Webb Pushes for $100 Million Increase for State Department Programs in East Asia and the Pacific

Despite strategic importance, region has the smallest budget of all bureaus this year

Washington, DC—Today, Senator Jim Webb submitted an amendment to S. 2971, the Foreign Relations Authorization bill, to move $100 million into the State Department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs—which is significantly underfunded—out of existing programs in Afghanistan and Pakistan, which are overfunded and unable to absorb their existing appropriations.  Senator Webb had expressed concerns last year about the overfunding of programs for Afghanistan and Pakistan at the risk of our strategic interests in Asia.

Despite the Administration’s stated intent to reengage Asia, the Bureau for East Asian and Pacific Affairs has the smallest FY11 budget request of all the regional bureaus in the State Department, totaling only $169 million.  Even with the $100 million increase, East Asia Bureau funding will still be among the lowest funded regional bureaus.  The amendment increases resources to the East Asia region without reducing the funds available for other regional bureaus.  

“The United States is a Pacific nation and has vital long-term economic and strategic interests throughout Asia,” said Senator Webb, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs.  “This amendment provides the resources needed to support the administration’s stated priorities in Asia and to rebalance our short-term and long-term diplomatic priorities.  This region is the only place in the world where the direct interests of the United States, China, Russia and Japan directly intersect.

Webb continued: “Four of our top ten trade partners are in Asia, as well as many of our nation’s most serious challenges. 250,000 military personnel support our forward presence in the region, and we have long-standing treaty alliances with Japan, Korea, Australia, the Philippines, and Thailand.  It is only fitting that our diplomats be provided with the tools and resources necessary to appropriately engage the region.”

The additional funds for this request would be offset by moving $50 million out of the Afghanistan Provincial Reconstruction funds allocated for Afghanistan (FY10 Omnibus Appropriation) and $50 million out of Pakistan Counterinsurgency Capability Fund (PCCF) (FY09 Supplemental Appropriation).

“In May 2009, I expressed concern that Afghanistan and Pakistan would not be able to absorb the massive amounts of funding provided to them, potentially exacerbating corruption, misallocation, and overall ineffective assistance to these two crucial partners in the fight against terrorism,” said Webb. “Between 2006 and 2010, $826 million was appropriated for Afghanistan Provincial Reconstruction teams.  Of this funding, $245 million remains, and there will be as much as $95 million unobligated by the end of FY10.  

“Of the $700 million appropriated to the PCCF last year, nearly $500 million remains, and the State Department has requested an additional $1.2 billion this year,” said Webb. “There is evidence that this funding cannot and will not be absorbed, yet the State Department is requesting an additional $6.98 billion for Afghanistan and Pakistan programs this year.

“This amendment is timely, appropriate, and crucially needed to ensure that upon completion of our operations in Iraq and Afghanistan we have not sacrificed our position in Asia and the balance it secures.”

Senator Webb has enjoyed a continuous personal involvement in Asian and Pacific affairs that long predates his time in the Senate.  In addition to his more recent visits as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Webb has worked and traveled throughout this vast region, from Micronesia to Burma, for nearly four decades, as a Marine Corps officer, a defense planner, a journalist, a novelist, a Department of Defense executive, and as a business consultant.