Congressional Update: The August Recess Edition

• Menendez and Martinez introduce assistance package for Latin America and the Caribbean
• U.S. State Department nominees face obstacles in Senate confirmation over Honduras
• House passes Foreign Appropriations bill

Menendez and Martinez introduce assistance package for Latin America and the Caribbean

The Social Investment and Economic Development for the Americas Act of 2010 was introduced this week in the U.S. Senate by Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL). The legislation will provide upwards of $1.3 billion in assistance to Latin America and the Caribbean, largely centering on select areas: microfinance, public-private partnerships, and capacity building related to trade promotion agreements.

The legislation seeks to create two specific funds: Microfinance Growth Fund for the Americas and the Public-Private Fund for Social and Economic Development in the Americas. The microfinance fund would provide countries in the region with stable, medium-term and long-term sources of finance to microfinance institutions. The Public-Private Fund would bring together the public, private, and nonprofit sectors for advancing long-term social and economic development in the Americas by combining expertise and resources. The legislation also seeks to build energy cooperation in the region with the promotion of renewable energy sources and increased cooperation and engagement concerning climate change.

For more information, visit Senator Menendez’s website, or Senator Martinez’s website.

U.S. State Department nominees face obstacles in Senate confirmation over Honduras

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held hearings on several State Department nominees including Arturo Valenzuela, President Obama’s nominee for Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs; Thomas Shannon, the nominee to be U.S. Ambassador to Brazil; and Carlos Pascual, the nominee to be Ambassador to Mexico. Although the Committee approved all three nominees, Senate Republicans held up final confirmation due largely to their opposition to the administration’s handling of the situation in Honduras. In early July, 17 Senators wrote to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asking her to reconsider the U.S. positioning on Honduras. Currently, it remains unclear when nomination votes will occur, as it is tradition in the U.S. Senate that a senator from either party may place a hold on a nominee’s confirmation process. The identity of the initiating senator is customarily kept private.

For more information on the situation in Honduras and to view the Senate Republican letter, please visit COA’s website.

House passes Foreign Appropriations bill

The House of Representatives passed the appropriations for the Department of State and other foreign operations for Fiscal Year 2010. Included in the bill is nearly $1.3 billion directed toward Colombia, Mexico, and the Caribbean for security and development relating to counternarcotics. Furthermore, the legislation increases spending for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. It also provides money for global health and child survival as well as funding to promote clean energy, the environment, and biodiversity. In total, it increases climate change programs by $643 million from Fiscal Year 2009.

The Senate has yet to vote on their version of the Foreign Appropriation’s bill after it successfully passed Committee as debate over Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor had controlled the Senate floor. Sotomayor was confirmed on August 6 by a vote of 68 to 31.

To view a summary of the House Appropriations bill, please visit the Committee’s website.