Foreign and Defense Policy: Key Issues in the 106th Congress (CRS Report for Congress)
Premium Purchase PDF for $24.95 (48 pages)
add to cart or
subscribe for unlimited access
Pro Premium subscribers have free access to our full library of CRS reports.
Subscribe today, or
request a demo to learn more.
| Release Date |
Jan. 4, 1999 |
| Report Number |
RL30010 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Dianne E. Rennack, Foreign Affairs and National Defense Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
When the 106th Congress comes to work in January, its first order of business will be to deal
with
the impeachment of the President of the United States.
The 1998 congressional campaigns and elections suggested that the agenda of the 106th
Congress also will be largely domestic in its focus: Social Security, health care, and education were
the order of the day in campaigns across America and on post-election news programs. Indeed, of
the issues discussed in this report, only increased defense spending to address military readiness and
retention of trained military personnel has been reported on recently, as the President announced over
New Year's weekend his proposal to ask for a substantial increase in the FY2000 budget for military
pay and hardware development.
Most immediately, the 106th Congress is expected to consider a supplemental appropriations
bill to support the Wye River Memorandum, including increased assistance to Israel, Jordan, and the
Palestinians. Congress likely will quickly consider new assistance and trade benefits to Central
American countries hit hardest by Hurricane Mitch. Development aid to countries severely affected
by the global financial crisis, and more humanitarian assistance to Kosovo are another two issues
that might find their way into a supplemental appropriations bill in the first few months of the new
Congress. The United States also stands in arrears with the United Nations and the World Bank, but
neither matter is expected to receive appropriators' attention in the supplemental.
There are a few routine foreign affairs and defense issues to be addressed by the 106th Congress,
albeit with less urgency than the supplemental appropriations. The President will issue international
narcotics control certifications before March 1st, as required by law. For any country found to be
trafficking or producing narcotics, certification could jeopardize its receipt of U.S. foreign
assistance; Congress might respond with legislation supporting or negating specific countries'
certification status. New authorizations and appropriations bills will be considered for departments
and agencies. Authorization for some foreign assistance programs expires before the end of the first
session, and reauthorizations are likely to be taken up. The President's authority to waive
proliferation sanctions imposed on India and Pakistan last May must be renewed this year or be
allowed to expire, which would require the reimposition of sanctions that many Members of
Congress find counterproductive.
Several laws remain in the United States Code that were shaped during the Cold War. The
106th Congress could turn its attention to these. Previous several Congresses have made some effort
to amend, repeal, or replace the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and Export Administration Act of
1979; consensus on new provisions, however, has not been reached. Congress has not enacted a
foreign aid authorization bill since 1985, each year waiving the requirement to do so and relying on
the annual appropriations measure to express its foreign policy interests and opinions. Export
controls in the Export Administration Act expired in 1994 and since then have been left entirely to
the executive branch to administer.
