U.S. Congress Includes Assistance to Sudan in Appropriations Bill
July 14, 2020 (WASHINGTON) - An appropriations bill was introduced on Monday at the U.S. House of Representatives that for the first times in many years did not include language explicitly prohibiting assistance to the government of Sudan.
The bill titled "Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2021" was tabled by Rep. Nita Lowey who sits on the appropriations committee.
Previous versions of this bill in previous years included the recurring verbiage "Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the funds appropriated by this Act may be made available for assistance for the Government of Sudan".
However, the current bill submitted for the 2021 fiscal year which starts on October 1st replaced this paragraph with "Funds appropriated by this Act under title III should be made available to support the civilian-led transition in Sudan, including for assistance for health, democracy, economic growth, agriculture, and education".
It is not clear what prompted the change relative to previous years.
Generally speaking, the presence of Sudan on the U.S. list of states that sponsor terrorism prevents the US administration from providing any direct assistance to the government of Sudan.
However, the language in the bill did not specifically mention the Sudanese government. It is also subject to change as it moves through the congressional process in the House and Senate.
Last month, the United States pledged $356.2 million to Sudan, a 10-fold increase over the financial aid provided last year, at the donor conference last month hosted by Germany.
(ST)
The bill titled "Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2021" was tabled by Rep. Nita Lowey who sits on the appropriations committee.
Previous versions of this bill in previous years included the recurring verbiage "Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the funds appropriated by this Act may be made available for assistance for the Government of Sudan".
However, the current bill submitted for the 2021 fiscal year which starts on October 1st replaced this paragraph with "Funds appropriated by this Act under title III should be made available to support the civilian-led transition in Sudan, including for assistance for health, democracy, economic growth, agriculture, and education".
It is not clear what prompted the change relative to previous years.
Generally speaking, the presence of Sudan on the U.S. list of states that sponsor terrorism prevents the US administration from providing any direct assistance to the government of Sudan.
However, the language in the bill did not specifically mention the Sudanese government. It is also subject to change as it moves through the congressional process in the House and Senate.
Last month, the United States pledged $356.2 million to Sudan, a 10-fold increase over the financial aid provided last year, at the donor conference last month hosted by Germany.
(ST)
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