Appropriations for FY2004: Military Construction

Publication Date: September 2003

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Banking and finance; Military and defense

Type:

Abstract:

The military construction (MilCon) appropriations bill provides funding for (1) military construction projects in the United States and overseas; (2) military family housing operations and construction; (3) U.S. contributions to the NATO Security Investment Program; and (4) the bulk of base realignment and closure (BRAC)costs.

The President forwarded his fiscal year (FY) 2004 budget request to the Congress on February 3, 2003. The original military construction request of $9.0 billion was later increased to $9.2 billion due to reprogramming from the defense appropriations bill (H.R. 2658) and an Administration request related to foreign currency fluctuations as calculated by the Congressional Budget Office.

On June 17, 2003, the House Appropriations Committee reported a bill (H.R. 2559) that recommends $9.2 billion in military construction appropriations. This is $41 million below the President’s revised request and $1.5 billion below the FY2003 appropriation. The House passed the bill on June 26. The Senate Appropriations Committee marked up an original version of the bill (S. 1357) and reported it to the Senate on June 26. On July 10, the Senate began consideration of H.R. 2559, substituting the text of S. 1357, and passed the amended bill on July 11. Further action awaits the meeting of the conference committee.

Authorization of military construction is included within the defense authorization bill. The House passed its version of the bill (H.R. 1588) on May 22. The Senate substituted the text of S. 1050 for that of H.R. 1588 and passed the amended bill on June 4, 2003. The conference committee began meeting on July 22. As of the writing of this report, conference action has not concluded. For a comprehensive report on defense authorization legislation, see CRS Report RL31805, Authorization and Appropriations for FY2004: Defense, byAmy Belasco and Stephen Daggett.

In late September, the President submitted to Congress an emergency supplemental appropriations request for FY2004 that included $412 million in funding specific to military construction. It also provided unlimited authority to transfer unspecified additional funds from the Iraqi Freedom Fund ($1.99 billion) to military construction and up to $500 million fromother Department of Defense funds into a contingency construction account.