On June 11, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction approved, by voice vote, its FY2004 appropriations bill (as-yet-unnumbered). The measure would allocate $9.19 billion, a $1.5 billion decrease from the FY2003 appropriations bill (P.L. 107-249) and $41 million below the level requested by the President.
Under the measure, $3.9 billion would be allocated for military family housing, of which $1.2 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 million for child development centers. In FY2003, Congress provided $18 million for child development centers.
During consideration of the bill, Ranking Member David Obey (D-WI) offered an amendment that would have allocated an additional $958 million above the Chair’s mark, including $160 million for hangars, maintenance and other facilities; $480 million for family housing; and $318 million for new barracks construction. These additions would have been offset by scaling back the 5 percent tax cut for taxpayers with an annual income of more than $1 million as included in the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 (P.L. 108-27). The amendment was defeated on a party-line vote, 6-9.
The full committee is scheduled to consider the military construction bill on June 17.
