In a rare joint appearance, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates appeared together before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, April 29th, to discuss the Administration’s $83.4 billion FY09 Supplemental request, including $7.1 billion for the International Affairs Budget. During the hearing, Secretaries Clinton and Gates reinforced the importance of increasing the civilian capacity of the State Department and USAID, and addressed the growing level of cooperation and coordination between their respective departments.

• Excerpts from the Senate Appropriations Committee Hearing

By a vote of 233 to 193 in the House and 53 to 43 in the Senate, Congress yesterday approved the FY10 Concurrent Budget Resolution establishing congressional spending and budgetary limits for the fiscal year. The resolution provides $51 billion for the FY10 International Affairs Budget, which represents a $2.8 billion or 5.2% cut from the Administration’s request of $53.8 billion and a $1.2 billion or 2.5% increase over FY09 enacted and projected spending of $49.8 billion. The House and Senate Appropriations Committees are expected to proceed with the binding 302(b) allocations and mark-up of the 12 appropriations bills in early June following completion of the FY09 Supplemental request.