This week, the Senate approved the Homeland Security spending bill. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies and District of Columbia spending bills.
Committee Action
Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies
On July 13, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved, by voice vote, the FY2007 Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies spending bill (H.R. 5522). The House approved the bill on June 29 (see The Source, 6/30/06). The House-approved version of the bill would provide $59.84 billion in FY2007, but it includes funding for the Department of State. In the Senate, funding for that agency is included in the annual State, Foreign Operations and Related Agencies spending bill.
According to a committee press release, the bill would allocate $51 billion in discretionary spending, $1.189 billion above FY2006 and $2.427 billion more than the administration’s request. An amendment by Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT) to protect children from unintentionally accessing pornographic websites by requiring those with sexual content to maintain a homepage free of graphic images was approved by voice vote. The amendment also would create penalties for electronic communication services or remote computing services that knowingly withhold the fact that a user is downloading or accessing child pornography. The fine for a first offense would be between $50,000 and $150,000, with subsequent offenses penalized with fines between $100,000 and $300,000.
Report Language
The Senate Appropriations Committee report accompanying the bill includes 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.
Department of Justice
The Department of Justice would receive $21.955 billion, $241.126 million over FY2006 and $461.261 million more than the administration’s request.
FBI: The committee would allocate $7 million for the Innocent Images National Initiative. This amount will “substantially expand the number of agents investigating Internet-related crimes against children by 31 agents and 21 support positions.”
Office on Violence Against Women: Programs under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) would receive $390 million in FY2007, $8.434 million more than FY2006 and $42.987 million more than President’s Bush request. VAWA programs would receive the following:
United States Marshals Service (USMS): The committee “provides an increase of $500,000 above the FY2006 enacted level for the United States National Central Bureau to support criminal intelligence and investigative leads to rescue children from sexual abuse and prosecute obscenity cases. Funding for this program also coordinates law enforcement to dismantle international websites that contain images of child pornography.”
The committee also would provide $5 million to “prosecute interstate and international child sexual exploitation cases. These additional resources will allow the United States Attorneys to prosecute criminals who travel across interstate lines to engage in sex with children utilizing the Internet and other electronic means.
The USMS would receive $6 million to “place additional personnel in states with the highest levels of unregistered sex offenders and fugitives wanted for other violent offenses. The committee directs the USMS to work closely with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children [NCMEC] and state and local agencies to focus on the ‘worst of the worst’ sex offenders, especially those involved with crimes against children. The committee applauds the USMS for its leadership during Operation FALCON II, which led to the arrest of over 9,000 violent fugitives, 1,102 of which were violent sexual offenders.”
The USMS would receive $500,000 to “establish a reimbursable agreement with the NCMEC to hire and co-locate a core group of personnel to assist with identification and data analysis to investigate, identify, and locate noncompliant sexual offenders. The committee notes that sexual predators are actively crossing interstate lines pursuing children for sexual exploitation. Today, there are more than 563,000 registered sex offenders on state registries. However, at least 100,000 of those sexual offenders are non-compliant, many literally missing.”
Justice Assistance
In FY2007, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) would receive $43 million. NIJ’s mission is to “advance scientific research, development, and evaluation to advance the administration of justice and public safety.”
The Missing Children’s Program would receive $50.533 million to “expand efforts to protect the nation’s children, focusing on the areas of locating missing children, and addressing the growing wave of child sexual exploitation facilitated by the Internet.”
State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance: The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice grants program, which assists state and local law enforcement officials, would receive $555.126 million, $143 million more than FY2006. Under the administration’s request, this program would not have been funded. “Despite the largest increase in violent crime in the United States since 1991,” the committee “notes with disappointment the administration’s proposed elimination of most funding for state and local law enforcement assistance programs.”
The committee “continues to be concerned with the proposed merger of the Byrne Grant program and Local Law Enforcement Block Grant program resulting in a significantly reduced funding level. The budget request again proposes the merger of all programs administered by OJP [Office of Justice Programs] under the Justice Assistance Grants heading. The committee recommendation does not adopt this consolidation and retains the account structure used in previous fiscal years.”
The measure would provide $176 million to state and local crime laboratories to reduce and eventually eliminate backlogs of DNA casework, $68.4 million over FY2006. The committee “directs the Office of the Inspector General [at the Department of Justice] to conduct an audit of all DNA funding decisions to ensure the funds are distributed in a competitive peer review grant administration process. The OIG shall also examine why significant unobligated balances exist simultaneously with significant DNA backlogs.”
Under the bill, the Boys and Girls Clubs would receive $85 million, $1.086 million more than FY2006.
Victims of trafficking would receive $4 million, $5.872 million less than FY2006.
The committee would provide $1.984 million for “the training and technical activities of the Comprehensive Sex Offender Management initiative as well as the implementation and maintenance of a national citizen access portal for public state sex offender registries.”
The prison rape prevention program conducted by the Bureau of Prisons would not be funded, in line with the administration’s request. In FY2006, this program received $17.943 million.
The bill would provide $85 million to combat the manufacturing, sale, and use of methamphetamines in “hot spots,” $22.2 million more than FY2006 and $44.9 million more than the administration’s request. The committee is “concerned about the use of methamphetamine among pregnant and parenting women and recommends $4 million for competitive grants to be awarded by the Attorney General to address the use of methamphetamine among pregnant and parenting women offenders. Grants awarded under this section shall be used to facilitate or enhance collaboration between the criminal justice, child welfare, and state substance abuse systems. The Attorney General shall make these grants available to states, territories, and Indian tribes.”
Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) would receive $30 million. PSN seeks to “assist communities and private citizens in protecting neighborhoods against the threats of violent crime and gang-related violence.”
A new initiative to provide grants to state and local governments to locate, arrest, and prosecute sexual offenders would receive $55 million. The committee “recommends the appointment of an Assistant U.S. Attorney in each judicial district as a coordinator to prepare a comprehensive, district-wide strategy in consultation with social services providers and partners from federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The committee directs the COPS [Community Oriented Policing Services] office to coordinate with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in developing a program that includes detection, apprehension, and prosecution of sex offenders who victimize children. The committee believes it is essential to build specialized units in law enforcement agencies across the country to attack this problem in a concerted, coordinated manner. The grants should assist state and local law enforcement entities to specifically focus on sexual predators who fail to register, child sexual exploitation, and sex offenders who prey upon children. These predator units should be created in a manner that is geographically balanced and levels itself to testing the model in various settings; major urban police departments, state law enforcement agencies, smaller jurisdictions, and regional groupings of agencies.”
The committee report restates existing law, which prohibits the use of funds to perform abortions “except where the life of the mother would be in danger” or to require that any person perform, or facilitate the performance of, an abortion.
Juvenile Justice Programs: In FY2007, these programs would receive $300.2 million, $38.161 million less than FY2006.
Programs authorized under the Victims of Child Abuse Act (P.L. 101-647) would receive $20 million. Within that amount, $4 million would be provided to Regional Children’s Advocacy Centers (RCACs). RCACs were “established through the Victims of Child Abuse Act to provide information, consultation, training, and technical assistance to communities, and to help establish child-focused programs that facilitate and support coordination among agencies responding to child abuse.”
Independent Agencies
The National Science Foundation (NSF) would receive $5.992 billion, $411 million more than FY2006 and $280 million less than the administration’s request. The committee is “fully supportive of the American Competitiveness Initiative [ACI]. The funding levels anticipated for NSF will certainly provide the vital funding that will broaden the nation’s understanding in fundamental science disciplines. However, the Committee feels that the ACI neglects the education work NSF does in support of research across the country. Broadening participation to underrepresented groups, such as women and minorities, in the sciences will only further the goals of the ACI as proposed in the budget request.”
Under the bill, the Civil Rights Commission would receive $9 million, $77,000 more than FY2006 and $309,000 less than the administration’s request.
The Legal Services Corporation would be funded at $358.527 million, $31.949 million more than FY2006 and $47.667 million more than the administration’s request.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission would be level-funded at $326.998 million, $4.191 million below the administration’s request. The committee is “concerned over the rising backlog of charges of employment discrimination at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission [EEOC]. The EEOC estimates that it will have a backlog of 47,516 complaints in fiscal year 2007. The committee’s recommended funding levels will result in an increase in resources to the field, where the vast majority of the agency’s work gets done, while reducing funding for staffing at headquarters.”
The Small Business Administration would receive $639.001 million, $188.435 more than FY2006 (excluding enacted supplemental appropriations) and an amount equal to the administration’s request.
District of Columbia
On July 13, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved, by voice vote, the FY2007 District of Columbia spending bill (S. 3660). In the House, the District of Columbia’s funding is included in the Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, and the Judiciary spending bill (H.R. 5576), which was approved on June 14 (see The Source, 6/16/06).
The bill would allocate $597 million in FY2007, $30,000 more than FY2006 and $200,000 less than the administration’s request. The House-approved version of the bill would provide $575.19 million in FY2007.
Report Language
The Senate Appropriations Committee report accompanying the bill includes 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.
Under the bill, D.C. Courts would receive $206.629 million, $10.094 million less than FY2006 and $10 million less than the administration’s request. The total would include funding for the Family Court, which handles all cases in the District pertaining to child abuse and neglect, domestic violence, adoption, and foster care.
The committee would provide $2 million for foster care improvement and post-adoptive services, $20,000 above FY2006. Under the administration’s request, this program would not have been funded. The committee “understands that in the District of Columbia, the Child and Family Services Agency [CFSA] is responsible for protecting approximately 3,000 children in ‘‘out-of-home’’ placements, and another 5,000 children in ‘‘in-home’’ placements. During its history, many children in CFSA’s care have languished for extended periods of time due to managerial shortcomings and longstanding organizational divisiveness in the city. As a result, the agency was placed in receivership in 1995. In June 2001, the court removed CFSA from receivership and put the agency under probation. That probationary period ended in January 2003.”
Marriage Development Accounts (MDAs) and marriage promotion activities would receive $4 million. MDAs are available to low-income married and engaged couples who are citizens or legal residents of the District of Columbia. The committee “notes that the family is the very foundation and building block of a society. When families thrive, communities thrive, and society thrives. Marriage is the essence of family formation and our most important social institution. It is the place from which healthy children and, ultimately, a healthy society are born. The committee is aware that almost all available research shows—and social policy experts agree—that children do best when they grow up in homes with their married, biological parents…Statistics tell a compelling story: children raised by only 1 parent are three times more likely to repeat a grade in school; five times more likely to have behavioral problems; twice as likely to be depressed; three times more likely to use illicit drugs; twice as likely to become sexually active as teenagers; and are seven times more likely to live in poverty. In fact, children born to unmarried mothers are likely to live in poverty and require support from the welfare system. Given the enormous benefits that accrue to children who are raised by their married parents, the committee believes that it is a moral and societal imperative that our nation esteem, support, foster, and encourage the institution of marriage.”
The committee would provide $40 million for District education, $400,000 above FY2006 and $800,000 below the administration’s request. According to the committee report, these funds would be used for “investing in excellence in traditional public schools, expanding choice through high quality public charter schools, and offering opportunity scholarships for low-income students in under-performing schools.”
The committee “notes that the Department of Education has informed the Superintendent of DCPS [District of Columbia Public Schools] that the Department has serious and continuing concerns with DCPS’ administration of federally funded education programs. As a result of the problems identified in several audits and reviews, the Department has designated DCPS a ‘‘high-risk’’ grantee for all the grants it receives from the Department. The Committee recognizes that the ‘‘high-risk designation is a very serious matter, and it expects that DCPS will take immediate steps to correct these problems and to demonstrate significant improvements.”
The committee is “troubled that the adult illiteracy rate in the District of Columbia is 37 percent, and notes that the rate is much higher in predominantly lower-income communities. The committee supports Mayor Anthony Williams’ vision of a new state-of-the art central library in the District of Columbia. The Mayor has said that libraries are a key foundation of our communities. They are anchors for children who are learning to read; resource hubs for people wishing to complete an education or earn a GED; places of literary inspiration for future writers or those with a natural love for reading; places to access and explore the Internet; and knowledge centers for anyone wishing to pursue their hobbies or dreams.”
Unlike the House bill, the Senate has “modified section 115 to allow the District to use locally-generated revenues to support programs that provide individuals with sterile needles and syringes. This is consistent with a provision approved by the Senate and included in the Senate bill since fiscal year 2003. The Committee has included language that maintains a complete prohibition on the use of Federal funds for this purpose.”
The bill would maintain the current prohibitions on the expenditure of federal and local funds to provide abortion services, except in the case of rape, incest, or to preserve the mother’s health, or to implement a 1998 District initiative that supported the use of medical marijuana.
State, Foreign Operations and Related Agencies
On July 10, the Senate Appropriations Committee report accompanying the FY2007 State, Foreign Operations and Related Agencies spending bill (H.R. 5522) was printed. The committee approved the bill on June 29 (see The Source, 6/30/06).
The measure would allocate $31.504 billion, $2.807 billion below FY2006 (including enacted supplemental funding) and $2.436 billion less than the administration’s request. The House-approved version of the bill would provide $21.229 billion in FY2007, but it does not include funding for the Department of State (see The Source, 5/26/06). In the House, funding for that agency is included in the annual Science, State, Justice, Commerce and Related Agencies spending bill.
Report Language
The Senate Appropriations Committee report accompanying the bill includes 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.
State Department
The United Nations Mission in Sudan would receive $441.873 million, an amount identical to the administration’s request. The committee “notes that not less than $31.7 million was provided for the U.N. peacekeeping mission in southern Sudan, and $98 million was provided for a U.N. mission in Darfur in P.L. 109234, the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Hurricane Recovery, 2006. Although the United Nations has not deployed a peacekeeping force in Darfur, the committee recommends funds for the eventual assessed costs of such a mission within the total for the U.N. mission in Sudan.”
The State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons would receive $4.5 million, an amount equal to the administration’s request.
Foreign Operations
The measure would provide $70 million for the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), $34.882 million above the administration’s request.
The Child Survival Health Program Fund (CSHPF) would receive $4.794 billion, $2.445 billion over FY2006 (including enacted supplemental funding) and $3.361 billion more than the administration’s request. The committee “consolidates all funding contained in the budget request for health related programs under the CSHPF, and makes these funds available directly to the President for apportionment to USAID [United States Agency for International Development] and the State Department.”
The committee “reiterates its strong support for a comprehensive approach to global health, with an emphasis on building local capacity in developing countries to conduct effective disease surveillance and deliver basic health services.”
Included within CSHPF, child survival and maternal health programs would receive $468.385 million, $46.882 million above President Bush’s request; HIV/AIDS programs would receive $3.438 billion, $100 million above the President’s request; family planning and reproductive health programs would receive $465.268 million, $123 million above President Bush’s request.
Included in the amount of HIV/AIDS funding within the CSHPF, $300 million would be allocated for the United States contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, $100 million more than the administration’s request.
The report said that the committee “remains concerned that children may not have adequate access to HIV/AIDS treatment programs, and recommends the Global HIV/AIDS Coordinator [of USAID] consider increased HIV/AIDS funding for the treatment of infants and children. The committee directs the Global HIV/AIDS Coordinator to report to the committee no later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this act on: the number of infants and children currently targeted for treatment as a percentage of total HIV/AIDS funds in PEPFAR [President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief] focus countries; the feasibility of establishing a treatment ratio for infants and children; and, existing reporting mechanisms that identify pediatric populations in PEPFAR focus countries, including recommendations for improving these mechanisms.”
The committee did not include “language contained in previous acts regarding abortion and involuntary sterilization (section 518). The prohibitions contained in that section are identical to those contained in permanent law, section 104(f) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. Therefore, the committee feels that it is unnecessary to repeat them. The committee has renamed section 518 as ‘Voluntary Family Planning Programs’.”
The committee states that $10 million within the USAID account should be used to “increase access to skilled birth attendants, train health personnel, and reduce the incidence of child marriage and gender- based violence” to prevent obstetric fistula, a “physically and socially debilitating condition.”
The bill would provide $45 million for research on and development of a microbicide, $13 million above the administration’s request. Up to $5 million of that amount could be allocated for the International Partnership for Microbicides.
The committee “continues to strongly support programs that prevent mother-to-child transmission [PMTCT] of HIV. The committee believes that additional resources are required to expand access to these programs, including care and treatment. The committee directs the Global HIV/AIDS Coordinator to provide the resources and technical assistance necessary to expand access to PMTCT services, including effective drug regimes, and to encourage stronger linkages between PMTCT and care and treatment programs.”
The bill would provide $1.4 billion for development assistance programs, $108.76 million below FY2006 and $118 million less than President Bush’s request. The committee requests the director of foreign assistance (DFA) at USAID to “develop a multi-year strategy on girls’ empowerment through consultations with the Congress, other relevant federal agencies, multilateral organizations such as UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund), and representatives of civil society. The committee requests the DFA to submit a report to the committee no later than April 30, 2007 that includes: (1) an assessment, including data disaggregated by gender where possible, of the current U.S.-funded efforts to improve access of girls in developing countries to healthcare, education and training, and protection (including from child marriage, human trafficking, gender-based violence, HIV/AIDS, and other sexually transmitted diseases); (2) examples of best practices or programs that could be replicated; and (3) a multi-year strategy to address the unique needs, vulnerabilities, and potential of girls in developing countries.”
USAID’s Women in Development office would receive $7.618 million, an amount equal to the administration’s request.
The committee “recommends that up to $15 million be made available for programs that increase access to basic education in sub-Saharan Africa through the reduction or elimination of school fees.”
Microenterprise programs would receive $225 million. The committee “expects USAID to preserve the viability of leading private NGO [non-governmental organizations] microfinance networks and PVOs [private voluntary organizations] in order to maximize assistance to poor clients. The committee believes that the great majority of microenterprise development resources should be used to support the direct provision of services to the poorest microentrepreneurs through these networks. The committee supports the implementation of poverty measures as a means of verifying that at least half of these resources are targeted toward the world’s poorest people, and recommends up to $20 million to increase incentives for microfinance service providers to accommodate people infected with HIV/AIDS.”
The bill would provide $832.9 million for Migration and Refugee Assistance in FY2007, $25.89 million less than FY2006 (including enacted supplemental funding) and an amount equal to President Bush’s request.
The committee recommends $127.5 million for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), $4.5 million more than the administration’s request.
The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) would receive $3 million, $2.05 million more than the administration’s request.
The Peace Corps would be level-funded at $318.78 million in FY2007, $17.92 million less than the administration’s request.
The Millennium Challenge Corporation would receive $1.877 billion, $125 million more than FY2006 and $1.123 billion below President Bush’s request.
