Foreign Aid

The money will help the global fight against AIDS, the secretary announced at the International AIDS Conference

Your morning global affairs speed-read

Washington, D.C. is playing host to the world's largest gathering of AIDS researchers, experts and patients all week long during the 19th International AIDS Conference. This is the first time in two decades the conference takes place in the United States after President Obama lifted the visa restriction on people with AIDS, and world leaders are scheduled to speak about the continued scourge of AIDS throughout the world and the hopes for treatment and a cure.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addresses the conference at 9:55 a.m. You can see the agenda for Monday here.

All's not quiet on the Syrian front: The European Union strengthened its arms embargo and sanctions on Syria in response to worsening violence. [The New York Times]

The sanctions come as Bashar Assad's forces reportedly fought rebels in the country's two largest cities, Aleppo and Damascus, with tanks and helicopters. [The Washington Post]

Empowering women: The Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women (IEEW) hosts an International Women’s Economic Summit with its graduating class today and Tuesday at the United States Institute of Peace. Former White House communications director Anita Dunn and the Afghan and Rwandan ambassadors are scheduled to speak.

The House on Wednesday night rejected a series of amendments that would have cut defense spending.

The House passed legislation Tuesday evening that authorizes the State Department, the Peace Corps, and the Broadcasting Board of Governors for 2013.

The bill, H.R. 6018, would mark the first time Congress has authorized State Department functions in more than 10 years. The bill was brought up under a suspension of House rules and passed easily in a 333-61 vote.

Former Sen. Coleman bashed Obama's record on trade, while Sen. Kerry chided Republicans for wanting to slash foreign aid.

Sen. Rand Paul's measure would block all aid until Pakistan releases a doctor who helped the U.S. locate bin Laden.

Your morning global affairs speed-read

Former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) share the presidential candidates' views on U.S. engagement with the world this afternoon at the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition's annual conference in Washington. The coalition of more than 400 businesses and nonprofit organizations supports continued U.S. investment in development and diplomacy.

Before Coleman and Kerry take the stage, former political party chairmen Ed Gillespie and Terry McAuliffe look ahead to the conventions and the final stretch of presidential and congressional campaigns. And Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) will be honored at a Tribute Dinner, followed by a discussion with former Secretaries of State Madeleine Albright and Colin Powell.

Authorize this: The House is looking to approve legislation today that would authorize the State Department and the U.S. Foreign Service for the first time in a decade. The outlook for the spending bill that would actually appropriate funds to the authorized programs is dim, however.

 The Foreign Relations Authorization Act, H.R. 6018, mostly authorizes spending at current levels, but the bill also gave the House Foreign Affairs Committee a chance to make specific policy changes, including authorizing some activities that already exist, without explicit congressional approval.

The U.S. State Department doesn't have enough experienced diplomats to fill increasing demands for overseas postings, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a new report Monday.

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The House is looking to approve legislation this week that would authorize the State Department and the U.S. Foreign Service for the first time in a decade.

The Foreign Relations Authorization Act, H.R. 6018, mostly authorizes spending at current levels, but the bill also gave the House Foreign Affairs Committee a chance to make specific policy changes, including authorizing some activities that already exist, without explicit congressional approval.

Activists are reigniting their attacks against President Obama's record on battling AIDS ahead of the International AIDS Conference in Washington later this month.

Two weeks before the conference of 20,000 leading researchers, patients and advocates, the administration has yet to confirm Obama's attendance at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center just one mile from the White House. This is the first time in more than two decades that the event, which will feature former Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush, takes place in the United States after Obama in 2009 lifted the 22-year-old ban on entry for people with the disease.

Despite that record, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation in a teleconference with reporters on Monday said Obama shouldn't bother showing up unless he's going to pledge a renewed commitment to the international fight against AIDS.

“The president's failure at this late date to commit to attending the conference unfortunately speaks volumes about this administration's commitment to the AIDS epidemic,” said Tom Myers, the foundation's chief of public affairs and general counsel. “This commitment has been lukewarm at best.”