COMMITTEE APPROVES FOREIGN-AID BUDGET, SHIFTS FUNDS TO DISEASE FROM DRUG
WAR

WASHINGTON -- The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a revised
foreign-aid budget that shifts money from the drug war in Colombia to
fight another overseas threat: disease.

A total of $625 million is provided to combat AIDS in Africa and other
infectious diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis world-wide. To come
up with the money, the panel cut President Bush's request for fighting
drug trafficking in Colombia and surrounding Andean nations by 22%.

The action came as the full Senate dealt a second setback to the
president on another sensitive Latin American issue: safety rules for
Mexican trucks operating in the U.S.

Anxious to showcase his close relations with Mexican President Vicente
Fox, Mr. Bush has proposed to start licensing Mexican carriers in
January for travel throughout the U.S. in keeping with terms of the
North American Free Trade Agreement. But a majority of senators believe
the proposed safety rules are too lax, and they are backing a bipartisan
effort to write tougher requirements into a $60 billion bill funding the
Transportation Department for the coming year.

In defiance of their Senate leaders and a veto threat from the Bush
administration, 19 Republicans joined Democrats yesterday on a 70-30
vote to limit debate on the measure. Majority Leader Tom Daschle, a
South Dakota Democrat, said the Senate will work into the weekend if
needed to complete the bill.

But opponents, including GOP Sen. John McCain of Arizona, said the
legislation violates NAFTA and could provoke Mexico to retaliate with
trade sanctions against U.S. exports of corn and telecommunications
products.

While much smaller than the transportation budget, the annual
foreign-aid bill is at least as sensitive politically. The competition
for money underscores how the importance of antidisease and antidrug
programs have grown in the post-Cold War world.

For example, the $15.6 billion Senate bill sets aside about $450 million
to fight AIDS -- 37% more than the president requested -- and another
$175 million for other infectious diseases. The House endorsed almost
equal increases this week, and during the past five years, total
spending for overseas child-survival and health programs has grown by
almost two-thirds to more than $1.4 billion.

At the same time, the Andean initiative represents a major new antidrug
commitment that complements about $217 million in the budget to fund
more-traditional State Department antidrug activities. Even with the
cuts made by the Senate committee, total foreign-aid spending to fight
drugs overseas would approach $800 million.

Conceived under the Clinton administration, the Andean program has
strong support from Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican, who
helped shepherd the package through the House this week. But even he had
to be satisfied with less than the administration's request, which was
cut from $731 million to $675 million. The Senate bill would cut further
to bring spending down to $567 million.

The move also reflects concerns among some lawmakers about U.S.
involvement with the Colombian military, which is fighting both the drug
war and a civil war against guerrilla forces. A legislative report
accompanying the spending bill cites what it describes as an alarming
pattern of attacks against trade unionists and noncombatants by the army
and paramilitary units.