Despite attempts by Hawaii's two Democratic congressional members to restore funding for the East-West Center, a U.S. House committee approved a measure that would abolish the Manoa institution.
Ashley Nagaoka, spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, said the House Committee on Foreign Affairs rejected an amendment Thursday from congressional delegate Eni Faleomavaega, D-American Samoa, a member of the committee, designed to save the center.
The 161-page bill for the Foreign Relations Authorization Act before the Republican-controlled House would repeal the 1960 law that established the Center for Cultural and Technical Exchange Between East and West. The institution, commonly referred to as the East-West Center, promotes cultural and technical interchanges between East and West and funds students from Pacific Rim nations to study at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
Nagaoka said Hanabusa will introduce a floor amendment restoring the East-West Center program if the House Rules Committee allows floor amendments. There was no immediate timetable for when that action could occur.
Both Hanabusa and U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono spoke in favor of Faleomavaega's amendment Thursday. Hirono has noted the loss of the center would adversely affect U.S. foreign policy and national security interests in the Asia-Pacific region.
In recent years the East-West Center has been target of budget cuts as lawmakers seek ways to trim the federal deficit. However, this is the first time members of the GOP-controlled House have attempted to kill the center by repealing the 1960 legislation that created it.
Last year, President Barack Obama proposed reducing its federal funding to $12 million from $21 million, arguing that this would encourage the center to seek other sources for money.
However, U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, increased its funding.
Charles Morrison, president of the East-West Center, said the House and Senate have for several years now been unable to agree on an bill authorizing a budget for the Manoa facility, and its operations have been funded through separate appropriation bills.
However, Morrison said Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, D.-Mass., and the ranking GOP member on the committee, Richard Lugar of Indiana, have been "supportive" of East-West Center programs.
Morrison said he wasn't surprised by the actions of the House given the current political environment. "I think we are facing for some time now uncertain situations."
The East-West Center was established on the UH-Manoa campus in 1960. The nonprofit organization gets annual federal funding of about $21 million and additional funds of about $10 million provided by private agencies, individuals, foundations, corporations and governments. The center helps foreign students receive higher education on scholarships in the U.S. and provides programs related to training, research and economic development.
About 200 people work at the center, said spokeswoman Karen Knudsen.
Knudsen said the State Department has indicated strong support for the program, and she believes eliminating the center and its funding are unlikely, given the support in the Senate and the Hawaii congressional delegation.
Obama's half sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, was hired about a year ago to work as a part-time educator at the center. Her work is paid for by private funds.
Obama's mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, was an East-West Center fellow in 1973.
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