July 26, 1978
Page 22808
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY ASSISTANCE ACT OF 1978, S. 3075
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, the international security assistance authorization bill, S. 3075, includes a fiscal year1979 authorization of $2.9 billion. This legislation, along with other authorization legislation in the international affairs category, needs to be addressed in the context of the budget process for fiscal year 1979.
The fiscal year 1979 first budget resolution targets for the international affairs function are $12.8 billion in budget authority and $6.9 billion in outlays.
If fully funded, the five authorization bills reported by the Committee on Foreign Relations, including S. 3075, would exceed these functional totals by about $350 million in budget authority and up to one-half billion dollars in outlays. This takes into account the 5 percent reduction in the International Development Assistance Act, agreed to by the Senate on June 26.
I want to point out to my Senate colleagues, however, that historically the Appropriations Committee has made significant cuts from the authorized levels for most international programs. This process will most likely take care of all the possible budget authority overrun and about $200 million of the possible outlay overage this year as well.
The remaining $300 million of the possible outlay overage would result from a recent administration decision to disburse the fiscal year 1979 economic support for Israel authorized by S. 3075 within the year rather than over several years as proposed in the January budget request and assumed in the first budget resolution.
I will not, therefore, object to the levels authorized by S. 3075. But I am prepared to vote for lower levels this summer when the foreign assistance appropriation bill comes before the Senate.
Up to this point I have discussed the fiscal year 1979 implications of this legislation. There are also future year effects.
If the international development assistance bill, which was passed earlier, and sent to conference, is taken as an example, we can readily see how this year's decisions limit future year spending choices for Congress. Development spending in fiscal year 1979 at the levels authorized in S. 3074, as reported by the Committee on Foreign Relations, exceeds the mission totals by about $235 million in budget authority and $55 million in outlays. Over 5 years, however, the cumulative spending recommended for authorization by this bill plus annual reauthorization at the levels recommended by the Committee on Foreign Relations in its March 15 report could exceed the projections accompanying the first budget resolution by $1.5 billion in budget authority and $900 million in outlays.
The administration's projection for international development assistance is even higher. The administration is considering 5 year spending for these programs which exceeds the Committee on Foreign Relations totals by $3 billion in budget authority and $700 million in outlays.
I do not bring this information to the attention of the Senate because the development assistance bill is the major threat to fiscal planning. It is not. Foreign assistance bills are seldom funded at the authorized levels. This is just one example of how relatively small funding increases in fiscal year 1979 — $235 million over the first budget resolution mission budget authority totals and $55 million over mission outlay totals in this case — could over 5 years require $1.5 billion in budget authority and $900 million in outlays more than was contemplated in the congressional budget.
During the next 2 years Congress will be considering, in addition to annual reauthorizations such as this bill and the International Development Assistance Act, several multiyear proposals for international development banks and for international financial programs like the seventh quota increase of the International Monetary Fund. At that time the Senate must carefully examine each proposal for its future year spending implications, as these multiyear authorizations are the major threat to the 5 year totals accompanying the first budget resolution for fiscal year 1979.