Providing $62 Billion for the State Dept. & Foreign Aid While Repealing Restrictions on Groups Funding Abortions Overseas (H.R. 4373)

What is H.R. 4373?

(Updated January 10, 2022)

This bill would provide $62.24 billion in appropriations for state, foreign operations, and related programs for fiscal year 2022. That would be an increase of $6.737 billion from FY2021, a more than 12% increase. A breakdown of this bill’s major provisions can be found below.

State. Dept. Operations: This section would provide $18.2 billion for the operations of the State Dept. and related agencies, including $6.1 billion for embassy security (the same amount as FY2021). The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) would receive $1.79 billion for FY2022, an increase of $79 million from the prior year, and the agency would implement new diversity and inclusion initiatives for its workforce.

Multilateral Assistance: This section would provide $4.1 billion for assistance to foreign countries through international organizations and banks in FY2022, an increase of $2.06 billion from the prior year. The funding total includes assessed contributions to international organizations and to global financial institutions such as the World Bank’s International Development Association and other multilateral groups such as the Global Environment Facility and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

Bilateral Economic and Global Health Assistance: This section would provide a total of $29.625 billion for bilateral economic assistance to foreign countries in FY2022, an increase of $3.14 billion from the prior year. Funding under this section would support development assistance, global health, and humanitarian assistance, including $6.4 billion to fight HIV/AIDS around the globe.

International Security Assistance: This section would provide $9.034 billion for international security assistance — an increase of $30 million from FY2021 — including funding for military aid to foreign governments, counterterrorism, peacekeeping, nonproliferation programs, and law enforcement of international narcotics laws. It would fully fund the $3.3 billion U.S. commitment to Israel’s security and continue assistance under the Foreign Military Financing Program to Ukraine, Georgia, Egypt ($1.3 billion), Jordan ($1.52 billion), and Tunisia.

Export and Investment Assistance: This section would provide $805 million in new budget authority for the Export-Import Bank (EXIM) and the International Development Finance Corporation (DFC).

Global Health and Pandemic Provisions: This section would provide $10.6 billion to support families and communities around the world, an increase of $1.4 billion from the prior year.

Miscellaneous:

• $3 billion would be provided for initiatives to address climate change and other environmental issues, including $1.6 billion for the Green Climate Fund.

• Family planning would receive $760 million, an increase of $185 million from the prior year. The United Nations Family Planning Agency (UNFPA) would receive $70 million, an increase of $37.5 million from the prior year.

• This bill would repeal the so-called “global gag rule” which prohibits non-governmental organizations receiving U.S. government funding from providing or advocating for abortions overseas. It would also repeal provisions which have precluded the funding of organizations which perform coercive abortions.

• The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) would receive $6.08 billion including $1.56 billion for the Global Fund, an increase of $150 million from the prior year.

• $4.56 billion would be provided for programs to improve maternal and child health and fight infectious disease, an increase of $1.3 billion from the prior year.

• The State Dept. would be authorized to use funding to expedite the review of Special Immigrant Visa applications made by Afghans.

• The secretary of state would be required to provide notice when an agreement is reached with a country to receive detainees from the facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Argument in favor

This bill reflects the Democratic caucus’s priorities for U.S. diplomacy and foreign aid by providing funding to address the climate crisis and advance gender equity. It would also ensure the U.S. diplomatic corps is diverse and inclusive, and remove restrictions on groups that provide women around the world with access to abortion.

Argument opposed

Democrats’ partisan spending bill increases funding for foreign programs beyond what is necessary, allows U.S. foreign aid to be used to repay debt owed to China, and fails to push for reforms at the World Health Organization. It would also bring to an end longstanding restrictions on federal funding of agencies that provide abortions overseas.

Impact

State Dept. and related agencies.

Cost of H.R. 4373

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In-Depth: House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) offered the following statement following her committee’s passage of the state and foreign operations FY2022 appropriations package:

“While COVID-19 cases have sharply declined in the United States, the coronavirus pandemic is far from over across the globe, with 370,000 new cases and over 8,000 new deaths per day. As new variants develop and spread, we must continue to work across countries and borders to put an end to this pandemic while ensuring we are prepared to prevent the pandemics of the future. The substantial global health investments in this legislation will ensure that America leads the way in crushing the current pandemic and bolstering detection and response to prevent future pandemics.”

State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Barbara Lee (D-CA) added:

“This bill demonstrates the resurgence of American leadership in the world at a time when it is critically needed. It addresses urgent global health and humanitarian needs, provides strong funding to address the climate crisis and advance gender equity.  Through funding for tackling hunger, supporting education, clean water and energy, the bill shows our commitment to advancing the United Nation’s Sustainable Development goals, including addressing global poverty and reducing inequalities. Importantly, this bill also includes new provisions to advance the critical need for our foreign policy workforce to reflect the diversity of our nation.”

House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Kay Granger (R-TX) explained Republicans’ opposition to this package in the bill’s committee report stemmed from Democrats’ rejection of GOP amendments to increase transparency at the World Health Organization, bar American foreign aid from being used to repay the Chinese government, and preserve restrictions on funding agencies providing abortions:

“Unfortunately, the twelve percent increase included in the bill is based on a topline funding level that only the majority party has agreed to, and some resources have been allocated to misguided priorities. In addition, the departure from maintaining long-standing provisions in the bill to protect the unborn has resulted in one of the most extreme bills ever reported from this Subcommittee… 

Ranking Member Granger offered an amendment that restores a long-standing prohibition on the use of funds to pay for abortion, also known as the Helms Amendment. This has been a fundamental protection for the unborn in the State-Foreign Operations bill for decades. Mrs. Hinson offered an amendment that restored all of the long-standing pro-life protections in the bill, including the Helms language, Kemp-Kasten language on coercive abortion, requirements for voluntary family planning, and striking the provision that permanently prohibits implementation of the Mexico City Policy. Our Republican Members and one Democrat supported these amendments in recognition of the critical importance these provisions have played in protecting the sanctity of life and in maintaining bipartisan support of global health programs over the last several decades. Both amendments were defeated 27–31, but the fight to protect the most basic pro-life protections will continue.”

The House Appropriations Committee advanced this bill on a party-line 32-25 vote.

Media:

• House Appropriations Committee Democrats Press Release

• House Appropriations Committee Democrats Summary

• House Appropriations Committee Report