Congress presses security cooperation legislation forward.

With Thanksgiving approaching, the U.S. Congress presses on with efforts to complete work on fiscal year (FY) 2006 security cooperation legislation. The FY06 Foreign Operations Appropriations Act (HR 3057) was signed into law by the President on 14 Nov 2005 (P.L. 109-102). This is the first time since FY02 that the Foreign Operations bill was enacted on a stand-alone basis rather than as part of an omnibus appropriations act. Ongoing military assistance programs had been funded since Oct 05 under a Continuing Resolution (HJ Res). Another CR will be passed by 18 Nov 05 for the appropriations that remain unfinished, including the FY06 Defense Appropriations bill. This year's Foreign Operations Act provides $4.5B in foreign military financing (FMF), $88.6M less than requested by the President but $57.7M more than proposed by the House. The Act includes the traditional Mideast earmarks (Israel-$2.2B; Egypt-$1.3B; and Jordan-$210M) and the conference report also stipulates funding levels for many other countries including Pakistan ($300M), Turkey ($15M), Georgia ($12M), Poland ($30M), the Philippines ($300M), and Tunisia ($10M).

The FY06 Foreign Operations Act fully funds International Military Education and Training (IMET) at $86.7M as proposed by both houses. Indonesia will receive unrestricted IMET this year, however, FMF remains subject to various certifications which may be may be waived by the Secretary of State. Saudi Arabia is prohibited from receiving FY0 funding (IMET), but this too may be waived. This year's Act also requires a new quarterly report on expenditures of FY06 FMF and IMET and a report on unobligated balances of all FMF including prior year funding. Final country allocations for all FMF and IMET recipients will be approved by the State Department and notified Congress in the near future. These allocations may include an undetermined across-the board rescission that will be applied to all accounts.

FY06 military assistance funding will not have an accompanying authorization as action on the FY06 Foreign Relations Authorization bill (HR 0 and S 00) has stalled in the Senate. The Senate did, however, pass FY0 legislation (S 1886) authorizing the transfer of eight naval vessels by grant (Greece, Egypt, Pakistan, and Turkey) or sale (India, Greece, and Turkey). This bill is pending action in the House which authorized the same transfers in HR 0 earlier this year.

The FY06 Defense Appropriations bills (HR) are awaiting conference but may not be completed until December 2005. Both bills fully fund the Overseas, Humanitarian, Disaster and Civic Aid (OHDACA) account at $61.5M, the Regional Defense Counterterrorism Fellowship program ($20M), and O&M for the Warsaw Initiative and the Defense Regional Centers for Security Studies.

The DoD appropriations bill may also be subject to an across-the-board rescission. Controversy has plagued the FY06 Defense Authorization process as contentious amendments delayed the Senate's passage of its bill (S 1042) until 15 Nov 2005. The Senate can now begin conference with the House on its bill (HR 1815), but significant issues divide the two houses such as detainee policy. Of note regarding security cooperation, the House bill authorizes the consolidation of legal authorities for the Defense Regional Centers for Security Studies but the Senate does not.