Rice Asks Appropriations Chairmen For More Darfur Money.

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Author: Hess, David

Appropriations

Citing a "critical need of funding" to continue U.S. support of the African Union's peacekeeping mission in Sudan, Secretary of State Rice has asked Congress for $50 million to sustain the operation there. The secretary's plea, however, might run into a brick wall. In identical letters to Senate Appropriations Chairman Cochran and House Appropriations Chairman Lewis, Rice said, "We now face a critical juncture" in backing the mission's ongoing efforts to protect citizens of the Darfur region from recurrent attacks by Sudanese raiders. The House International Relations Committee is considering legislation to beef up sanctions against elements of Sudan's government, charging that Darfurians have suffered from acts of genocide.

Rice also told the chairmen that the "presence of approximately 7,000 African Union peacekeepers in Darfur has substantially reduced large-scale organized violence, though a recent upswing in violent attacks is of great concern." The money, she added, is needed through FY06 "to meet ongoing operational costs and to provide adequate logistical and communications support." She also said the mission itself "is of the highest priority." The House Appropriations Committee already has approved the reprogramming of $13 million from State's peacekeeping account for the African Union Mission, but the Senate Appropriations Committee has yet to act, and the request for the additional $50 million â€" which Rice said could be included in an emergency supplemental providing aid for Hurricane Katrina and an avian flu program â€" is encountering resistance in both Appropriations committees.

"There is $175 million in the 2006 Foreign Operations budget for general peacekeeping purposes," said House Appropriations Committee spokesman John Scofield, "so they can use that if they want." He said "opposition [to more money] is pretty firm, especially in the Senate against spending more money for anything beyond what we have already appropriated."

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By David Hess