Among the 801 people surveyed, 15 percent was the median figure given when Americans were asked abou
Among the 801 people surveyed, 15 percent was the median figure given when Americans were asked about how much of the budget went to foreign aid. Other recent polls, including a Harris Poll in November 1993, indicated that Americans thought the Government devoted 20 percent or more of its spending to foreign assistance. The figure is about 1 percent of the Federal budget. Total foreign aid -- military and non-military combined -- is now about $13 billion a year. About half that, devoted largely to human-development programs relating to health, family planning and economic self-help, is administered by the United States Agency for International Development. When asked about an "appropriate" expenditure for aid, respondents to the January poll said about 5 percent of the budget, or about five times what is spent now.
Source: Foreign Aid Budget: Quick, How Much? Wrong. By BARBARA CROSSETTE Published: February 27, 1995 http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:0o3eCzrIiV8J:query.nytimes.com/gst/...