Supplemental Appropriations for FY2002: Defense Readiness and Other Programs

Publication Date: July 2001

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Banking and finance

Type:

Abstract:

On June 1, President Bush submitted a formal request to Congress for supplemental appropriations for FY2001 totaling about $7.1 billion, offset by about $600 million of rescissions, for total new budget authority of $6.5 billion. The bulk of the money, ($6.1 billion in new supplemental funding offset by $500 million in rescissions, for a net $5.6 billion in additional appropriations) was for the Department of Defense. An additional $291 million was for Department of Energy defense-related activities. Requested non-defense discretionary appropriations totaled $723 million, with $113 million in offsetting rescissions. An additional $936 million was requested for mandatory Department of Veterans Affairs programs, including Cost of Living Adjustments for disability compensation and pensions and expanded GI Bill benefits - but these are not scored against caps on discretionary spending.

On June 14, the House Appropriations Committee marked up the supplemental appropriations bill (H.R. 2216) and ordered it to be reported (H.Rept. 107-102). On June 20, the full House approved the measure by a vote of 341-87. The House passed version of the bill adheres to the limit of $6.5 billion in net, new supplemental budget authority; designates a total of $473.1 million in funding for disaster repairs and related programs as emergency appropriations, including $329.1 million in new, unrequested funding; adds $150 million to the request for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) for a total of $300 million; adds $161 million for disadvantaged education programs; and offsets the added funds with additional rescissions. The net $6.5 billion increase in FY2001 discretionary funding is consistent with amounts that Congress set aside for FY2001 supplemental funding in the FY2002 congressional budget resolution (H.Con.Res. 83), and is within caps on total discretionary spending under the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 as amended last year.

On June 21, the Senate Appropriations Committee reported the its version of the bill (S. 1077, S.Rept. 107-33). The Senate bill also adheres to the limit of $6.5 billion in new supplemental budget authority but, unlike the House bill, provides no additional funding for disaster relief, includes no emergency funding, and does not rescind any FEMA funds. Like the House bill, the Senate measure adds $150 million for LIHEAP and $161 million for disadvantaged education. It also provides $84 million for the Radiation Exposure Compensation Trust Fund and $100 million for a U.S. contribution to an international fund to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis, but it rejects $62 million in Legislative Branch funding for House staffing. The measure rescinds $486 million in non-defense funds, $373 million more than requested, including $217 million from job training programs.

On July 10, the full Senate passed H.R. 2216, after substituting the text of S. 1077, by a vote of 92-1. On July 19, conferees agreed to $6.5 billion in new budget authority in H.R. 2216, the supplemental appropriations bill for FY2001 (H.Rept. 107-148).