Russ Feingold: “I rise today in support of development assistance for Africa, which is included in the fiscal year 1999 Foreign…”

“I rise today in support of development assistance for Africa, which is included in the fiscal year 1999 Foreign Operations appropriations bill. For fiscal year 1999, the total funding for development assistance has gone down once again. At the same time, there are still earmarks for many programs in all regions in this bill. Given that there will be necessary cuts throughout all of these accounts, Africa should not suffer any more than other accounts simply because it lacks the earmarks that have been given to other regions of the world. Development assistance for Africa used to be provided through a separate account called the Development Fund for Africa (DFA), which was created in the fiscal year 1988 appropriations bill to meet a broad range of objectives specifically aimed at Africa, including rural and sustainable development, private sector development, maternal and child health needs, and educational improvement, particularly in the primary grades. For a variety of reasons, the DFA has been dropped as a separate funding account. Nevertheless, the goals and programs embodied in the DFA continue to be important in terms of our Africa program.”