FY2010 State Department and Foreign Operations Appropriations

12/22/09
Latin America and the Caribbean
U.S. Policy

Last week, Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act for 2010 (H.R. 3288) which combines provisions for six Fiscal Year 2010 appropriations. One of the provisions included in the bill is the State Department, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations for FY2010 (Division F). This section funds U.S. foreign assistance programs, many of which are tracked on this website. We have added the Latin America-relevant text of Division F of H.R. 3288 and its Conference Report (111-366) to the Just the Facts legislation page. Highlights from the two documents are listed below.

  • A portion of the Development Assistance account must be used to provide "safe water for communities harmed by oil contamination in the northeastern region of Ecuador."
  • Of the funds appropriated to Colombia under the Economic Support Fund ($209,790,000), not less than $8,000,000 for Colombian refugees in neighboring countries; $45,000,000 for Colombian IDPs (internally displaced persons); and up to $15,000,000 for Afro-Colombians and indigenous communities.
  • The International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement (INCLE) account creates a Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI), extending the Mérida Initiative to the Caribbean region. The funds allocated to the CBSI are intended to "provide equipment and training to combat drug trafficking and related violence and organized crime, and for judicial reform, institution building, education, anti-corruption, rule of law activities, and maritime security." While this bill allocates "not less than $37,000,000" to this new initiative, it states that "not less than $21,100,000" of this amount "should be made available for social justice and education programs to include vocational training, workforce development and juvenile justice activities."
  • The Andean Counterdrug Program account is folded into the International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement account.
  • The conference report states that INCLE account funds for Colombia cannot be used for assistance for the Colombian Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad (DAS), or any successor organization if the DAS is dismantled.
  • The heading of Section 7008 is changed to "Coups d'Etats." In previous appropriations bills, this section was titled "Military Coups," however, the conference committee notes in its report that "the previous title implied an unintended limitation of the provision's application."
  • Funds allocated to Colombia under Division F of Public Law 111-117 are capped at $521,880,000, while funds allocated to Mexico under the INCLE, Foreign Military Financing, and Economic Support Fund accounts are capped at $210,250,000. This allocation for Mexico for FY2010 is substantially lower than the State Department's FY2010 request ($481 million), though the difference was already covered by an earlier allocation in the FY2009 Supplemental Appropriations Act of $420 million.
  • The human rights conditions placed on aid to both Mexico and Central America in the Fiscal Year 2009 State Department, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Act will apply to Fiscal Year 2010 appropriations. In reference to the Mexico human rights certification document submitted to Congress by the State Department over the summer, the Conference Committee noted in their report that

    "The conferees are concerned that the report submitted pursuant to section 1406(b) of the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008 (Public Law 110-252) and section 7045(e)(I) of the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009 (Public Law 111-8) relating to human rights in Mexico did not include the requisite findings by the Secretary of State that the Government of Mexico had met the requirements in the law. The conferees remain concerned with the lack of progress on these issues, and the lack of transparency in cases involving allegations against Mexican military personnel, and direct that future reports submitted pursuant to section 7045(e)(2) of this Act include the necessary findings."

  • The FY2009 Appropriations Act does not give us specific amounts for allocations under all accounts, nor does it give us details for every country in the region. However, the Conference Report does provide us with some numbers for the Economic Support Fund, INCLE and Foreign Military Financing accounts. Below is a table comparing the FY2010 numbers as appropriated in H.R. 3288 to the number requested in the State Department's FY2010 Congressional Budget Justification. As can be seen below, the FY2010 allocation for Mexico under the INCLE account is substantially lower than that requested by the State Department ($269 million less), while the allocation under the Economic Support Fund for Mexico is $12 million more than the requested amount.