NEWS
House Appropriations Committee
Chairman C.W. Bill Young (R-FL)
Website address: www.house.gov/appropriations

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:	                                                Contact: Elizabeth Morra
August 5, 1999	                                                                 (202) 226-5828

HOUSE PASSES FY00 CRIME

AND CENSUS SPENDING BILL

Discretionary Spending:

• FY 2000 Bill: $35.8 billion (includes $4.2 billion Crime Trust Fund and $4.5 billion in emergency funding for Decennial Census)
• FY 2000 President’s Request: $38.5 billion (includes $230 million in emergency funding for SBA)
• FY 2000 Adjusted Freeze: $37.1 billion (includes $4.5 billion for Decennial Census)
• FY 1999 Funding: $35.2 billion

Major Amendments Adopted on the House Floor:

• (Serrano): Provides $109 million increase for the Legal Service Corporation offset by reductions from programs in the Judiciary, Department of Justice and State Department Operations.
• (Tiahrt): Prohibits funding in the bill to denigrate or otherwise undermine the religious or moral beliefs of students who participate in Justice Department funded programs.
• (Traficant): Prohibits the use of funds for the Department of Justice to transport high security prisoners to facilities other than those certified as high security.
• (Deal): Prohibits funds in the bill from being used to provide visas to citizens of countries that the Attorney General determines to have refused to repatriate their citizens or nationals.
• (Vitter): Prohibits the use of funds for participation by U.S. delegates to the Standing Consultive Commission in any activity to implement the Memorandum of Understanding Relating to the Treaty between the U.S. and the Soviet Union on the Limitations of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems entered into on September 26, 1997.
• (Tauzin): Prohibits any funds to be used by the FCC to enforce or administer the Uniform Systems of Accounts for Telecommunications Companies with respect to any common carrier that was determined to be subject to price cap regulation by the Commission's order or has elected to be subject to price cap regulation.
• (Hayworth): Prohibits the use of funds for any activity in support of any World Heritage Site in the United States on the list of World Heritage in Danger.

Provides a total of $18.009 billion for the Department of Justice, $61 million more than FY99 and $391 million below the President’s request. Including:

• Provides funding increases to maintain current operating levels of key law enforcement agencies and to address the detention space shortfall. This is offset by decreased funding for Community Oriented Policing (COPS) from the President’s $1.275 billion request to $268 million, the authorization level set in law. FY99 funding was $1.4 billion.
• Restores the Local Law Enforcement Block Grant to $523 million, which was terminated in the President’s request.
• Restores the Juvenile Accountability Incentive Block Grant to $250 million, which was terminated in the President’s request.
• Increases State and Local Law Enforcement by $1.2 billion over the President’s request, bringing FY00 funding to $2.8 billion.
• Restores Truth-in-Sentencing State Prison Grants to $686 million, which was terminated in the President’s request.
• Restores Byrne Law Enforcement to $552 million, the FY99 level, $92 million above the President’s request.
• Increases the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) by $484 million over FY99, bringing FY00 direct funding to $3 billion, $1.8 million below the President’s request. Includes funding for 1,000 new border patrol, increased detention of criminal and illegal aliens, and continuation of naturalization backlog reduction and interior enforcement initiatives.
• Provides $585 million to reimburse states for incarceration of illegal aliens, $85 million more than the President’s request.
• Increases the Federal Bureau of Investigation $130 million over FY99, bringing FY00 to $3.1 billion, $89 million below the President’s request.
• Provides $283 million for the Violence Against Women Act, the same level as FY99 and the President’s request.
• Provides $192 million to continue the safe schools initiative, including $150 million for hiring police to work directly with schools and communities to develop ways to improve school safety.

Continuing the Fight Against Drugs: Provides $1.3 billion for the Drug Enforcement Agency, which is $73 million over FY99, the same as the President’s request.

Supporting Judiciary: Provides $3.68 billion for FY00, $248 million more than FY99, $258 million below the President’s request.

Commerce and the Census: Provides a total of $8.1 billion for the Department of Commerce, $3 billion more than FY99, $961 million below the President’s request.

• Provides $4.47 billion in emergency funding for the Decennial Census, which is $3.4 billion more than FY99, $11 million below the President.
• Provides $599 million for the National Weather Service, which is $39 million more than FY99, $14 million below the President’s request.
• Provides $1.96 billion for NOAA, which is $211 million below FY99 and $550 million below the President’s request.
• National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is funded at $437 million, which is $210 million below FY99, and $300 million below the President’s request. The Advanced Technology Program (ATP) is terminated for a savings of $203 million.

International Programs: Provides $5.66 billion for the State Department and Related Agencies, which is $1.2 billion below FY99 (includes emergency funding), $516 million below the President’s request.

• Includes $568 million for the cost of worldwide security improvements and replacement of vulnerable embassies started in FY99 with emergency funding and $40 million in increased funding for the State Department operations to avoid personnel reductions or post closings. The funding is partially offset by decreases in international organizations, peacekeeping, lower level of UN arrears and other decreases.
• Provides $2.727 billion for Diplomatic and Consular Programs to fund the operating costs of a consolidated Department, which is $112 million below the President’s request.
• Provides $842.9 million to Contributions to International Organizations including full funding for current year U.N. assessments, which is $79 million below FY99, $120 million below the President’s request.
• Provides $200 million for Contributions to International Peacekeeping, which is $31 million below FY99, $35 million below the President’s request.
• Provides $351 million for the third and final year of U.N. arrearage payments subject to authorization, the amount agreed to between the White House and the Congress in the pending authorization.

Other Items of Interest:

• The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is funded at $192 million, which is the same as FY99, $39 million below the President’s request.
• The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is funded at $279 million, the same as FY99, $33 million below the President’s request.
• The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is funded at the FY99 level of $116.7 million, $17 million below the President’s request.
• The Small Business Administration is funded at $734.5 million, which is $15.5 million over FY99, $177 million below the President’s request.
• The Securities and Exchange Commission is funded at the FY99 level of $324 million, $37 million below the President’s request.

Cuts and Terminations

• Legal Services Corporation is funded at $250 million, $50 million below FY99 and $90 million below the President’s request.
• Advanced Technology Program is terminated. It was funded at $203 million in FY99 and $238 million was requested by the President.
• North-South Center is terminated. It was funded at $1.8 million in FY99 and the President requested $2.5 million.
• East-West Center is terminated. It was funded at $12.5 million in FY99, the same as the President’s request.
• State Justice Institute is terminated. It was at $6.9 million in FY99, the President requested $15 million.

Major Amendments Adopted in Full Committee:

• (Rogers): Highlights of the Managers Amendment—Includes language informally forwarded by OMB to correct an omission in the budget to provide an appropriation for retirement pay for the NOAA Commissioned Corps, which is a mandatory item. Includes language clarifying the level of funding for the Office of Defense Trade Controls, which was given the lead for export licensing of satellites in FY99, to assure a level of funding that will allow the Office to carry out these activities
• (Knollenberg): Prohibits the use of funds for proposing or issuing rules, regulations, decrees, or orders for the purpose of implementing or preparing for implementation of the Kyoto Protocol.
• (Emerson): Prohibits funds in the bill to be used to publish or issue assessment required by the Global Change Research Act unless the supporting research has been subjected to peer review and published and posted electronically for public comment if otherwise not available. Also restricts use of funds in the bill unless the draft assessment has been published in the Federal Register for a 60 day public comment period.

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