House Approves Defense Spending Bill

On July 19, the House approved, 326-90, the FY2013 Defense appropriations bill (H.R. 5856). The House Appropriations Committee approved the legislation on May 17 (see The Source, 5/18/12).

According to the committee report, the legislation would provide a total of $519.2 billion to fund the Department of Defense for FY2013, $1.1 billion more than FY2012 and $3.1 billion above President Obama’s FY2013 budget request. The measure would include $88.5 billion in overseas contingency operations, primarily for the war in Afghanistan.

The bill would include a 1.7 percent pay raise for military personnel, equal to the president’s request. Additionally, the measure would provide $25 million for military and sexual trauma prevention and response programs, $11 million above FY2012 and equal to the president’s request. The bill would provide a total of $1.218 billion for research and development within the Defense Health Program, $49 million below FY2012 and $545 million above the president’s request. The total includes funding for peer-reviewed breast and ovarian cancer research, as well as for global HIV/AIDS prevention.

The chart below compares funding for programs in the FY2013 Defense spending bill to FY2012 spending levels and the president’s request.

*Does not include funding for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO).

During consideration of the measure, the House adopted the following amendment, 247-167:

• An amendment by Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) to reduce the total amount of appropriations made available by the bill by $1.072 billion.