Speech by Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Arizona), July 24, 2001

Speech by Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Arizona), July 24, 2001
Mr. Chairman, I would like to make a couple of points quickly in response to what has been said here today.

There is $38 million that comes out of the economic assistance for the Andean countries. Forty-seven percent of the money that we have in that account goes to economic assistance. Half of it goes to economic assistance. So you are cutting the money from that.

You cannot just say you are cutting it from military. You are cutting it from the justice programs. You are cutting it from the poverty programs. You are cutting it from the alternative economic assistance programs.

Most of our programs have been consolidated to the Andean initiative, those in Latin America. If you take those out, there is only $146 million total for the entire region that is left in all other programs of assistance. So you are cutting drastically into those programs.

Lastly let me say a few words with regard to the trust fund. In this bill, we have $100 million in the trust fund. There is $100 million that we appropriated the other day that is in the supplemental. And, there is $100 million that will be included in the Labor HHS. In total, for the trust fund, we have $300 million. This amendment would increase it to $360 million. I say we are doing everything we can in the area of the international trust fund for AIDS and the other diseases.

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