Something impressive about the U.S. ultra-right is the apparent ability to do a huge number of bad things simultaneously.
An example is the State and Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Bill, H.R. 8771 (the SFO Appropriations Bill), which all sounds wonky. But that’s the trick—make it sound tediously boring and “Oh why bother” and then slip in provisions to wreck lives. This bill was passed by the House of Representatives on June 26 and will be going to the Senate.
It must be seriously cleaned up before it becomes law because bad laws harm and kill people. Tell your senators to get all the destructive language out of the Senate version of this bill before it becomes law.
Some of the more objectionable provisions are addressed herein.
Cuba
The SFO Appropriations Bill attempts to stop the State Department from ever taking Cuba off the State Sponsors of Terrorism List maintained by the United States. Since it was the State Department (under Trump) that put Cuba on the list and it is the State Department’s list, that doesn’t make a lot of sense. But neither does the presence of Cuba on this list.
Cuba doesn’t sponsor terrorism and even the U.S. government cannot claim that it does, so the only reason given is “Cuba also continues to harbor several U.S. fugitives from justice wanted on charges related to political violence, many of whom have resided in Cuba for decades.” They might as well just write “Surrender Dorothy—ah, Assata.” Ridiculous, but the consequences are real.
With Cuba on this State Sponsors of Terrorism List, banks won’t handle Cuban financial transactions, even for food and medicine. The list signals to anyone that does business with Cuba that the U.S. government might try to retaliate against them. Being on this list is causing terrible harm to Cuba.
There’s another ridiculous allegation about Cuba embedded in this document and another attempt to cripple the Cuban economy. The SFO Appropriations Bill demands that the Secretary of State make a list of all countries receiving help from Cuban health workers. As you might know, although Cuba supplies medical brigades for free to countries that cannot afford to pay, other countries contract and pay for Cuban health professionals to work in areas where there are doctor shortages and conditions are difficult.
The United States has decided to declare that Cuban health professionals overseas are trafficked labor despite abundant evidence that this is not true. Then the SFO Appropriations Bill says that no funds can go to any government of a country or organization that has Cuban medical professionals working there.
The bill also prohibits health and medical research cooperation. Just too bad for diabetic people in the United States who might be able to avoid amputations with the Cuban medication Heberprot-P.
Reproductive Health Rights
Another huge target for harm included in the SFO Appropriations Bill is reproductive health.
It prohibits funds to any government or nongovernmental organization (NGO) that “promotes or performs abortion, except in cases of rape or incest or when the life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term.” This has been an executive branch policy under Republican administrations, but this bill would make it law. Because it applies to all health assistance worldwide, funding to NGOs delivering services to improve maternal and child health and nutrition and combat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other infectious diseases would be affected.
Health in general is also under attack. No funds for the World Health Organization, for example.
Human Rights and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Human rights are a definite target.
This bill prohibits funding for gender-affirming care, accurate information about gender, and even drag shows and flying Pride flags.
“None of the funds made available by this Act may be used for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, training, programs, offices, officers, policies or other executive agency functions.”
No funds for the UN Human Rights Council (unless it stops criticizing Israeli human rights violations).
Climate
There is also language in this bill that cuts off funding to combat climate change:
(a) Green Climate Fund—None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be made available as a contribution, grant, or any other payment to the Green Climate Fund.
(b) Clean Technology Fund—None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be made available as a contribution, grant, or any other payment to the Clean Technology Fund.
(c) Climate Damages—None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be made available for the Loss and Damage Fund or to pay compensation to any country, organization, or individual for loss and damages attributed to climate change…
(f) United Nations Framework Convention On Climate Change—None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to implement the decision by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s 21st Conference of Parties in Paris, France, adopted December 12, 2015, commonly known as the “Paris Agreement.”
(g) Climate Executive Orders—None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to implement, enforce, or otherwise carry out the following—
(1) Executive Order 13990, relating to Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science To Tackle the Climate Crisis;
(2) Executive Order 14008, relating to Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad;
(3) Section 6 of Executive Order 14013, relating to Rebuilding and Enhancing Programs To Resettle Refugees and Planning for the Impact of Climate Change on Migration;
(4) Executive Order 14030, relating to Climate-Related Financial Risk;
(5) Executive Order 14037, relating to Strengthening American Leadership in Clean Cars and Trucks;
(6) Executive Order 14057, relating to Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs through Federal Sustainability;
(7) Executive Order 14082, relating to Implementation of the Energy and Infrastructure Provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022; and
(8) Executive Order 14096, relating to Revitalizing Our Nation’s Commitment to Environmental Justice for All.
Palestine
The SFO Appropriations Bill eliminates funds for refugees, including prohibiting any funds to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which is the agency that provides direct services of healthcare and education to Palestinian refugees. This, despite the fact that the UNRWA has practically stood on its head to ensure that its facilities are not utilized for any purpose other than the provision of services by the UNRWA to Palestine refugees
(As this article was being penned, the news broke that Israel had bombed yet another UNRWA school, killing at least 16 Palestinians and injuring 75 including many children at the UNRWA’s Al-Jaouni school, which sheltered displaced people in al-Nuseirat camp in central Gaza.)
There is much anti-Palestinian language in the bill, including demands that any Palestinian entity receiving aid must recognize the state of Israel. Of course, there is no corresponding demand that Israeli governments or organizations recognize the state of Palestine. Just the opposite:
None of the funds appropriated under the heading “Economic Support Fund” in this Act may be made available for assistance for the Palestinian Authority, if after the date of enactment of this Act:
(i) the Palestinians obtain the same standing as member states or full membership as a state in the United Nations or any specialized agency thereof outside an agreement negotiated between Israel and the Palestinians; or
(ii) the Palestinians initiate an International Criminal Court (ICC) judicially authorized investigation, or actively support such an investigation, that subjects Israeli nationals to an investigation for alleged crimes against Palestinians.
Israel
Here’s the Israel section:
“Israel—Of the funds appropriated by this Act under the heading ‘Foreign Military Financing Program,’ not less than $3,300,000,000 shall be available for grants only for Israel: provided, that any funds appropriated by this Act under the heading ‘Foreign Military Financing Program’ and made available for assistance for Israel shall be disbursed within 30 days of the date of enactment of this Act:
“Provided further, That to the extent that the Government of Israel requests that funds be used for such purposes, grants made available for Israel under this heading shall, as agreed by the United States and Israel, be available for advanced weapons systems, of which not less than $450,300,000 shall be available for the procurement in Israel of defense articles and defense services, including research and development.”
Not less than $3.3 billion!
But, as Noam Chomsky and Karl Marx said, “The task is not just to understand the world but to change it.”
We must tell our senators that we want the language attacking our rights, attacking gender diversity, attacking women, attacking healthcare, attacking the climate, attacking Palestine, attacking Cuba—all of that—stripped from the Senate version of this bill: the State and Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Bill, H.R. 8771.
