	Most Recent Developments

On December 15, both the House and the Senate approved a conference agreement on theLabor-HHS-Education appropriations bill, H.R. 4425 ( P.L. Five other appropriations bills alsoprovide funds for national defense activities of DOD and other agencies including:
the military construction appropriations bill, which finances construction of military facilities and construction and operation of military family housing, all administered byDOD;
the energy and water development appropriations bill, which funds atomicenergy defense activities administered by the Department of Energy;
the VA-HUD-independent agencies appropriations bill, which finances civil defense activities administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, activities of theSelective Service System, and support for National Science Foundation Antarctic research;
the Commerce-Justice-State appropriations bill, which funds national security-related activities of the FBI, the Department of Justice, and some other agencies; and
the transportation appropriations bill, which funds some defense-related activities of the Coast Guard. The Administration's FY2001 budget includes $305.4 billion for the national defense budget function, of which $284.3 billion is requested in the defense appropriations bill. On June 29, the House, and on June 30, the Senate,approved a conference agreement on the FY2001 military construction appropriations bills, H.R. 106-246 ) on July 13. 4205 . House and Senate conferees announced anagreement on the measure on October 6, and the House approved the conference report by a vote of382-31 on October 11, and the Senate approved it on October 12 by a vote of 90-3. 106-398 ). 106-754 ), the House approved the agreement on July 19,the Senate approved it on July 27, and the President signed the bill into law on August 9 ( P.L.106-259 ). The President signed the bill into law ( P.L. Last year, in action on FY2000 bills, appropriatorstook several steps to provide additional funds for defense and non-defenseprograms, including (1) providing $1.8 billion in funding for FY2000 pay raisesas emergency appropriations in an FY1999 supplemental appropriations bill; (2)moving the last pay day of the fiscal year for military personnel into FY2001;and (3) designating $7.2 billion in the FY2000 defense appropriations bill asemergency funding. The conference agreement on the supplemental (which is included in H.R. Later, however, Congress made an across-the-board cut of 0.22% in all FY2001 discretionary appropriations, including defense, in H.R. In all, the defense reductionamounts to $521 million according to CBO estimates. 4577 also provided some additional FY2001 funds for defense programs. The majordefense additions are $150 million to repair bomb damage to the USS Cole,$100 million for classified programs in funded through the OverseasContingency Operations Transfer Fund, and $43.5 million for militaryconstruction programs. (8) The Senate-passed version of the annualdefense authorization billincluded a guarantee that the Defense Department will provide health care for life tomilitary retirees. Thiswas a key issue in the authorization conference. In floor action on June 7, the Senate approved an amendment to the authorization bill by Senator Warner that would eliminate a provision in currentlaw that makes military retirees eligible for Medicare - i.e., all those over age64 - ineligible for military medical care. Theauthorization conference also follows SASC, however, in requiring the Armyto carry out a test program to compare currently deployed armored vehicles withnew wheeled vehicles that the Army wants to buy before a third medium weightbrigade can be outfitted. The authorization conference agreement does not include the House-passedmeasure that would require troop withdrawals from Kosovo, though it doesinclude extensive reporting requirements concerning allied burdensharing. Two years ago, gender integrated training was a major issue.
House and the Senate action on annual FY2001 defense funding was completed in December when Congress approved the FY2001 omnibus appropriations bill. In all, Congress provided about$310.0 billion for national defense, including $287.8 billion in the Department of DefenseAppropriations bill. The national defense total is about $4.7 billion above the Administration'srequest.
The conference agreement on the FY2001 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations/Omnibus appropriations bill, H.R. 4577 , approved in the House and Senate on December 15,provides some additional FY2001 funds for the Department of Defense, including $150 million torepair the USS Cole, $100 million for classified programs related to operations overseas, and $43.5million for military construction. Section 1403 of the bill also makes an across-the-board cut of0.22% in all FY2001 discretionary funds, including defense, though military personnel funding isexempted from the reduction. In all, this will reduce FY2001 defense funding by $520 million.
On October 11, the House approved an a conference agreement on the FY2001 defense authorization bill, H.R. 4205 , by a vote of 382-31. The Senate approved the agreementon October 12 by a vote of 90-3. The President signed the bill into law on October 30 ( P.L.106-398 ). A conference agreement on the defense appropriations bill, H.R. 4576 , wasapproved in the House on July 19 and in the Senate on July 27, and the President signed the bill onAugust 9 ( P.L. 106-259 ). Earlier the House and the Senate approved a conference agreement on theFY2001 military construction appropriations bill, H.R. 4425 , and the President signedthe measure into law on July 13 ( P.L. 106-246 ). This bill includes supplemental appropriations forFY2000 military operations in Kosovo and Colombia, for increased fuel and medical care costs, andfor some other defense programs.
In action on key issues, authorization conferees agreed to (1) provide a permanent guarantee of health care for Medicare-eligible military retirees that was included in the Senate bill, but thatexpired after two years; (2) provide compensation for workers made ill by exposure to toxicmaterials in the nation's nuclear weapons program; (3) drop a House-passed provision mandatingtroop withdrawals from Kosovo if allies do not meet burdensharing commitments (though the billincludes extensive reporting requirements); and (4) drop anti-hate crimes legislation that wasattached to the Senate-passed bill. The retiree health care measure will make all military retireeseligible for health care through the military health care system. Conferees also agreed to acomprehensive retail and mail-order pharmacy benefit. According to preliminary CBO estimates,the bill's retiree health care provisions will cost $40 billion more over the next 10-years than benefitsDOD currently provides.
Several major weapons programs also received attention in this year's defense debate. The authorization and appropriations conference agreements reduced funding for the Joint Strike Fighterbecause of program delays. The authorization and appropriations bills also approved additionalfunding for the Army's "transformation" plan, including funds to equip a second medium-weightbrigade in FY2001. The authorization conference, however, included a requirement that the Armycarry out additional comparative testing of armored vehicles before outfitting a third brigade.
Key Policy Staff
Abbreviations:
FDT = Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division
G&F = Government and Finance Division
RSI = Resources, Science, and Industry Division