Senate Passes Amendment to Restore International-Aid Money

The Senate approved today an amendment that would provide all the money to foreign aid that President Obama requested.

Charities such as the One Campaign and InterAction, an umbrella group of international charities, had lobbied for the amendment, which would restore $4-billion the Senate Budget Committee had sought to cut from Mr. Obama’s foreign-aid budget.

The Obama administration had initially proposed spending $53.8-billion on foreign assistance in 2010, an increase of roughly 8 percent over the previous year.

International charities were thrilled by the Senate’s move.

Following the vote, the One Campaign posted a blog item entitled “Victory.” International charities were also corresponding with each other on the social-networking site Twitter about the vote. “Are you dancing in your office?” someone from InterAction wrote to the charity Refugees International. The group’s reply: “Break dancing, really!”