America's foreign aid programs are controversial. Polls indicate most Americans want the United States to be a generous donor of foreign aid. At the same time, these Americans greatly overestimate how much help we send overseas.
Others are concerned that our foreign aid falls far short of the global commitments made in the Millennium Development Goals. And yet others say Western foreign assistance is focused more on "giving a man a fish" than on "teaching a man to fish."

To deal, in part, with this complexity, Congress moved in 2004 to create a panel which would recommend small and large changes to the structure of U.S. And their report is now available.

Yesterday, the House passed the FY08 omnibus bill that included significant increases in funding for extreme poverty and global disease programs.

If passed by the Senate later today, FYO8 spending would include over 7 billion on global health programs, which will literally make the difference between life and death for millions of people.

Some additional highlights from the bill below:

• Basic education: The federal government will provide $694 million for grants to organizations that support basic education programs around the world. An
  estimated 72 million children worldwide lack access to basic education.
• Access to safe drinking water: With $298 million allocated for safe water programs, this legislation will enable high-priority countries to provide
  safe drinking water, build water systems and implement hygiene programs.
• Child and maternal health: The funding would provide $450 million dedicated to improving child and maternal health. Everyday, 27,000 children die from preventable, treatable diseases such as diarrhea, pneumonia and measles. Additional funding for child and maternal health programs will provide effective, affordable preventative measures such as immunizations, antibiotics, clean drinking water and vitamin supplements.

-Virginia Simmons