Clinton on testify on foreign policy budget next week

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will testify next week before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on President Obama's foreign policy budget proposals for 2013.

Committee Chairman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) is likely to press Clinton on the administration's foreign policy priorities for Latin America, as the congresswoman said earlier this month she was disappointed in proposed changes for next year.

Ros-Lehtinen said she opposed the budget plan that would cut assistance to Cuba and Venezuela but increase assistance to other Latin American countries and add another $1.5 million to the Organization of American States.

"The president's policy toward Latin America has largely sought to make concessions to the region's dictators, and this budget puts that in ink for all to see," she said. "I am disappointed that this administration continues to downplay the threats posed to democracy and human rights by the Western Hemisphere’s despots."

The administration's overall budget proposes $56.2 billion in spending, including $8.2 billion for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The total budget is a 2 percent increase above fiscal 2012 levels.

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