Clinton Urges Veto on Foreign Relations Bill

Insists State Department 'Opposes This Bill'

In a letter issued to Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R – FL), Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned that the Foreign Relations Authorization Act is being officially opposed by the US State Department and that she is urging President Obama to veto it.

The resolution is putting a number of restrictions of foreign aid worldwide, demanding cuts unless the Obama Administration can affirm that the assorted nations impacted are meeting certain Congressional demands.

Clinton’s opposition seems not to be on general principle, for she has surely made similar demands and threatened to revoke funding surrounding them. Rather, her objection insists it would harm the State Department’s ability carry out the demands themselves, since they’ll be codified into law by Congress.

The House bill would actually be a net decline in foreign aid spending in the near term, but it is generally assumed that the funding would eventually be returned and even increased, assuming the nations eventually relent to US demands.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.