Analysis of the Fiscal 2003 Supplemental Appropriations Bill Conference Report
Over the weekend, the fiscal 2003 Supplemental Appropriations Bill Conference Report passed the Senate by unanimous consent and the House by voice vote.
Total Funding
- House Version: $77.9 billion
- Senate Version: $78.9 billion
- Conference Report: $79 billion
Defense
Total Defense: $62.4 billion - The bill separates funding into major titles instead of giving the administration a free hand on how to spend the money:
- $31.2 billion for operations and maintenance
- $13.4 billion for military personnel
- $1.4 billion to support coalition partners
- $1.3 billion for procurement
- $502 million for Defense Health Program
- $81.5 million for research and development
- $15.7 billion for the flexible “Iraq Freedom Fund.” The report requires the Defense Department to notify Congress five days before transferring funds from the Iraq Freedom Fund. Advanced notification is also required before allocating funds for counter-terrorism training activities and funds for Pakistan, Jordan and other countries.
Homeland Security
Total Homeland Security: $3.9 billion
- $2.23 billion for First Responder grants
- $330 million for border security
- $535 for Transportation Security Agency
- $16 million for research on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)
Foreign Aid
Total Foreign Aid: $7.5 billion
- $2.5 billion for the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund - the bill rejects the request to place authority within the Executive Office of the President, but the President is given “unprecedented flexibility” to spend the funds. While the bill requires funds to be allocated according to the requirements of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, the President is allowed “to make direct apportionments to several domestic agencies and the Department of Defense.”
Economic Aid: $2.4 billion
- $700 million to Jordan
- $300 million to Egypt
- $167 million to Afghanistan
- $30 million to the Philippines
- $1 billion to Turkey - the Secretary of State can withhold funds if Turkey does not cooperate with U.S. in Operation Iraqi Freedom or unilaterally sends troops into northern Iraq.
Military Aid: $2.1 billion
- $1 billion to Israel
- $406 million to Jordan
- $170 million to the Afghan National Army
- $175 million to Pakistan
Non-proliferation
Total non-proliferation funding: $148 million
- the bill removes request language authorizing the use up to $50 million for projects in countries outside the former Soviet Union, including Iraq.
- $84 million for radiation detectors at seaports
- $17 million to secure radioactive materials
- $15 million to expand non-proliferation assistance to countries other than the former Soviet Union
- $5 million to support activities in Iraq,
- $5 million for research on nuclear detection devices
Airline Aid
House Version: $3.2 billion
Senate Version: $3.5 billion
Conference Report: $2.9 billion
Other Highlights, pork
- Cuts $150 million slush fund for “complex foreign crises”
- Includes $110 million for Air Force Military Construction of the Millennium Village
- Provides $34 million in counter-narcotics aid to Colombia
- Extends temporary unemployment benefits for airline workers
- Establishes a panel to review sexual assaults at the Air Force Academy
- Sets new federal standards for organic seafood
- $65 million for the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System
- $2 million for State and Tribal Wildlife Grants
- $500,000 for collaboration between Aberdeen, MD high school and Aberdeen Proving Ground
- $100,000 for Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock, PA