Dr. G. Dangew
12/23/2007
As you may all know, for any
bill or resolution passed by the congress the mechanism for implementation is
the budget appropriation process, which allocates money and prescribes provisions
on how the Administration spends it.
Last week both the senate and the house have agreed on the most of the 2008
appropriation bills including the Foreign Affair appropriation bill. What this
means is that H.R. 2003 which has not become public law yet has to come to the
senate floor for debate to be part of the 2008 budget bill, or wait for the
senate and make it as part of 2009 budget bill, or a compromise on most of the
provisions of HR. 2003 and settle for a language acceptable in conference committee
of the house and senate.
It now appears
the rush by voice vote in the house was a strategy by Rep. Payne to get the
provision of H.R. 2003 before the 2008 appropriation. Here again, Payne and
company had a choice of either an agonizing one-year or spare themselves from a
debate on the Senate and a final death next year. The choice appears to be a
compromise. With the help of Senator Leigh, they have managed to insert a
language on one provision of H.R. 2003, in the Foreign affairs appropriation bill
for the State Department. The language requires the Secretary of State to
submit a report not later than 90 days after enactment of this Act, detailing
the procedures being applied, on a country-by-country basis, that Foreign
Military Financing (FMF) assistance… While this is standard, SEC. 620 of the
amended and agreed bill includes a provision and a special notification
requirement reads:
SPECIAL NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS
SEC. 620.
None of the funds appropriated under titles II through V of this Act shall be
obligated or expended for assistance for Serbia, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Pakistan,
Cuba, Iran, Haiti, Libya, Ethiopia, Mexico,
Nepal, or Cambodia except as provided through the regular notification
procedures of the Committees on Appropriations.
Translation: as you can see in the list of countries
including Mexico, America’s stepdaughter is listed also why? Because Titles II
through V applies to countries differently. First, Title II is an Export and
Investment Assistances; this is assistance to American companies usually done
to finance their exports to other countries such as a Boeing, to Ethiopian Air
Line and companies like Caterpillar’s Dozers. A congressman seeking sanction on
these companies will be committing suicide! After all the beneficiaries are
very powerful American companies. This section will not apply to us for reasons
that are obvious.
Second, Title III Bilateral Economic Assistance, this
contains of slew of assistance with a bunch of ear marks for specific countries
but is largely a block grant and much of it is humanitarian assistance and is
out of the sanction régime. Ethiopia is not Egypt, its benefits from this
includes, such things as Global HIV and Malaria, Peace Corps, Health,
education, nonproliferation, anti-terrorism,
demining and very little democracy related programs run by the embassy in Addis
that include scholarships and training. The only new benefit on the
democracy funding as far as we can see is the senate proposal to support
programs to demobilize, disarm, and reintegrate into civilian society former
members of foreign terrorist organizations who have renounced involvement in
such organizations. (Do we know any such organizations that can benefit from
this in Ethiopia)? In addition to that, another new funding is to the
University of Nebraska at Lincoln to develop a joint program with the
Gimlekollen School of Journalism & Communication in Norway and the
Government of Norway to train journalists from Ethiopia and Kosovo. “The media
thing” in H.R.2003 which is actually going to get some decent journalists who
are properly schooled, unlike Elias Kiflom.
Third, Title
IV Military Assistance, here is where section 620 will directly apply to
Ethiopia, the bill specifies that funds appropriated under this heading that
are made available for assistance for Angola, Cameroon, Central African
Republic, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, Libya, and Nepal may be made available
only for expanded international military education and training: provided
further, that funds made available under this heading in the second proviso and
for assistance for Haiti, Guatemala, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sri
Lanka, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Libya, Angola, and Nigeria may only be provided
through the regular notification procedures of the Committees on Appropriations
and any such notification shall include a detailed description of proposed
activities. Well, big deal! Who wants war any way? Poor Ethiopians will still
get their education and health provided, and the fight for HIV/Malaria will still
go on untouched. BTW, this is such little money Berhanu Nega can pay it from
the money he collected in America. And oh, did you know that it is the job
of the Secretary of State to provide notification and justifications for
payment to congress? And did you here what Secretary of State said about HR2003
in Addis this month? Go listen to the Interview.
Fourth, Title V Multilateral Assistance, this has to
do with authorization and funding of institutions such as the World Bank and
IMF etc, here again from the list of countries in Sec. 620 it applies to
Zimbabwe and as specified in the bill it reads:
ZIMBABWE
SEC. 673. The
Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the United States executive director
to each international financial institution to vote against any extension by
the respective institution of any loans
to the Government of Zimbabwe, except to meet basic human needs or to
promote democracy, unless the Secretary of State determines and certifies to
the Committees on Appropriations that the rule of law has been restored in
Zimbabwe, including respect for ownership and title to property, freedom of
speech and association.
The effort by the government of Eritrea and it
lobbyist Alexander Strategy as specified in the discloser was to put amendment
H.R. 4423, that would have put Ethiopia in the same section with Zimbabwe. The
amendment, which deals with confiscated property of an Eritrean American, could
have applied in this section. The Rohrabacher amendment a.k.a shabia amendment
to HR 2003 H.R.4423 failed in the IR committee.
So, is it dead or alive? As far as I can see Mr., Debebe Eshetu and Kinjit are
not getting their twenty million, and as for the appropriation bill, it is
going to be on the President’s desk before New Years. So what will happen to
H.R. 2003? Without an accompanying appropriation that spells out all its
provisions, it will be worthless like the Wochale Treaty. Even if it comes to
the Senate floor now; it is going to have to wait the 2009 Appropriation to
save Al Mariam.
With a new president and congress in 2009 there mighty
also be a need to start a new AFD. For now it appears that congress seem to
give unnamed foreign terrorist groups a way out and renounce violence,
disarm and reintegrate into society. My advice, it is time to run out of Asmara
before the hotel bill is served, just like the Darfur Sudanese rebels.