President Obama's FY2015 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies (MilCon/VA) budget request complied with the applicable cap, as did the versions of the FY2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that were passed by the House ( H.R. 3979 , P.L. 113-291 ). 83 , Division I; P.L. The Military Construction Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 constituted Division B of the Carl Levin and Howard P. "Buck" McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 ( P.L. The amount of military construction new budget authority requested for FY2015 ($6.6 billion) was 40% less than the request for FY2014 ($11.0 billion). The final act authorized the appropriation of $6.6 billion for military construction and family housing, $220 million for additional overseas contingency operations construction, and authorized several "unfunded" construction projects for which DOD had planned but had not requested funding. necessary to carry them out and appropriated funds to them through the military construction appropriation. Limits on construction in European Command. 113-235)

The Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies appropriations bill provides funding for the planning, design, construction, alteration, and improvement of facilities used by active and reserve military components worldwide. It capitalizes military family housing and the U.S. share of the NATO Security Investment Program and finances the implementation of installation closures and realignments. It underwrites veterans benefit and health care programs administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), provides for the creation and maintenance of U.S. cemeteries and battlefield monuments within the United States and abroad, and supports the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, Armed Forces Retirement Homes, and Arlington National Cemetery. The bill also funds advance appropriations for veterans' medical services. 354) on December 13. The major appropriations categories include military construction and family housing construction and operation for the various active and reserve components of the armed forces and defense agencies, U.S. contributions the NATO Security Investment Program, construction associated with the demilitarization of the U.S. chemical munitions stockpile, the DOD homeowners assistance program, the DOD family housing improvement program, and activities associated with the five formal military base closure and realignment (BRAC) rounds that Congress has authorized. Trends in Appropriations. However, the final $159.14 billion enacted FY2015 appropriation for the VA was $11.21 billion (7.6%) over the FY2014 enacted amount, and approximately $505 million (.34%) above the Administration's FY2015 request. Additionally, the 2015 Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act ( H.R. 113-235 contained a final total of $16 million in rescissions. 113-76 ), for the combined $45.225 billion in new budget authority included in Table 8 . Military Construction Appropriations, FY2014-FY2015
The Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies appropriations bill provides funding for the planning, design, construction, alteration, and improvement of facilities used by active and reserve military components worldwide. It capitalizes military family housing and the U.S. share of the NATO Security Investment Program and finances the implementation of installation closures and realignments. It underwrites veterans benefit and health care programs administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), provides for the creation and maintenance of U.S. cemeteries and battlefield monuments within the United States and abroad, and supports the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, Armed Forces Retirement Homes, and Arlington National Cemetery. The bill also funds advance appropriations for veterans' medical services.
Military construction appropriations must be both authorized (usually in the annual National Defense Authorization Act) and appropriated. For FY2015, the President requested $6.6 billion in new budget authority for regular (base budget) military construction and an additional $46 million for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) construction associated with ongoing active military operations. Congress appropriated what the President requested, included a small amount of additional new budget authority, and added to that unexpired appropriations rescinded from prior fiscal years, bringing the base plus OCO military construction appropriation to $6.8 billion. In the spring of 2014, the President initiated a European Reassurance Initiative intended to strengthen confidence in U.S. support of its allies' security and territorial integrity. Congress thereupon added $221 million in military construction funding to the appropriation, bringing the total budget authority available for military construction in FY2015 to $7.0 billion.
For Veterans Affairs, the President requested $154.6 billion, an increase of $10.7 billion above the amount enacted for FY2014. The final appropriation of $159.1 billion augmented the President's request by approximately $505 million. The Administration requested $212.6 million to support the other agencies (the American Battle Monuments Commission, the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, Arlington National Cemetery, and the Armed Forces Retirement Home) funded by the act. The final combined appropriation for these agencies for FY2015 was $236.6 million.
The Carl Levin and Howard P. "Buck" McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 (H.R. 3979/P.L. 113-291), which authorizes military construction appropriations and other related activities, was enacted on December 19, 2014. The final version of the FY2015 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015; H.R. 83, Division I/P.L. 113-265) was enacted on December 16, 2014.