House Appropriations Committee Approves State, Foreign Operations Spending Bill

On July 19, the House Appropriations Committee passed, by voice vote, the FY2018 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs spending bill (as-yet-unnumbered), as amended. The House Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs passed the bill on July 13 (see The Source, 7/14/17).

According to the committee report, the bill would provide $47.364 billion in overall funding, $5.707 billion less than FY2017 and $6.842 billion above the president’s FY2018 request. This amount includes $12.019 billion for overseas contingency operations.

The Department of State would be funded at $11.337 billion, $118 million above FY2017 and $2.193 billion above the president’s request.

Bilateral Economic Assistance would receive $8.321 billion and includes $2.974 billion for USAID global health programs.

The bill would include $6 billion to combat HIV/AIDS around the globe and $5.086 million for the Office of Global Women’s Issues. In addition, the legislation would provide $400 million for water, sanitation, and hygiene projects, including $125 million for activities in poor communities and countries located in sub-Saharan Africa; the bill would require programs to prioritize issues such as the availability of feminine hygiene products.

The following chart details funding for programs important to women and their families.