ONE Applauds House and Senate Passage of Foreign Ops Appropriations Bill

WASHINGTON – The ONE Campaign welcomes the passage of the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPS) bill by the US House and Senate Appropriations Committees. Both bills provide urgently needed funding for life-saving programs for which ONE advocates; however, there are some critical differences in the two versions that need to be addressed in conference.

The House provided $4.32 billion for the Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) while the Senate provided $4.02 billion. Both bills provided $ 1.35 Billion for the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Tuberculosis and $200 million for the childhood vaccine program known as the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI Alliance). The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) was provided $898.2 million by House Appropriators with the Senate level set at $901 billion. While the Senate funded Feed the Future at $1.0006 billion, the House provided spending authority for this agriculture development account, but did not set a specific level.

Tom Hart, US Executive Director of ONE, said:

Through the perseverance and cooperative work of both Committees, millions of lives will be saved. ONE looks forward to working with the Appropriations Committees to ensure these programs are funded at the highest possible levels when these bills come to conference.

We applaud the hard work of Full Senate Committee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Ranking Member Richard Shelby (R-AL), SFOPS Subcommittee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) , and Ranking Member Lindsey Graham (R-SC) for prioritizing and funding such critical programs as the Global Fund, GAVI, MCC, and Feed the Future. We hoped they would adopt the House passed spending level for PEPFAR and will work towards addressing this gap.

Our sincerest gratitude also goes out to House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY), Ranking Member Nita Lowey (D-NY) and SFOPS Subcommittee Chair, Kay Granger (R-TX) for their extraordinary work to meet our highest hopes for PEPFAR, GAVI and the Global Fund.