CQ Today Online News | Partisan Politics

Partisan Politics
CQ Today Online News | May 17, 2012

Controversial policy riders restricting abortion and family planning are popping up on the House Homeland Security and State-Foreign Operations spending measures.

Democrats will target a variety of spending and policy provisions in the State-Foreign Operations draft bill during the full committee markup Thursday. The $40.1 billion draft spending bill includes a significant cut to base State Department and foreign aid funding, recommending $6 billion less than the administration requested and $2 billion less than current levels. In addition to subcommittee ranking Democrat Nita M. Lowey’s pledge last week to offer a series of amendments aimed at reversing cuts to funding for the United Nations, multilateral development banks and family planning programs, Illinois Democrat Jesse L. Jackson Jr. said during the May 9 subcommittee markup that he will seek to place further restrictions on aid to Pakistan. Democratic members of the Appropriations Committee are likely to join Lowey, D-N.Y., in opposing various abortion-related policy provisions in the draft bill, including the re-emergence of the perennially controversial Mexico City Policy, which bans funding to international aid groups that promote abortion as part of family planning.

Language related to abortion access was a source of contention Wednesday when House appropriators added an amendment to the Homeland Security bill specifying that none of the funds provided to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) could be used to pay for an abortion, except under certain circumstances. Subcommittee Chairman Robert B. Aderholt, R-Ala., who offered the amendment on the bill that has traditionally been free of social policy riders, insisted it would simply codify existing ICE policy. Democrats on the panel, however, charged that the language is part of a larger “war on women’s health” and stressed that the Homeland Security bill “is not the place for divisive riders.” All told, the bill provides $39.1 billion for Homeland Security, $393 million less than President Obama’s request and $484 million below current levels, as well as $5.5 billion in emergency disaster funding. Senate appropriators on Thursday are set to advance their version, which will be about $1 billion less than the requested amount. The Senate bill is likely to steer clear of contentious riders, but Republicans may push to strip out a proposed $315 million airline passenger security fee that the House panel already rejected.