AMMAN — The
US Congressional Research
Service issued a report on April 14 on US-Jordanian relations as Congress
prepared to approve the White House budget request of $1.45 billion for the
Kingdom for 2023. The report, which is prepared for members and committees of
Congress, states that the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is a key US partner in
the Middle East, and the two countries have cooperated on a number of regional
and international issues.
اضافة اعلان
Jordan remains at peace with Israel and is a primary
interlocutor with the Palestinians, the report said. Ongoing instability in
neighboring
Syria and Iraq magnifies Jordan’s strategic importance to the US.
Jordan also is a longtime US partner in global counterterrorism operations. US-Jordanian
military, intelligence, and diplomatic cooperation seeks to empower political
moderates, reduce sectarian conflict, and eliminate terrorist threats, it
added.
US officials frequently express their support for
Jordan, the reports stated, adding that US assistance has helped Jordan address
serious vulnerabilities, both internal and external. Jordan’s small size,
refugee burden, and lack of major economic resources have made it dependent on
aid from Western and various Arab sources. The
Biden Administration has
acknowledged Jordan’s role as a key US partner in promoting Israeli-Palestinian
peace, as many US policymakers advocate for continued robust US assistance to
the Kingdom.
The report went on to say that Jordan also hosts
over 3,000 US troops. Annual US aid to Jordan has nearly quadrupled in
historical terms over the last 15 years. The US has provided economic and
military aid to Jordan since 1951 and 1957, respectively. Total bilateral US
aid (overseen by the departments of state and defense) to Jordan through the
fiscal year (FY) of 2019 amounted to approximately $23.8 billion. “The
president’s FY2023 budget request includes $1.45 billion for Jordan. The
current five-year US-Jordanian memorandum of understanding on assistance
expires at the end of FY2022, and the two countries are negotiating a new
agreement,” the reports asserted.
It added that to date, the impact of
COVID-19 on
Jordan has been significant in terms of human and economic costs. As of early
April 2022, Jordan has had over 1.6 million cases and over 14,000 deaths
according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Real GDP contracted by 1.5
percent in 2020 and grew by 2 percent in 2021. Losses in government revenue
caused by fewer remittances and a weakened market for tourism are expected to
widen the budget deficit in the years ahead.
The reports pointed out that in the 117th Congress,
the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022, provides $1.65 billion in total
bilateral foreign assistance to Jordan. This includes over $1.2 billion in
economic support funds, of which $845 million is specified as a direct cash
transfer to the
Jordanian government. The act also provides $425 million in
foreign military financing. Since the current memo on assistance between the US
and Jordan commits the US to provide “no less than $1.275 billion per year in
US bilateral foreign assistance,” Congress has appropriated nearly $400 million
for Jordan above and beyond what was agreed upon in the MOU for FY2022.
The act “supports critical economic assistance needed
this fiscal year to help ensure Jordan’s ongoing stability, including to
strengthen Jordan’s borders and to help mitigate the impact of hosting millions
of refugees,” the reports says. They also direct the secretary of state to
“continue to support the government of Jordan’s efforts to implement economic
and democratic reforms” and to “consult with the committees on appropriations
on prospective policy proposals aimed at assisting
Jordan achieve additional
and long-lasting reforms, including in its water and public sectors.” Beyond
assistance from the state and foreign operations appropriations accounts, the
act also provides Jordan with security assistance from
US Defense Department appropriations accounts. The act specifies that Jordan receive “not less than”
$150 million from the Defense Department’s Operation and maintenance,
defense-wide account for the Defense Security Cooperation Agency to reimburse
Jordan for border security. The act also includes authority for loan guarantees
for Jordan, the report said.
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