US SENATE APPROVES US$15.6B FOREIGN AID BILL

The US Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed a US$15.6 billion bill for
foreign aid that lawmakers said will give the Bush administration a tool to
help fight terrorism through diplomacy.

The bill, which had stalled for several weeks in a partisan dispute over
judicial nominations, cleared the Democratic-led Senate 96-2 without
significant amendments.

The bill to fund foreign aid programs this fiscal year that started on
October 1 is US$341 million more than President George W. Bush requested
and US$682 million more than last year.

It was written well before the September 11 attacks on Washington and New
York, but language was added to bar aid to countries that harbor or help
finance individuals or organizations responsible for the hijacked airline
strikes that killed some 5,000 people.

At the request of Secretary of State Colin Powell, senators dropped an
amendment to require the White House to report on the Palestine Liberation
Organization's compliance with its commitment to renounce terrorism and
violence.

Powell said that requirement could have hampered efforts to forge an
international alliance against terrorism.

On a 27-72 vote, the Senate soundly rejected an effort to restore funds
that Bush wanted for the initiative to fight the drug trade in Colombia and
nearby Andean countries.

The Senate bill provides US$567 million for the drug-fighting initiative,
below the US$718 million Bush sought.

A number of lawmakers from both parties have questioned whether the effort
to help Colombian President Andres Pastrana fight drug lords can work, and
they say the money might be effectively used in domestic drug treatment
programs the shrink the major market for the Andean region's cocaine.

In a key difference from the companion bill that cleared the House of
Representatives in July, the Senate bill would reverse Bush's plan to bar
non-governmental family planning organizations from getting US funds if
they provide abortion-related services.

That is expected to be fought out when House and Senate negotiators meet to
resolve differences in the bills.

In a House-Senate conference slated for Thursday, the House was expected to
back off its call to lift travel restrictions to Cuba to avoid a fight with
Bush, congressional aides said.

Sen. Byron Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat, had worked to keep the measure
in the final US$33 billion bill to fund the Treasury Department and general
government operations. But under pressure to finish the budget and avoid a
fight with Bush in the wake of the September 11 attacks, aides said he
relented.

Despite the House's 240-186 vote in July to lift the ban on travel to the
communist-led island nation just off Florida's coast, the House Republican
leadership and Bush vehemently oppose easing any sanction on Cuba.