The bill was laid before the Senate on November 5, 2009 ( CR pp. 3288 , the 2010 Transportation-HUD appropriations bill retitled as the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010. 3082 became Div. Title I: Department of Defense

		Military Construction

Military C onstruction accounts provide funds for new construction, construction improvements, planning and design, and host nation support of active and reserve military forces and DOD agencies. Rather than submit a complete appropriations request for FY2010 only five weeks after taking office, President Barack Obama published a budget overview, A New Era of Responsibility: Renewing America's Promise , on February 26, 2009. In requesting military construction funds for FY2007, the first submission after the list of BRAC recommendations was created, DOD estimated the total one-time implementation cost to implement the 2005 BRAC round (the realignment and closure of a number of military installations on United States territory) and to redeploy approximately 70,000 troops and their families from overseas garrisons to bases within the United States at $17.9 billion. 2647 related to construction supporting the relocation. This privatization has reduced the amount of appropriated funds needed for the construction and operation of military family housing. 2647 and S. 1390 , the House and Senate versions of the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2010, and H.R. This restriction is continued in Section 127 of the Administrative Provisions in Title I of the enacted appropriations bill. 3082 ). Title II: Department of Veterans Affairs

		Agency Overview

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) administers directly, or in conjunction with other federal agencies, programs that provide benefits and other services to veterans and their spouses, dependents and beneficiaries. This would have been an increase of $12.9 billion, or 13.5%, over the FY2009 appropriation (including the economic stimulus funding provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act [ARRA, P.L. 111-117 provided increases in funding, above the Administration request, for compensation and pensions, and readjustment benefits (including education benefits). Title III: Related Agencies

		American Battle Monuments Commission

The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) is responsible for the maintenance and construction of U.S. monuments and memorials commemorating the achievements in battle of U.S. armed forces since the nation's entry into World War I; the erection of monuments and markers by U.S. citizens and organizations in foreign countries; and the design, construction, and maintenance of permanent cemeteries and memorials in foreign countries. Appropriations for FY2009

		Regular Appropriations (Consolidated Security and Continuing Appropriations)

President George W. Bush submitted his FY2009 appropriations request to Congress on February 4, 2008. The Senate Committee on Appropriations (SAC) Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies polled out its version of the appropriations bill, and the full committee reported it out without amendment by a unanimous vote on July 17, 2008. The text of the military construction appropriations bill was incorporated into Division E of an amendment to H.R. 1 was passed by the House on January 27. 1 on February 10, 2009. Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2009

Representative Obey introduced a supplemental appropriations bill ( H.R. The Senate passed its version of the bill on May 21. The Act added $2.11 billion to military construction accounts, including $1.23 billion for Army, $239.0 million for Navy and Marine Corps, and $281.0 million for Air Force construction, $263.3 million for the Base Realignment and Closure 2005, and $100.0 million for the NATO Security Investment Program accounts. CRS Report RL33704, Veterans Affairs: The Appeal Process for Veterans' Claims , by [author name scrubbed]. CRS Report RS22561, Veterans Affairs: The U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims—Judicial Review of VA Decision Making , by [author name scrubbed].
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, 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 and Armed Forces Retirement Homes. The bill also funds construction supporting Overseas Military Operations, a function previously carried out through emergency supplemental appropriations, and advance appropriations for veterans medical services.
Rather than submit a complete appropriations request for FY2010 only five weeks after taking office, President Barack Obama published a budget overview, A New Era of Responsibility: Renewing America's Promise, on February 26, 2009. The President submitted his regular FY2010 appropriations request to Congress on May 7, 2009, including $133.5 billion for programs covered in the regular Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies appropriations bill: $24.4 billion for Title I (military construction and family housing); $108.9 billion for Title II (veterans affairs); and $275.7 million for Title III (related agencies). Compared with funding appropriated for FY2009, this represented decreases for Title I of $3.7 billion (13.4%), and increases for Title II of $12.9 billion (13.5%) and for Title III of $69.0 million (33.3%). The overall increase in appropriations between that requested for FY2010 and enacted for FY2009 was $9.2 billion (7.4%). The enacted bill (P.L. 111-117) appropriated $23.3 billion for Title I, $157.8 billion for Title II, $280.7 million for Title III, and $1.2 billion for Title IV (Overseas Contingency Operations construction included in Title I of the President's request).
Military construction is experiencing an overall decrease in spending as the annual appropriation required to implement the 2005 Defense Base Closure and Realignment round begins to drop off. Also, appropriations dedicated to the construction and operation of military family housing are decreasing as its privatization program expands.
In the area of veterans' non-medical benefits, mandatory spending is increasing as claims for disability compensation, pension, and readjustment benefits increase due to a combination of several factors including the aging of the veterans' population and the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. As a result, the average number of days for completing a pension or compensation claim in FY2008 was 179 days. To reduce the pending claims workload and improve processing time, funds have been provided in previous appropriation bills for hiring and training additional claims processing staff.
The House version of the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Act for 2010 (H.R. 3082) was passed by the House on July 10, 2009, and sent to the Senate. The Senate passed an amended version of the bill on November 17, 2009. H.R. 3082 was subsequently incorporated as Div. E of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010 (H.R. 3288).