WASHINGTON (AP) – Spending for some U.S. humanitarian assistance programs abroad is likely to be frozen – or cut – when President Bush submits his budget proposal next week, lawmakers and aid groups say.

The White House has not yet disclosed details of the 2006 budget plan to be unveiled Monday. It promises that foreign assistance will be generous and notes that levels have increased significantly since Bush took office four years ago – even without considering special foreign aid packages for Iraq and Afghanistan.

But much of that increase stems from two major programs started by Bush: a global AIDS fund and the Millennium Challenge Account, which ties assistance to democratic and economic reforms.

Bush’s proposal for overall foreign spending, including military aid, is expected to increase. A senior U.S. official told The Associated Press he will request more than $22 billion, compared with $19.7 billion this year.

But funding for humanitarian programs is tight at a time of record deficits. With Bush expected to propose increases for global AIDS and Millennium Challenge, little money is left for other humanitarian programs, according to aid groups and members of Congress and their staffs.

Mary E. McClymont, president of InterAction, an alliance of overseas relief organizations, said programs at risk for cuts include those providing education, health care and agriculture assistance. These programs help prevent the kind of instability that could turn some countries into breeding grounds for terrorists, she said.

“Not only do these core programs help people help themselves, but they also are an incredibly important element of making America safer,” she said.

Rep. Nita Lowey of New York, the top Democrat on the House subcommittee that oversees foreign aid, said the AIDS and Millennium Challenge programs are important, “but so are the other initiatives, such as refugee assistance and basic education.”

“We shouldn’t have to cut one to advance the other,” she said. “We should be able to do both.”

In past years, Congress has restored money to foreign aid programs that Bush has proposed cutting “and it looks like we’re going to be doing it again this year,” she said.

White House budget office spokesman Chad Kolton said the 2006 budget will provide “very generous foreign aid.”

“The budget will demonstrate a very firm commitment to providing critical assistance through our foreign aid programs, specifically our core development aid programs,” Kolton said.

He said development assistance has increased from $11.6 billion in 2002 to $17 billion in 2005, not including money for Iraq reconstruction. “During any time period that’s a pretty substantial increase, certainly during a period where there have been very disciplined budgets,” he said.

Administration officials have said Bush will ask for $3.2 billion to combat AIDS, up from $2.8 billion last year. He is expected to seek $3 billion for the Millennium Challenge Account. Last year, Bush requested $2.5 billion and Congress approved $1.5 billion.

Foreign aid advocates have been generally supportive of the two programs, but have some concerns. Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, top Democrat on the Senate subcommittee that oversees foreign aid, cautioned last week that AIDS funding increases shouldn’t come at the expense of other programs to stop infectious diseases. “We need to do both,” he said.

The Millennium Challenge program has been slow to take off. When Bush proposed it three years ago, he anticipated funding would reach $5 billion by 2006. Aid groups say many nations that urgently need assistance can’t participate in the program because they don’t meet its standards for democracy, free markets and accountability.

Millennium Challenge “doesn’t address those countries that are in crisis,” said Cara Thanassi, a Washington-based official of the aid group CARE.

AP-ES-02-04-05 0422EST



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