[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 123 (Monday, October 4, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H7977-H7978]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CLARIFICATION OF TREATMENT OF SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS IN
CALCULATING RATE FOR OPERATIONS FOR CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS
Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
pass the bill (H.R. 5202) to clarify the treatment of supplemental
appropriations in calculating the rate for operations applicable for
continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2005.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 5202
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. CLARIFICATION OF TREATMENT OF SUPPLEMENTAL
APPROPRIATIONS IN CALCULATING RATE FOR
OPERATIONS.
For purposes of the application of section 103 of Public
Law 108-309, supplemental appropriations shall be included in
the calculation of the rate for operations only in accordance
with the attachments to Office of Management and Budget
Bulletin No. 04-05 entitled ``Apportionment of the Continuing
Resolution(s) for Fiscal Year 2005''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Florida (Mr. Young) and the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young).
General Leave
Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend
their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 5202.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Florida?
There was no objection.
Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
might consume.
Mr. Speaker, the legislation before the House, H.R. 5202, is to
assist the Members of the House in understanding scoring relevant to
the continuing resolution that we passed last week.
As my colleagues know, the current CR expires on November 20, 2004.
As I explained last week, the CR continues all ongoing activities at
current rates, including supplemental funding, under the same terms and
conditions as fiscal year 2004. As in past CRs, it does not allow new
starts, and it restricts obligations on high initial spend-out
programs. So the annualized funding levels in this bill will not
impinge on our final budget deliberations.
As a courtesy to those in this body who do not understand how OMB
determines the rate of operations, I have been asked to put this bill
on the floor today to clarify that the term ``rate for operations'' for
2004 supplementals will be apportioned pursuant to OMB Bulletin Number
04-05.
So, in reality, this bill does not change anything. However, some
believe it is needed to clarify for CBO the amount of money the
executive branch intends to spend during the period of the CR.
The deficit will not change by one dime as a result of this bill. How
much money the government spends will not change by one dime as a
result of this bill.
CBO's and the Committee on the Budget's job under the Budget Act is
to provide an estimate of bills that are being considered and then are
enacted into law. Let me emphasize the word estimate, which is based on
a set of assumptions made at the time. Those estimates are sometimes
good, and sometimes, they are off. An example where they were off was
the Medicare bill.
But thankfully, these estimates do not become the actual balance in
our checkbook. That is a real number, based on the checks actually
issued by the U.S. Treasury. That is the real number that drives the
surplus or deficit.
CBO scoring is only relevant to keep a scorecard on how Congress is
doing relative to the budget assumptions. As we all know, during the
year, we often wait for a revision by CBO of its scoring to determine
the level of a deficit. This revision comes when CBO marries its
numbers with the reality that is driven by actual spending.
So we are doing this bill today because some feel that we need to set
the record straight. I believe the record is already straight and the
OMB apportionment process will dictate the actual level of spending of
the CR. By the way, under OMB's apportionment process, the CR will
actually save $5 billion from the level that was allocated for fiscal
year 2005 discretionary spending in the budget.
This savings is going to happen with or without this bill, but I urge
that we pass the bill.
Executive Office of the President, Office of Management
and Budget,
Washington, DC, September 30, 2004.
Bulletin No. 04-05
To the Heads of Executive Departments and Establishments.
Subject: Apportionment of the Continuing Resolution(s) for
Fiscal Year 2005.
1. Purpose and Background. H.J. Res. 107 (continuing
resolution) will provide continuing appropriations for the
period October 1 through November 20, 2004. I am providing an
automatic apportionment for amounts provided by this
continuing resolution (CR) as specified in section 2. This
Bulletin supplements instructions for apportionment of CRs in
OMB Circular No. A-11, section 123, and applies to this CR
and any extensions of this CR.
2. Automatic Apportionments. Calculate the amount
automatically apportioned through the period ending November
20th (and any extensions of that period) by multiplying the
rate (amount) provided by the CR by the lower of: the
percentage of the year covered by the CR (e.g., for H.J. Res.
107 use 13.97 percent), or the historical seasonal rate of
obligations for the period of the year covered by the CR.
See Attachments A and B to this Bulletin for more detailed
instructions on calculating the amount provided by the CR and
the amount automatically apportioned. Sec. 111 of the CR
requires that the resolution be implemented so that only the
most limited funding action permitted in the CR is taken. The
Administration has interpreted this section to mandate that
agencies in general spend at a minimum level, so as not to
infringe upon the prerogative of Congress to set full-year
funding levels. Funding apportioned under the CR excludes
one-time, non-recurring projects and activities that were
funded in FY 2004, which includes most projects and
activities funded by FY 2004 supplemental appropriations. The
only FY 2004 supplemental projects and activities that may be
factored into the ``not to exceed current rate'' can be found
in Attachment B.
Under an automatic apportionment, all of the footnotes and
conditions placed on the prior year apportionment remain in
effect.
H.J. Res. 107 expires at midnight on Saturday, November 20,
2004.
3. Written Apportionments. If a program requires an amount
different from the total amount automatically apportioned,
you must request a written apportionment from OMB. Once a
written apportionment is approved, the terms and conditions
of the automatic apportionment bulletin cease to apply.
Joshua B. Bolten,
Director.
Attachments.
Attachment A--Calculating the Amount Made Available by the CR and the
Automatic Apportionment
Calculate the amount automatically apportioned (whole
dollars) through the period
[[Page H7978]]
ending November 20, 2004, (and any extensions of that period)
by multiplying the rate (amount) provided by the CR by the
lower of: the percentage of the year covered by the CR
(rounded to the nearest hundredth); (for a seven-week CR, use
51 days/365 days=13.97%); or the historical seasonal rate of
obligations for the period of the year covered by the CR.
1. What is the rate (annualized, full-year amount) provided
by the continuing resolution (CR)? The rate (full-year
amount) provided by the CR for all accounts is the rate of
operations not exceeding the current rate, calculated as
follows:
Take the net amount enacted in FY 2004, i.e., add only the
supplemental appropriations amounts listed in Attachment B of
OMB Bulletin 04-05; subtract any rescissions (e.g., across-
the-board reductions), and factor in transfers mandated by
law;
Add the unobligated balance (including those for
emergencies) carried forward to FY 2004 start-of-the-year
(SOY), if any; and
Subtract the unobligated balance (including those for
emergencies) at the end of FY 2004 end of year (EOY), if any.
2. Which estimates of FY 2004 (EOY) unobligated balances
should agencies use in the calculation? Agencies are required
to use current estimates of FY 2004 (EOY) unobligated
balances. You can adjust the unobligated balances with the
following conditions:
FY 2004 SOY unobligated balances: Use the amount shown on
the most recent FY 2004 apportionment/reapportionment. This
would be shown on line 2a (``Unobligated balance: brought
forward, October 1 (actual)'') of the SF 132/letter
apportionment.
FY 2004 EOY unobligated balances: Again, you must use the
most recently approved apportionment. For the majority of the
accounts, this should be the FY 2005 initial apportionment.
You may request OMB to apportion the revised estimates of
unobligated balances, SOY FY 2005, and if apportioned by OMB,
you may use the revised amounts to calculate the amount
available under the CR.
3. How should mandatory appropriations and balances be
treated? A continuing resolution is an appropriations bill.
As such, it normally does not affect mandatory appropriations
provided in substantive or authorizing legislation.
Therefore, for accounts with a mix of discretionary and
mandatory appropriations, take the mandatory component out
before calculating the amount provided by the CR. This
includes both the budget authority and unobligated balances.
4. What is the amount of the automatic apportionment under
a CR? Multiple the rate (annualized, full-year amount)
provided by the CR (see note 1) by:
The percentage of the year covered by the CR (rounded to
the nearest hundredth);
The historical seasonal rate of obligations for the period
of the year covered by the CR; or
The lower number will be the amount automatically
apportioned.
5. Are entitlement and other mandatory payments whose
budget authority was provided in Appropriations Acts for
fiscal year 2004 continued at the FY 2004 level or FY 2005
program level?
Sec. 126 of H.J. Res. 107 allows entitlements and other
mandatory payments whose BA was provided in Appropriations
Acts for FY 2004 to continue at the ``rate to maintain
program levels under current law, under the authority and
conditions provided in the applicable appropriations Act for
fiscal year 2004, etc.'' In other words, these programs can
operate at the FY 2005 level but the appropriated
administrative expenses associated with these programs must
be based on the FY 2004 levels.
Attachment B--FY 2004 Supplemental Projects and Activities (Recurring)
To Be Included in Determination of Current Rate Amounts Provided by the
Continuing Resolution \1\
Agency/Account FY 2004 BA
[Millions of dollars]
Department of Energy:
Other Defense Activities..........................................3
Department of Homeland Security:
U.S. Coast Guard.................................................80
International Security Assistance:
Economic Support Fund...........................................672
Foreign Military Financing Program..............................287
Peacekeeping Operations..........................................20
Non-Proliferation, Antiterrorism, Demining & Related Programs....35
Migration and Refugee Assistance.................................25
Department of Justice:
FBI, Salaries and Expenses.......................................15
Department of State:
Contributions for International Peacekeeping....................245
International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement.............170
United States Agency for International Development:
International Disaster and Famine Assistance.....................70
\1\ This list, compiled by OMB, excludes one-time, non-recurring
projects and activities funded in FY 2004 Supplemental Appropriation
Acts, including the FY 2004 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act
for Defense and for the Reconstruction of Iraq and Afghanistan (P.L.
108-106), Title X of the FY 2005 Department of Defense Appropriations
Act (P.L. 108-287), and the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for
Disaster Relief Act, 2004 (P.L. 108-303).
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 5 minutes.
Mr. Speaker, I think, as the gentleman has so aptly indicated
already, the best way that this bill can be described is to put it in
the terms that the old Bowery Boys used to say in those B movies many
years ago when we were both kids, when Leo Gorcey would say ``dis don't
do nuthin' to nobody.'' That is exactly what this legislation does. It
``don't do nuthin' to nobody.''
It is here simply because, evidently, the folks who are on the
Committee on the Budget do not, as the gentleman from Florida
indicates, understand how the OMB goes about dealing with or enforcing
and implementing the continuing resolutions which we pass. Somehow, it
seems that the Committee on the Budget or perhaps only the chairman of
the Committee on the Budget, I do not know, it seems that they feel
that, without this language, OMB will go on a spending spree.
Well, the fact is that what this legislation says is that OMB cannot
do something which OMB is already not planning to do. The
interpretation that is always given to the continuing resolution by the
Committee on Appropriations and by OMB is that the most conservative
approach must be used for obligating funds under a CR. Notwithstanding
that interpretation, the Committee on the Budget is having its version
of a heart attack, suggesting that somehow the continuing resolution,
which the gentleman brought to the floor last week, is going to result
in runaway spending.
As the gentleman from Florida says, while it pretends to reign in
OMB, this resolution will not result in one dime less being spent than
would have been the case with the CR that passed the House last week.
I guess all I would say is that I find it interesting that 2 weeks
before the end of the fiscal year, when this Congress has still not
passed a single domestic appropriations bill, because the bills that
were passed in this body have not been accepted by those in the other
body, and at a time when we still do not have a transportation bill out
of the authorizing committee, at a time when so many pieces of
legislation are tied up between the House and the Senate, this House
has been asked to waste a good amount of time on the budget process
reform bill, which the Committee on the Budget insisted on bringing to
the floor earlier in the year, which did a ``brilliant'' job of passing
so-called budget reform legislation which guaranteed that Members could
continue to do anything whatsoever that they wanted to do on the tax
side of the ledger without having to take into account one iota what it
did to the deficit. Now we are being asked to pass this meaningless
piece of fluff.
It does not matter whether Members vote ``yes'' or ``no'' on this
resolution. The result will be the same. So I guess if it makes the
chairman of the Committee on the Budget happy, the House may as well go
ahead and pass it, but do not deceive yourself into thinking that it
does something for or to anybody. It does not.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I have no requests for time. I
just urge a ``yes'' vote, and I yield back my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young) that the House suspend the rules and
pass the bill, H.R. 5202.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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