The House Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations cut $4 billion from the president's $56.7 billion request for State Department and foreign operations money in a bill unveiled nearly two weeks ago.
A closer examination of the funding cuts with respect to appropriations toward supporting global food security indicates that the Subcommittee has allocated $1 billion for food security and agricultural development, $300 million below the president's request. The majority of the reduction in funding for global food security and agricultural development comes out of the World Bank-administered Global Food Security Fund, which the Subcommittee marked up at $150 million -- over $258 million less than the president requested for the fund.
The $4 billion cut was first proposed by Senate Budget Committee chairman Kent Conrad, D-ND, who unveiled a budget resolution in April that sacrificed State Department and foreign aid funding for domestic priorities.
The Cable reports that House Appropriations Committee chairman David Obey, D-WI, gave instructions to Foreign Operations subcommittee chairwoman Rep. Nita Lowey, D-NY, that she should meet the number specified by Conrad's resolution.
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