Congress wants to arm Taiwan, but hasn’t figured out how to pay for it
By Joe Gould and Bryant Harris
Dec 1, 03:21 PM
WASHINGTON ― Lawmakers eager to boost security aid to Taiwan may soon authorize as much as $10 billion in new State Department financing for Taipei to buy U.S. weaponry. But it’s an open question whether appropriators will approve the actual dollars.
A soon-to-be-released draft 2023 National Defense Authorization Act would authorize $2 billion in aid per year over five years and another $1 billion annually in equipment from U.S. military stockpiles.
But while authorization bills can create programs, only appropriations bills have the legal authority to spend U.S. funds. And key Democratic appropriators are expressing misgivings. Given the steady pressure from Republicans to lower the State Department’s budget, some worry adding new spending on Taiwan aid would mean cuts for other areas of diplomacy, potentially including security aid to other countries.
“Some of us, including myself, expressed the concern that if we put out the big authorizing number on Taiwan, but could not meet it [with appropriations], that would send the wrong signal,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., who sits on the Foreign Relations Committee and the State Department appropriations panel, told Defense News. “We were also concerned that unless we increased the overall authorization for foreign assistance, it would eat into other important security assistance programs.”
https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2022/12/01/congress-wants-to-arm-taiwan-but-hasnt-figured-out-how-to-pay-for-it/
