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Summary:
The annual State, Foreign Operations and Related Agencies appropriations bill is the primary legislative vehicle through which Congress reviews the U.S. international affairs budget and influences executive branch foreign policy making in general. Funding for Foreign Operations and State Department/Broadcasting programs has been steadily rising since FY2002, and amounts approved for FY2004 in regular and supplemental bills reached an unprecedented level compared with the past 40 years, largely due to Iraq reconstruction funding. Emergency supplementals enacted annually since September 11, 2001, also have pushed spending upward. On February 4, 2008, the President sent his FY2009 budget request to Congress. Major foreign policy issues confronting the second session of the 110th Congress include the following:
