House Appropriations Subcommittee Approves FY '21 State, Foreign Operations Spending Bill Containing Substantial Coronavirus-Related Increases
in Refugee Spending
in Refugee Spending
Monday, July 6, 2020
A House panel has approved substantial coronavirus-related increases in funding for refugees, aimed principally at overseas refugee and overseas humanitarian assistance, The refugee-related spending provisions include more-or-less level base funding for those areas. However, they include a total of $2.25 BILLION of additional coronavirus-related funding.
Other highlights of the spending measure include an extension and expansion of a program that has permitted Afghan translators who helped the United States during the war there to immigrate to the United States and receive refugee benefits; continuation of language from previous years barring a reorganization of the bureau that administers the Department of State's refugee admissions and overseas refugee assistance programs; and a one year-long extension of a program that provides a relaxed adjudicatory standard for religious minorities in the former Soviet Union and Iran seeking admission to the United States as refugees.
Action on Fiscal Year 2021 refugee spending occurred on Monday, July 6, 2020, in connection with the Fiscal Year 2021 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Bill, which funds the federal government's foreign policy and international humanitarian operations. The measure was approved by the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Program by a voice vote, during which the Subcommittee entertained no amendments.
Other highlights of the spending measure include an extension and expansion of a program that has permitted Afghan translators who helped the United States during the war there to immigrate to the United States and receive refugee benefits; continuation of language from previous years barring a reorganization of the bureau that administers the Department of State's refugee admissions and overseas refugee assistance programs; and a one year-long extension of a program that provides a relaxed adjudicatory standard for religious minorities in the former Soviet Union and Iran seeking admission to the United States as refugees.
Action on Fiscal Year 2021 refugee spending occurred on Monday, July 6, 2020, in connection with the Fiscal Year 2021 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Bill, which funds the federal government's foreign policy and international humanitarian operations. The measure was approved by the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Program by a voice vote, during which the Subcommittee entertained no amendments.
Summary of Refugee-Related Spending Provisions. As approved by the Subcommittee, the measure contains the following significant provisions that could impact refugees or other noncitizens:
- Migration and Refugee Assistance. With respect to funding for the Migration and Refugee Assistance account (MRA), administered by Department of State's (DOS) Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM), the measure would appropriate a total of $4.557 BILLION in FY '21. This would be $1.125 BILLION more than was appropriated for the MRA account in FY '20. and an increase of $4.265 BILLION over the $292.214 MILLION requested by the Trump Administration for FY '21.
A comparison to the Trump Administration’s requested amount for MRA’s functions is difficult to calculate. It recommended transferring much of MRA’s overseas refugee assistance functions to a new account it called "International Humanitarian Assistance." It proposed appropriating $5.968 BILLION for that new account, which it suggested would fund functions traditionally funded by the IDA account, as well as the overseas refugee assistance functions currently carried out with funds in the MRA account.
The measure would provide three streams of funding for the MRA account. The first is $1.911 BILLION in base funding. The second is $1.521 BILLION from the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) account. And the third is $1.125 BILLION in funds "for necessary expenses to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus."
The bill provides that all funds would be available until expended. And it provides that the Administration would be required to allocate and allot the coronavirus portion of MRA funding contained in the bill within 60 days of the date of enactment of this Act.
The measure contains two earmarks within the amount that is appropriated for MRA. First, it provides that not less than $35 MILLION shall be made available to respond to small-scale emergency humanitarian requirements. And second, it provides that $5 MILLION shall be made available for refugees resettling in Israel.
- Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance. With respect to funding for the Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance account (ERMA), administered by PRM, the measure would appropriate $100,000 in FY '21, to remain available until expended. This would be the same amount appropriated in FY '20 for ERMA and an increase of $100,000 over the zero amount that was requested by the Trump Administration for FY '21.
The appropriation contained in the bill for the ERMA account is comprised of base appropriations. None of the funds would come from OCO.
The measure provides that any funds that exceed the maximum amount that ERMA is authorized to hold are to be transferred into and merged with funds in the MRA account.
- International Disaster Assistance. With respect to funding for the International Disaster Assistance account (IDA), administered by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the measure would appropriate $5.5203 BILLION. This would be $1.125 BILLION more than was appropriated in Fiscal Year 2020.
A comparison to the Trump Administration’s requested amount for IDA’s functions is difficult to calculate. It recommended abolishing the IDA account and transferring its funds and functions to a new account it called "International Humanitarian Assistance." It proposed appropriating $5.968 BILLION for that new account, which it suggested would fund functions traditionally funded by the IDA account, as well as the overseas refugee assistance functions currently carried out with funds in the MRA account.
The bill provides three streams of funding for the IDA account. The first is $2.661 BILLION in base funding. The second is $1.734 BILLION from the OCO account. And the third is $1.125 BILLION in funds "for necessary expenses to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus."
The measure provides that all appropriated funds would be available until expended. And it provides that the Administration would be required to allocate and allot the coronavirus portion of IDA funding contained in the bill within 60 days of the date of enactment of this Act.
Summary of Refugee-Related Directives and Limitations. As approved by the Subcommittee, the measure contains the following significant directives or limitations that could impact refugees or other noncitizens:
- Prohibition on Reorganizing PRM. Sec. 7062(b)(2) of the Subcommittee-approved measure provides that “None of the funds appropriated by this Act, prior Acts making appropriations for the Department of State, foreign operations, and related programs, or any other Act, may be used to downsize, downgrade, consolidate, close, move, or relocate the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, Department of State, or any activities of such Bureau, to another Federal agency.”
- Prohibition on Changing Who Administers MRA Funds. Sec. 7062(b)(3) of the Subcommittee-approved measure provides that "[f]unds made available by this Act" ... "under the heading 'Migration and Refugee Assistance'’ shall be administered by the Assistant Secretary for Population, Refugees, and Migration, Department of State, and this responsibility shall not be delegated.".
- Persecuted Religious Minorities. Sec. 7033(b) of the Subcommittee-approved measure provides, in part, that "funds appropriated by this Act under the headings ‘‘International Disaster Assistance’’ and ‘‘Migration and Refugee Assistance’’ shall be made available for humanitarian assistance for vulnerable and persecuted religious minorities.
- Refugee-Related Limitation on Funding to a Palestinian State. Sec. 7037(a)(2)(E) of the Subcommittee-approved measure provides that none of the funds appropriated under Titles III and VI of the Act may be provided to support a Palestinian state unless the Secretary of State certifies a number of factors, including that the Palestinian Authority is working with other countries in the region on establishing "a framework for achieving a just settlement of the refugee problem."
- Contagious Infections Disease Outbreaks. Sec. 7068(b)(1) of the Subcommittee-approved measure would permit funds from the MRA Account (as well as from several other accounts) to be transferred and used for global health emergencies if the Secretary of State determines and reports to Congress that an international infectious disease outbreak is sustained, severe, and is spreading internationally, or that it is in the national interest to respond to a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
- Assistance to the Northern Triangle. Sec. 7045(a)(1) of the Subcommittee-approved measure provides for not less than $420.790 MILLION of ESF assistance to Northern Triangle countries. It provides that the assistance shall be prioritized for programs and activities that address the key factors that contribute to the migration of unaccompanied undocumented minors to the United States. It provides, further, that among the uses of the funds can include border security.
Section 7045(a)(2) provides that half of ESF funds to the Northern Triangle countries ma only be obligated after the Secretary of State certifies a number of conditions exist, including that the countries are improving border security, combating human smuggling and trafficking, and informing their citizens of the dangers of the journey to the southwest border of the United States.
- Limitation on Transfers of MRA and IDA Funds. Sec. 8001(2) of the Subcommittee-approved measure provides limitations on how MRA and IDA funds appropriated by the Act may be transferred. More specifically, the section incorporates by cross reference transfer limitations from sections 402(c) through 402(f) of PL. 116-123. Those sections provide that funds may be transferred to, and merged with, funds appropriated to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus. It further provides that transfer authorities are in addition to any other transfer authority provided by law. And it provides that upon a determination that all or part of the funds transferred are not necessary for such purposes, such amounts may be transferred back to such appropriations. Finally, it provides that no funds shall be transferred unless at least 5 days prior to making such transfer the Secretary of State or the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, as appropriate, notifies the Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate in writing of the details of any such transfer.
- Refugee Assistance Exception from Extradition Limitation. Sec. 7055(a) of the Subcommittee-approved measure provides that funds from the MRA, ERMA, and IDA accounts, among other accounts, are excepted from the general bar in the bill on the use of funds in the Act for the central government of a country which refuses to extradite to the U.S. persons indicted by the U.S. for criminal offenses.
- Venezuelan Refugees. Sec. 7045(e)(2) of the Subcommittee-approved measure provides that funds appropriated under title III of this Act and prior Acts making appropriations for the Department of State, foreign operations, and related programs shall be made available for assistance for communities in countries supporting or otherwise impacted by refugees from Venezuela, including Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Curacao, and Trinidad and Tobago.
- Tibetan Refugees. Sec. 7034(g)(2)(B) of the Subcommittee-approved measure directs that not less than $6 MILLION of Economic Support Fund (ESF) funding be made available for programs to promote and preserve Tibetan culture and language in the refugee and diaspora Tibetan communities.
- Burmese Refugees. Sec. 7043(a)(1)(B) of the Subcommittee-approved measure provides that funds appropriated under Title III of the bill for assistance for Burma shall be made available for CBOs operating in Thailand to provide food, medical and other humanitarian assistance to internally displaced persons in eastern Burma but that "such funds may be available for programs to support the return of Kachin, Karen, Rohingya, Shan, and other refugees and internally displaced persons to their locations of origin or preference in Burma only if such returns are voluntary and consistent with international law.
Sec. 7044(b) of the Subcommittee-approved measure provides that funds appropriated under Titles III and IV of this Act be made available for programs to address the needs of communities in Bangladesh impacted by refugees from Burma.
- Reimbursement Authority. Sec. 8002 of the Subcommittee-approved measure would MRA and IDA funds, among other accounts, to be used to reimburse other Department of State or USAID accounts for obligations incurred to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus prior to the date of enactment of this Act.
Summary of Refugee-Related Special Provisions. The Subcommittee-approved measure contains the following migration-related "special provisions":
- Extension and Expansion of Afghan SIV Program. Sec. 7034(l)(11) of the Subcommittee-approved measure would extend by one year, through the end of FY ‘21, the Afghan Translators Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program; increase the number of available visas by 4,000 from 22,500 to 26,500; and extend by one year, through December 31, 2022, reporting requirements.
- Extension of the "Lautenberg Amendment". Sec. 7034(l)(5) of the Subcommittee-approved measure would extend by one year through the end of Fiscal Year 2021, the "Lautenberg Amendment", which provides a relaxed adjudicatory standard for Jews from the former Soviet Union and persecuted religious minorities in other countries, such as Jews, Christians, and Baha’is from Iran.
- Monitoring and Evaluation. Sec. 7034(m) of the Subcommittee-approved measure would require the Department of State and USAID to regularly collect feedback from MRA and IDA beneficiaries to enhance the quality and relevance of assistance, provided through those accounts, and to conduct oversight to ensure that feedback is regularly collected and used by implementing partners to maximize the cost-effectiveness and utility of assistance provide.
Next Steps. Now that the subcommittee has approved the measure, the next step in the legislative process is consideration of the measure in a full committee markup. That is expected to take place next week.