Supplemental Appropriations for FY2000: Plan Columbia, Kosovo, Foreign Debt Relief, Home Energy Assistance, and Other Initiatives

Publication Date: July 2000

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: International relations

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Abstract:

Early in each new session of Congress, the Administration routinely submits requests for supplemental appropriations for the current fiscal year. By late April 2000, through several submissions to Congress, President Clinton had requested $5 billion in FY2000 supplemental appropriations, including $955 million for a counternarcotics initiative in Colombia and the Andean region, about $2 billion for DOD peacekeeping operations in Kosovo, $600 million for diplomatic support and economic aid related to Kosovo and the Balkans, $210 million for poor country debt relief, $600 million for home energy assistance to low income American families affected by high home heating oil prices and weather emergencies, and $426 million for domestic disaster relief that mostly involves ongoing post-1999 hurricane cleanup efforts. The Administration designated nearly all as emergency requirements for FY2000, thereby eliminating the need to reduce existing appropriations to offset the costs of additional spending. The White House proposed a limited number of offsets, rescissions, transfers, and delays in funding obligations totaling about $750 million.

The FY2000 supplemental request continues a pattern of the past few years in which the President has asked, and Congress has approved large supplementals generally focusing on defense, foreign policy, and domestic natural disasters and farm relief initiatives. In most cases, Congress has increased the President's proposed supplementals, adding funds especially for domestic programs and defense. A continuing controversy, however, has been the extent to which new appropriations should be offset by cuts in existing funds. Since FY1997, Congress has agreed to declare most supplementals as emergencies, adding a small amount of offsets.

The House and Senate tool different legislative approaches during consideration of the supplemental requests. On March 30, 2000, the House passed a $12.8 billion FY2000 supplemental appropriation measure (H.R. 3908), about $7.5 billion higher than the President's $5 billion request. Senate leaders decided not to consider H.R. 3908, but to attach portions of it to regular FY2001 appropriations for Military Construction (S. 2521), Foreign Operations (S. 2522), and Agriculture (S. 2536). As reported in mid-May, these bills provided about $8.6 billion in supplemental funding, well below the amount in H.R. 3908.

In June, congressional leaders agreed to merge all House and Senate-passed FY2000 supplemental funds into the pending FY2001 Military Construction measure (H.R. 4425) and resolve differences during conference committee negotiations on H.R. 4425. As approved on June 30, FY2000 supplemental funding totals $11.2 billion, more than double the President's request. The enacted bill increases the Colombia counternarcotics initiative to $1.3 billion, fully funds peacekeeping costs in Kosovo and low-income home energy assistance, adds about $4.6 billion for other Defense Department requirements, and triples the amount requested for U.S. natural disaster relief and other domestic programs. H.R. 4425, however, rejects funding for poor country debt relief and most Balkan assistance.