Since the pro-democracy revolution of Eastern Europe last year, the Bush administration has been forced to reassess the amount of money the U.S. contributes to developing democracies there and in Latin America.
At the same time, it is faced with continued demand for foreign aid from the traditional recipients, whose grants and loans are already earmarked by Congress.
In his budget, President Bush is seeking about $18.2 billion for all international affairs, including running the State Department and maintaining U.S. embassies abroad.
While Sen. Robert Dole (D-Kansas) set off a blizzard of debate when he suggested a 5 percent reduction in aid to the five largest recipients, that does not appear to have much support, at least for now.
In the budget, the biggest share of the security assistance will still go to Israel and Egypt, a total of $5.1 billion, or 61 percent of all U.S. assistance.
The entire outlay for other nations is $14.2 billion. About $300 million of that is proposed to help Eastern Europe, a figure that Congress is likely to see as piddling.
”The United States must make every effort to support the transition of European countries to democracy and free market economies,” the budget document said.
Another $200 million is set for the Philippines.
Bush, a former ambassador to the United Nations, also proposed to almost double the amount the U.S. would commit to international institutions.
His proposal to fund peacekeeping activities is actually three times the current amount.
One element in the 1991 foreign aid budget is for combatting international narcotics trafficking.