Bart Stupak: “I reluctantly vote for this bill for the sole reason of moving the foreign affairs platform forward. I believe H.R. 4811…”

“I reluctantly vote for this bill for the sole reason of moving the foreign affairs platform forward. I believe H.R. 4811 is a bad bill for various reasons. It appropriates a total of $13.3 billion for fiscal year 2001--$1.9 billion or 12% below the Administration's request and $451 million less than the fiscal year 2000 funding level. This bill makes large cuts in funding for programs which most directly affect the poorest countries in the world--cuts that disproportionately affect African and Latin American countries--and contains only $82 million of the $472 million request for multilateral debt relief assistance. Further, the bill drastically cuts international financial institution funding that provides interest-free loans to poor countries. H.R. 4811 cuts $42 million from international HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, a cut I find deplorable. Although this bill is badly flawed in many ways, I believe the best way to address those problems is to move it forward and express my concerns directly to the conferees. If the bill is reported out of conference with my concerns left unaddressed, I will support the President's veto.”