Updates to Appropriations Process: DOE, DOD Bills
Beginning August 5, members of the House of Representatives left town for their August recess, or “district work period.” The Senate hopes to follow them out of town at the end of this week, although a number of issues remain on the Senate’s calendar. This FYI provides updates on recent action on DOE and DOD appropriations, while FYI #113 gives additional information on the VA/HUD funding bill, and the rescissions bill for current-year funding.
FYIs #110 and #111 reported that the FY 1996 ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT Appropriations bill, H.R. 1905, had passed the Senate floor on August 1. At the time, details of changes made on the floor were not available, but information was provided on the recommendations made by the Senate Appropriations Committee in S. Report 104-120. The amounts recommended in the committee report still hold, except for fusion funding. An amendment accepted on the floor would allow continued use of the TFTR, as follows: "...within available funds $56,000,000 may be available to continue operation of the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (for which purpose, the Secretary may use savings from reducing general administrative expenses in accordance with the Department of Energy’s strategic alignment and downsizing effort, but none of the savings used for this purpose shall come from programmatic accounts within this title.)”
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) noted, “This amendment is a smart one because it makes use of existing Department of Energy resources. It is also a no-cost amendment. It does not increase any account in this bill. And it does not take one cent from any other Department of Energy research program.”
Lautenberg continued, "...the current language in the energy and water bill is ambiguous about the TFTR machine. Therefore, this amendment seeks to clarify that the Secretary of Energy will have the authority to keep TFTR effectively operating for another three years. And it accomplishes exactly what the PCAST report called for with regard to TFTR.” (see FYIs #98, 105 for more on the PCAST fusion report.)
H.R. 2126, the DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Appropriations bill for FY 1996, has been reported out of both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. The House Committee passed the bill on July 25, the Senate Committee on July 28. Discussion of the bill was begun on the House floor on July 31, but was not completed by the time the House went out on recess. Last year, then-Chairman John Murtha (D-PA) of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense raised concern in the scientific community by cutting $900 million from a request of $1.8 billion for DOD-sponsored university research; the amount of the reduction was changed to $200 million in conference (see FYI #146, 1994.) This year, the House Appropriations Committee has recommended $7.7 billion more than President Clinton’s request for DOD, and the $1.6 billion more than the President’s request for the Research, Development, Testing and Evaluation account. These increases make a reduction to university research this year appear unlikely.
