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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush (news - web sites) on Wednesday proposed a modest increase in the budget for international aid and diplomacy, well below that sought by Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) to boost sagging morale and pursue U.S. interests.
``Any way you look at the numbers, Secretary Powell lost this budget battle,'' a Democratic staffer in Congress said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Republican staffers could not immediately be reached for comment.
The increase to $23.1 billion from $21.9 billion in fiscal year 2001 was above average for increases in spending in departments proposed across President George W. Bush's administration in his 2002 budget.
Powell had promised State Department workers he would fight to reverse a trend of lower budgets for diplomacy, which he sees as the United States' first line of defense.
Sources had told Reuters that the operating assumption on the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee was that Powell's request would be in the realm of 10 to 20 percent.
The budget document stressed that a commitment to safety, a key issue after deadly bombings in African embassies in 1998, would be maintained and $1.3 billion would be spent addressing infrastructure needs to build safer facilities.
It also said that a substantial increase had been made on investment in modernized and secure communications systems, including increased access to the Internet.
The 2002 budget also requested funding to maintain and expand programs to support Colombia in its efforts to eradicate cocaine production, the budget document said.
The outcome of the budget discussions had been watched as an indication whether Powell, who has liberal social views that are more in keeping with Democrats than the conservative Republicans now in power, would be able to use his huge popular support to exert his authority inside the administration.
Bush held a tight grip on spending across the board, with his main focus on improving education and the military and preparing for major tax cuts.
Budget Declines A Sore Point
A decline in spending on the international affairs budget had been a sore point brought up repeatedly by Powell's predecessor at the State Department, Madeleine Albright (news - web sites), and previous secretaries of state.
Albright secured a 17 percent increase over four years but her department issued figures when the 2001 budget was announced showing that the international affairs budget had declined in real terms by 41 percent since 1985.
The Democratic source said a report by the White House's 0ffice of Management and Budget released on Jan. 16, when the Democratic administration of Bill Clinton was still in place, showed that $23.2 billion would be needed just to maintain the current level of service in U.S. diplomacy.
Since no breakdown of the figures was provided, it was impossible to see exactly how big the increases or decreases were or what comparisons with previous years could be drawn.
Bush's budget said increases would be made to boost spending on stemming the spread of HIV (news - web sites)/AIDS (news - web sites) globally and improving primary education in Africa and elsewhere in the developing world. As the first African American in his post, Powell is known to have a keen interest in Africa.
It also said it would increase military aid to Israel to help meet increases in defense resource needs there and show the U.S. commitment to Israel's security.
Another area where spending would increase was international broadcasting to increase the flow of information around the world, it added.
Savings would be made by cutting about 25 percent from Export-Import Bank credit subsidies to focus activities on U.S. exporters ``who truly cannot access private financing, as well as through lower estimates of international risk for 2002.''
The budget document also said credit subsidies for 2002 would be eliminated at the U.S.-based Overseas Private Investment Corp (OPIC).
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
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