| UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER |
Washington Office on Africa URGENT ACTION
House, Senate Conferees Meet to Decide Africa Aid
September 27, 1995
Calls and faxes to members of the House and Senate Foreign Operations Subcommittee are urgently needed to safeguard U.S.
FY 1996 assistance to Africa.
Members are likely to begin meeting tonight or tomorrow to develop a consolidated foreign operations bill that will include direct assistance to Africa and funding to aid agencies and multilateral programs from which Africa benefits.
Background
The House Foreign Operations Appropriation Act (H.R. 1868) contains only $528 million for the Development Fund for Africa (DFA) and $11.5 million for the African Development Foundation. The DFA, currently funded at $802 million, assures that aid to Africa supports sustainable development and poverty alleviation projects. The ADF, currently funded at $17 million, supports small grassroots development efforts.
The Senate Foreign Operations Appropriation Act (S. 961) contains higher amounts of assistance--$672 million for the DFA and $14 million for the ADF--but neither DFA nor ADF are allocated as separate accounts. The absence of this separate status means that both become susceptible to policy shifts away from sustainable development and to further reductions by the administration.
Action
Please call or fax a letter to the chairs of both subcommittees, and to your own Member of Congress if their name appears on the list below. Urge members to include the following in the consolidated bill.
* Maintain the Development Fund for Africa ($672 million) and the African Development Foundation ($14 million) as separate accounts funded at the Senate levels.
* Maintain funding for the concessionary loan component of the World Bank, International Development Association ($775 million).
Senate Conferees
Name * Phone * Fax * Religion * Key Staff Person
Mitch McConnell (R-KY) * 224-2541 * 224-2499 * Baptist
* Robin Cleveland
Arlen Specter (R-PA) * 224-4254 * Jewish * Paul Wolfe
Connie Mack (R-FL) * 224-5274 * Catholic * Ellen Bork
Phil Gramm (R-TX) * 224-2934 * 228-2856 * Episcopalian
* Mike Champness
James Jeffords (R-VT) * 224-5141 * 228-1182 * Congregational
* Laurie Heim
Judd Gregg (R-NH) * 224-3324 * 224-4952 * Congregational
* Vas Alexopoulus
Richard Shelby (R-AL) * 224-5744 * 224-3416 * Presbyterian
* Terry Lynch
Patrick Leahy (D-VT) * 224-4242 * Catholic * Tim Reiser
Daniel Inouye (D-HA) * 224-3934 * 224-6747 * Methodist
* Keith Gouveia
Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) * 224-4744 * 224-9707 * Jewish
* Sharon Waxman
Tom Harkin (D-IA) * 224-3254 * 224-9369 * Catholic
* Joe Biegner
Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) * 224-4654 * 224-8858 * Catholic
* Julia Frifield
Patty Murray (D-WA) * 224-2621 * 224-0238 * Catholic
* Pam Norick
Mark Hatfield (R-OR) * 224-3753 * Baptist * Karen Mattson
Robert Byrd (D-WV) * 224-3954 * 224-8070 * Baptist
* Debra Wood
House Conferees
Sonny Callahan (R-AL,1) * 225-4931 * 225-0562 * Catholic
* Nancy Tippings
John Porter (R-IL) * 225-4835 * n.a. * Presbyterian
* Rob Gustafson
Bob Livingston (R-LA) * 225-3015 * 225-0739 * Episcopalian
* Tripp Funderburk
Jim Lightfoot (R-IA) * 225-3806 * 225-6937 * Catholic
* Adam Sullivan
Frank Wolf (R-VA) * 225-5136 * 225-0437 * Presbyterian
* Anne Campbell
Ron Packard (R-CA) * 225-3906 * 225-0134 * Mormon
* Chris Peace
Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) * 225-5802 * 225-2356 * Catholic
* Martha Harrison
Michael Forbes (R-NY) * 225-3826 * 225-3143 * Catholic
* Jim Doran
Jim Bunn (R-OR) * 225-5711 * 225-2994 * Nazarene
* Jerome Hartl
Charles Wilson (D-TX) * 225-2401 * 225-1764 * Methodist
* Kathleen Murphy
Sidney Yates (D-IL) * 225-2111 * 225-3493 * Jewish
* Steve Marchese
Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) * 225-4965 * 225-8259 * Catholic
* Carolyn Bartholomew
Esteban Torres (D-CA) * 225-5256 * 225-9711 * Unaffiliated
* Nancy Alcalde
David Obey(D-WI) * 225-3365 * n.a. * Catholic * Joseph Crapa
SAMPLE LETTER
September 27, 1995
Dear Foreign Operations Appropriations Conferee:
As you meet to reconcile the differences between H.R. 1868 and S. 961 the Washington Office on Africa offers the following recommendations for your consideration:
1) Maintain the Senate development assistance funding level and its proportional approach to reducing specific accounts.
2) Retain the House identification of the African Development Foundation and the Development Fund for Africa as separate accounts. These agencies were originally initiated to protect a specific amount of funding and organizational integrity separate from the State Department short-term political priorities and focussed on long-term sustainable development for the poorest of the poor and developing countries in Africa. The need for such emphasis has not diminished or changed. In fact, in light of the severe reductions in development assistance in general and or Africa in particular, it is even more important that we maintain those targeted agency structures.
3) Maintain the Senate level funding for the multilateral banking and development agencies. Support for multilateral approaches is one of the best investments the U.S. government can make. These leveraged contributions mean that every dollar goes much further toward implementing the international goals of sustainable development and humanitarian assistance. The International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank is especially important to Africa. Without these resources, many African countries would have no other option for credit for essential development projects.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Dan Hoffman President of the Board, Washington Office on Africa; Director, Africa Office, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
*******************************************************
Message-Id: 199509272313.QAA29628@igc3.igc.apc.org From: "Washington Office on Africa" woa@igc.apc.org Date: Wed, 27 Sep 1995 19:01:23 +0000 Subject: Africa Aid: Urgent Cong. Action
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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