State Department and Related Agencies FY2001 Appropriations

Publication Date: February 2001

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Government

Type:

Abstract:

On February 7, 2000, the President submitted his FY2001 budget request which included nearly $7 billion for the Department of State and the Broadcasting Board of Governors. This represented an increase of $661.5 million (or 10.5%) from the FY2000 enacted level which Congress had passed in an omnibus bill on November 19, 1999; the President had signed it into law (P.L. 106-113) on November 29, 1999.

Earlier, the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1999 (P.L. 105277, section 1001) had required the foreign policy agencies to be reorganized before FY2000. Subsequently, the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA) merged its functions into the Department of State, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) reorganized and came directly under the authority of the Secretary of State as of April 1, 1999. The U.S. Information Agency (USIA) consolidated its information and exchange functions into the Department of State, while as of October 1, 1999 the broadcasting functions became an independent agency referred to as the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG).

The Administration's FY2001 request would have: 1) provided more than $1 billion for worldwide security upgrades at U.S. facilities, 2) continued increasing the capital investment fund, and 3) increased U.S. Contributions to the U.N.'s International Organizations (CIO) and its U.N. Contributions to International Peacekeeping (CIPA) funds. In addition, the international broadcasting budget request of $6.96 billion represented a 6.3% increase over the FY2000 level.

The House Commerce, Justice, State (CJS) Appropriations Subcommittee reported out its version of the CJS FY2001funding legislation on June 6, 2000. The full House Appropriations Committee reported out its version on June 15th. The bill (H.R. 4690) was formally introduced on June 19, 2000. House floor action occurred on June 22nd and 23rd; the House passed the bill (214-195-1) on June 26, 2000 after agreeing to transfer $10 million out of State and into the Legal Services Corp. The House funding level for the State Department and international broadcasting totaled $6.55 billion.

The Senate Appropriations Committee reported their version of H.R. 4690 on July 18, 2000. The Senate Committee recommended no significant increase in worldwide security upgrade funding, but a 30% increase in the Capital Investment Fund and 10% increase in exchange programs. The Senate Committee recommended a total FY2001 funding level of $6.56 billion for State and international broadcasting.

On October 27, 2000, Congress approved the CJS conference report (H.R. 4942; H.Rept. 106-1005). The President signed the measure into law on December 21, 2000 (H.R. 5548 as contained in the conference report on H.R. 4942; P.L. 106553).

This is the final update of this report.