Department of State, Foreign Operations Appropriations: A Guide to Component Accounts
Released: 2019-04-10T00:00:00

Introduction

The annual Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs appropriations legislation (SFOPS) funds many of the nondefense international affairs activities of the government. It is one of 12 appropriations bills that Congress considers annually to fund the discretionary activities of the government. Congress structures SFOPS into several titles, which consist of broad spending categories. These titles are subdivided into paragraphs that each address one component account, a funding line item that includes one or several activities of the government. A single component account may cover one agency's entire annual budget, grant funds to an independent organization, or fund multiple activities associated with statutory authorities, among other things.

In the FY2019 Consolidated Appropriations Act ( P.L. 116-6 ), the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act (Division F) is divided into eight titles, each associated with the following activities:

Many of the component accounts within these titles correspond to one or several authorities in statute. Title 22 of the U.S. Code contains many of these authorities. Major acts in Title 22 include the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (P.L. 84-885; hereinafter the Basic Authorities Act), the Foreign Service Act of 1980 ( P.L. 96-465 ), and the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (P.L. 87-195; hereinafter the FAA), among others. This report identifies the statutory authorities that enable each component account to function. A list of these major acts, and cross-references to their location in the U.S. Code , are in Appendix A . For information on SFOPS funding levels, trends, and congressional action, see CRS Report R45168, Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs: FY2019 Budget and Appropriations , by Susan B. Epstein, Marian L. Lawson, and Cory R. Gill.

Account Descriptions

Title I—Department of State and Related Agency

Title I funds (1) State Department personnel, operations, and programs; (2) U.S. participation in international organizations, such as the United Nations, and international commissions; (3) U.S. government, nonmilitary international broadcasting; and (4) several U.S. nongovernmental agencies and other U.S. commissions and interparliamentary groups, such as the National Endowment for Democracy.

Administration of Foreign Affairs

The Administration of Foreign Affairs account category provides funding for the State Department's personnel, operations, and programs; including diplomatic security and the construction and maintenance of its facilities in the United States and around the world. It is composed of the following component accounts:

Diplomatic Programs (DP)

DP, the principal operating account of the State Department, includes four funding categories:

Human Resources . Funds the salaries of domestic and overseas State Department employees, training services at the Foreign Service Institute, the operating costs of the Bureau of Human Resources, and diversity recruitment and development programs such as the Pickering and Rangel Fellowships. Overseas Programs . Funds the Department's various regional and functional bureaus, along with bureau-administered foreign policy programs. Historically, the account has, for instance, funded the bureaus of African Affairs, International Organization Affairs, and Conflict and Stabilization Operations as well as the costs of department employees' travel on assignment. Diplomatic Policy and Support . Funds many of the Department's strategic and managerial units, such as the Office of the Secretary and the Bureaus of Administration, Budget and Planning, Legislative Affairs, Information Resource Management, the Comptroller and Global Financial Services, and Intelligence and Research, among others. Security Programs . Funds the Department's security programs and policies, including those implemented by the Bureau of Counterterrorism and Countering Violent Extremism and the Office of Foreign Missions. It is also the primary source of funding for the Worldwide Security Protection subaccount, which provides funds to the Bureau of Diplomatic Security and other bureaus to implement programs to protect the department's staff, property, and information.

Until FY2019, this account (named Diplomatic & Consular Programs in prior years) included some consular fees and surcharges that offset expenditures. Beginning with FY2019 appropriations, the State Department is to use that revenue to fund the administration of consular and border security programs directly under a new Consular and Border Security Programs account (the CBSP account). That account does not require annual appropriations and thus does not appear in the FY2019 act.

Capital Investment Fund (CIF)

CIF funds information technology (IT) and other capital equipment procurement to ensure efficient management, coordination, and utilization of IT resources. Funds allocated to this account, established by Congress in 1994, have supported the ongoing IT modernization initiative at the State Department.

Office of Inspector General (OIG)

This account funds the State Department's Office of Inspector General, which conducts independent audits, inspections, evaluations, and investigations of the programs and offices of the State Department and the Broadcasting Board of Governors (operationally renamed in 2018 as the U.S. Agency for Global Media).

Educational and Cultural Exchange Programs

This account funds the State Department's management of U.S. educational, professional, and cultural exchanges, such as the Fulbright Scholar Program, the International Visitor Leadership Program, and the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange. Authority for these programs derive from the Mutual Education and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961 (popularly referred to as the Fulbright-Hays Act; P.L. 87-256 ), as amended, though several of these programs predate that act.

Representation Expenses

The Representation Expenses account reimburses Foreign Service Officers for entertainment of government officials to advance diplomacy.

Protection of Foreign Missions and Officials

This account funds reimbursable expenses to municipal, state, and federal law enforcement agencies throughout the United States for "extraordinary" services provided to foreign missions and officials, in particular to the New York Police Department to protect representatives to the United Nations.

Embassy Security, Construction, and Maintenance (ESCM)

ESCM funds provide for the general management and maintenance of U.S. State Department embassies and other facilities in the United States and abroad. This includes ongoing renovations to the State Department headquarters in Washington, DC. This account also funds Worldwide Security Upgrades (WSU), which provides the State Department's share of the costs to plan, design, and build new embassies and facilities to comply with requirements of the Secure Embassy Construction and Counterterrorism Act of 1999 (Title VI of P.L. 106-113 ).

Emergencies in the Diplomatic and Consular Service

This account addresses unexpected events, such as the evacuation of U.S. diplomats and their families or, in some circumstances, private U.S. citizens or third-country nationals as a result of natural disasters, epidemics, terrorist attacks, or civil unrest. It also funds some nonemergency activities of senior Administration officials, such as G-20 Summits or the Organization for American States (OAS) General Assembly (Basic Authorities Act, §4). This account also funds rewards for informants about international terrorism (the "Rewards for Justice" program), narcotics-related activities, transnational organized crime, and war crimes (Basic Authorities Act, §36). For example, information obtained through Rewards for Justice led to the capture and conviction of one of the planners of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing in New York.

Repatriation Loans Program Account

The Repatriation Loans Program Account subsidizes small loans to destitute U.S. citizens abroad who are unable to fund their return to the United States (Basic Authorities Act, §4).

Payment to the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT)

AIT is a nonprofit, private corporation established for "[p]rograms, transactions, and other relations conducted or carried out by the President or any agency of the United States Government with respect to Taiwan," in accordance with the Taiwan Relations Act ( P.L. 96-8 ). It provides consular services for Americans and the people of Taiwan. The account supports a contract providing for salaries, benefits, and other expenses associated with maintaining AIT.

International Center, Washington, DC

The International Center, or the International Chancery Center (ICC), is a 47-acre diplomatic enclave owned by the U.S. government and is located in Washington, DC. Fees from other executive agencies and proceeds from past leases fund ICC development, maintenance, security, and repairs. Congress established and authorized the ICC in the International Center Act ( P.L. 90-553 ) to provide territory for diplomatic missions of foreign governments to the United States.

Payment to the Foreign Service Retirement and Disability Fund

The payment covers the U.S. government's contribution to the Foreign Service Retirement and Disability System and the Foreign Service Pension System for USAID and the Department of State.

International Organizations

Through the following two accounts in the International Organizations category, the United States meets its assessed obligations (dues) to the many international organizations and peacekeeping efforts that the United States supports. Title V of SFOPS appropriates voluntary contributions to multilateral organizations.

Contributions to International Organizations (CIO)

The Contributions to International Organizations account funds U.S.-assessed contributions to the budget of the United Nations, certain U.N. system organizations, inter-American organizations, war crimes tribunals, and other intergovernmental organizations.

Contributions for International Peacekeeping Activities (CIPA)

The Contributions for International Peacekeeping Activities account funds U.S.-assessed contributions to U.N. peacekeeping operations worldwide, as well as assessed contributions to certain ad hoc courts, such as the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals.

American Sections, International Commissions

Accounts under the International Commissions category provide funding for U.S. obligations under law or treaty to the following bilateral and multilateral commissions:

International Joint Commission and the International Boundary Commission (both between the United States and Canada), International Boundary and Water Commission and the Border Environment Cooperation Commission (both between the United States and Mexico); and International fisheries and waters commissions.

Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG)15

The sole listing under the "Related Agency" category, BBG is the U.S. civilian international media agency. BBG was established as the successor to the U.S. Information Agency in the International Broadcasting Act of 1994 (Title III of P.L. 103-236 ). BBG renamed itself the United States Agency for Global Media in 2018, but recent appropriations have maintained the BBG title. It comprises the Voice of America (VOA) and Radio and TV Martí (under the Office of Cuba Broadcasting [OCB]). BBG also funds grantee organizations Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Radio Free Asia (RFA), and Alhurra TV and Radio Sawa (under the Middle East Broadcasting Networks [MBN]). The broadcasting category is divided into two accounts, as follows.

International Broadcasting Operations

This account funds the operations of the BBG and all U.S. government, nonmilitary international broadcasts, including salaries and benefits for new hires and other operating expenses. Programmatic expansion priorities in FY2019 include new Russian and Korean language programs, an increased focus on Venezuela, and a digital media program in the Middle East and North Africa to counter extremist narratives.

Broadcasting Capital Improvements

The Capital Improvements account supports improvements and maintenance of BBG's global transmission network and digital multimedia infrastructure and capital projects.

Related Programs

This category includes funding to entities created by the U.S. government that today are nongovernmental but pursue objectives aligned with U.S. foreign policy. Several of these organizations fund themselves with income from trust funds created by Congress, so appropriations authorize use of that income and do not require appropriation of funds. Others receive funding exclusively from the U.S. government, or from both the U.S. government and other donors.

The Asia Foundation

The Asia Foundation is a nonprofit organization based in San Francisco that seeks to strengthen democratic institutions in Asia, counter violent extremism, promote economic opportunities for Asian and U.S. businesses, and improve U.S.-Asian relations. In addition to annual appropriations, it receives support from foreign governments, nonprofits, corporations, competitive grants, and individual charitable contributions.

United States Institute of Peace (USIP)

The U.S. Institute of Peace works to increase the United States' capacity to prevent, mitigate, and help resolve international conflict without violence. Congress established USIP in 1984 to offer training, analysis, and additional resources to governments, organizations, and individuals seeking to build peace (United States Institute of Peace Act, Title XVII of P.L. 98-525 ). It is prohibited from receiving non-U.S. government funding.

Center for Middle Eastern-Western Dialogue Trust Fund

The International Center for Middle Eastern-Western Dialogue (the Hollings Center), based in Istanbul, promotes dialogue between the United States and nations with significant Muslim populations to generate new thinking on key international issues and expand people-to-people contacts. Congress established it in 2004 with a dedicated trust fund ( P.L. 108-199 ).

Eisenhower Exchange Fellowship Program

The Eisenhower Exchange Program brings professionals who are rising leaders in their countries to the United States and sends their U.S. counterparts abroad. Financed by a dedicated trust fund, it provides programs tailored to each participant and career development opportunities to prepare participants for increasingly senior positions in government, business, and nongovernmental institutions.

Israeli-Arab Scholarship Program (IASP)

Financed by a dedicated trust fund, the IASP funds scholarships for Israeli Arabs to attend institutions of higher education in the United States.

East-West Center

The East-West Center, based in Hawaii, promotes better relations and understanding among the people and nations of the Asia-Pacific region and the United States through cooperative study, training, and research. In addition to annual appropriations, it receives support from foreign governments, nonprofits, corporations, competitive federal grants, and individual charitable contributions.

National Endowment for Democracy (NED)

NED is a private, independent, nonprofit organization that is dedicated to fostering the growth of a wide range of democratic institutions abroad, including political parties, trade unions, free markets, and business organizations. Established in the National Endowment for Democracy Act of 1983 ( Title V of P.L. 98-164 ), NED supports a variety of organizations but maintains four "core institutes," each affiliated with a U.S. domestic organization. The National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the International Republican Institute (IRI) are nonpartisan entities that promote election-related capacity building. The Center for International Private Enterprise, affiliated with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, supports the private sector by strengthening democratic institutions, and the Solidarity Center, associated with the AFL-CIO, supports labor rights in workplaces abroad. NED also receives funding from the Democracy Fund in Title III of SFOPS.

Other Commissions

Congress has established a number of organizations to advance selected U.S. objectives in the international arena. Most of these organizations are listed under the Legislative Branch Boards and Commissions in the President's budget request to Congress. Though all except the Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad are legislative branch bodies, Congress funds them through SFOPS appropriations given their international affairs focus.

Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad

This 21-member independent executive agency seeks to identify cemeteries, monuments, and historic buildings in Eastern and Central Europe that are associated with the heritage of U.S. citizens, particularly endangered properties and especially American Jews. It works to obtain, in cooperation with the Department of State, assurances from the governments of the region that the properties will be protected and preserved. The commission also encourages, sponsors, assists, and otherwise facilitates private and foreign government site restoration, preservation, and memorialization projects.

United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) 16

Established in 1998, the commission seeks to promote international religious freedom in consultation with the State Department. Composed of both presidential and congressional appointees, it advises and makes policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress through ad hoc publications and an annual report.

Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE)

The CSCE, established in 1975, seeks to advance U.S. interests by monitoring and promoting human rights, military security, and economic cooperation in the 57-country Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Members of Congress lead the commission jointly with executive branch officials.

Congressional-Executive Commission on the People's Republic of China (CECC)

The CECC monitors human rights and the development of rule of law in China . Members of Congress lead the CECC jointly with executive branch officials.

United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission

This commission, appointed by congressional leadership, monitors, investigates, and submits to Congress an annual report and recommendations on the national security implications of the bilateral trade and economic relationship between the United States and the People's Republic of China.

Western Hemisphere Drug Policy Commission

Established in 2017, this commission is required to submit a report evaluating and proposing alternatives for U.S. foreign policy regarding the supply and abuse of illicit drugs in the Western Hemisphere. Unlike the other commissions, it is scheduled to disband after the report's completion.

Title II—United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

This title provides operational funds for USAID, an independent agency under the foreign policy guidance of the Department of State directly responsible for implementing most bilateral development assistance and disaster relief programs, many of which are funded in Title III of the State, Foreign Operations Appropriations Act.

Operating Expenses (OE)

The OE account funds USAID's overseas and domestic operational expenses, including salaries and benefits, overseas mission activities, staff training, physical security, and information technology maintenance.

Capital Investment Fund (CIF)

A program begun in FY2003, the CIF supports the modernization of USAID's information technology systems. Unlike the State Department's Capital Investment Fund, USAID's CIF also funds the construction of facilities overseas in lieu of a separate component account to that end.

Office of Inspector General

This account supports operational costs of USAID's Office of the Inspector General, which conducts audits and investigations of USAID programs, as well as of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the Inter-American Foundation, the United States African Development Foundation, and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.

Title III—Bilateral Economic Assistance

Under this title, funds are appropriated in support of U.S. government departments and independent agencies conducting humanitarian, development, and other programs meeting U.S. foreign policy objectives throughout the world.

Global Health Programs (GHP)

GHP is made up of two accounts supporting multiple health activities conducted by USAID and by the State Department (FAA, §104).

Global Health-USAID

Managed by USAID, appropriations in this account fund programs focused on combating infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis. Programs also focus on immunization, oral rehydration, maternal and child health, vulnerable children, and family planning and reproductive health.

Global Health-State

Managed by the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator (OGAC) in the Department of State, this account is the largest source of funding for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Funds from this account are transferred to programs implemented by USAID, the Department of Defense, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Peace Corps, among others. A specified amount from the Global Health-State account supports the U.S. contribution to the multilateral Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.

Development Assistance (DA)

Managed by USAID, the Development Assistance account funds programs aligned with priorities in Part I of the FAA, including sectors referenced in Chapters 1 and 2 targeting

agriculture and rural development (§103); education and human capital (§105); energy (§106[b]); urban economic and social development (§106[d]); technical cooperation and development (§106[d][1]); economic development research and evaluation (§106[d][2]); and disaster preparedness and reconstruction (§106[d][3]); U.S. citizen-sponsored schools and hospitals overseas (§214); and micro-, small-, and medium-enterprise development programs (including credit access) (§252).

Through the FAA's general authorities, DA also funds environment, democracy and governance, water and sanitation, and human rights programs, among others. In sub-Saharan Africa specifically, DA funds particular priorities for that region described in FAA Chapter 10, including agricultural production and natural resources, health, voluntary family planning services, education, and income-generating activities (§496).

International Disaster Assistance (IDA)

Managed by the USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, this account provides relief and rehabilitation to nations struck by natural and manmade disasters and emergencies (FAA, §491[b]). In recent years, the account has been used increasingly to provide emergency food assistance to supplement commodity food aid provided through the P.L. 480 Title II account in the agriculture appropriation (FAA, §491[c]). In 2017, for example, approximately half of obligated IDA funding went to emergency food aid, compared with less than 5% in 2010.

Transition Initiatives

The Transition Initiatives account supports the activities of USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI), an entity launched in 1994 to bridge the gap between stabilization and sustainable development. It supports flexible, short-term assistance projects in political transition countries that are moving from war to peace, civil conflict to national reconciliation, or where political instability has not yet erupted into violence and where conflict mitigation might prevent the outbreak of such violence. Although both Transition Initiatives and IDA operate under disaster response authority of the FAA (§491), IDA focuses on humanitarian needs, while Transition Initiatives targets political factors to build peaceful and democratic societies.

Complex Crises Fund

The fund supports USAID responses to emerging or unforeseen crises with projects aimed at addressing the root causes of conflict or instability. Previously funded through Defense appropriations (as authorized in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2006, Section 1207, P.L. 109-163 ), today USAID administers it under the general authorities of the FAA. Unlike IDA, it may not be used to respond to disasters, and unlike Transition Initiatives, this account is not associated with its own operational component; rather, it is a flexible funding source available to the USAID Administrator.

Development Credit Authority (DCA)

DCA is a USAID-administered mechanism to subsidize loan guarantees in support of housing projects, water and sanitation systems, and microcredit and small enterprise development, among other programs. In addition to appropriations for the administrative costs of running DCA, Congress authorizes transfers from other component accounts to DCA for loan guarantees. For FY2019, only DA, GHP, and Assistance for Europe, Eurasia, and Central Asia are authorized to transfer funds to DCA. In 2018, Congress passed the Better Utilization of Investments Leading to Development (BUILD) Act (Division F of P.L. 115-254 ), which requires the merger of DCA into a new United States International Development Finance Corporation. FY2019 appropriations for DCA also provide for the costs associated with this transfer.

Economic Support Fund (ESF)

The Economic Support Fund, authorized under Part II, Chapter 4 of the FAA (§531), uses economic assistance to advance U.S. political and strategic goals in countries of special importance to U.S. foreign policy. Once used primarily in support of the Middle East peace process (in FY1997, for example, 87% of ESF went to Israel, Egypt, the West Bank and Jordan), the use of ESF funds has expanded in recent years to support a broader range of countries of importance to the U.S. counterterrorism strategy. ESF supports development projects that may be indistinguishable from those supported by other accounts, but is also used for occasional direct budget support aid and sovereign loan guarantees. The State Department makes ESF programming decisions; USAID, in large part, implements the programs.

Democracy Fund

This account supports democracy promotion programs overseen by the State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL). While in past years a portion of this funding was designated for USAID's Office of Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance, appropriations since FY2017 have gone exclusively to DRL, though transfers to USAID may occur. Authorities for this account are found throughout the FAA, but specific reference to the Democracy Fund was added in 2002 (§116, P.L. 107-228 ).

Assistance for Europe, Eurasia, and Central Asia (AEECA)

This account provides economic assistance to once-Communist states of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, and is the successor to two earlier accounts that channeled aid to the region after the Cold War. AEECA was discontinued at the Obama Administration's request between FY2013 and FY2015, during which time these activities were funded through the ESF, GHP, and INCLE accounts, and reinstated in FY2016. Authorities under this account are found in the FAA (§498-499) and the Support for Eastern European Democracy (SEED) Act of 1989 ( P.L. 101-179 ).

Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA)

The Migration and Refugee Assistance account, administered by the State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM), supports refugee assistance and protection activities worldwide. The MRA account supports U.S. contributions to U.N. entities such as the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), as well as organizations such as the International Committee for the Red Cross. It funds resettlement of refugees to other countries as well as processing and initial placement of refugees to the United States. The Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1962, as amended, sets out these authorities ( P.L. 87-510 ).

United States Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance (ERMA) Fund

ERMA is a humanitarian contingency fund for rapid deployment in unanticipated urgent refugee and migrant emergencies. Appropriations typically replenish this account up to a congressionally authorized level, and the executive branch must notify Congress when funds are used.

Independent Agencies

Several agencies operate independently and report directly to the Executive Office of the President, unlike USAID, which operates under guidance from the Secretary of State.

Peace Corps23

The Peace Corps sends U.S. volunteers to developing countries to provide technical aid and to promote mutual understanding on a people-to-people basis between the United States and citizens of foreign nations (Peace Corps Act of 1961, P.L. 87-293 ).

Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC)24

The MCC provides large-scale, five-year development grants to foreign governments. Known as "compacts" and underpinned by bilateral agreements, these grants are intended to promote economic growth and to eliminate extreme poverty in countries chosen and determined to be eligible, in part, based on their demonstrated commitment to just and democratic governance; investment in health, education, and the environment; and support for economic freedom. Congress established and authorized the MCC in the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 (Title VI of P.L. 108-199 ).

Inter-American Foundation (IAF)

The IAF is a nonprofit corporation that finances small-scale enterprise and grassroots community self-help activities aimed at the social and economic development of poor people in Latin America, as originally set out in the Foreign Assistance Act of 1969 ( P.L. 91-179 ) establishing it as an independent entity.

United States African Development Foundation (USADF)

The USADF is a nonprofit corporation that finances small-scale enterprise and grassroots community self-help activities aimed at the social and economic development of poor people in Africa. Modeled after the IAF, the African Development Foundation Act established it in 1980 (Title V of P.L. 96-533 ).

Department of the Treasury: International Affairs Technical Assistance

This program deploys financial advisors to provide technical assistance to developing or transitional countries in support of economic reforms, with a focus on banking and financial institutions, financial crimes, government debt, revenue policy, and budget and financial accountability (FAA §129, added in 1998 by P.L. 105-277 ).

Title IV—International Security Assistance

Department of State

International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement (INCLE)

INCLE funds international counternarcotics activities; programs combatting human and wildlife trafficking; and rule of law activities, including support for judicial reform and law enforcement capacity building. Many of the activities under INCLE are overseen and coordinated through the State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL). More than half of funding in recent years has gone to programs in the western hemisphere; other major recipients have included Afghanistan, Pakistan, and West Bank/Gaza. INCLE authorities primarily derive from the FAA (§481-490).

Nonproliferation, Anti-terrorism, Demining, and Related Programs (NADR)

This account funds a variety of State Department-managed activities aimed at countering proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (FAA, §581-586), supporting antiterrorism training and related activities (FAA, §571-575), and promoting demining operations in developing nations (FAA, §301). It also funds voluntary contributions to certain nonproliferation-focused international organizations (FAA, §301). Programs also finance certain defense articles related to nonproliferation, demining, and antiterrorism to friendly governments (Arms Export Control Act, §23, P.L. 90-629), and disarmament in the former Soviet Union (FREEDOM Support Act, §504, P.L. 102-511 ).

Peacekeeping Operations (PKO)

Unlike the Title I Contributions to Peacekeeping Activities (CIPA) account, which provides assessed funds for U.N. peacekeeping operations, the PKO account provides voluntary support for multilateral efforts in conflict resolution, such as the training of African peacekeepers and funding operations of the Multinational Force and Observers mission in the Sinai. The State Department controls the funds and sets PKO program policies (FAA, §551-563). DOD implements the activities. Funding through this account has in recent years been devoted almost entirely on the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa.

Funds Appropriated to the President

International Military Education and Training (IMET)

Through IMET, the United States provides training and education to selected foreign military and civilian personnel on U.S. military practices and standards, including democratic values like civilian control of the military. Participants take courses at military education facilities in the United States or receive instruction from U.S. training teams abroad. The State Department controls the funds and has policy authority over the program (FAA, §541-549), which the Department of Defense implements.

Foreign Military Financing Program (FMF)

The Foreign Military Financing Program supports U.S. overseas arms transfers on a loan and grant basis. Funding generally may be used by recipient countries only to purchase U.S. weapons, equipment and training, though a portion of FMF to Israel may be used to support purchases from Israeli defense firms. The State Department controls the funds and has policy authority (Arms Export Control Act, §23). The Department of Defense implements this program.

Title V—Multilateral Assistance

International Organizations and Programs (IO&P)

This account provides voluntary State Department-administered U.S. donations that support the programs of international agencies involved in a range of development, humanitarian, and scientific activities, including the U.N. Development Program (UNDP), U.N. Environment Program (UNEP), U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF), and U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA). This is distinct from the CIO account under Title I, which funds assessed contributions (dues) to international organizations. Authority is derived from the FAA (§§301-307 on International Organizations and Programs).

International Financial Institutions27

Under this category, funds are provided through the Department of the Treasury to a wide range of multilateral financial institutions, which offer loans—both "soft" (i.e., concessional) and "hard" (i.e., near-market rate)—and some grants to developing countries and private sector entities in those countries. Not all international financial institutions require or receive U.S. contributions from year to year; some receive funding under multiyear "replenishments." Authorizations for these contributions have historically been provided in appropriations acts of the relevant year.

In the case of concessional lending or grant-making institutions, U.S. appropriations contribute through annual installments toward periodically-agreed donor replenishments as capital is drawn down. Nonconcessional bank institutions typically require new financial commitments only in order to increase the institution's capitalization, as in the ongoing capital increase for the African Development Bank (see below). In FY2019, funds were appropriated for the following entities:

Global Environment Facility (GEF)

Cosponsored by the UNDP, UNEP, and the World Bank, the GEF, administered by the World Bank, makes grants to help developing countries deal with global environmental problems.

World Bank: International Development Association (IDA)

As the World Bank's "soft loan" window, IDA provides concessional loans, grants, and debt relief to the lowest-income countries in the world.

Asian Development Fund (AsDF)

The AsDF is the grants-only window of the Asian Development Bank (AsDB), which finances economic development programs in lower-income countries in Asia and the Pacific. AsDF ceased issuing concessional loans in 2017. AsDB now finances and issues all concessional loans directly through its capital reserves.

African Development Bank (AfDB)

The AfDB lends at near-market rates to public and private entities, with special emphasis on agriculture, infrastructure, and industrial development. To support a general capital increase, legislative provisions include both paid-in capital and callable capital subscriptions.

African Development Fund (AfDF)

Part of the African Development Bank, the AfDF provides concessional loans and grants to low-income African countries.

International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

IFAD is a UN-system financial institution that issues grants and low-interest loans to developing countries to increase rural incomes, improve nutritional levels, and advance food security.

Title VI—Export and Investment Assistance

Export-Import Bank of the United States31

Ex-Im Bank issues direct loans, loan guarantees, and export credit insurance to support U.S. exports of goods and services. It aims to support U.S. jobs by providing such financing and insurance when the private sector is unwilling or unable to do so alone and/or to counter financing offered by foreign countries through their export credit agencies. Ex-Im Bank program and administrative expenses are financed by collections such as loan interest, risk premia, and other fees, for which congressional appropriations establish a ceiling. Congress also provides an appropriation for the agency's Office of Inspector General. Ex-Im Bank's enabling legislation is the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 (P.L. 79-173).

Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC)32

OPIC offers political risk insurance, guarantees, and investment financing to encourage U.S. firms to invest in developing countries, under the authority of the FAA (§231-240). Although the agency funds itself in full with loan receipts, appropriations set ceilings on administrative expenses to carry out the insurance programs and denotes a level of support for credit financing. The BUILD Act authorizes a new U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (IDFC), which is to absorb OPIC along with portions of USAID (See DCA section) and assume their responsibilities. It also adds new authorities to this entity. The aforementioned section of the FAA is to be repealed after the IDFC is operational, thereby terminating OPIC.

Trade and Development Agency (TDA)34

TDA funds project preparation services such as feasibility studies and other activities to link U.S. businesses to export opportunities in emerging markets for infrastructure and other development projects (FAA, §611). For example, TDA funds reverse trade missions which bring foreign decision-makers to the United States.

Title VII—General Provisions

General Provisions set out limitations and prohibitions on assistance; administrative, notification, and reporting requirements; and more detailed funding requirements for specific accounts in other titles of the legislation. This title specifies also allocations for various aid sectors, including education, democracy promotion, water and sanitation, and food security, as well as cross-cutting issues such as gender equality. In addition, Title VII provides more detail about aid to certain countries and regions.

Title VIII—Overseas Contingency Operations/Global War on Terrorism

Since FY2012, executive branch budget requests have distinguished between "core" or "enduring" international affairs funding and funding to support "overseas contingency operations" (OCO). The OCO designation was described initially in budget documents as reflecting "the extraordinary costs of Department [of State] and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) operations and programs in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan," its use quickly expanded to include a broader range of activities and countries. OCO funds are not counted toward spending caps established by the Budget Control Act, 2011, as amended ( P.L. 112-25 ), and as a result have been used as a means of maintaining international affairs funding levels while complying with BCA budget restraints. While the Trump Administration has proposed the elimination of OCO funding under SFOPS for FY2019 and FY2020, Congress has continued to use the designation in SFOPS legislation. OCO funding supports accounts that received core funding in Titles I-V of the legislation, but is identified separately in Title VIII.

Appendix A. State, Foreign Operations Authorizing Legislation and U.S. Code References