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March 16th, 2005 - - President's Request: $81.9 billion
Chairman's Mark: $81.4 billion
Amendments Adopted on House Floor:
(Jackson): Adds $100 million for refugee and disaster assistance.
(Upton): Prohibits expenditure of funds in the bill for embassy security, construction and maintenance.
In general, the Committee funded urgent FY05 needs relating to prosecuting the war on terrorism and furthering specific U.S. security interests abroad. To that end we have reduced roughly half of the net foreign assistance funds in the request either because they were not well defined or should be considered through the regular budget process.
Defense
The Chairman's Mark proposes a total for $76.8 billion for total defense related expenditures in the supplemental, $1.8 billion over the Administration's request. The additions over the request are in support of deployed, soon-to-be-deployed, or returning troops and assist in force protection, or in increasing the survivability of troops in the field. Within the total defense funds, $3.1 billion is provided for activities under the jurisdiction of the Military Quality of Life Subcommittee. The following table summarizes the Committee's additions to request within the Defense Subcommittee. In addition, the committee made $600 million in reductions to requested items mainly for activities deemed not executable in Fiscal Year 2005.
($ Thousands)
Recommended
Program Increase
Missile Procurement, Army:
ITAS/TOW Mods................................................................................. $46,500
Weapons and Tracked Combat Vehicles:
Bradley Reactive Armor Tiles ........................................................... $26,000
Stryker (replace combat losses) ....................................................... $69,540
Abrams Modification program
(TIGER engine upgrade).............................................................. $90,000
Small Arms Modifications.................................................................. $68,000
Procurement of Ammunition, Army:
Ammunition Industrial Base................................................................ $57,800
Other Procurement, Army:
Up-Armored HMMWVs (M1114) ...................................................... $51,300
Other HMMWVs (M1151) ............................................................... $134,200
FMTV (Medium trucks)..................................................................... $401,000
FHTV (Heavy trucks)......................................................................... $207,100
Add-On Armor Kits ............................................................................. $48,000
SINCGARS Family ............................................................................. $55,500
Improved HF Radios (including PRC-150
and PRC-148) .............................................................................. $28,000
Jammers (Warlock)............................................................................ $50,000
Night Vision Devices ......................................................................... $94,000
Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below
(FBCB2) ...................................................................................... $146,100
Handheld Stand-off Mine Detection System
(HSTAMIDS) ................................................................................. $18,300
ARMY TOTAL:.......................................................................... $1,591,340
Procurement of Ammunition Navy and Marine Corps:
Small Arms Ammunition ...................................................................... $8,100
Procurement, Marine Corps:
Light Armored Vehicle (LAV).......................................................... $277,500
Night Vision Equipment................................................................... $151,900
Radio Systems (including EPLRS, PRC-117 and HF
Communications Vehicle)............................................................. $103,100
HMMWVs ............................................................................................ $50,000
MARINE CORPS TOTAL:............................................................ 622,550
SAPI PLATES (Body armor) for Army and Marine Corps
(in O&M accounts) ............................................................................. $75,000
MEDICAL SUPPLIES ................................................................................ $150,000
SOCOM EQUIPMENT................................................................................... $55,000
GRAND TOTAL: $2,526,880
Death Benefits and Gratuity--Bill increases the maximum Servicemember Group Life Insurance benefits from $250K to $400K; The onetime death gratuity for combat fatalities is also increased from $12k to $100K.
Modularity—Committee recommends fully funding the request for Army transformation because it is needed to mitigate stress on the current active duty combat force by creating at least 10 additional combat brigades. The funding provided in this bill for equipment purchases under the modularity program will be used by units that will deploy to either Iraq or Afghanistan in the next two troop rotations scheduled for later this year and in 2006. By providing the funding now, the troops will receive much of this equipment prior to deployment. The continuing intensity of conflict, especially in Iraq, warrants outfitting these new units with the best equipment as quickly as possible.
Foreign Operations
The committee has included $1.7 billion in net foreign assistance funds within the Foreign Operations Subcommittee. Within these funds, the Committee has identified $1.7 billion urgent or critical items funded in the bill as an emergency that are directly related to the war on terror or aiding the recovery of tsunami victims. The committee also provides $1 billion of important items that further U.S. global interests but has offset this spending with a corresponding rescission of $1 billion in previously appropriated assistance to Turkey. These funds were provided in the first Iraq supplemental of 2 years ago and require a positive of vote of the Turkish Parliament to be expended. There is widespread agreement that this will not take place anytime in the near future.
Highlights of the $1.7 billion in emergency assistance
n $594 million for counter narcotics efforts and police training in Afghanistan. $400 million as requested to train Afghan police and $194 million, $66 million below the request, to support ongoing counter-narcotic and crop alternative programs in Afghanistan.
n $372 million for urgent health, reconstruction and alternative livelihoods to growing poppy projects in Afghanistan.
n $656 million is provided for tsunami disaster relief, $45 million below the request. The $45 million reduction is for debt relief for affected nations. A recent committee oversight trip discovered that debt relief would not provide immediate assistance to tsunami victims.
n $17 million for Karzai government security.
n $92 million for humanitarian assistance for the Darfur region of Sudan.
Highlights of $1 billion in important assistance offset by corresponding rescission
n $200 million in economic and infrastructure assistance to West Bank and Gaza territories. Funds in are bound by existing laws and authorities and shall not be used as direct, cash, assistance to the Palestinian Authority. In addition, the committee includes statutory language requiring GAO to carefully track the execution of the funds by USAID.
n $250 million in foreign military assistance, $150 million for Pakistan and $100 million for Jordan to support ongoing counter-terror operations.
n $354 million in economic, non-security reconstruction projects in Afghanistan.
Unfunded items
The Committee did not fund approximately $1 billion in requested items either because they were not well justified or not executable in Fiscal Year 2005, or could be funded by other donors. The bulk of this funding is for the following:
n $200 million for the new Global War on Terrorism Partners Fund;
n $200 million for the new Solidarity Fund
n $570 million for a variety of Afghanistan reconstruction projects that will be considered in the FY06 budget process, including the refurbishment of the Kabul airport, venture capital funding, a hydropower and a gas-fired power plan, industrial parks, courthouses, a new law school in Kabul and a community housing project.
Other Items
n Baghdad Embassy—Committee recommends reducing funds for the Baghdad embassy by 10% which brings total recommended to $592 m, about a $70 million reduction. Providing the funds now greatly shortens the time that Americans working for the U. S. mission in Iraq are placed in harms way. The construction of the embassy was deemed urgent because of the imminent security threats to U.S. personnel. 45 personnel working with U.S. Mission in Iraq have been killed. Most recently, two Americans were killed by a rocket attack on our diplomatic compound the day of the election. The land has been acquired at no cost to the United States. Funding is for construction of the total diplomatic compound which includes housing, office space, and defense support facilities.
n International Peacekeeping—Committee recommends cutting $200 million in U.S. contribution to international peacekeeping missions. Total funding recommended is $580 million, the bulk of which is for the Sudan. These funds pay for U.S. supported missions that were initiated after the FY05 budget was completed and avoids direct U.S. military involvement in affected regions.
n U.N. Code of Conduct—The bill includes the text of the Humanitarian Assistance Code of Conduct Act of 2005 which passed the House earlier this session by a voted of 416-1. This provision prohibits U.S. assistance for organizations who have not adopted strict International standards and penalties to prevent the sexual exploitation and abuse of international disaster victims.
n Tsunami Prevention--Committee funds the request ($14.5m) to build and deploy 32 new Tsunami-detection buoys in the Pacific, Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. Funds are also included for coastal inundation mapping, and community outreach and preparedness.
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