those regions of the world. But there was just so much we were able to budget for with the knowledge that we have now about the demands that are going to be placed on us. Liberia, $200 million in the last supplemental, $245 million for U.N. peacekeeping activities. If Sudan goes the way I hope it goes and we do find a comprehensive peace agreement before us, this might require 8 to 10,000 United Nations monitors, and not all of that is programmed for and we would have to consider how to generate additional resources for it. I do not know when we would need those resources. But I would not want to find those resources in other parts of my African accounts, because they all are needed. We need more overall. Whether this will result in an 2005 supplemental, there are no plans right now for a second supplemental for 2004 or how it will be dealt with, I cannot answer at the moment. I do not have the requirement at the moment, either. Senator FEINGOLD. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. I will ask one more before we recess. What can you tell me about the administration's plans to engage the people of Somalia in the year ahead? I see that the child survival request includes nothing for Somalia this year and the development assistance request represents roughly a 65 percent decrease from the requested fiscal year 2003 level. I do of course applaud the administration's East African counterterrorism initiative, but that initiative recognizes that there are real threats in Somalia, and we know that some of the most troubling actors on the international scene are the only ones involved in providing basic services to some people in parts of Somalia, such that parents can send children to an extremist school or to no school at all. Should not our strategy include a Somalia component, rather than just focusing on states around Somalia? Secretary POWELL. Senator, I would have to go into the accounts to see what the change has been over time. I do not have that immediately at hand. Somalia has been a political basket case for many years. We have seen a little progress recently and hopefully we are now starting to put in place a government that we can work with and an ability to deliver assistance in a comprehensive way, with certain knowledge that it will be used properly. But I would prefer to give you an answer for the record as to what the trend has been. [The following response was subsequently received:] U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, The Honorable RUSSELL FEINGOLD, DEAR SENATOR FEINGOLD: I am writing in response to your question to Secretary Powell on February 12, 2004 regarding funding levels and political engagement in Somalia. United States policy objectives in Somalia are reducing the threat of Somaliabased terrorism and establishing stable, representative governance acceptable to the Somali people. United States assistance to Somalia, including Somaliland, has largely consisted of humanitarian aid, including food. In 2003, the United States pro vided: approximately $4 million in child survival and health (CSH), development assistance (DA) and demining funding; $1.25 million in Economic Support Funds (ESF) for education and democracy and governance programs; and $19.2 million in P.L.-480, Title II food aid. FY 2004 estimates include about $1 million in CSH and DA and $10 million in P.L.-480 Title II assistance. The FY 2005 request includes about $1 million in DA, and no funding for CSH or demining funding. P.L.-480 Title II emergency food aid is not planned or budgeted by country in advance of the current Fiscal Year. Food for Peace (FFP) figures are based upon the assessment of the severity of food insecurity and the corresponding levels of need, and as a result, P.L.-480 Title II assistance for Somalia is expected to continue at present levels. Our capacity to engage Somalia has been limited since 1991 as a result of the lack of stability and accepted governance institutions in Somalia, including Somaliland. To advance the goal of increased stability and governance in Somalia, the United States provided $250,000 in financial support to the Somalia reconciliation conference that began in Kenya in October 2002. The conference involves Somali entities in southern Somalia, but not Somaliland in the northwest, which has chosen not to participate in the reconciliation process. Although the reconciliation conference has often been delayed by factional feuds, semi-breakdowns and administrative problems, participants in the conference recently reached an agreement regarding the structure of a future central Somali government. We continue to support the Somali reconciliation process and encourage participants to continue their efforts towards resolving their remaining differences. The Department of State continues to evaluate appropriate means for further engagement with Somalia, including Somaliland, recognizing that our ability to engage is limited by security concerns and the absence of internationally accepted governance. The Department of State believes that funding levels for FY 2004 and requested amounts for FY 2005 are adequate to support country programs at the present engagement level, which we are carrying out through non-governmental organizations throughout the country. At current levels, assistance programs for Somalia are alleviating suffering and promoting stability while helping Somalis develop a more self-sufficient population as they address peace, transition and development problems. We hope to continue working closely with Somali participants, regional actors and our international partners to resolve remaining issues and towards a peaceful solution to the Somali conflict. Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can be of further assistance. Senator FEINGOLD. Mr. Secretary, I look forward to following up with you on that. The committee will stand in recess. [Recess.] [The prepared statement of Senator Feingold follows:] PREPARED STATEMENT OF SENATOR RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD I want to thank Chairman Lugar and Senator Biden for their continuing active and energized leadership on this committee. And of course I want to thank Secretary Powell for being here today. It is always a pleasure to have the Secretary before the committee. My constituents and I have great respect and admiration for his long record of service to this country. I hold listening sessions in each of Wisconsin's 72 counties every year. These meetings give me an opportunity to hear from my constituents about what is on their minds, about their priorities and their ideas. More than ever before, I am hearing from my constituents about international affairs. The people of Wisconsin are concerned about our national security, as am I. They are committed, as am I, to our first national security priority, the fight against terrorism. They are concerned, as am I, about the situation in which we find ourselves in Iraq. And the people of Wisconsin are concerned about what some have called our soft power-our nation's stature and our power to persuade and inspire-which is a source of tremendous pride for many Americans. It is a part of our identity. And when they believe that this element of our national power is diminished, my constituents are dismayed, as am I. And so in the year ahead, we must remain clearly focused on combating the forces that attacked this country on September 11, 2001. This means nurturing relation ships around the world to ensure that critical intelligence-sharing and coordination are sustained and strengthened. It means cutting off terrorists' access to financing and helping to bring order to weak and chaotic states where international criminals thrive. And it means resisting the temptation to conflate this issue with others for the sake of political convenience. And we must resist deluding ourselves into believing that even the best possible outcome in Iraq will somehow magically transform the Middle East or the entire Muslim world. At the same time, I believe that we must ensure that our country is not associated-mistakenly, but unfortunately widely-with intolerance or bullying or hypocrisy around the world. We must continue to support those working to enhance respect for human rights and the rule of law, we must empower those working to combat corruption, we must assist those responsibly working to address the crushing poverty and devastating health crises that cloud the future of far too many around the world. I look forward to hearing more from the Secretary today, and to working with my colleagues and the administration on these issues in the year ahead. The CHAIRMAN. The meeting is called to order again and the Chair recognizes Senator Voinovich for his questions of Secretary Powell. Senator VOINOVICH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Secretary, I want to say thank you very much for your service to our country. I am very happy that you are continuing to, with all the other things on your plate, pay attention to the management of the State Department. From what I am getting back from the people in the Department, you are doing an outstanding job. They have never been happier because you have been paying attention to your internal customers so they can take care of their external customers. Now, the issue of Iraq. I would hope that as often as possible you can get on national media and explain what we are doing over there. I really think that we are not underscoring enough to the American people the importance of democratizing Iraq and the greater Middle East to the national security of the United States and peace in the world. I like to put it that we want those millions of Muslims chanting "freedom and democracy" and not "jihad” against the United States and against the world. That being said, as you know, I am very interested in southeast Europe. I am interested in terror, and in organized crime and corruption, which I think in that part of the world is a greater threat than terrorism, and last but not least, I am spending a lot of time on trying to do what we can to give a higher profile to the issue of anti-Semitism that is growing in the world today, which is of grave concern to me and I know to you. In terms of southeast Europe, we put a lot of money there. It is very fragile yet. We still do not know, for example, if we are going to have a government in Serbia-Montenegro. Things are a little bit unstable in Macedonia. And Kosovo-and this is kind of important because UNMIK, a U.N. operation, has been there for 5 years and from the information that I have gotten back from the OSCE and from the U.N. High Commission on Human Rights, the resolution has not been implemented. I met with Michael Steiner, 2 years ago and said: You set these benchmark goals, but how are you going to implement those goals? It is 2 years later and now they are starting to put some specificity to them. I would really like to know what the State Department is doing to see if we cannot get some action there, because I think if we do not get on it we could have a destabilized southeast Europe, with Kosovo perhaps being the match that will ignite it. Also, the USAID over there has been cut back some $211 million in the SEED account since FY 2002 and I think we still need to put some more money into that area if we expect to be successful. Could you respond? Secretary POWELL. Thank you very much, Senator Voinovich. We follow events in southeast Europe very closely. I met with Prime Minister Rexhepi of Kosovo recently and discussed with him the importance of sticking to the plan that has been put forward on meeting the standards by early 2005 before trying to go any faster than the traffic will bear. I will have to look at the specific dollar amounts that have been allocated to USAID. It is always a matter, as you know, Senator, of trying to balance across a large number of countries with finite resources. With respect to anti-Semitism Senator VOINOVICH. Pardon me. It is not $21 million. It is $211 million. Secretary POWELL. I am sorry. It is a difference. And with respect to anti-Semitism, it is an issue that I have discussed with my European Union colleagues quite a bit. As you know, we have been participating actively in the anti-Semitism conferences that the OSCE has been sponsoring. Mayor Rudy Giuliani represented us last year and we are putting together another strong, high-power delegation to represent our interests at the conference this coming spring, the end of March. We pledged, with respect to our efforts in Kosovo and other parts of the Balkans, that we would go in together and out together with our allies. That remains our policy. When we took office we had some 10,000 U.S. troops in the region. We are now moving down to about 3,300. In Kosovo the success is that Serb forces no longer threaten the ethnic populace, institutions of limited self-government are functioning. More work remains to be done. We and our allies, as you know, together with the U.N. have launched a process to help Kosovo achieve the eight international standards in democratic governance and inter-ethnic reconciliation that are needed to benefit the people, and hopefully they will do that Senator VOINOVICH. Mr. Secretary, I would like to say that the benchmark standards were set 2 years ago and since that time we are now talking about having groups that are going to look at how do you specifically achieve those eight goals. I know you told Rexhepi, the Prime Minister, that our policy now is standards and not status. Secretary PoWELL. Right. Senator VOINOVICH. But there is no way, no way, when you look at the report from the U.N. High Commission on Refugees, that they are going to ever have a chance of being at a place where you look at granting status next July, because they are so far behind in terms of achieving the goals that have been set. I am really concerned that it is not getting the attention it needs. I tried to get somebody from the U.S. to head up that operation because I figured that was the only way that we could maybe get something happening there. But it is not getting done. Every time it gets to a point where there is a little tension, we back off from them. I think that some of them feel that it is inevitable and they are going to do what they can. I mean, there are less people coming back into the country than are leaving. There is an attempt to just cleanse the whole place from anybody else but the Kosovar. They continue to destroy churches and monasteries. People have no freedom of movement. It is very, very bad, and I think somebody in your shop should really get on that and really ride it, get in the saddle and ride it hard, or it may just get out from under us. Secretary POWELL. Thank you, Senator. I think we have been following it and riding it hard. But let me go back and review the whole policy. We believe that the way we have come together on the standards before status solution was the way to move forward. But in light of what you have just said, I need to review that again to see whether or not we are right or wrong on this and whether or not there is not time enough to achieve the standards by next year. You say there is not and they will not be achieved, and if that is the case then we have to be looking at other alternatives. So I need the time to go review that. Senator VOINOVICH. I really would appreciate your doing that. So often, it is the revolving door. For example, the KFOR over there, every 6 months they change command. It is like dotting the i's and crossing the t's and just staying with it and staying with it to get something done, and I do not think we have made that kind of commitment there. I would like to get a response from you about what it is that you see and maybe how you can improve the situation. I would be interested also in the issue of USAID in terms of the money that is being spent there and why has it been reallocated to someplace else when I think we continue to need the money in that area. Secretary POWELL. The data my staff has just given me says that in FY 2005 it is $72 million and in FY 2004 it was $72.5 million. But let me get the exact figures and provide them to you for the record, Senator. [The following response was subsequently received:] U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, The Honorable GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, DEAR SENATOR VOINOVICH: During Secretary Powell's February 12 testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, you raised concerns about assistance funding levels for Southeast Europe, particularly Kosovo. The United States provides assistance to Southeast Europe primarily under the Support for East European Democracy (SEED) Act. For Kosovo, our assistance focuses on democratization, rights for and integration of minorities, and market economic reforms and law enforcement assistance to help establish a secure environment—all of which are embodied in the "Standards for Kosovo" document that the United Nations Security Council endorsed last December. |