The Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday approved a $53 billion FY12 foreign operations appropriations bill, the Associated Press reports. “Reflecting the economic pressure, the bill is $6.2 billion less than President Barack Obama requested,” the news agency notes (Cassatta, 9/21).

According to a Senate Committee on Appropriations press release (.pdf), the bill provides $17.67 billion for the State Department and related agency operations, which is $1.68 billion below the president’s request, and $7.9 billion for Global Health Programs, which is $810.5 million below the request and $75.69 million above the FY11 level (9/21).