Highlights from the Foreign Relations Authorization Act
The House of Representatives sent its "Foreign Relations Authorization Act" for FY2010 and FY2011 to the Committee on Foreign Affairs last week (H.R. 2410). The point of the authorization bill is to make changes to the underlying laws governing the operations of the State Department and foreign aid, creating new programs, eliminating others, and altering others. Although the House's bill is just introduced in committee, and could very well change before reaching approval, a few measures can be highlighted now. The Mérida Initiative The authorization bill offers many recommendations for "enhancing" the Mérida Initiative, the package of aid for Mexico and Central America first appropriated in June 2008. These recommendations appear in Title IX "Actions to Enhance the Mérida Initiative." These changes include:
- Designating a high-level coordinator of the Mérida Initiative, who will be appointed by the President and hold ambassador status. In addition to designing and shaping an overall strategy, the new position will "coordinate and track all Mérida Initiative-related efforts government-wide to avoid duplication, coordinate messaging, and facilitate accountability to and communication with Congress."
- Adding the Caribbean to the Mérida Initiative. According to the authorization bill, findings of Congress have shown that the illicit drug trade is "moving even more aggressively into" the small countries of the Caribbean. This section of the bill suggests that "if the United States does not move quickly to provide Mérida Initiative assistance to the CARICOM countries, the positive results of the Mérida Initiative in Mexico and Central America will move the drug trade deeper into the Caribbean and multiply the already alarming rates of violence."
- Authorizing up to 5% of Mérida money to fund evaluation of the program's performance using "impact evaluation research, operations research, and program monitoring." This evaluation mechanism will basically look at 1) whether or not the successes can be attributed to the program or to other 'outside' factors; 2) how to best operate and manage the program; and 3) how well the program is being implemented and how much it costs. The authorization bill would require that a report be released within 180 days of the enactment of the law and then by December 1 every year thereafter, including the findings of the performance reviews, as well as descriptions of the transfer of equipment, the coordination of activities, the effectiveness of equipment, the flow of illegal arms, the use of contractors, and the impact of Mérida Initiative programs on border violence and security. The report must also list "accusations of serious human rights abuses committed by the armed forces and law enforcement agencies of recipient countries on or after the date of the enactment of this Act" and a description of Mérida-recipient government's efforts to investigate and prosecute these allegations, as well as a description of the effectiveness of the Mexican government's public security strategy to vet police recruiting.
Security Assistance Contingency Fund: a new military aid program Section 841 "Authority to build the capacity of foreign military forces" creates a new military aid program that authorizes the Secretary of State "to conduct a program to respond to contingencies in foreign countries or regions by providing training, procurement, and capacity-building of a foreign country's national military forces and dedicated counterterrorism forces in order for that country to-- (1) conduct counterterrorist operations; or (2) participate in or support military and stability operations in which the United States is a participant." The bill authorizes up to $25 million for both FY2010 and FY2011, in addition to an authorization of the use of up to $25 million in funds from the Foreign Military Financing program for both 2010 and 2011. The new Security Assistance Contingency Fund, according to the authorization bill, will be subject to all conditions in foreign aid law. Congress must be notified 15 days before funds are obligated about 1) the country who will be assisted and 2) the budget, implementation timeline with milestones and completion date for completing the activities. However, the new program does not require an annual report or mandated inclusion in budget requests. This new fund appears to be an initial, though tentative, response to the increasing movement of military assistance funds into the Defense budget, out of the State Department's purview. The argument has been that the State Department lacks the capacity to deliver this aid quickly and flexibly. This small program - which would deliver aid closely resembling that already delivered by the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program - would apparently seek to address that lack of capacity by creating a quicker, more flexible mechanism within the State Department. Task Force on the Prevention of Illicit Small Arms Trafficking in the Western Hemisphere Section 911 of the authorization bill establishes "an inter-agency task force" whose duties shall be to "develop a strategy for the Federal Government to coordinate efforts to reduce and prevent illegal firearms trafficking from the United States throughout the Western Hemisphere, including Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America." Every year until October 31, 2014, the Task Force shall submit a public report to Congress that describes 1) "the activities of the Task Force during the preceding year""; and 2) "the findings, strategies, recommendations, policies, and initiatives developed pursuant to the duties of the Task Force" during the preceding year." Arms Export Licensing Under Title VIII "Export Control Reform and Security Assistance," Subsection A, the authorization bill orders a "comprehensive and systematic review and assessment of the United States arms export controls system in the context of the national security interests and strategic foreign policy objectives of the United States" to be completed not later than March 31, 2010. Throughout the process of the review, the President "shall provide periodic briefings to the appropriate congressional committees on the progress of the review and assessment conducted under subsection (a)." Section 822 increases the value of defense articles and services before Congress must be notified. Subsection B under Title VIII, Police Training Report Section 1007 of the authorization bill requires a one-time report to Congress, within 180 days after the date of enactment of the bill, on "current overseas civilian police training in countries or regions that are at risk of, in, or are in transition from, conflict or civil strife." Fund to Promote Multilateralism in the Americas Section 411 of the authorization bill creates a new "Fund to Promote Multilateralism in the Americas," which is intended to "promote the multilateral interests of the United States in the Americas region" through diplomatic activities within and related to the OAS; voluntary contributions to entities and organs of the OAS, outreach and cultural activities, conferences, and "general advocacy for United States interests." The implementation of this Fund appears to come out of the sentiment that the United States is losing its voice in Latin America and the Caribbean because "multilateral diplomacy in the context of the Americas has suffered considerably in the past decade, to the direct detriment of the national interest of the United States in the region." The language continues to describe that the Fund's purpose is to push the United States' voice back into the forefront in light of the "recent proliferation of multilateral groupings...in which the United States is not a member."