The impact of sequestration on the appropriations accounts covered in this report, as calculated by the Office of Management and Budget, are displayed in Table B-1 . Appropriation

			Annual Appropriation

On February 14, 2012, President Barack Obama submitted to Congress his request for military construction appropriations to support federal government operations during the fiscal year beginning on October 1, 2012 (FY2013). The House Committee on Appropriations introduced its Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for 2013 ( H.R. 112-491 ) on May 23, 2012. The Senate Committee on Appropriations introduced its own draft of the bill ( S. 3215 , S.Rept. 112-168 ) on May 22. The resolution was received in the Senate on September 19 and was placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders (Calendar No. Nevertheless, Section 102(a) of the Continuing Appropriations Resolution stated
No appropriation or funds made available or authority granted pursuant to section 101 for the Department of Defense shall be used for: (1) the new production of items not funded for production in fiscal year 2012 or prior years; (2) the increase in production rates above those sustained with fiscal year 2012 funds; or (3) the initiation, resumption, or continuation of any project, activity, operation, or organization (defined as any project, subproject, activity, budget activity, program element, and subprogram within a program element, and for any investment items defined as a P-1 line item in a budget activity within an appropriation account and an R-1 line item that includes a program element and subprogram element within an appropriation account) for which appropriations, funds, or other authority were not available during fiscal year 2012. Final Appropriation for FY2013

On March 26, 2013, the day prior to the expiration of the continuing resolution then in effect, the President enacted the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013 ( H.R. 933 , P.L. 113-6 ), which funded the government through the remainder of FY2013. Division E of that act constituted the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2013. Supplemental Appropriation

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, a Category 2 storm that struck the East Coast of the United States during late October 2012, the President requested $47.4 billion in emergency supplemental appropriations, including $259.9 million in military construction and veterans affairs funding. The House Committee on Armed Services reported its amendment of the bill on May 11 ( H.Rept. 112-479 , Part 2, submitted on May 15). Among the issues cited in its statement, OMB noted
the bill's prohibition on the use of funds to propose or plan for additional rounds of BRAC; language that would effectively freeze certain Air Force command structures, capabilities, and functions as they existed in 2011; reductions in the funding authorized for construction of the Aegis Ashore Missile Defense Complex in Romania and requirement for new missile defense construction on the U.S. East Coast; the absence of an authorization for two new base closure (BRAC) rounds; and the inclusion of language enabling retroactive DOD liability for environmental conditions at military installations closed outside the BRAC process after October 24, 1988. The Senate received H.R. Title I: Department of Defense

		Military Construction

The military construction appropriations account includes a number of appropriations subaccounts:
Military Construction accounts provide funds for new construction, construction improvements, and facility planning and design in support of active and reserve military forces and DOD agencies. Requesting New BRAC Rounds

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta announced on January 26, 2012, that the President would request congressional authorization to carry out two new BRAC rounds, in 2013 and 2015. Congress subsequently passed a new bill ( H.R. Extension of Authority to Use Operation and Maintenance (O&M) Funds for Military Construction

Both of the Committees on Armed Services reported versions of the NDAA for FY2013 that include a provision (Section 2803) that extends for a year the Secretary of Defense's authority to use up to $200 million in O&M funds from the defense appropriation for the construction of facilities in the geographic areas of responsibility of U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) and those areas on the continent of Africa formerly under CENTCOM responsibility. The VA has three primary organizations to provide these benefits: the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), and the National Cemetery Administration (NCA). 113-6 . For a discussion of VA health care appropriations, see CRS Report R42518, Veterans' Medical Care: FY2013 Appropriations , by [author name scrubbed]. U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims

The U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims was established by the Veterans' Administration Adjudication Procedure and Judicial Review Act of 1988 ( P.L. The appropriation for the AFRH facilities is normally all from the Armed Forces Retirement Home Trust Fund. Table 7 shows the FY2012 enacted appropriations, the Administration request, and P.L.
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.
President Barack Obama submitted his request to Congress for FY2013 appropriations on February 13, 2012. For the appropriations accounts included in this bill, his request totaled $145.2 billion in new budget authority, divided into three major categories: Title I (military construction and family housing) at $11.2 billion; Title II (veterans affairs) at $135.6 billion; and Title III (related agencies) at $219.5 million. Of the total, $74.4 billion (49.9%) would be discretionary appropriations, with the remainder considered mandatory. On May 15, the House Committee on Appropriations reported a bill recommending appropriating $10.9 billion for Title I (less $235 million in funds rescinded from prior years), $135.4 billion for Title II, and $347 million for Title III.
Military construction funding amounts requested by the President and enacted by Congress have fallen off as the 2005 Defense Base Closure and Realignment (BRAC) round has reached completion, although Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has requested statutory authority to carry out two new BRAC rounds in 2013 and 2015. Funding support for military family housing construction has also declined as the military departments (Army, Navy, and Air Force) continue their efforts to privatize formerly government-owned accommodations.
Funding for the VA between FY2012 and FY2013 in the Administration request, H.R. 5854, and S. 3215, reflects increases for mandatory veterans' benefits and health care. The largest percentage increases between FY2012 and FY2013 are for mandatory benefits, primarily disability compensation and pension benefits.
The House Committee on Appropriations reported its FY2013 bill (H.R. 5854) on May 16, 2012 (H.Rept. 112-491), and passed the bill on May 31. The Senate received H.R. 5854 on June 5. The Senate Committee on Appropriations reported its bill (S. 3215) on May 22 (S.Rept. 112-168), and the bill was placed on the Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Nevertheless, an appropriation bill was not enacted before the end of FY2012, and government operations continued under a continuing resolution (H.J.Res. 117, enacted September 28) that expired on March 27, 2013. The day prior, the President enacted the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013 (H.R. 933, P.L. 113-6), which funded the government through the remainder of FY2013. Division E of that act constituted the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2013. In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, the Senate proposed an emergency supplemental appropriation that included additional military construction and veterans funding.
Because the appropriations by P.L. 113-6 reflected amounts for various accounts in excess of those imposed by the Budget Control Act (BCA) of 2011 (P.L. 112-25), the law required that the excess be reduced ("sequestered") before the end of the fiscal year on September 30, 2013. The impact of sequestration on these appropriations is reflected in Table B-1 in Appendix B of this report. All other tables display "pre-sequestration" amounts.