U.S. Boosts Tsunami Aid Tenfold to $350M
"Our contributions will continue to be revised as the full
effects of this terrible tragedy become clearer," Bush said in a
statement issued in Crawford, Texas, where he is staying at his
ranch. "Our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by this
epic disaster."
The pledge of $350 million is 10 times the previous $35 million
U.S. assistance package that critics called miserly considering
America's vast wealth. In New York, Secretary of State Colin Powell
(news
- web
sites) also said more U.S. aid could be forthcoming.
"We had to wait and see what those needs were," Powell said. "I'm
not sure $350 million is the end number. It's the number that we
settled on for now."
Powell and the president's brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who
has experience with extensive hurricane damage in Florida, leave
Sunday to visit coastal areas in the Indian Ocean ravaged by last
Sunday's tsunamis.
The disaster, which killed more than 121,000 people and left
millions homeless, hungry and thirsty, triggered an outpouring of
support from across the globe.
On the second day of the crisis, America's $4 million pledge was
increased to $15 million, Powell said. Three days after the tragedy,
the U.S. aid was expanded to $35 million. By then many other nations
had pledged millions more. France has promised $57 million, Britain
$95 million, Sweden $75.5 million and Spain $68 million, although
that pledge was partly in loans.
Bush spoke on the phone Friday with British Prime Minister Tony
Blair (news
- web
sites), Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi and Canadian Prime
Minister Paul Martin. He said he increased U.S. assistance based on
recommendations by Powell and Andrew Natsios, administrator for the
U.S. Agency for International Development.
Powell said he wanted to make sure his recommendation to
drastically increase the aid was based on accurate assessments of
the need and not just a daily game among nations of "Can you top
this?"
The money comes from the Defense Department budget and USAID's
International Disaster Famine and Assistance account, said Noam
Neusner, a spokesman for the White House Office of Management and
Budget.
But Powell cautioned, "In due course, wherever the money comes
from, those accounts will have to be replenished, and that will take
action with the Congress, so we will be reaching out to Congress in
the days ahead."
The United States has formed a core group with India, Japan,
Canada and Australia to help coordinate relief efforts with the
United Nations (news
- web
sites). Other nations were expected to join the group, led by
Marc Grossman, under secretary of state for political affairs.
Powell encouraged nations to "reach deep" to make significant
contributions. "The need is great and not just for immediate relief,
but for long-term reconstruction, rehabilitation, family support,
economic support that's going to be needed for these countries to
get back up on their feet," he said after meeting with U.N.
Secretary General Kofi Annan (news
- web
sites).
Annan said he was concerned that those who needed help were not
getting it fast enough.
"We would want to get to everybody as quickly as we can," he
said. "But the situation is very difficult, particularly in Aceh,
Sumatra. We need to get access. This is one of the reasons we are
talking about air capacity, we need helicopters, we need airlift."
"It is a race against time," Annan said, "and we are pressing
ahead, trying to do it as fast as we can."
Bush said disaster response officials are in the region and the
United States has established a support center in Thailand. More
than 20 patrol and cargo aircraft have been made available to assess
the disaster and deliver relief supplies, he said.
The president said the United States has dispatched the aircraft
carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, a maritime squadron from Guam and an
amphibious ship carrying a Marine expeditionary unit. "They will
soon be in position to support relief efforts to include the
generation of clean water," he said.
A congressional delegation headed by Rep. Jim Leach (news,
bio,
voting
record), R-Iowa, a former U.S. foreign service officer, is
scheduled to visit Thailand and Sri Lanka next week. Senate Majority
Leader Bill Frist, who often travels to blighted areas, said Friday
that he will visit Sri Lanka and India next week.
The U.S. death toll has risen to 15, with eight dead in Thailand
and seven in Sri Lanka. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher
said some 600 Americans who were listed as missing have been found,
but several thousand had still not been located.
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