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Foreign Relations Reauthorization Passes House; Number of Provisions Targeting Women

On June 10, the House approved, 235-187, the Foreign Relations Authorization Act for FY2010 and FY2011 (H.R. 2410), after adopting, 257-171, a manager’s amendment by Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA). The manager’s amendment, would, among other provisions, include language stating that nothing in the section establishing the Office for Global Women’s Issues (Section 334) “shall be construed as affecting existing statutory prohibitions relating to abortion.” The House Foreign Affairs Committee approved the bill on May 20 (see The Source, 5/22/09).

Sponsored by Rep. Berman, H.R. 2410 would authorize $17.935 billion for the State Department in FY2010 and “such sums as may be necessary” for FY2011. Included in that amount is $1.578 billion for migration and refugee assistance, which includes funding for programs to combat human trafficking; $2.26 billion for international peacekeeping activities; and $400 million in FY2010 and $450 million in FY2011 for the Peace Corps. The bill also would establish an Office for Global Women Issues.

During debate on the measure, the House adopted the following amendments:

  • an amendment by Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) directing President Obama to provide Congress with a plan to address the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Sudan, 429-0;
  • an amendment by Rep. Susan Davis (D-CA) to require the inspectors general of the departments of State and Defense, the United States Agency for International Development, and the special inspector general for Afghanistan Reconstruction to modify assessment protocols to include the impact U.S. development assistance has on the social, economic, and political empowerment of Afghan women, by voice vote;
  • an amendment by Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) to require the secretary of State to report, within 60 days, on treaty and domestic law to improve compliance with the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, by voice vote;
  • an amendment by Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY) to require the Government Accountability Office to study the United States Agency for International Development’s use of waivers under the Buy American Act (41 U.S.C. 10a-10d) for HIV testing kits, as well as the availability of testing kits in low-income countries, by voice vote;
  • an amendment by Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI) that states the passage of laws suppressing human rights, including women’s rights, in Afghanistan undermines international support for the nation, by voice vote;
  • an amendment by Rep. Berman to require the State Department to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of funds used to reduce smuggling and trafficking in persons, by voice vote;
  • an amendment by Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) to establish an exchange program between U.S. and Afghanistan women legislators, by voice vote; and
  • a second amendment by Rep. Johnson to add language to the report accompanying the bill stating that “the use of child soldiers is unacceptable and is a violation of human rights and the prevention and elimination of child soldiers should be a foreign policy goal of the United States,” by voice vote.