National Security Legislative Wrap-up, July 2-6 2007

Not much new to report. Congress returns this week from the 4th of July break. The Senate is expected to begin consideration of the FY 2008 Defense Authorization bill, which will provide a vehicle for a number of votes on the Iraq war and other national security issues.

KEY NATIONAL SECURITY BILLS IN 2007

- ENERGY AND WATER APPROPRIATIONS BILL:

On June 26, the Senate Energy and War Appropriations Subcommittee approved a $32.3 billion bill. The Subcommittee appropriated $66 million of the $88.8 million requested for a new generation of nuclear weapons (the Reliable Replacement Warhead program), cut all $24.9 million for a new plant to build plutonium pits (Consolidated Plutonium Program that focuses on the core of nuclear weapons), increased non-proliferation funding by $200 million and cut funding from $405 million to $242 million for the plutonium reprocessing program (Global Nuclear Energy Partnership) to extract nuclear weapons-usable material from nuclear waste.

On June 28, the full Senate Appropriations Committee approved the bill with no change from the Subcommittee level.

- STATE, FOREIGN OPERATIONS APPROPRIATIONS BILL:

On June 27, the Senate State-Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee approved a $34.2 billion bill. The bill includes $4.5 billion for foreign military aid and $2.9 billion for economic assistance, $4.2 billion for the HIV/AIDS initiative. The bill also appropriates $1.4 billion for U.N. peacekeeping, $1.4 billion for the Millennium Challenge Corporation and zero for Iraq assistance -- although the President could draw funding from a $1.7 billion pool of economic aid. The Committee also approved $28 million for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBO) International Monitoring System, $10 million more than requested and $18 million more than the House in order for the U.S. to pay its arrears to the CTBO.

- DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS BILL:

The House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee is scheduled to mark-up or write its Fiscal Year 2008 bill on July 12.

- DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION BILL:

The full Senate is scheduled to consider the bill when it returns to work on July 9.

Reminder: Each year, defense bills go through a five or six stage process:

1. Budget Resolution: establishes the overall ceiling for spending by the Pentagon and other agencies (Senate and House Budget Committees)
2. Defense Authorization Bill: establishes program-by-program ceilings (Senate and House Armed Services Committee)
3. Defense Appropriations Bill: provides funding to pay for programs (Senate and House Defense Appropriations Subcommittees)
4. Energy and Water Appropriations Bill: provides funding for nuclear weapons programs (Senate and House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittees)
5. Supplemental Appropriations Bill: funding requested outside the normal authorization and appropriations process (Senate and House Defense Appropriations Subcommittees)
6. Continuing Resolution: a bill to provide temporary funding early in a fiscal year when Congress has not completed funding on appropriations bills