This week, the House approved the Science, State, Justice, Commerce and Related Agencies spending bill. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved the State and Foreign Operations; Energy and Water; Interior, Environment and Related Agencies; and Homeland Security spending bills.
Floor Action
Science, State, Justice, Commerce and Related Agencies
On June 29, the House approved, 393-23, the FY2007 Science, State, Justice, Commerce and Related Agencies spending bill (H.R. 5672). The House Appropriations Committee approved the bill on June 20 (see The Source, 6/23/06).
The bill would allocate $59.84 billion, $2.63 billion more than FY2006 and $14 million more than the administration’s request.
An amendment by Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL) to increase funding for the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) by $10 million was adopted by voice vote. The amendment would offset the increase to VAWA by reducing funding for the Department of Justice’s (DoJ) general administration fund by $5 million, and the Census Bureau’s collection of economic and demographic statistics by $5 million. Rep. Brown-Waite said, “As a co-chair of the Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues, and also serving on a local shelter board, I know first hand the reprehensible effects of domestic violence on a woman’s dreams and success. Evidence suggests that VAWA has been effective in reducing violence. But domestic violence is not just a man-against-woman phenomenon. Studies show that men who are exposed to domestic abuse are much more likely to be abusers themselves in the future. And young women who see abuse are much more prone to be victims of abuse as adults themselves. This vicious cycle is one that we can genuinely affect through violence against women programs that provide education support networks, increased law enforcement and certainly a very important component of family counseling.”
An amendment offered by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) to provide $10 million to newly authorized VAWA programs, including $2 million for children exposed to violence, $2 million for youth services, and $1 million for the national tribal sex offender registry, and $5 million for the Sexual Assault Services Program, was approved by voice vote. Rep. DeLauro said, “Sexual violence remains a problem in this country. Rape remains the only violent crime to still be on the rise. One out of every six women are raped or sexually assaulted in their lifetimes, more than 200,000 in 2004 alone. Worse, only 36 percent of victims say they reported the crime to the police. The need to take action is now. Let us start to truly go ahead on this commitment that we made.” The $10 million increase would be funded by reducing the DoJ general administration fund by the same amount.
Among the other adopted amendments were:
State, Foreign Operations and Related Agencies
On June 29, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved, 28-0, the FY2007 State, Foreign Operations and Related Agencies spending bill (H.R. 5522). The House approved the bill on June 9 (see The Source, 6/9/06). More information will be available when the committee report accompanying the bill is printed. According to a committee press release, the bill would allocate $31.3 billion in discretionary funds, $1.7 billion less than FY2006 and $2.5 billion less than the administration’s request. Included in that amount, the Department of State and Related Agencies would receive $9.7 billion, $538 million below the administration’s request.
Migration and Refugee Assistance would receive $833 million; the Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance Fund would receive $55 million.
The Millennium Challenge Corporation, which provides development assistance to foreign nations, would receive $1.9 billion, an increase of $124 million above the FY2006 level and $1.1 billion below the administration’s request.
The measure would provide $3.4 billion in FY2007 for Global HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis. The committee adopted, by voice vote, an amendment by Sen. Mike DeWine (R-OH) to increase the U.S. contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, from $100 million to $600 million. All HIV/AIDS programs would be consolidated under a single account the Child Survival and Health Programs Fund.
The Child Health Survival and Health Programs Fund would receive $4.8 billion; included in that amount is $468 million for child survival and maternal health, $30 million for vulnerable children, and $367 million for infectious diseases.
The Peace Corps would be level-funded at $318 million.
Development assistance programs would receive $1.4 billion, including $456 million for basic education.
