U.S. billions for Syria peace deal may displace other aid programs

WASHINGTON -- The multi-billion package being drafted to seal an Israeli-Syrian peace treaty is endangering other U.S. foreign policy programs.

Congressional leaders said they are already looking to cut other key U.S. foreign policy aid as they brace for a huge request from the Clinton administration for new Middle East aid. The first target is U.S. aid to the Balkans, particularly Kosovo.

Rep. Benjamin Gilman, a New York Republican and chairman of the House International Relations Committee, plans to introduce legislation to impose a put a cap on U.S. contributions to the multilateral aid program for the Balkans over the next five years. The administration has requested about $2 billion in additional defense spending to cover the U.S. military deployment in the Balkans.

"Our foreign aid budget for just the eight states of southeastern Europe has ballooned up to well over $1 billion in the last fiscal year," Gilman said, "Finally, the President last year committed the United States to participate in the multilateral assistance program for the Balkans -- the total cost of which no one seems willing or able to tell the Congress."

Congressional sources said the Gilman measure is meant to ensure the input of lawmakers over Clinton's foreign policy financial commitments. They said they hope the Balkans will serve as a model for congressional limitations on what they are concerned will be the start of a huge increase in foreign policy aid.

The administration has provided about $7 billion in foreign aid and debt forgiveness to the 15 Balkan and eastern European states. In addition, the White House has authorized billions of dollars for peacekeeping and military costs in the Balkans region. This did not include the U.S. participation in the NATO offensive against Yugoslavia last year.

"All of this comes at a time when the president is asking for large aid increases: to fight the flow of illicit drugs in our hemisphere; to support the peace process in the Middle East; to fight the proliferation of technology related to weapons of mass destruction, and to support reforms and protect nuclear materials in nuclear-armed Russia," Gilman said.