Senator Leahy commends President for support of Peace Corps funding increase, criticizes other aspects of Bush's Foreign Assistance Plan

"But even a cursory look behind the curtain reveals a shell game that slights our help to some of the world's most despairing people. Under the President's actual budget proposals, the President's words do not yet match his deeds. The President is asking other nations to do more, as they should. But he has budgeted only half the amount to combat AIDS that Congress authorized. His other initiatives rob Peter to pay Paul, and the Peters and the Pauls in this case are the poorest of the poor. The President's budget would require cuts in vital foreign aid programs, including work to improve child and maternal health, efforts to combat infectious diseases, initiatives to promote democracy building, and programs that feed and shelter refugees."