According to the Committee's secretariat, the aid reduction was due to the need to generally cut the budget.
On February 14, U.S. President George W. Bush requested a total of $81.9 billion in additional funding for next year from the Congress. The request's chapter covering aid to other countries asked for the additional allocation of "$60 million to support and consolidate historical gains achieved during the recent democratic election in Ukraine."
The House's Appropriations Committee almost halved the sum requested by Mr. Bush.
RIA Novosti's copy of the budget bill notes that "the committee reserved for Ukraine $33.7 million instead of the $60 million requested by the president under the program of aiding the newly-independent states of the former Soviet Union." The House of Representatives began to consider the bill Wednesday.
Despite the reduction in aid, the bill emphasized that "the committee is welcoming the democratic initiative of the Ukrainian people and is allocating the sum for projects to quickly demonstrate the [U.S.] support for the Yushchenko government, as well as for paying the expenses relating to the upcoming parliamentary election."
The Senate is also working on its version of the bill that could feature amendments to the initial request by Mr. Bush.
The Senate is not expected to review its bill until early April.
Once the House and the Senate approve their versions of the bill, they are to set up a conciliation commission to craft a joint variant for final voting and submitting to the president for approval.
