an amendment by Rep. Virgil Goode (R-VA) to prohibit local funds from being used to implement or enforce the Health Care Benefits Expansion Act of 1992 (D.C. 9-114), which allows domestic partners to register in the District of Columbia.Report Language
The committee reports accompanying the bills include language detailing a number of 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 for appropriators.
District of Columbia
The District of Columbia would receive $654.623 million in federal payments in FY2008, $63.611 million over FY2007 and $57.034 million more than the administration’s request.
D.C. Courts: The bill provides $256.395 million for the FY2008 operation of the D.C. courts, $39.672 over FY2007 and $42.534 more than the president’s request. The total includes funding for the Family Court, which handles all cases in the District pertaining to child abuse and neglect, domestic violence, adoption, and foster care.
D.C. Schools: The measure would allocate $40.8 million for school improvement in FY2008, $1.2 million more than FY2007 and equal to the administration’s request.
The committee “acknowledges the recent events regarding management of the schools and looks forward to new direction for the DCPS [District of Columbia Public Schools] under mayoral supervision. The committee encourages the mayor and associated staff to consider the structure and composition of the payments for school improvement into the framework of the DCPS and the mayor’s policy agenda.”
As requested by President Bush, District resident tuition support would be funded at $35.1 million in FY2008, $2.232 million above FY2007.
The measure lifts a prohibition on the use of local funds for needle-exchange programs; it continues to prohibit federal funds from being used for such programs.
The bill maintains a provision stating, “Nothing in this act may be construed to prevent the [City] Council or Mayor of the District of Columbia from addressing the issue of the provision of contraceptive coverage by health insurance plans, but it is the intent of Congress that any legislation enacted on such issue should include a ‘conscience clause’ which provides exceptions for religious beliefs and moral convictions.”
As in previous years, the bill prohibits the expenditure of any funds to perform an abortion “except where the life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term or where the pregnancy is the result of an act of rape or incest.”
Office of National Drug Control Policy
The Office of National Drug Control Policy would receive $26.363 million in FY2008, $130,000 below FY2007 and $2.753 million more than the administration’s request. The National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign would receive $93 million, $6 million less than FY2007.
The committee is “concerned about the effectiveness of the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign. According to the results of a study commissioned by ONDCP and supported by a Government Accountability Office review, there is no clear evidence that the campaign has resulted in a reduction in drug use among youth. While the campaign has received praise for the quality of its advertisements and has won a number of awards, it is much more important that the campaign is actually effective in changing the behavior of youth who are susceptible to drug use, as well as increasing parental monitoring behavior…The committee continues to support efforts to demonstrate the harmful consequences of using performance-enhancing drugs. The committee is encouraged that representatives of major professional sports leagues, the U.S. Olympic Committee, and federal agencies are increasing their collaboration on this issue. These organizations must continue to strengthen their commitment to stop performance-enhancing drug use by athletes, as well as to educate youth on the dangers of such drugs. Professional sports organizations must work closely with the U.S. Anti-doping Administration and other organizations to educate high school, middle school, and grade school children on the dangers of performance-enhancing drugs.”
Small Business Administration (SBA)
The measure would provide $582.497 million for the SBA in FY2008, $10.57 million more than FY2007 and $118.98 million below the administration’s request. Included in that amount is $100 million for Small Business Development Centers, $13 million for Women’s Business Centers, and $743,000 for Women’s Business Councils. The Microloan Program, which supports start-up, newly established, or growing small businesses, would receive $14.5 million.
Committee Action
Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
On June 28, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved, 28-1, the FY2008 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies spending bill (as-yet-unnumbered). The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies approved the measure on June 26. A House Appropriations Subcommittee approved its version on June 11 (see The Source, 6/15/2007).
According to the committee press release, the measure would provide $54.646 billion in discretionary funds in FY2008, $3.179 billion more than the administration’s request and $1 billion more than the House version.
An amendment by Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) that would prohibit the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from suing employers that require employees to speak English in the workplace was approved, 15-14.
While all of the funding levels for programs of particular interest to women and their families were not available at press time, the following are highlights from the bill:
Department of Justice
The Department of Justice would receive $24.31 billion in FY2008, $1.46 billion above FY2007 and $2.06 billion more than the administration’s request.
State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance: State and local law enforcement assistance programs would receive $2.66 billion, $177 million more than FY2007 and $1.55 billion above President Bush’s request. Of this amount, the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice grants program, which assists state and local law enforcement officials, would receive $1.4 billion and the Community Oriented Policing program would receive $550 million.
Child protection programs would receive $313 million in FY2008 “to prevent, investigate, and prosecute crimes against children. This amount fully supports the critical Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (P.L. 109-248), and includes $8 million above the president’s request for new FBI agents dedicated to fighting internet crimes against children.”
Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Prevention and Prosecution Programs: VAWA programs would receive $390 million in FY2008, $7.429 million above FY2007 and $19.995 million above the budget request. The following VAWA programs would be funded:
$2 million for analysis and research on violence against Native American women.The committee “rejects the administration’s proposal to create a consolidated, competitive grant program for the programs authorized by the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), because, if approved, these proven and successful programs would cease to operate in the way that Congress intended. For over 10 years, VAWA programs have supported community efforts around the nation to effectively respond to domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and dating violence…These programs are designed to meet specific needs and create collaboration between distinct groups that leverage their expertise and resources to address different aspects of domestic and sexual violence. The proposed competitive grant program ignores the congressional intent behind these programs and would lead to less effective and potentially dangerous programming and disadvantage certain applicants, such as those from rural areas. Congress is firmly committed to ensuring that grantees have the necessary knowledge and history of providing effective services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and dating violence in order to ensure that VAWA funding is used wisely and well. Because of this VAWA programs have many specific requirements and protections to ensure that work with law enforcement, child protective services, health care, and other systems is being done effectively and the confidentiality and safety of victims is maintained. The committee believes it is important to fund individual VAWA programs as authorized in order to meet distinct needs in the field and strengthen the continuum of intervention and prevention responses to victims, families, and communities.”
The committee “understands that Native American and Native Alaskan women experience a higher rate of violence compared to any other group in the United States. Alaska’s forcible rape rate is 2.5 times larger than the national average. Alaska holds the highest rate in the United States of men murdering women…In FY2005, a liaison office was created to address abuse and violence towards women in Alaska. The committee includes $4 million to the state of Alaska for the purposes of combating sexual assault and domestic violence.”
The committee report states, “the committee recommendation provides $10 million to begin a federal program that directly funds the needs of sexual assault victims…While Congress has worked to ensure that crime controls are in place to address sexual offenders, Congress now wants to ensure that there is a dedicated stream of funding to provide a broad range of services to male, female, and child sexual assault victims and their families through the well-established and well-regarded system of community-based rape crisis centers through the United States. These agencies’ ability to serve the needs of victims has been hampered by a significant lack of resources. The Sexual Assault Services Program addresses this lack of resources and meets the distinct need to strengthen the continuum of intervention responses to sexual assault victims, their families, and the community.”
It continues, “In addition, in recognition of the needs of victims in communities of color, Congress established through the Sexual Assault Services program, specific programs so that communities of color-led agencies with the necessary sexual assault expertise can provide these services directly.”
The committee “encourages the Department of Justice to work with established home visitation programs serving families with young children in developing and executing home visitation programs to reduce family violence. The incidence of child abuse and maltreatment is significantly reduced when families receive critical parent education, family support, and intervention services through proven home visitation programs. Furthermore, the committee encourages the Department of Justice to fund programs providing research-based, high-quality services to families, regardless of the age of the parent, the number of children in the family being served, or the mother’s number of pregnancies.”
“As many as 10 million children a year witness violence in the home, and according to the Department of Justice, girls and young women ages 16 to 24 experience the highest rates of intimate partner violence,” states the committee report. The report continues, “Recognizing the need to intervene early in this cycle of abuse and prevent future violence, the committee is funding two new programs that support services for young people exposed to violence in the home and teens experiencing violence in their own relationships.”
National Science Foundation:
The National Science Foundation would receive $6.553 billion in FY2008, $636 million above FY2007 and $124 million more than the administration’s request.
Related Agencies
Commission on Civil Rights: As requested by the administration, the commission would receive level funding of $9 million in FY2008.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC): The EEOC would be funded at $378 million, $49 million more than FY2007 and $50 million above the budget request.
Legal Services Corporation: The Legal Services Corporation would receive $390 million in FY2008, $42 million more than FY2007 and $79 million above the administration’s request.
State and Foreign Operations
On June 28, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved, 28-1, the FY2008 State and Foreign Operations spending bill (H.R. 2764). The House approved the measure on June 21 (see The Source, 6/22/07).
The measure would allocate $34.24 billion in discretionary spending in FY2008, $2.951 billion above FY2007 and $700.72 million below President Bush’s request.
While all of the funding levels for programs of particular interest to women and their families were not available at press time, the following are highlights from the bill:
Department of State
The Department of State would receive $10.68 billion in FY2008, $1.044 billion more than FY2007 and $40 million below President Bush’s request.
International Peacekeeping: Peacekeeping activities would be funded at $1.35 billion in FY2008, $216 million more than FY2007 and $245 million above the administration’s request.
Global HIV/AIDS: The Global HIV/AIDS Initiative would receive $5.09 billion in FY2008, $2.221 billion above FY2007 and $940 million above the administration’s request. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB), and Malaria would receive $590 million.
United States Agency for International Development
Child Survival and Maternal Health: Child survival and maternal health programs would receive $476.5 million, $58.5 million more than President Bush’s request.
Development Assistance: Assistance programs would be funded at $1.455 billion, $53 million less than FY2007 and $413.75 million more than the administration’s request. These programs include: microenterprise development, agriculture, basic education, and environmental initiatives.
International Disaster Assistance: The bill would allocate $322 million for disaster assistance, $39 million below FY2007 and $25 million above the administration’s request.
International Family Planning: Reproductive health and family planning programs would receive $461 million, $20 million more than FY2007 and $137 million above the budget request.
Independent Agencies
Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC): The MCC would be funded at $1.2 billion in FY2008, $352.3 million less than FY 2007 and $1.8 billion less than President Bush’s request. The program “is below the president’s request because there are currently $2.1 billion in unobligated funds. The amount is adequate to fund the four proposed new contracts in FY2008.”
An amendment by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) to add $40 million to the Millennium Challenge Corporation was approved by voice vote. The increase would be offset by reducing unobligated economic support funding by the same amount.
Additional information will be available when the committee report accompanying the bill is printed.
