FACTBOX: Foreign Policy Priorities Emerge in Massive U.S. Funding Bill

WASHINGTON (Reuters) —

U.S. lawmakers packed a host of foreign policy and national security initiatives into the $1.1 trillion government funding bill passed on Friday.

Here are some of the measures included in or omitted from the bill:

ISRAEL: Perennially the recipient of the largest amount of U.S. aid, Israel gets $3.1 billion, about the same as last year, as well as hundreds of millions more for missile defense. Israel is also getting $40 million in funding for a new U.S.-Israel tunnel detection program.

EGYPT: As expected, Washington will send Egypt another $1.3 billion in military aid and $150 million in economic support this year, despite concerns by some lawmakers and rights groups about Egypt’s crackdown on dissent while fighting religious militants.

The State Department must first certify Egypt is taking steps to advance democracy and human rights.

IMF: Congress finally agreed to changes first approved in 2010 at the International Monetary Fund to give more power to emerging nations. Brazil, China, India are now among the IMF’s top 10 shareholders.

VISA WAIVER PROGRAM: The bill includes measures to tighten the “visa waiver” program, which allows residents of 38 countries to visit without first obtaining visas.

The visa waiver provisions exempt people who have visited Iran or hold dual Iranian citizenship, a possible violation of the new international nuclear deal with Iran. Congress may revisit the issue in early 2017.

REFUGEES: The omnibus lost some Republican votes because it did not include a provision to block President Barack Obama’s plan to admit 10,000 refugees from Syria in the next year.

The legislation would have required that refugees from Syria and Iraq be kept out of the United States until top administration officials had certified they would not pose a threat.

GUANTANAMO: The bill prohibits the use of federal funds to transfer prisoners from the military prison at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, or to construct or renovate facilities in the United States to house former Guantanamo detainees. It also bars the use of funds for transfer or release of Guantanamo detainees to Libya, Somalia, Syria or Yemen.

TUNISIA: The bill gives $142 million for Tunisia, considered the only country that had an “Arab Spring” change of government without subsequent military or political upheaval. The State Department had asked for $134 million, but Congress gave more.

UKRAINE: The bill provides $658 million for Ukraine, including $250 million to provide military training and equipment, including lethal equipment, as it deals with separatists backed by Russia.

UNESCO: Secretary of State John Kerry pushed hard for the United States to resume paying its $80 million in annual dues to the United Nations Economic, Scientific and Cultural Organization. But Congress will not fund any organization that recognizes the Palestinian territories as a state, as UNESCO does.

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