This week, the House and Senate approved a continuing resolution through November 21. The House approved the military construction conference report. The Senate approved the interior conference report. The Senate also approved the following bills: agriculture and the emergency supplemental for Iraq and Afghanistan.
House and Senate Action
Continuing Resolution
On November 5, the House approved, 418-5, a continuing resolution (H. J. Res. 76) to fund government programs at their FY2003 levels until November 21. The Senate approved the resolution by voice vote on November 7. A continuing resolution passed by the House and Senate last week (see The Source, 10/31/03) will expire on November 7.
To date, only 3 of the 13 appropriations bills have been enacted into law: defense, homeland security, and legislative branch. The House and Senate have approved the interior conference report. The House has approved the military construction conference report, and the Senate will consider the conference report next week. The Senate has approved the agriculture spending bill, sending it to conference. Conference committees hope to complete work on the remaining Senate-approved spending bills before November 21: energy and water; Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education; and foreign operations.
Senate Action
Iraq and Afghanistan
On November 3, the Senate approved, by voice vote, the conference report for the FY2004 emergency supplemental spending bill for Iraq and Afghanistan (H.R. 3289). The House approved the conference report on October 31 (see The Source, 10/31/03).
H.R. 3289 would allocate an additional $87.5 billion in FY2004 for certain programs under the Department of Defense, Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund. The total is approximately $503 million more than the President’s request.
Under the bill, $64.7 billion would be provided for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, $18.6 billion would be provided for relief and reconstruction in Iraq, and $1.2 billion would be provided for relief and reconstruction in Afghanistan.
The measure would authorize continued payment of per diem travel expenses for family members of U.S. military personnel who are ill or injured. The bill would provide $32 million for family counseling, domestic violence, and readjustment counseling for military personnel and their families. It also would provide $10 million for similar programs specifically for members of the National Guard.
H.R. 3289 would encourage the inclusion of women’s organizations in the governance of Iraq and Afghanistan; increase women’s access to land, water, agricultural inputs, credit, and property; provide long-term educational assistance for girls and women; and provide training to military and police on the protection, rights, and needs of women.
Of the amount allocated for relief and reconstruction in Iraq, H.R. 3289 would provide $793 million for health care programs, including $493 million to refurbish and modernize medical clinics, primary health care services, and hospitals, and $300 million to repair and procure medical equipment for Iraq’s medical facilities. The measure does not include the President’s request of $150 million for a new children’s hospital in Basra.
H.R. 3289 also would provide $105 million for migration and refugee assistance and $15 million to investigate human rights violations and other atrocities committed by the former regime in Iraq.
In addition, the bill would earmark $90 million for education and $10 million for women’s leadership programs.
The conference committee removed a Senate provision that would have allocated $10.3 billion as a grant to Iraq, including $5.1 billion to rebuild Iraq’s security services and $5.2 billion for immediate reconstruction costs. The President would have been required to notify Congress if any single obligation in Iraq amounted to $250 million or more. The remaining $10 billion would have been provided to Iraq as a loan. The loan would have been converted to a grant if creditors forgave 90 percent of all bilateral debt incurred by the former Iraqi regime. Finally, the provision would have expressed the sense of the Senate that each country that is owed bilateral debt by Iraq should forgive such debt and provide reconstruction aid beginning at the Madrid Donor Conference on October 23, 2003.
A number of Senators supported the conference report, although they were dismayed that the loan provision was removed from H.R. 3289. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) stated, “The American people are very generous. They understand that Iraq needs our help right now. But in the long term, we will be better off if we act in partnership with the Iraqi people, giving them a sense of ownership in their own infrastructure by working with them, lending money to them, and by making this a shared responsibility.” Sen. Dianne Feinstein agreed. “This conference report is not perfect. Far from it. But it is critical that we do not leave the hard work of post-war reconstruction undone…Nothing could be more disastrous for U.S. national security than, after bringing about regime change, if our nation were to turn tail and run and not accomplish the mission,” she argued.
Of the amount allocated for relief and reconstruction in Afghanistan, H.R. 3289 would provide $95 million for schools and education and $49 million to construct 90 rural health clinics.
H.R. 3289 also would earmark $60 million for programs providing assistance to Afghan women and girls and $5 million for the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission.
Agriculture
On November 6, the Senate approved, 93-1, the FY2004 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies spending bill (H.R. 2673). The text of S. 1427, as approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee on July 17 (see The Source, 7/18/03), was substituted for the bill.
H.R. 2673 would allocate $17.005 billion in FY2004, the same amount as the House approved on July 14, an $872 million decrease from the FY2003 level, and one percent less than the President’s request.
The measure would provide $4.639 billion for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), a $95 million decrease below FY2003 and $168 million less than the President’s request. The report accompanying the Senate bill would include a $150 million reserve fund should program costs or participation exceed estimates. The recommended funding level for WIC would include $10 million for breastfeeding support initiatives and $5 million for a childhood obesity pilot project.
Child nutrition programs would receive $11.4 billion in FY2004, an $820 million increase above FY2003 and $18 million less than the level requested by the President. As requested by the President, S. 1427 would provide $6.683 million for the school lunch program, $1.797 million for the school breakfast program, and $2.019 million for the child and adult care food program.
Other funding levels include $1.6 billion for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), $226 million above FY2003 and $205 million more than the President’s request; $1.323 billion for the Food for Peace Program, $380 million less than FY2003 and $138 million above the President’s request; and $25 million for the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program.
The report states that the committee “believes that it is important for FDA to pay sufficient attention to gender-based research, ensuring that products approved by the FDA are safe and effective for women as well as men.” The committee further notes that $3.075 million is provided for the Office of Women’s Health at FDA and “encourages FDA to ensure that the Office of Women’s Health is sufficiently funded to carry out its activities, and to enhance its funding if necessary.”
In addition, H.R. 2673 estimated $16.576 million in Mammography Quality Standards Act fee collections, $424,000 less than the President’s budget.
During consideration of the bill, the Senate approved, by voice vote, the following amendments offered by Sen. Robert Bennett (R-UT):
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House Action
Military Construction
On November 5, the House approved, 417-5, the conference report for the FY2004 Military Construction spending bill (H.R. 2559).
H.R. 2559 would allocate $9.316 billion in FY2004, a $1.382 billion decrease from the FY2003 level and $199 million more than the President’s request.
Under the measure, $3.8 billion would be allocated for military family housing, of which $1.1 billion would be allocated for new family housing units and improvements to existing units, and $2.7 billion would be used for the operation and maintenance of existing units. Congress allocated $4.23 billion in FY2003 for military family housing.
In addition, the measure would allocate $16.5 million for child development centers. In FY2003, Congress provided $18 million for child development centers.
The Senate will consider the conference report for H.R. 2559 next week.
