The Senate passed the bill by 95 to 3 on November 12. The Administration agreed to a new benefit that provides concurrent receiptof military retirement and disability payments to all military retirees with disability ratings of 50%or higher as well as an expansion of those eligible under the "Purple Hearts Plus" program enactedlast year that provides benefits to military retirees with combat or combat-related disabilities. 1588 , the authorization bill, provide$400.5 billion for national defense programs, about $1.5 billion above the request of $399.7 billionthat the Administration submitted in February. The final version of DOD's FY2004 appropriations cushioned the programmatic impact ofthe $3.5 billion cut to the request by making an offsetting rescission of $3.6 billion from the $62.6billion in FY2003 supplemental appropriations that Congress approved in April. Major Issues in the FY2004 DOD Authorization Act

After a conference that spanned over five months, the conferees reached agreement and fileda report on November 7, 2003, on H.R. 1588 , the FY2004 DOD Authorization Act( H.Rept. The President signed thebill on November 24, 2003 ( P.L. The conference report reached compromises on seven major issues that held up the authorization bill for several months:
Buy American restrictions proposed by the House and opposed by the Senateand the Administration;
proposals to provide costly concurrent receipt of military retirement andVeterans Administration (VA) disability benefits; 
proposals to allow the Air Force to initiate acquisition of a $29 billion programto lease and buy 100 Boeing KC767 tanker airplanes;
fashioning of the new National Security Personnel System requested byDOD;
expanding access to DOD's TRICARE health system to non-deployedreservists;
exempting DOD from certain environmental statutes;and
changing current restrictions on research on low-yield nuclearweapons. (8) 
Reflecting a compromise between the House's desire to expand protections for the defenseindustrial base and Senate's concerns about potential effects on U.S. trade relations, the conferenceversion dropped the new restrictions on certain items but required DOD to assess potential U.S.vulnerabilities. The bill also requires a study of the adequacy of U.S. producers in meeting defenseneeds for beryllium industrial base. The conference version wasreached when the Senate dropped its proposal for full concurrent receipt and the Administrationdropped its veto threat. Other Civilian Personnel Changes. New Exemption Authority. (61) The conference versionof the FY2004 DOD authorization bill provides access to this targeted version of the new benefitthrough December 31, 2004, three months longer than is provided in the FY2004 supplemental. (65) 

		Maintaining Current Levels of Imminent Danger Pay and Family Separation Allowance

One less controversial provision was included in H.R. Major Action On FY2004 DOD Appropriations Bills

The FY2004 DOD Appropriations Act was signed into law ( P.L. 108-87 ) on September 30,2003, at the end of the fiscal year. Differences in funding levels were resolved. 2658 and S. 1382 . (74) 
Of the $399.7 billion requested for national defense in FY2004, $370.6 billion is forprograms covered by the defense appropriations bill, $9.0 billion by the military constructionappropriations bill, $17.3 billion for Department of Energy defense-related activities funded in theenergy and water appropriations bill, and the remaining $2.8 billion in other appropriations bills. 108-11 ). a. House and Senate Differences about DefenseSpending. a. Last year, and again this year, the Defense Department has tried to calculatethe amount that is being devoted to modernization programs that it regards asparticularly transformational. Congressional Action. 108-106 ; S.Rept.
With passage of the FY2004 DOD Authorization Act by the House on November 7 and bythe Senate on November 12, 2003, Congress completed action on this year's defense authorization( H.R. 1588 / H.Rept. 108-384 ). The President signed the bill on November 24, 2003( P.L. 108-384 ). On September 30, just in time for the new fiscal year, the President signed H.R. 2658 , the FY2004 DOD Appropriations Act ( P.L. 108-87 ), completing action onFY2004 defense appropriations.
The recently enacted FY2004 DOD authorization bill provides a total of $401.3 billion fordefense programs, including funds in the DOD and military construction appropriations as well asseveral other defense-related programs funded in other appropriations measures. The totalauthorized for these defense and defense-related programs that make up the national defense functionis $1.5 billion above the Administration's request and $9.3 billion above the FY2003 enacted level.
The conference version of the FY2004 DOD authorization is the culmination of months ofnegotiation about several contentious issues: Buy American provisions, the Air Force's controversialtanker lease proposal, a new concurrent receipt benefit for military retirees, a new National SecurityPersonnel System, a new health benefit for reservists, and special exemptions for DOD to certainenvironmental regulations. Substantial differences about these issues between the houses and withthe Administration had stymied completion of the authorization bill.
In conference, Buy American restrictions mandating that DOD rely exclusively on U.S.suppliers for certain items were dropped in favor of provisions that require DOD to assess the U.S.industrial base and possibly provide incentives to certain U.S. producers. In the case of the Boeing767 tanker aircraft, DOD accepted a Senate-proposed compromise allowing them to lease 20 and buy80 rather than lease100 aircraft.
After the Administration dropped its veto threat, Congress passed a new concurrent receiptbenefit that is expected to provide about 200,000 military retirees with both their military retirementand disability benefits, reversing a prohibition in effect for over 100 years. DOD also received newauthority to design and implement its own civilian personnel system and new exemptions to certainenvironmental rules. The bill also provides access to DOD's TRICARE health care to unemployed, non-deployed reservists and maintains current higher levels of imminent danger pay and familyseparation allowance for eligible military personnel through December 2004.
The FY2004 DOD Appropriations Act provides appropriations totaling $368.7 billion forthe defense programs it covers. That total is $3.5 billion below the Administration's request and $4.0billion above last year's enacted level. The programmatic impact of the cut is cushioned, however,because the bill receives credit for $3.5 billion rescinded from funds provided in the $62.6 billionFY2003 supplemental appropriations bill that Congress approved in April 2003.
Key Policy Staff