Bush Signs $20.9B Foreign Aid Spending Bill; Measure Contains $2.8B To Fight AIDS, TB, Malaria

President Bush on Monday signed into law a $20.9 billion fiscal year 2006 foreign operations spending bill (HR 3057) that includes more money to fight global HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria than he requested but less funding than he proposed for the Millennium Challenge Account, Washington File reports (McConnell, Washington File, 11/15). The bill includes $2.8 billion to fight HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria, which is $258 million more than Bush requested for the diseases in his FY 2006 budget proposal. The $2.8 billion includes $450 million for the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Bush requested that $3.2 billion be appropriated across all departments to fight the three diseases worldwide, including $300 million for the Global Fund. The foreign aid spending bill also includes $1.77 billion for MCA, which is $282 million more than current funding but less than Bush's request of $3 billion. When Bush created MCA in 2002, he had planned to provide $5 billion to the program in FY 2006. However, the program over the last two years has approved agreements with only four countries for projects totaling $610 million, even though Congress has appropriated $2.5 billion during that time (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 11/11).