House panel authorizes State Department funding
Bill includes $1.5 billion for embassy security and construction overseas.
The House International Relations Africa Subcommittee Thursday approved legislation to authorize the State Department and its programs as well as international aid initiatives over the next two years.
The bill would authorize $1.5 billion for embassy security and construction overseas; $1 billion for United Nations peacekeeping efforts and $652 million for the U.S. government's international broadcasting activities, including $37.9 million to broadcast pro-democracy news to Cuba.
"The cornerstone of our foreign policy should be the protection of democracy," said International Relations Africa Subcommittee Chairman Christopher Smith, R-N.J. The panel approved the bill by voice vote.
The subcommittee approved several bill amendments by voice vote.
The add-ons included language to open lines of communication between Taiwan and U.S. officials; to require a report from the State Department on its small business contracts with minority-owned businesses; to require the government to translate human rights reports into different languages; to mandate a report on countries that force female children into marriage, and a sense of Congress that Palestinian textbooks teach peace, among other provisions.
Only one amendment failed, 8-5, which would have required the government to evaluate the effectiveness of pro-democracy radio and television content into Cuba before spending $10 million on technology to override broadcast jamming by the Cuban government. Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., offered the amendment.