State Department--Assistance for Lebanon, B-303268,

B-303268 Jan 03, 2005 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights The State Department was not required to fulfill the requirements of section 1224 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, 2003, before it obligated the entire lump sum amount appropriated in the Foreign Operations, Expert Financing and Related Appropriations Act, 2003, for assistance to Lebanon. Although section 1224 required that $10 million of the lump sum appropriations be withheld until certain certification requirements were met and that these requirements were to be fulfilled "notwithstanding any other provision of law," section 534(a) of the appropriations act required that the lump sum appropriated for the assistance of Lebanon be available "notwithstanding any other provision of law." Because Congress passed section 534(a) more than four months after section 1224, section 534(a) superseded the requirements of section 1224. View Decision B-303268, State Department Assistance for Lebanon, January 3, 2005 January 3, 2005 B-303268 The Honorable Henry J. Hyde Chairman Committee on International Relations House of Representatives The Honorable Tom Lantos Ranking Minority Member Committee on International Relations House of Representatives Subject: State DepartmentAssistance for Lebanon This responds to your June 3, 2004, request for our legal opinion regarding the interpretation of section 1224 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, 2003 [1] (section 1224) and section 534(a) of the Foreign Operations, Expert Financing and Related Appropriations Act, 2003, as contained in the Consolidated Appropriations Resolution [2] (section 534(a)). You asked whether section 1224 of the authorization act conflicts with section 534(a) of the appropriations act with regard to funds appropriated for assistance to Lebanon, and, if so, whether section 1224, because it was enacted "notwithstanding any other provision of law," supersedes section 534(a). On September 30, 2002, Congress enacted section 1224, [3] which provides that10 million of funds "made available for fiscal year 2003 or any subsequent fiscal year" to the Economic Support Fund (ESF) [4] for assistance to Lebanon shall not be obligated until the President certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that Lebanon has deployed armed forces to the border between Lebanon and Israel and that Lebanon has asserted authority over the same area. Section 1224 mandates that these requirements be maintained "[n]othwithstanding any other provision of law...." Subsequently, Congress enacted section 534(a) [5] on February 20, 2003. It provided that funds appropriated in Titles I and II of the appropriations act for the assistance of Lebanon, among other countries, were to be "made available notwithstanding any other provision of law." In Title II of the act, Congress appropriated2.27 billion to the ESF and earmarked "not less than $35 million" of that amount for assistance to Lebanon. [6] The funds appropriated to the ESF for Lebanon and other countries were available through the end of fiscal year 2004 (September 30, 2004). 117 Stat. at 16667. As explained below, we conclude that, for fiscal years 2003 and 2004, section 534(a), enacted 4 months after section 1224, supersedes section 1224. As a result, the amounts appropriated in the Consolidated Appropriations Resolution were available for assistance to Lebanon in accordance with section 534(a) through fiscal year 2004. BACKGROUND Your request arises because of your concern that the State Department has made10 million available for assistance to Lebanon without regard to section 1224. According to the documentation submitted with your request, the State Department notified you that it intended to use the $10 million of the ESF to fund wastewater projects and environmental management projects in the Litani River Basin in southern Lebanon. Letter from Richard L. Armitage, Deputy Secretary of State, to the Honorable Tom Lantos, Mar.9, 2004. You protested this use of the ESF because the State Department did not adhere to the presidential certification requirement of section 1224 before releasing the funds. Letter from Chairman Henry J. Hyde and Ranking Minority Member Tom Lantos to Secretary of State Colin Powell, Mar. 24, 2004. The State Department responded stating that it had determined that section 534(a) of the appropriations act authorizes the release of moneys from the Economic Support Fund without the limitation set forth in section 1224. Letter from Secretary Colin Powell to Ranking Minority Leader Tom Lantos, Apr. 13, 2004. To address your request, we wrote to the State Department to obtain an explanation for its conclusion that section 534(a) superseded section 1224's certification requirement. The State Department replied in a letter dated October 14, 2004. Letter from James H. Thessin, Principal Deputy Legal Advisor, State Department, to Susan A.