September 21, 1978
Page 30623
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, I support H.R. 12931, the fiscal year 1979 appropriation bill for foreign assistance and related programs, and take this opportunity to comment on the budgetary aspects of this bill.
Under section 302(b) of the Budget Act, the Committee on Appropriations allocated to the Foreign Operations Subcommittee $9.5 billion in budget authority and $5.1 billion in outlays.
The budget authority provided in H.R.12931 is $200 million under the subcommittee's allocation, while the outlays are $300 million over the allocation. The outlay overage results from an acceleration of economic supporting assistance for Israel, which has been taken into account by the second budget resolutions of both Houses. When the Committee on Appropriations makes its allocations under the second budget resolution, I am confident that the outlays associated with this bill will be within the subcommittee allocation. The committee will have enough leeway to accomplish this without difficulty.
Mr. President, a word of caution. There could be other claims against the allocation in the coming months. A request for the United States to contribute 25 percent of the cost of United Nations peacekeeping forces in Namibia, or about $50 to $60 million in budget authority and somewhat less in outlays, may be forthcoming. The outlay ceiling under the second budget resolution when Congress completes action on that measure will be very tight. In order to stay within the congressional budget and leave some room for later requirements, I expect to oppose floor amendments which add to the cost of the measure.
An important part of this bill is $1.8 billion for the United States to partake in the supplementary financing facility of the International Monetary Fund — the so-called Witteveen facility. The Witteveen facility will be funded at a $10.5 billion level.
The U.S. share to help countries adjust to higher oil prices and inflation is only 17 percent. The OPEC countries are putting up 50 percent.
It is important to note that this is the first time that the OPEC members, many of whom now have their own balance-of-payments problems, have agreed to such an arrangement. At a time when U.S. economic leadership is questioned by our allies and friends, it is important that the Senate give full and favorable consideration to this aspect of the foreign assistance appropriation bill.
Without U.S. participation, the Witteveen facility cannot be implemented.
Congress itself has taken the initiative to place on-budget and require appropriations for the U.S. share of the Witteveen facility. Under the original administration proposal, no appropriation would have been required. The authorization legislation would have been considered sufficient legal authority to disburse Treasury funds to the IMF. These funds, I should point out, will be repaid with full interest within 7 to 12 years.
A number of members of the Banking, Appropriations, and Budget Committees, led by Senator SCHWEIKER, amended the authorization bill to provide for full appropriation of the U.S. share of the Witteveen facility. If Senate and House conferees working on H.R. 12931 approve this $1.8 billion provision, the entire $10.5 billion will be available to the IMF within a few months.
I wish to extend my appreciation to my good friends, the distinguished Senator from Hawaii,
Mr. INOUYE, who is handling this difficult and not very popular bill for the seventh year, and to the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Appropriations, Mr. MAGNUSON, for their dedicated efforts in bringing before us a bill consistent with the guidelines established in the first budget resolution, and with the ceilings approved by the Senate in the second budget resolution