H.R. 2055

Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2012

Sponsor	Rep. Culberson, John
Committee	Appropriations
Date	June 2, 2011 (112th Congress, 1st Session)
Staff Contact	Andy Koenig

On Thursday, June 2, 2011, the House is scheduled to begin consideration of H.R. 2055, the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2012, under a rule.  The bill was introduced on May 31, 2011, by Rep. John Culberson (R-TX) and referred to the Committee on Appropriations.  The bill is scheduled to be considered under an open rule (H. Res. 288) providing for one hour of general debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations.  The open rule would provide for consideration of any amendment offered that complies with the House rules.  Under the rule, amendments would be considered under the five-minute rule following general debate.   In addition, the rule requires the Chair to put the question on retaining Title II (Department of Veterans Affairs) separately prior to putting the question on engrossment and third reading of the bill.

H.R. 2055 would provide a total of $72.53 billion in non-emergency, discretionary budget authority for FY 2012, a decrease of $1.2 billion or 1.7 percent below the President’s request and $615 million or 0.8 percent below FY 2011 levels.  Funding for Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) programs in FY 2012 would also include $69.5 billion in mandatory spending, which is equal to the President’s request.  In addition, the legislation would provide $52.5 billion in advance appropriations for VA medical accounts in FY 2013, an increase of $1.9 billion or 4 percent above the advanced appropriations for FY 2012.  Including $69.5 billion in mandatory spending, which does not count against the subcommittee’s allocation, the bill would provide $142 billion in budget authority for FY 2012.  H.R. 2055 would contribute to an overall level of discretionary budget authority of $1.019 trillion for FY 2012, a reduction of $30.3 billion below FY 2011.

 

Total Discretionary Budget Authority (In millions)
	FY 2011 Enacted	President's Request	H.R. 2055	Change From FY 2011	Change From Request	% Change from 2011	% Change From Request
Discretionary Budget Authority	73,150	73,791	72,535	-615	-1,256	-0.8%	-1.7%

 

TITLE I—Department of Defense and Military Construction

Department of Defense Construction:  Provides a total appropriation of $14 billion for Department of Defense (DoD) military construction, family housing, and base realignment, a decrease of $4.6 billion or 16 percent from FY 2011.  The funding level is $752 million or 5 percent below the President’s request.  According to the Appropriations Committee, the bill would provide funding for 397 military construction projects contained in the budget request. 

Military Family Housing:  Provides a total of $1.65 billion for family housing maintenance and construction, which is a decrease of $128 million or 7 percent from FY 2011.  The funding level is equal to the President’s request.  According to the Committee, the bill would provide $373 million for new construction of family housing.

NATO Security Investment Program:  Provides $273 million for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Security Investment Program, an increase of $14 million or 5 percent over FY 2011 and the same as the President’s request.  The program finances the provision of the installations and facilities needed to support the roles of NATO Strategic Commands.  These investments cover such installations and facilities as communications and information systems, radar, military headquarters, airfields, fuel pipelines and storage, and harbors.

 

Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC):   Provides $582 million for the re-stationing of overseas U.S. military personnel to the United States and base closures, a decrease of $1.9 billion or 76 percent from FY 2011 and equal to the President’s budget request. 

TITLE II—Department of Veterans Affairs

Veterans Benefits Administration:  Includes a total mandatory and discretionary funding level of $69.6 billion for the Veterans Benefits Administration, an increase of $5.1 billion or 8 percent over FY 2011 and equal to the President’s request.  The vast majority of the Administration’s funds are provided through mandatory spending for compensation, pensions, and other benefits that were established in previous legislation.

Readjustment Benefits:  Funding provided to the Veterans’ Benefits Administration includes $11 billion in readjustment benefits which finances the education and training of veterans and service members whose initial entry to active duty took place on or after July 1, 1985.  The funding level represents an increase of $615 million or 6 percent over FY 2011.

Veterans Health Administration:  Provides a total of $53 billion for the Veterans Health Administration, an increase of $1.9 billion or 4 percent over FY 2011 and equal to the President’s request.  Funding for the Veterans Health Administration medical services comes from advanced appropriations form previous years.  Advanced appropriations from previous funding measures for the VA Administration for FY 2012 includes $39.6 billion for Veterans Medical Services, $5.5 billion for Medical Support Compliance and $5.4 billion for Medical Facilities.  The bill also contains $52.5 billion in advanced appropriations to finance these programs in FY 2013.

Information Technology:  Provides $3 billion for VA information technology needs at medical facilities, a decrease of $121 million from FY 2011 and $136 million from the President’s request.

Operating Expenses:  Provides $2.44 billion for general VA operating expenses, an decrease of $24 million below the President’s request and separates operating expenses into two separate accounts.  The Administration’s budget request proposes that funding for the administrative expenses associated with the Veterans Benefits Administration and all Department-wide offices be included within one single appropriation account. The Committee recommendation includes funding for these functions in two separate accounts: General operating expenses, Veterans Benefits Administration, and General administration.

VA Construction:  Provides $590 million for major VA construction projects, a decrease of $561 million or 48 percent from FY 2011.  The bill also provides $475 million for minor VA construction projects, a decrease of $75 million or 14 percent from the President’s budget request.

VA Inspector General:  Provides $109 million for the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General, the same amount as last year and the same amount as the President’s request.

Advanced Appropriations:  Provides $52.5 billion in advanced appropriations for the Veterans Health Administration for medical services, medical support, and medical facilities.  

TITLE III—Related Agencies

American Battle Monuments Commission:  The American Battle Monuments Commission, responsible for operating and supporting U.S. military monuments and cemeteries around the world, is funded at $77 million a decrease of $7 million or 8 percent from FY 2011 and the same as the President’s budget request.

Army Cemetery Expenses:   Provides $46 million for the operation of Arlington National Cemetery, $1 million more than last year.

Armed Forces Retirement Home:  Provides $68 million for the Armed Forces Retirement Home Trust Fund, $3 million below last year’s level.

Additional Provisions

Use of Funds:  Prohibits funds from being made available to acquire land, provide for site preparation, or install utilities for any family housing, unless it has been made available in appropriations for military construction.

Steel Procurement:  Prohibits the procurement of steel unless U.S. producers and manufacturers are able to compete.

Project Labor Agreements: Includes a prohibition against the use of funds in this Act for enforcement of Executive Order 13502, which encourages executive agencies to consider requiring the use of project labor agreements in connection with large-scale construction projects.

E-Verify:  Includes a requirement that contractors comply with E-Verify requirements of Executive Order 12989.  E-Verify is an Internet-based system that allows businesses to determine the eligibility of their employees to work in the United States

 

Guantanamo Bay Detainees:  Includes a prohibition on funding for construction or renovation of any facility in the continental United States for housing any individual who has been detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Total Budget Authority According to CBO (In Millions)
Program	FY 2011 Enacted	President's Request	H.R. 2055	Change From FY 2011	Change From Request	% Change from 2011	% Change From Request
TITLE I--Department of Defense Military Construction
Army Military Construction	3,525	3,236	3,041	-484	-195	-13.7%	-6%
Navy and Marines Military Construction	3,243	2,462	2,437	-806	-25	-24.9%	-1%
Air Force Military Construction	985	1,365	1,247	262	-118	26.6%	-9%
Defense-Wide Military Construction	2,724	3,849	3,534	810	-315	29.7%	-8%
Reserve Components	1,457	1,231	1,231	-226	0	-15.5%	0%
NATO  Security Investment	259	273	273	14	0	5.4%	0%
Family Housing Maintenance and Construction	1,823	1,695	1,695	-128	0	-7.0%	0%
Chemical Demilitarization Construction	125	75	75	-50	0	-40.0%	0%
Base Realignment and Closure	2,482	582	582	-1,900	0	-76.6%	0%
Department of Defense Military Construction Total	16,622	14,766	14,014	-2,608	-752	-15.7%	-5%
TITLE II - Department of Veterans Affairs
Compensation and Pensions	53,978	57,376	58,067	4,089	691	7.6%	1.2%
Readjustment Benefits	10,396	10,221	11,011	615	790	5.9%	7.7%
Veterans Insurance and Indemnities	77	100	100	23	0	29.9%	0.0%
Veterans Housing Benefit Program	165	463	463	298	0	180.6%	0.0%
Medical Services (Advanced Appropriation for FY 2013)	39,649	41,354	41,354	1,705	0	4.3%	0
Medical Support Compliance (Advanced Appropriation for FY 2013)	5,535	5,746	5,746	211	0	3.8%	0
Medical Facilities (Advanced for FY 2013)	5,426	5,441	5,441	15	0	0.3%	0
Medical and Prosthetic Research	581	509	509	-72	0	-12.4%	0
National Cemetery Administration	250	251	251	1	0	0.4%	0
General Operating Expenses	2,534	2,466	0	-2,534	-2,466	-100.0%	-100%
General Administration	0	0	422	422	422	-	-
General Operating Expenses	0	0	2,020	2,020	2,020	-	-
Information Technology Systems	3,146	3,161	3,025	-121	-136	-3.8%	-4%
Office of the Inspector General	109	109	109	0	0	0.0%	0%
Construction of Major Projects	1,151	590	590	-561	0	-48.7%	0%
Construction of Minor Projects	468	550	475	7	-75	1.5%	-13.6%
Grants for State Extended Care Construction	85	85	85	0	0	0.0%	0.0%
Grants for State Veterans Cemetery Construction	46	46	46	0	0	0.0%	0.0%
Department of Veterans Affairs Discretionary	58,876	60,705	60,299	1,423	-406	2.4%	-0.7%
Department of Veterans Affairs Total*	123,182	130,202	129,726	6,544	-476	5.3%	-0.4%
*This account includes $69.497 billion in mandatory spending which does not count against the subcommittee allocation
TITLE III--RELATED AGENCIES
American Battle Monuments Commission	84	77	77	-7	0	-8.3%	0%
US Court of Appeals for Vets Claims	28	56	31	3	-25	10.7%	-45%
Army Cemetery Expenses	45	46	46	1	0	2.2%	0%
Armed Forces Retirement Home	71	68	68	-3	0	-4.2%	0%
Related Agencies Total	228	246	221	-7	-25	-3.1%	-10%
TOTAL FUNDING LEVELS
Discretionary Budget Authority	73,150	73,791	72,535	-615	-1,256	-0.8%	-1.7%

 

According to CBO, H.R. 2055 would provide $72.535 billion in discretionary budget authority for programs funded through the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2012.