On August 3, the Senate approved a unanimous consent agreement postponing further debate on the FY2007 Department of Defense spending bill (H.R. 5631) until September 5. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved the bill on July 20 (see The Source, 7/21/06).
The bill would allocate $453.484 billion in discretionary spending, including $50 billion to support the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. The funding level is $57.458 billion less than FY2006 (including emergency and supplemental appropriations) and $9.125 billion less than the administration’s request. The House version of the bill would allocate $458.541 billion in funding for FY2007, $5.058 billion less than the Senate version.
An amendment by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) that would allocate $6 million from Department of Defense-wide operations and maintenance fund for community-based programs that provide mental health and readjustment assistance to members of the National Guard and Reserve and their families upon their return from deployment was approved by unanimous consent.
