From his statement in the Senate :

Senators should know that there are provisions in this bill concerning international family planning that the President has said he will veto. That is no surprise, since these provisions are no different from what was contained in past bills Senator McConnell and I brought to the Senate floor. They are supported by a majority of Senators, but not enough to override a veto.

Again, these same provisions have been in the State, Foreign Operations bill year after year. Each year, the President says he will veto the bill because of them. And each year, they get resolved in conference with the House. This year will be no exception.

Senate-Passed FY2008 State-Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill

Includes Leahy-Feinstein Reforms

To Restrict The Sale Or Transfer Of Cluster Bombs

WASHINGTON (Friday, Sept. 7) – The Fiscal Year 2008 State-Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill passed late Thursday night by the Senate includes a measure, sponsored by Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), that for the first time would restrict the sale or transfer of cluster bombs, which continue to take a high casualty toll among innocent civilians.

Leahy is the chairman of the State-Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee, which drafts the annual funding bill for the State Department and U.S. foreign aid programs. Specifically, the spending bill requires that no military funds will be used for the sale or transfer or cluster bombs, unless the cluster bombs have a failure rate of one percent or less, and the sale or transfer agreement specifies that the cluster bombs will be used only against clearly defined military targets, and not where civilians are known to be present.

“Sensible standards can greatly reduce the gruesome casualties these weapons needlessly inflict on innocent civilians,” said Leahy, who long has led also on curbing the use of anti-personnel landmines. “Congress is taking the lead with these sensible and workable steps to set reliability standards for cluster munitions that are transferred or sold, and to keep them from being used among civilians. We hope the Administration will support this approach. This can be the start of a process and an example that can be a model for other nations to follow.”

“The Senate yesterday voted to approve a measure to help protect civilians from the dangers of cluster bombs,” said Feinstein, a leading member of the Appropriations Committee. “These volatile relics of the Cold War have taken their lethal toll on civilian populations all over the world for too long – from Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Middle East. It’s time to put an end to this needless death and suffering. And today’s vote by the Senate to restrict the sale or transfer of cluster bombs sends a message to the rest of the world that we’re ready to do our part to protect innocent men, women and children from these de facto landmines.”

Currently, the arsenal of the U.S. military contains 5.5 million cluster bombs, or 728 million bomblets – many of which have a failure rate of one percent or higher.

Kisses,

JanieBelle

Dream a little dream of me.