment »

Iran: Are Sanctions and Engagement Compatible?

May 21st, 2010 by Josh

Echoing the frustrations of others earlier this week, Roger Cohen uses his most recent New York Times op-ed to question the wisdom of the Obama administration’s “bristling” response to the trilateral nuclear fuel swap deal. Cohen believes that the president should have exclaimed, “Pressure works! Iran blinked on the eve of new U.N. sanctions. It’s come back to our offer. We need to be prudent, given past Iranian duplicity, but this is progress. Isolation serves Iranian hard-liners.” Instead, the administration not only distanced itself from the deal, but also insisted “on a prior suspension of enrichment that was not in the October deal.”

Over at World Politics Review, Nikolas K. Gvosdev asks “Where does this process go from here?” One possibility, he says, is that “the Obama administration could run up against a growing domestic U.S. consensus that both a U.N. resolution and congressional legislation are needed — that having one without the other is insufficient.” Gvosdev predicts that such a scenario may complicate diplomatic overtures in the future. But Time’s Tony Karon isn’t so sure, writing that a “two-track” complementary approach of punitive pressures and diplomatic engagement “may be Washington’s answer to Iran’s strategy of negotiating while steadily adding to its stockpile of nuclear material.”


Posted in Congress, Diplomacy, Iran, Legislation, US foreign policy, US politics, sanctions | Comment »

Egypt: More Pushback on the Endowment

May 14th, 2010 by Josh

On the heels of Josh Rogin’s report yesterday, Scott Carpenter from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy has a piece up underscoring the varied reasons why an endowment for President Mubarak’s regime would be “bad for both American taxpayers and the Egyptian people.” Although he’s moderately encouraged that the Obama administration appears to be resisting both the scale and comprehensive nature of Egypt’s request — which calls for a “phasing out” of traditional U.S. aid in favor of a consolidated program of economic support under the endowment — Carpenter still views the $50 million already allocated under the December 2009 appropriations bill as “stunningly deferential to the Egyptian government,” and he’s shocked that Congress has yet to hit the brakes on a proposal that would “emasculate its oversight role regarding U.S. aid to Egypt.”

All told, Carpenter doubts the endowment will incentivize real change and he advises the administration to pause in order to review the objectives of the U.S.-Egypt aid relationship. Establishing negotiated benchmarks for increased assistance in targeted sectors, for example, will “create the promise of a win-win proposition” and, if done in direct partnership with the Egyptian cabinet’s economic team, may “maximize the impact of U.S. assistance.”


Posted in Congress, Diplomacy, Egypt, Foreign Aid, US foreign policy | Comment »

POMED Notes: “Iran Sanctions: Why Does the U.S. Government Do Business With Companies Doing Business in Iran?”

May 12th, 2010 by Josh

The Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee held a hearing to explore the history, efficacy, and enforcement of sanctions that target companies who do business with both the United States and Iran. The committee invited three individuals to provide testimony: Danielle Pletka, Vice President of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute; Joseph Christoff, Director of International Affairs and Trade at the Government Accountability Office; and Congressman Ted Deutch (D-FL).

For POMED’s notes in PDF, click here. Otherwise, continue below the fold.

Read the rest of this entry »


Posted in Congress, Congressional Hearing Notes (Senate), Diplomacy, Iran, Legislation, Oil, US foreign policy, sanctions | Comment »

Sen. Conrad Receives Ire of Foreign Policy Community

April 30th, 2010 by Chanan

Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND), chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, has not been in good stead with the foreign policy community since announcing last week his decision to slash some $4 billion from the Obama administration’s $58.5 billion budget request for State and USAID for fiscal 2011.

The U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC) recently expressed their “deep disappointment” in Sen. Conrad’s proposal and also organized a letter signed by all eight living former Secretaries of State encouraging Congress to express their support for the full international affairs budget. The same argument has been made over the last week by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), and even U2 front-man, Bono. ”Development gets even less if Senator Conrad gets his way,” Bono said in a speech at the Atlantic Council’s annual awards dinner on Wednesday night. “So you peaceniks in fatigues have a job to do over the next few weeks.”


Posted in Congress, Legislation, US foreign policy, US politics, Uncategorized | Comment »

Mounting Pressure to Fully Fund Administration’s Foreign Affairs Request

April 28th, 2010 by Josh

Via Laura Rozen, the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition has coordinated an effort [PDF] by all eight living U.S. Secretaries of State to urge members of Congress not to cut the international affairs budget. This joint letter is part of a larger USGLC campaign that has enlisted the support of Secretary Clinton, Secretary Gates, the House Foreign Affairs Committee, 31 senators, as well as various congressional coalitions and caucuses [all in PDF].

You can read more about the Middle East-related components of the Obama administration’s FY2011 budget request in POMED’s recently released report.


Posted in Congress, Legislation, US foreign policy, US politics | 1 Comment »

Senate Budget Committee Cuts FY11 Request for Foreign Affairs

April 21st, 2010 by Josh

Via the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad has cut President Obama’s FY11 foreign affairs budget by $4 billion, the only reduction in any area of discretionary spending from the administration’s FY11 request. USGLC Executive Director Liz Schrayer expressed disappointment with Senator Conrad’s decision, saying that this 7 percent cut is “especially dramatic considering the President’s $58.5 billion request for FY 2011 is basically a flat-line request over last year.”

This move came despite a bipartisan letter from 31 senators urging Conrad and Ranking Republican Member Judd Gregg to adopt the president’s foreign affairs budget request in full.


Posted in Congress, US foreign policy | Comment »

POMED Notes: “Global Internet Freedom: A Foreign Policy Imperative in a Digital Age”

March 24th, 2010 by Chanan

The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) hosted an event to formally launch the U.S. Senate Caucus on Global Internet Freedom, a bi-partisan initiative determined to promote global Internet freedom. The event featured opening remarks from caucus co-chairs Senators Ted Kaufman (D-DE) and Sam Brownback (R-KS), as well as other Senate caucus members including Senators Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) and Robert Casey (D-PA).

John Nagl, CNAS president, introduced the senators by lauding Congress “as a real leader on Internet freedom,” especially for its efforts last summer to pass The Victims of Iranian Censorship (VOICE) Act.

Click here for POMED’s notes in PDF. Otherwise, continue reading below.

Read the rest of this entry »


Posted in Congress, DC Event Notes, Egypt, Freedom, Human Rights, Iran, Protests, Technology, US foreign policy, Uncategorized | Comment »