Press Statement
Adam Ereli, Deputy Spokesman
Washington, DC
March 18, 2004

United States Contributes $76 Million to the International Committee of the Red Cross

The United States is pleased to announce a contribution of $76 million to
the International Committee of the Red Cross. This is the first contribution
in response to the organization s 2004 emergency appeals for field operations.

Nearly half of this $76 million will help fund International Committee of
the Red Cross activities in Africa -- where its largest operations are in
Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia and Ethiopia -- to ensure that
the needs of conflict victims are not forgotten. This contribution is in
addition to the recently announced U.S. special pledge of $900,000 to the
International Committee of the Red Cross in response to the crisis in Haiti.

The United States strongly supports the work of the International
Committee of the Red Cross to provide protection and assistance to over 5,000,000 conflict victims and displaced persons worldwide, typically in very difficult and dangerous circumstances. In FY 2003, the U.S. contribution of more than $150 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross once again made
the United States its single largest donor.