This week, the House approved the Homeland Security, and Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs spending bills. The House Appropriations Committee approved the Financial Services and General Government, State and Foreign Operations, and Legislative Branch spending bills. In addition, House Appropriations subcommittees approved the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies; and the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies spending bills.
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved its versions of the Homeland Security, and Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs spending bills.
The House Appropriations Committee reports accompanying the Homeland Security, Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs, and State and Foreign Operations spending bills include language detailing several programs affecting women and their families. Although report language is not binding, federal agencies give careful consideration to such language as it indicates programs or initiatives that are particularly important to appropriators.
Floor Action
Homeland Security
On June 15, the House approved, 268-150, the FY2008 Homeland Security spending bill (H.R. 2638). The House Appropriations Committee approved the measure on June 8. A motion to recommit the bill by Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA) failed, 200-217.
The bill appropriates $36.254 billion in discretionary spending for FY2008, $2.52 billion above FY2007 (not including emergency and supplemental funding), and $2.065 billion more than the administration’s request.
An amendment by Rep. Corinne Brown (D-FL) to increase funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency by $1 million to develop materials disaster preparedness materials and plans for children was approved by voice vote. The increase would be offset by reducing the bill’s funding for the Office of the Chief Financial Officer by the same amount.
A second amendment by Rep. Brown to increase the bill’s funding for the Office of Inspector General by $500,000 in order to enforce requirements for distributing contracts to minority-owned, small, and disadvantaged businesses also was approved by voice vote. The increase would be offset by reducing the bill’s funding for the Office of the Chief Financial Officer by the same amount.
Speaking on behalf of her second amendment, Rep. Brown said, “Procurement at the Department of Homeland Security increased 189 percent between 2003 and 2005, which was 11 times faster than the growth of the rest of the government. Yet according to the Federal Procurement Data System, the percentage of contracting for small disadvantaged businesses has decreased…If spending is increasing at the Department of Homeland Security, then why aren’t minority and small business contracts increasing, too?” She concluded, “It has long been the policy of the federal government to assist minority and other socially- and economically-disadvantaged small businesses to become fully competitive and viable business concerns. This policy must be taken seriously by all agencies, especially the Department of Homeland Security. This amendment is important to members of the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and the Congressional Women’s Caucus. I urge my colleagues to support my amendment and the longstanding policy for assisting minority and small, disadvantaged businesses.”
Report Language
The Alternatives to Detention program would receive $54.889 million in FY2008, $11.289 million more than FY2007 and $11 million above the budget request. The committee “remains concerned by public criticism of ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] detention standards for families and unaccompanied children. Families with children should not be housed in penal-like settings, nor should children detained by ICE be denied access to recreation or the opportunity to receive basic educational instruction. The committee has provided a substantial increase in the budget for the Alternatives to Detention program, and ICE should prioritize the enrollment of families in this program. In situations where family detention is unavoidable, the committee directs ICE to house families together in non-penal, home-like environments with appropriate access to health, educational, and social services until the conclusion of their immigration proceedings.
The needs of unaccompanied alien children also are addressed in the report. The committee states that it “remains concerned about reports that vulnerable unaccompanied alien children are not being transferred in a timely fashion to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) and are being held by DHS [Department of Homeland Security] in unacceptable conditions either in Border Patrol stations or jail-like facilities, often for many days.”
The committee also is “troubled by reports of insensitive and inappropriate treatment of unaccompanied alien children and directs the Department to cease its use of and reliance on unreliable forensic testing of children’s bones and teeth to determine their age. Instead, the committee strongly encourages the Department to use holistic age-determination methodologies recommended by medical and child welfare experts. The Committee does not believe it is appropriate for ICE to use unaccompanied alien children’s personal records, such as psychological evaluations, medical reports, and ORR files as evidence against the children in removal proceedings. The Committee directs ICE to cease its practice of using this information, except when the child’s legal guardian provides written permission for release of these records.”
Also of “concern” is the “lack of repatriation services available for unaccompanied alien children who are removed from the United States to face uncertain fates in their countries of origin. The committee directs ICE, in close consultation with the Department of State and ORR, to develop and implement policies and procedures to ensure the safe and secure repatriation of unaccompanied alien children to their home countries, including through the arrangement of family reunification services and placement with non-profit organizations that provide for orphan services.”
The committee report also notes that “a recent review of issues at the Coast Guard Academy found that under-representation of minority members within the faculty may contribute to an unhealthy racial climate. Approximately seven percent of the Academy staff and faculty are minority, compared with about 24 percent of [the] Coast Guard workforce and 14 percent of [the] Coast Guard cadets. Of the Academy’s 113 permanent and temporary faculty members, 24 percent are women, seven percent are African-American, and three percent are Hispanic. A review of a 2006 survey of cadets revealed that 33 percent of females reported being subjected to gender discrimination or sexual harassment at the Academy. The committee is very concerned with these findings and understands that the Coast Guard is preparing a plan to address them. The committee directs the Coast Guard to provide a briefing on its plan within three months after the date of enactment of this act.”
Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs
On June 15, the House passed, 409-2, the FY2008 Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs spending bill (H.R. 2642). The House Appropriations Committee approved the bill on June 6 (see The Source, 6/8/07).
The measure would allocate $109.232 billion in FY2008, an $18.2 billion increase over FY2007, including supplemental funding, and $4 billion above the administration’s request.
As requested by President Bush, family housing would receive $2.932 billion in FY2008, $1.089 billion less than FY2007.
An amendment by Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) that would provide $2 million to the Veterans Advisory (VA) Committee on Women Veterans to establish a commission to make recommendations on the health care needs of growing numbers of women veterans was approved by voice vote.
In a press release, Rep. Wilson said, “The increasing number of women serving in the military, including in combat zones, will change and challenge the VA and DoD [Department of Defense] health care systems in ways we don’t yet fully understand. One in seven veterans returning from Iraq is a woman. My goal in proposing this amendment is to bring together a group of people who can devote the time and effort to study the needs and examine the challenges women veterans face.”
Report Language
According to the committee report accompanying the bill, the committee “is concerned that the inflation adjustments used by the administration for military construction and family housing are insufficient to keep pace with actual price inflation in the construction market. The adjustment used by the administration is 2.2 percent. According to a March 2007 report by the Association of General Contractors, the price of construction materials alone could be rising at a six to eight percent rate by the end of the calendar year. Underestimates of construction inflation have real world consequences in the form of scope reductions and project cancellations. The committee directs the Department of Defense and the Office of Management and Budget to budget more realistically for inflation in military construction and family housing.”
The committee report also notes that “senior non-commissioned officers of the military services have annually identified child care as one of the most pressing concerns of enlisted personnel and their families in hearings before the committee. The committee notes that 10 U.S.C. 2881 allows for the acquisition or construction of ancillary facilities as part of military housing privatization projects. These include facilities for ‘any non-appropriated fund activity of the Department of Defense for the morale, welfare, and recreation of members of the Armed Forces,’ which would include child care and development. The Committee therefore directs the Department of Defense and the services to actively seek the inclusion of child care and development facilities within housing privatization projects wherever financially feasible.”
Committee Action
Financial Services and General Government
On June 11, the House Appropriations Committee approved, by voice vote, the FY2008 Financial Services and General Government spending bill (as-yet-unnumbered). The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government approved the bill on June 5 (see The Source, 6/8/07).
The measure would allocate $21.434 billion in FY2008, $1.916 billion above FY2007 and $243 million below President Bush’s request.
District of Columbia
D.C. Courts: The District of Columbia court system would receive $531.9 million, $60.9 million above FY2007 and $51.5 million above the administration’s request. Included in this amount is $91 million for renovations to the courts, $190 million for the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency, and $32.7 million for the Public Defender Service.
D.C. Schools: As requested by President Bush, District of Columbia schools would receive $76 million in FY2008. Of that amount, $35 million would be provided for college tuition support and $41 million would be used for school improvements.
The bill also would lift restrictions on the District of Columbia’s use of local funds for a HIV/AIDS needle-exchange program.
Office of National Drug Control Policy
The Office of National Drug Control Policy would receive $460 million in FY2008.
The National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign would receive $93 million, $6 million less than FY2007.
Small Business Administration (SBA)
The measure would provide $582 million for the SBA in FY2008, $117 million above the administration’s request. Included in that amount is $100 million for Small Business Development Centers, $12.9 million above the administration’s request. The Microloan Program, which supports start-up, newly established, or growing small businesses, would receive $17 million, $2 million more than FY2007. Under the administration’s budget, this program would not have been funded.
Additional information will be available when the committee report accompanying the bill is printed.
Legislative Branch
On June 12, the House Appropriations Committee approved, by voice vote, the FY2008 Legislative Branch spending bill (as-yet-unnumbered). The House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch approved the bill on June 6.
The measure would allocate $3.104 billion in FY2008, $123 million above FY2007 (not including rescissions) and $270 million less than President Bush’s request.
The House of Representatives Child Care Center would receive $1 million in FY2008.
More information will be available when the committee report is printed.
State and Foreign Operations
On June 12, the House Appropriations Committee approved, by voice vote, the FY2008 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Agencies spending bill (as-yet-unnumbered), after adopting a manager’s amendment by Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY), also by voice vote. The House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Agencies approved the bill on June 5 (see The Source, 6/8/07).
The measure would allocate $34.243 billion in discretionary spending in FY2008, $2.951 billion above FY2007 and $700.72 million below President Bush’s request.
Report Language
Department of State
The Department of State would receive $10.042 billion in FY2008, $206.242 million below FY2007 and $29.396 million above the president’s budget request.
Trafficking in Persons: The Trafficking in Persons Office would receive $4.215 million in FY2008. An additional $14 million to combat trafficking in persons would be provided under bilateral economic assistance, $5.3 million more than the administration’s request.
The committee “continues to be concerned about the serious problem of international trafficking in persons. The committee is troubled by the long delays in the process of considering and awarding grants to combat trafficking in persons…The committee…believes that the Secretary [of State] should add six full-time equivalent positions to the TIP [Trafficking in Persons] Office so that it can effectively monitor its anti-trafficking grants and can effectively fulfill the vital, congressionally-assigned responsibility given to the senior policy operating group, which it chairs, of monitoring and coordinating the domestic and internal anti-trafficking grants and policies of all U.S. agencies. It is the committee’s firm belief that the practice of modern-day slavery must receive the full attention of the United States government, and that the TIP office is uniquely positioned to offer the hope of freedom to trafficking victims.”
International Peacekeeping: International peacekeeping programs would receive $1.302 billion in FY2008, $166.725 million more than FY2007 and $195 million more than the administration’s request.
The committee “remains concerned about the disturbing allegations of sexual abuse of minors by UN peacekeepers and civilian personnel. The committee recognizes that the Department of State has a taken a leading role in urging the UN to take preventive measures in response to reports of sexual exploitation and abuse involving UN peacekeeping personnel.” The committee recommends that the department continues these efforts.
Global HIV/AIDS Initiative (GHAI): The Global HIV/AIDS Initiative would receive $4.45 billion in FY2008, $1.203 billion above FY2007 and $300 million above the administration’s request. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB), and Malaria would receive $250 million from the Child Survival and Health Program Fund and $300 million from GHAI for a total of $550 million.
President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR): In FY2008, PEPFAR would receive $5.082 billion, $1.835 billion more than FY2007 and $585.722 million more than the administration’s request. According to the committee report, GHAI is the “primary source of the funding for the President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).”
The committee “believes that the United States must significantly increase its funding and support for evidence-based HIV/AIDS prevention to slow the global HIV/AIDS pandemic. The Institute of Medicine’s report entitled ‘PEPFAR Implementation: Progress and Promise’ found that the thirty-three percent set-aside for abstinence-until-marriage prevention programs has had a detrimental effect on the ability of GHAI to reach its targets. Therefore, the committee includes bill language that provides the administration with flexibility to implement HIV/AIDS prevention programs without this limitation in funding. The committee expects the coordinator to be prepared to present information to the committees on appropriations regarding the impact of this policy change on its ability to reach its targets at the FY2009 hearings.”
The committee “believes that education is a highly cost effective HIV/AIDS prevention intervention. Educated girls tend to delay sexual debut and men and women who are educated make better life decisions.” Programs to support orphans and vulnerable children are also supported by the committee.
The committee is “alarmed by the dramatic increase in HIV infection among girls and women. The committee commends the recent steps the coordinator has taken to address the complexities of gender within its program, including the development of three strategies to address gender-based violence, changing social norms among men and boys, and the vulnerabilities of adolescent girls. The committee is concerned that reproductive health needs of women and girls are not adequately addressed by the GHAI and requests that the coordinator report within 90 days of the enactment of this act on the steps it will take in FY2008 to address this gap.”
Mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) prevention programs remains an “integral component of a comprehensive approach to fighting HIV/AIDS. The committee also understands that expanding MTCT services in the focus countries [Botswana, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Guyana, Haiti, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam, and Zambia], will require a new effort to reach women in their homes, where they choose to give birth, rather than in medical facilities. The committee encourages the coordinator to work with USAID’s maternal health programs, which have been working to improve these services for years.”
Pediatric HIV/AIDS care remains a priority. The committee requests that the coordinator of GHAI submit a plan to reach the 15 percent treatment goal for children within 90 days of the measure’s enactment.
Migration and Refugee Assistance: Migration and refugee assistance programs would receive $813.9 million in FY2008, $19.133 million less than FY2007 and $40.4 million more than President Bush’s request.
The committee report states that “[s]exual exploitation and violence against women and girls is an ongoing problem among internally displaced and refugee populations. The committee notes that despite stated committee intent, the Department of State did not scale up resources and target funding for programs to address these issues in FY2006. The committee urges the department to highly prioritize funding to address these critical issues.”
The committee is “concerned by the dearth of referrals for refugee processing of unaccompanied minors, including orphans and children who are developmentally disabled and who ultimately spend their childhoods in refugee camps at risk of harm and without any available parent or guardian to care for them. The committee urges the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration to work with experienced resettlement agencies, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees on a strategy to appropriately prioritize screening and identify vulnerable unaccompanied refugee minors’ expeditious resettlement to the United States.”
United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
Child Survival and Health Programs Fund: The child health and survival programs fund would receive $1.957 billion in FY2008, $239 million above FY2007 (not including emergency or supplemental funding) and $392.871 million above the budget request.
Included in this amount is $374.15 million for child survival and maternal health programs. “Since 2005,” the committee report states, “most developing country governments have committed themselves to work toward the goal of reducing child mortality for children under five by two-thirds and they are working together to reach these goals by increasing resources and overall technical assistance. The committee believes that the United States should take a leadership role in this effort and directs USAID to examine its current child survival and maternal health portfolio to ensure that the agency’s work is complementary to the efforts of others and that these efforts focus on this specific goal. The committee further directs that no later than 180 days after the enactment of this act, USAID report to the committees on appropriations how its child survival programs are working toward the goal of reducing child mortality by two-thirds.
The committee “remains concerns that nearly 500,000 women die during pregnancy and childbirth every year…The committee continues to be concerned about the impact of obstetric fistula, which affects an estimated three million women in the developing world.” The committee report notes Ethiopia’s “leading role” in reducing obstetric fistula.
Microbicides: Microbicide research would receive $40.5 million from the Child Survival and Health Programs Fund. The committee “recognizes the disproportionate impact of HIV/AIDS on women and supports continued USAID investment in microbicide development…The committee is aware of the work of the International Partnership for Microbicide Development and urges USAID to consider its work.”
Micronutrient Programs: Micronutrient programs would receive $30 million in FY2008 as the committee “continues to be supportive of USAID efforts to reduce Vitamin A deficiency, a cause of death for more than 2.8 million children annually.” The committee also is supportive of programs that address iodine deficiency, “which is the leading cause of mental retardation in children.”
Childhood Vaccines: Childhood vaccination programs would receive $70 million in FY2008.
Vulnerable Children: Vulnerable children’s programs for displaced children, orphans, and blind children would receive $15 million in FY2008, $15 million above the budget request. Childhood blindness programs would receive $1.8 million in FY2008.
HIV/AIDS: Global HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment activities would receive $350 million from the Child Survival and Health Programs Fund (CSHPF). The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria would receive $250 million from the CSHPF. The committee asks that USAID focus its HIV prevention activities on “second wave” countries, such as China, India, Ukraine, and Russia, which are beginning to experience HIV/AIDS pandemics.
Women in Development: Women’s leadership training would receive $15 million in FY2008. The committee “continues to support the Women in Development office and believes it should be empowered to monitor, assess, and make recommendations regarding gender integration at USAID.”
The GROWTH Fund would receive $20 million in FY2008. The fund “is intended to enhance economic activity for very poor, poor, and low-income women in developing countries. Programs supported by the fund should increase women-owned enterprise development; property rights for women; women’s access to financial services; women in organizational leadership positions; women’s ability to benefit from global trade; and improve women’s employment benefits and conditions.”
Sudan: Sudan would receive $558.3 million, $104 million above the budget request. The committee “encourages USAID to establish a program to encourage the return of Sudanese Lost Boys and Girls to southern Sudan for a period of no less than five years to contribute to post-conflict revitalization there…The Lost Boys and Girls of Sudan are a group of young refugees, displaced during Sudan’s 21-year civil war, who trekked hundreds of miles to escape the violence in their homeland.”
The committee also “supports efforts to promote disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration of ex-combatants, with particular attention placed on the psycho-social needs of former child soldiers.”
International Family Planning: Reproductive health and family planning programs would receive $441 million, of which $375 million would be drawn from the Child Survival and Health Programs Fund at USAID.
The committee “acknowledges USAID’s technical leadership in addressing the impact of population growth on ecologically sensitive areas. The committee urges USAID to build upon its past investments in population-health-environment programs by expanding and scaling up projects in communities inhabiting areas rich in biodiversity, particularly in Africa and Asia.
Prior restrictions that prohibit funding for “any organization or program, which as determined by the president, supports and practices the management of a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization” are continued in this bill. Also prohibited is funding for “the performance of abortions as a method of family planning or to motivate or coerce any person to practice abortion.” The committee also has “continued prior year language requiring that information on condom use shall be medically accurate and shall include the public health benefits and failure rates of such use.”
The bill also would allow the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to provide contraceptives to organizations that cannot receive USAID funding because of the Mexico City policy. The policy bars overseas nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that receive U.S. aid from using their own money to perform abortions or to lobby foreign governments on abortion policy.
Afghanistan: The committee recommends that $15 million of the funds made available to Afghanistan “be provided as grants to support training and equipment to improve the capacity of women-led Afghan nongovernmental organizations and to support the activities of such organizations.”
Pakistan: Programs for Pakistan would receive $350 million, $32.9 million less than the budget request. The committee “is concerned about human rights in Pakistan, especially women’s rights, and the pace of reform of democratic governance and rules of law…The committee therefore directs that from within the recommended funding level, $15 million be provided through local and international NGOs working on human rights, independent and free media, women’s empowerment, political party development, and justice sector reform issues in Pakistan…The committee further notes the importance of education in creating a more prosperous and tolerant society and urges that funding for primary and secondary education, particularly for girls and focused in rural areas, be a primary objective of bilateral United States assistance to Pakistan.”
Guatemala: Programs for Guatemala would receive $12 million in FY2008, $2 million above the administration’s request. The committee “remains gravely concerned with reports detailing the frequency of human rights abuses against girls and women. According to human rights groups following the issue, more than 2,500 women and girls have been killed since 2001. The committee notes that the Guatemalan legal system has been slow to proceed and bring the responsible parties to justice. The committee recommends $1 million be made available for programs and activities to combat crimes of violence specifically targeting women and girls, and to support initiatives for legal reform to bring domestic Guatemalan law in line with international standards on violence and discrimination against women.”
Economic Support Fund: The committee recommends $57.9 million be used for health and child survival activities; $20.7 million be used for maternal and child health; $28.2 million be used for reproductive health and family planning; $6 million for HIV/AIDS in non-focus countries; and $3 million for tuberculosis programs.
Assistance for Eastern Europe and the Baltic States: The committee recommends that $1.7 million and $700,000 of the $297.332 million that would be allocated to Eastern Europe and the Baltic be used for family planning/reproductive health and child survival, respectively.
Assistance to the Former Soviet Union: Programs for the former Soviet Union would receive $397.585 million in FY2008. Of that amount, $5.1 million would be provided for child survival and maternal health; $11.1 million for family planning/reproductive health; $26 million for HIV/AIDS; and $10 million for tuberculosis. In addition, the committee “supports the work of the Institute for Global Health to reduce high rates of teen pregnancy and infant mortality.”
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA): UNFPA would receive $40 million in FY2008.
The committee “finds that no provisions in this bill shall be construed to deny funding to any organization or program solely because the organization operates in a country where the government of such country engages in coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization. The committee believes that the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) provides critically needed assistance to women around the world. UNFPA operates in 140 countries and compliments USAID’s population programs in more than 60 countries. United States government engagement with UNFPA is an essential part of our effort to reduce maternal and child mortality and to improve the lives of women overseas.”
The report continues, “The committee is concerned that the administration has withheld funding approved by Congress from UNFPA in each of the last five years. The committee does not believe that any provision in this bill can justify withholding this funding. Additionally the committee is concerned that that there is a lack of methodology, consistent criteria, and transparency in formulating the decision. In fact, the Department of State continues to ignore the recommendation of its own hand-selected investigation and assessment team, which found, in 2002, that there was no evidence that UNFPA knowingly supported or participated in the management of a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization in China…This report additionally recommended that unless and until all forms of coercion in Chinese law and practice are eliminated, no United States government funds should be allocated directly for population programs in China. This bill contains provisions prohibiting any United States contribution to UNFPA from being used in China, requires the United States contribution to UNFPA to be held in a segregated account, and reduces funding to UNFPA by one dollar for each dollar of its own funding it spends on programs in China. These provisions are to ensure that no funds may be spent on population programs in China.”
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF): UNICEF would receive $125 million in FY2008, $2 million less than the administration’s request.
United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM): UNIFEM would receive $5.4 million in FY2008, $4.5 million more than President Bush’s request. Of this amount, $1.8 million would be directed to the UNIFEM Trust Fund.
Narcotics, Gangs, Terrorism, and Crime: In FY2008, the International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement (INCLE) Program would receive $568.475 million, $95.859 million more than FY2007 and $66.125 million less than the administration’s request.
The committee “recognizes that the United States plays an important role in training and professionalizing foreign police around the world…The committee notes that such training is critical to eliminating the mistreatment and violence that occurs to those in need of protection. Further, the committee is gravely concerned with the treatment of women and girls and urges the Department of State to focus training on how to prevent and respond to gender-based violence. The committee directs the secretary of State to report to the committees on appropriations not later than March 1, 2008, on efforts to provide United States assistance to foreign police to address gender-based violence. This report should include: (1) an overview of all the department’s efforts to develop and provide such assistance to foreign police on gender-based violence; (2) information on the curriculum/training developed to provide or incorporate into said assistance; (3) the specific types of United States assistance provided to foreign police forces; (4) the number of countries/security forces that have received training and the cost of these trainings; and (5) the challenges encountered in pursuing this policy.”
INCLE also would receive $6 million in FY2008 to prevent trafficking in persons, $1.05 million more than President Bush’s request.
Independent Agencies
Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC): The MCC would receive $1.8 billion in FY2008, $47.7 million less than FY2007 and $1.2 billion below the budget request.
The committee “continues to support the work of the MCC and regards it as a significant step forward in the provision of accountable and transformative foreign assistance…The committee does not believe that MCC assistance is a substitute for USAID programs and is concerned that this appears to be the trend in the FY2008 proposed budget. The committee believes that MCC investments should be a complement to current aid programs.”
Homeland Security
On June 14, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved, 29-0, its version of the FY2008 Homeland Security spending bill (as-yet-unnumbered). The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security on approved the bill on June 13.
The bill appropriates $37.6 billion in discretionary spending for FY2008, $2.2 billion more than the budget request and $1.346 billion more than the House version of the bill.
More information will be available when the committee report is printed.
Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs
On June 14, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved, 28-1, its version of the FY2008 Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs (as-yet-unnumbered). The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs approved the bill on June 13.
As in the House version, the Senate bill would allocate $109.2 billion in FY2008, $1.9 billion above FY2007 and $243 million below President Bush’s request.
Military construction would be funded at $21.56 billion, $8.8 billion above FY2007 (not including supplemental funding) and $400 million more than the administration’s request.
Additional information will be available when the committee report accompanying the bill is printed.
Subcommittee Action
Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
On June 11, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies approved, by voice vote, its FY2008 spending bill (as-yet-unnumbered).
The measure would allocate $53.6 billion in discretionary funds in FY2008.
Department of Justice
State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance: The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice grants program, which assists state and local law enforcement officials, would receive $600 million in FY2008.
The prison rape prevention program administered by the Bureau of Prisons would receive $25 million in FY2008.
Sex offender management programs, including those authorized by the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (P.L. 109-248), would receive $10 million in FY2008.
Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Prevention and Prosecution Programs: VAWA programs would receive $430 million in FY2008, $47.429 million above FY2007 and $59.995 million above the budget request. The following VAWA programs would be funded:
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