Updated at 9:08 a.m., Friday, September 7, 2007
Senate approves $20 million for East-West Center
Advertiser Staff
The East-West Center would receive $20 million next year under a spending bill the Senate approved late Thursday.The money is part of a $34 billion spending bill to fund the State Department and foreign operations next year that the Senate approved 81-12.
The $20 million is double the $10 million that President Bush requested for the center in his budget blueprint for next year and about $1 million more than the center received this year.
House and Senate negotiators must now draft a final bill.
Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, (D-Hawai`i), a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said today that the center, created in 1960, is one of the world's premier education and research institutions.
"It has played a crucial role in strengthening relations and understanding in the Asia-Pacific region," he said.
The center's programs bring together scholars, specialists and journalists for discussion and research that helps promote "understanding, peace and prosperity in the Pacific Rim," Inouye said.
