Catholic leaders say passage of foreign aid funding a victory

Published: 2004-02-06

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The U.S. bishops' conference and Catholic Relief Services called the amount of foreign aid funding included in an omnibus appropriations bill signed into law Jan. 23 a significant victory. The $328 billion measure to fund federal agencies included close to $17.6 billion for foreign aid. Of that, $2.4 billion was designated for programs to fight AIDS and other infectious diseases, and $1 billion was targeted for the Millennium Challenge Account, a new development program focused on helping poor countries fight poverty. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Catholic Relief Services had been pushing for higher levels of funding than were included in appropriations bills approved by the House. The final version passed by the Senate Jan. 22 and signed by President Bush the next day was closer to the higher amounts in the Senate's original bill than the lower amounts in the House version. A statement issued by the two church entities said the foreign aid appropriation "marks a significant victory for our development assistance priorities and contains the largest increase in developmental and civilian foreign aid programs in four decades."

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