3:30 pm (EST) 
Real Audio of Briefing
MODERATOR: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the Foreign Press Center. As I'm sure you saw in the media several weeks ago, President Bush signed the congressional appropriations to fund the government, including the Department of State, for Fiscal Year 2003, which is the year that we're in right now and that runs until the end of September.
This is the season in Washington when various departments go to Congress and make their requests for funding for Fiscal Year 2004, which starts in October 1 of this year. And as you probably know, Secretary of State Powell has been up on the Hill testifying and will continue to do so. Today we're delighted to have with us to brief you on the budget request for 2004, first of all, to my immediate left, Christopher Burnham, Assistant Secretary of State for Resource Management and Chief Financial Officer; then to his left, Joseph Bowab, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Foreign Assistance Programs and Budget; and to his left Sharon Nell, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Programs and Budget.
Assistant Secretary Burnham will have an opening statement to make and then we will open up to your questions.
Secretary Burnham.
MR. BURNHAM: Thank you very much. Good afternoon, all. It's a pleasure to be here and it's a particular pleasure because the President has been most generous in the '04 budget to the State Department in meeting the President and the Secretary's foreign policy priorities.
I divide the budget into two halves: state operations and foreign operations. On the state operations side, I define it as people, places and productivity as being the three most important goals of the Secretary. By people, it is without a doubt building a workforce, a diplomatic corps that can meet the needs and contingencies of the United States abroad in the 21st century. Two years ago the Secretary initiated the Diplomatic Readiness Initiative: 399 new positions last year, 399 new positions this year, 299 positions in the first year at an approximate cost of $97 million, the third and final tranche of that, again, 399 positions, is included in the '04 budget and finishes the Secretary's initiative to plus-up the diplomatic corps by over a thousand people. [Actually,] it is both diplomatic corps as well as civil servants, so it's not solely Foreign Service Officers, but it certainly will meet the Secretary's priorities for people moving forward.
Regarding places, we talk about our places as trying to provide Class A, secure work environments for our people, both domestically, but particularly overseas. This means that we want to go out there and build or refurbish our embassies, our consulates, make sure they are secure for our people to work in in an increased threat environment, but also afford the kind of work platform that both Americans, as well as the foreign service nationals who participate and work in our embassies abroad, can be proud of.
That's over a $1.5 billion effort, both domestically as well as overseas, for new buildings, for personnel associated with security with those buildings, other initiatives [such as] refurbishment; the whole account is over $1.5 billion.
And finally, by productivity I mean how do we increase our productivity within the Department. The Secretary's vision for this is that we have a technology platform for the 21st century. We're going to spend, with the approval of Congress, over $270 million for technology and technology programs within the State Department. We are focused on replacing old legacy systems, integrating in a knowledge management tool that brings together all the different pieces of information -- the thousands upon thousands of pieces of information -- that come into the State Department daily. Whether it's a legacy cable system, whether it's an e-mail system, whether it's an archival retrieval system, by productivity we mean that we will become a modern corporation on a modern technology platform in secure, modern buildings with the right people to get the job done so that we can ensure that we can execute the President’s and the Secretary's foreign policy priorities.
On the foreign operations side, foreign assistance, there are many initiatives but there are four or five priorities. Without a doubt, the Secretary’s and President's priority on foreign operations is the war on terrorism. We're going to win that war. We are winning that war right now. This budget continues to reflect the United States' commitment to win that war on terrorism.
We have a global fight against AIDS. We're certainly going to participate in that global fight again in '04, we hope with $450 million. It's going to be a focus on African and Caribbean nations and it represents, again, the Secretary's and President's commitments to winning the global war against AIDS.
The third [priority is] also a very important priority of the President and the Secretary is the fight against illegal drugs. It focuses on efforts within the Andean region and particularly commitments to the government and the people of Colombia. This budget reflects the commitment of the President and funds to the degree that we feel is necessary to continue prosecuting the war against illegal drugs.
And finally, the Millennium Challenge Account. This is the President's bold initiative to bring $1.3 billion to out-of-the-box thinking, meaning that we want to focus on countries that meet 16 specific criteria to help jumpstart their employment opportunities, their job creation, their economic growth and development, but in ways that we haven't done so in the past. It is, without a doubt, the most important economic initiative in years. And it will start out at the $1.3 billion level and ramp up to a $5 billion level when the first part of the program is completed.
With that, let me open it up to questions. And Ms. Sharon Nell and Mr. Joe Bowab, who run the specific programs, Joe Bowab, Foreign Operations; and Sharon Nell, State Operations; will all be happy to answer your questions to the degree that we can and with the depth that you require. So thank you so much.
MODERATOR: Let me remind you to please use the microphone and mention your name and your organization.
QUESTION: I'm al-Ashmuni (ph) from Al-Anwar newspaper, Lebanon. I would like to know USAID that means you give aid to different countries for different programs. I would like to know the Arab world and Islamic world are including in this -- included in this budget, and where?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BURNHAM: I didn't understand the question, the Islamists what?
MODERATOR: The Islamic and Arab world, where is it included in this budget?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BURNHAM: Well, I'll start off, Joe, and why don't you jump in. It's included in the Foreign Operations side under programs such as Economic Support Funds, ESF, also under Foreign Military Financing, also under programs such as International Military Education and Training, as well as Development Assistance. There is some money in there for Lebanon, as well. Now let me ask Joe to answer your question more in depth and perhaps more specifically about some of the countries you may be interested in.
MR. BOWAB: The majority of the funding in the budget, if you want to go to a specific place in the budget that addresses the Arab world, of course, is in the Near Eastern portion of the budget, which includes all of those countries, including Lebanon.
I don't know if you have a copy of the budget with you. No, you just have handouts. There's a portion in the budget, and it's broken down regionally -- globally by region -- and the Arab portion of the budget that addresses programs in that region are located in the Near Eastern portion of the budget. And, of course, because Israel and Egypt are in that regional breakdown, the numbers are, of course, quite high for that portion of the world.
QUESTION: How much is the portion of Israel and how much is the portion of Egypt and how much is the portion of the other Arab worlds? Can you give me this?
MR. BOWAB: I can't give you the exact percentages, but of course the large majority of the budget in that region goes to Israel and Egypt.
MR. BURNHAM: It's available on the website, though.
MR. BOWAB: And so is the budget-in-brief and the summary.
MR. BURNHAM: Yeah. Highlights are all available on our website.
MODERATOR: Joe, could you perhaps explain just a little bit more what the Economic Support Funds go towards, the types of things?
MR. BOWAB: Sure. One of the larger accounts in the Foreign Operations portion of the budget is the Economic Support Fund. Now the Economic Support Fund supports political and economic objectives of the United States. So it is an account that can address both the political nature of foreign policy as well as the economic.
You're familiar with USAID, the United States Agency for International Development. They have specific accounts that address development assistance and address health programs globally. Now those programs, which total well over $3 billion, address development programs on the ground. The Economic Support Fund, which is about $2.5 billion in assistance, addresses political and economic foreign policy objectives.
MODERATOR: Okay. Next question.
QUESTION: With respect, I'm Pauline Clay (ph) of New Africa Media. With respect to Africa, you mentioned that you have funds for AIDS and economic development. How can -- are those truly funds or are they just credits? Because we -- if they are truly funds, how does one access those funds? They want to publish something to the -- that will get to the African leadership as to how they can utilize those funds?
MR. BOWAB: Right now, the way the account structures are set up, the preponderance of the funds that go to Africa are grants, which are programs that happen on the ground. It is not cash that the governments receive in Africa. They are grants that they draw on based on agreements that we have with those countries on the program. So there are actual projects on the ground such as HIV/AIDS. It would be a specific program that we and the country have agreed to, but we would not hand them -- the government -- the money in order for them to do the programs, so they're grants.
Now, once the Millennium Challenge Account is all worked through and the final decisions are made on countries and proposals are looked at in some respect, because the Millennium Challenge Account will go to countries that already have established track records of doing well with resources. Those countries could receive cash grants in the form of cash based on projects that they would like to do within their country. But right now, the preponderance of the programs are not cash transfers to the governments.
MODERATOR: Okay. We had one in the back?
QUESTION: I'm Heloise Chet (ph). I'm also assisting with the New Africa Media. My question to you is it says $450 million to combat the AIDS pandemic. In proportion to people of Africa, right here the United States is about 35 million or 35 - 50 million to Nigeria's 135 million. That's about half the size of Nigeria, the equivalent of the United States is. Now, considering the whole continent, how many dollars is that per person?
MR. BOWAB: I'm sorry. I didn't understand. 35 million people in the United States?
QUESTION: The United States is about, I'm guessing, 35 million people, the total United States, 350 million.
MR. BOWAB: It's 280 million, actually, about.
QUESTION: 200?
MR. BOWAB: 280 million people.
QUESTION: How many is your dollar amount for AIDS for the continent of Africa if the country of Nigeria is $150 million?
MR. BOWAB: Well—
QUESTION: And we're about a little less than half or whatever.
MR. BOWAB: Well, I think --
QUESTION: Considering all of the other countries of Africa, what is your dollar amount per person within the continent for AIDS?
MR. BOWAB: Right. I can't do that math in my head without knowing the exact number of the people on the continent of Africa. However, what we have with the $450 million is an unprecedented commitment by the Government of the United States to fight and win the war against AIDS.
The President has funded this more than we have in the past. He has focused that funding on an African and Caribbean initiative. And we have been working; the administration has been working with drug companies to get the price of drugs that deal with AIDS treatment down to a level to stretch those dollars.
However, more importantly, there is an additional focus, Secretary Powell's focus on prevention. We have to address the issue of preventing AIDS transmission. And that comes with a program that includes education on abstinence. It includes education and the distribution of sex education and birth control, all in an attempt to make sure that the next generation within Africa, and in the Caribbean Basin particularly, but also including Asia, that it just does not spread the way it has, the way it currently has. But let me again say that this is an unprecedented commitment by the President to address this global crisis.
Let me just say a little bit more about that. You shouldn't get fixated on the $450 million. That's just a portion of what the government committed to. In '04, the international AIDS funding from both the State Department and [the Department of] Health and Human Services exceeds $2 billion dollars, and the majority of that funding does go to Africa. The $450 represents just a portion of new money that is coming to the State Department to address HIV/AIDS.
The number in the [government-wide] '04 budget is $2 billion. Now, the President in the State of the Union address committed $15 billion over five years for HIV/AIDS. The first installment takes part in '04, in which $2 billion is in the budget to address that program. So it's much more than $450 million that's being put into the HIV/AIDS program.
MR. BURNHAM: Which is the State Department portion of that.
MR. BOWAB: Yes. The $450 is just the State Department portion of the HIV/AIDS initiative.
QUESTION: And the Caribbean.
MR. BOWAB: And the Caribbean. Global, it's our global, State Department's global initiative.
QUESTION: Can I ask my question?
MODERATOR: Microphone.
QUESTION: Oh. You mentioned that you have -- it's as though you've already selected the organizations that will be responsible for distribution and who are going to be the grantees of these funds because you said that you were looking at those that were already on the ground. So does that mean, and correct me if I'm wrong, that you are not selecting any new organizations or NGOs that want to -- who may have an impressive record of clinical studies with AIDS? Do you see what I'm saying?
MR. BOWAB: No. We're not -- if you thought that's what I said, that's not what I meant. We are not working within the organizations. We are not only going to work within the organizations that are currently on the ground, but we will be looking to other organizations, also.
This new initiative, because of the success rate in Uganda and because of the system that they have set up in Uganda where you have concentric circles going out into the community, this is going to be the model that we are going to use for this new initiative throughout Africa because it seems to be a model that is working and is proving effective in Uganda. At the State of the Union [address], I don't know if you noticed, but they had a Ugandan doctor there that is the point person on the ground for that government as far as running this program that's been highly successful. This is the prototype that we're going to use for this new initiative. So it does not -- it's not something that has been predetermined. It's something that still needs to be determined as far as how these funds will be allocated.
QUESTION: If one wants to recommend the number of new companies that have come forth with what we think, truly, is the cure for AIDS, how do we get in touch with the State Department to access funding for that for those companies?
MR. BOWAB: I think, probably, if you have pharmaceutical companies or something like that that you believe could make a difference and the price is right, then I think probably the best organization to get in contact with would be a bureau at the State Department and it's the Bureau of Oceans, Environmental and Science, and they, right now -- and this of course would be in the science portion -- they, right now, have the policy oversight for HIV/AIDS programs within the State Department.
QUESTION: Well, after the meeting -- briefing, we'll talk with you.
MR. BOWAB: Sure.
MR. BURNHAM: Although HHS, as well.
MR. BOWAB: Yeah, but for State it's -- but you may also want to consider the Health and Human Services Department and contacting their AIDS office, as well.
MODERATOR: Okay. Any questions? Yes. Back up to Lebanon?
QUESTION: There is an program in the State Department promoting the democracy, I think, the public democracy, or -- it there the budget that you said for the Department of State national, will be, this program will be part of this budget?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BURNHAM: Very much so. Joe, do you want to?
MR. BOWAB: There's a number of programs that we have in the budget that specifically are for the promotion of democracy and good governance. We should get you, actually, a copy of the budget. It would be much easier to see it. I know it's difficult asking questions when you don't have a copy of the budget.
Each region of the world has a democracy account that addresses regional democracy issues. There is a specific account, it's called, a Human Rights and Democracy Fund, that is run out of our bureau at the State Department that addresses global democracy issues. And they fund programs out of this account to address global democracy issues. They kind of think a little bit out-of-the-box when it comes to democracy programs and the regional bureaus have ongoing programs that they have addressed over the years.
Now, USAID also has a very large democracy and good governance program that's significantly larger than the State Department's, dollar-wise. We work closely with USAID to ensure that what we are doing complements one another as far as programs and that we don't duplicate what we're doing out in the field, and both our Human Rights and Democracy Bureau at the State Department and USAID's Democracy Center work very closely in developing democracy programs globally.
Have you not received the highlights document for '04?
QUESTION: No, I don't think we did.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BURNHAM: Okay.
QUESTION: We'd welcome it, though.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BURNHAM: I know you have handouts, but the handouts don't speak to the entire budget.
QUESTION: What I wanted to ask is, each year you put an amount of money for each program.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BURNHAM: Yes.
QUESTION: And this amount of money is increasing or decreasing after the report that come from these countries that say that this program is okay or no? I want to know about that. How do you put the numbers and what is the criteria of putting the numbers?
MR. BOWAB: We have a planning process instituted by Secretary Powell and Secretary Armitage two years ago that is now linking planning, budgeting and performance. Performance is a very key component there because we want to make sure that we are spending American taxpayer dollars as wisely and as effectively as possible.
The process begins with each embassy submitting a business plan. The business plan is called a Mission Performance Plan, or MPP. Those have been written and submitted in the last month and are being reviewed currently at the State Department.
Those, then, form the foundation of Bureau Performance Plans. Every bureau within the Department has to submit a business plan, known as a Bureau Performance Plan. The regional -- Europe, Near East, East Asia and Pacific, Africa, South Asia and Western Hemisphere -- the six regional bureaus, all then roll up the MPPs into a bureau-wide plan that collectively form the Global Business Plan for our foreign policies at the embassies and the programs we're going to fund. It includes not only the operations of the embassy, whether, you know, how much it costs to pay for the lights to be put on or for a new rug or automobile or salaries, to the programs such as Economic Support Funds or development assistance, or child survival and disease dollars that are used to help fight cholera and malaria and AIDS and other programs, medical programs like that.
That process all then gets taken up where Mr. Armitage, the Deputy Secretary of State, reviews these business plans in the late spring and early summer, and from that we then, the three of us, then build a budget.
Having already gone through that cycle for the '04 budget, the budget we're discussing today, we are now in the process of building a budget for Fiscal Year '05, beginning in October of 2004. And it will be that budget that we submit to the Office of Management and Budget of the Executive Office of the President this September, and it will be that budget that the President will then submit to Congress next February 1st.
Did that answer your question?
MODERATOR: Perhaps I can supplement that from the perspective of an individual embassy. Particularly in developing countries, the embassy always places a great deal of emphasis on development of democracy in many forms, whether it's helping NGOs to develop, helping the media to develop, providing a library, say, for the legislature, or providing training for legislators. So there's a great number of programs.
And what the embassy does after it has identified the basic needs in the country, they sit down and say, all right, we'll take this much budget from AID to support this, this much from the State Department budget, and maybe we can get some money from the Department of Treasury to train officials in the ministry of finance, and so forth. So support for development of democracy is very important in our embassies.
MR. BOWAB: To make it very specific, our embassy in Beirut sends us a document which outlines all the priorities for the country, and it not only outlines the priorities for what the embassy needs, but it outlines the priorities for what the ambassador believes support our foreign policy initiatives in Lebanon. That all comes to us, and then it's incorporated within the Near Eastern Affairs Bureau as a larger plan. We look at everything, including the request from Beirut, when we sit down to make recommendations on these numbers. We get that from every single embassy in the world.
MODERATOR: The lady in the back.
QUESTION: Of the 1.3 billion for the Millennium Challenge Account, how much has gone directly to the African countries?
MR. BURNHAM: The countries have not been selected yet. The criteria has been agreed to, and it's 16 different components that a country must meet and adhere to. They have to have a proven track record that they're already on the road to democracy and transparency, good governance, and that, as Joe said, that they know how to use these resources wisely. But the list itself has not been developed yet.
MODERATOR: Okay. Any final questions?
QUESTION: At the current time, I'm working as the campaign manager for one of the candidates in Nigeria who is running for the Federal Republic of Nigeria. There's a significant issue here where the Nigerian nationals are not voting absentee in their country.
What we've done is try to set up, put together a mechanism that will allow them to vote, because, as we know, there are 30 -- there's 20 million Nigerians outside of the country of Nigeria that are not voting.
And I was wondering, how can the State Department, since it's bent on good governance and democracy, help to bring these people into the voting -- to the enfranchisement process, and how can we official -- we have developed, as I said, the mechanism to do so, but it still appears that the embassies are not always very, for lack of a better word, pleased with that system. And yet, I notice that former President Carter is already on the ground in Nigeria, but it's -- nothing is happening.
So, and we have -- my candidate is a female, Sarah Jabril, and I'm just wondering, how can we -- you know, she has the -- I'm sure she will -- she's carrying the women's vote, she's carrying the youth vote, there's tremendous work to try to get her in. But we are told that there may be a very slim chance because this is such a male-dominated culture that won't acknowledge women.
So I'm asking you, given that this is women's month and we are out there, what can be done to assist in making sure that the votes get through, those absentee ballots?
ASSISANT SECRETARY BURNHAM: Well, I'm not aware of any specific programs like that. We certainly have programs throughout Africa that focus on building democracies and good governance. And as we do that, we focus on the fact that democracies have participation from both men and women, and there are programs out there that specifically are meant to bring more women candidates into the democratic system in various countries throughout Africa. There are programs out there that go out and help train these candidates to make them better candidates.
Joe, would you like to add anything more specific?
MR. BOWAB: Of course, absentee ballots are something that's very difficult in any country, as far as trying to develop a program where you can do absentee voting and then verify that the ballots are, in fact, from the individuals that they were sent to. You've got to remember that our programs are government-to-government programs, and we have to work within the existing strictures of that government. We don't go into a country and just do what we want to do because it makes sense that we should do it, because we develop agreements between ourselves and the country as far as the programs [are concerned].
The Carter Center -- we fund the Carter Center to do a number of things in the elections arena. I don't believe we've received any requests from either the Government of Nigeria, the National Endowment for Democracy, or the Carter Center on doing absentee ballots in any elections, including Nigeria. So we haven't seen anything officially that has asked the State Department to look at that, or even to fund that type of project.
We have a large AID mission in Nigeria. That large AID mission works daily on these types of programs. And if it's something that needs to percolate from the grassroots on up, I think probably the best place to start would be with our mission in Nigeria.
MODERATOR: Okay. If there are no further questions, I would thank you very much.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BURNHAM: Thank you.
MODERATOR: And thank you, ladies and gentlemen, as well.
