National Security Legislative Wrap-up

Last week, the House approved in one omnibus package the nine remaining Fiscal Year 2009 appropriations bills, including those for the Department of Energy and foreign assistance. The Senate is expected to consider the same bill this week. In addition, the Administration released an outline of the Fiscal Year 2010 budget, but the detailed program will not follow until April.

KEY CALENDAR 2009 NATIONAL SECURITY BILLS

FISCAL YEAR 2009 OMNIBUS APPROPRIATIONS BILL: ENERGY AND WATER PORTION

The Omnibus appropriations bill, a collection of nine appropriations bills, included $33.3 billion for the Fiscal Year 2009 Energy and Water Appropriations bill. Congress once again refused to provide any funding for the Reliable Replacement Warhead. It provided $1.5 billion for nuclear non-proliferation programs, $146 million above 2008 and $395 million for the Global Threat Reduction Initiative, double 2008, to recover nuclear and radioactive materials from sites around the world that could be used as weapons and to secure sites in the U.S. and Russia. The Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) was zeroed out, although $145 million was approved for the Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative, the research portion of GNEP.

On February 25, the House approved the $410 Omnibus appropriations measure by a vote of 245 - 178. The Senate is expected to consider the measure the week of March 2.

FISCAL YEAR 2009 OMNIBUS APPROPRIATIONS BILL: STATE, FOREIGN OPERATIONS PORTION

The Omnibus appropriations bill, a collection of nine appropriations bills, included $38.2 billion for the Fiscal Year 2009 International Affairs Budget. The largest component – $36.6 billion or 96% of the International Affairs Budget – is the State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations bill. The $38.2 billion base total represents and 11.4%or $3.9 billion increase above Fiscal Year 2008 base funding levels and a 4% or $1.6 billion decrease below the Bush Administration’s Fiscal Year 2009 request.

SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS BILL TO PAY FOR THE IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN WARS

On February 26, the Administration requested $75.5 billion in war funding for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2009, which, when combined with the $68.5 billion already approved in 2008, brings the total war funding for 2009 to $144 billion. The Administration also requested $130 billion in war funding for Fiscal Year 2010.

FISCAL YEAR 2010 BUDGET

On February 26, the Obama Administration released a preliminary outline of the Fiscal Year 2010 defense budget, although the detailed budget request will not be released until April. The topline request provides $534 billion in Fiscal Year 2010 funding for the Department of Defense’s “base” budget, which excludes funding for Iraq, Afghanistan, and nuclear weapons activities. The request also includes $130 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Thus the total request is $664 billion. This figure does not include funding for nuclear weapons or miscellaneous non-DOD defense costs, which were approximately $23 billion in FY 2009. Without adjusting for inflation, the $534 billion topline request is $21 billion, or 4.1 percent, greater than the $513 billion appropriated by Congress in FY 2009 for DOD’s base budget. For a more thorough analysis, see the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation’s analysis.

The President requested $51.7 billion for the Fiscal Year 2010 International Affairs Budget, an estimated $4.5 billion or 9.5% above the comparable amount for Fiscal Year 2009. The details of the request will be presented later. This total includes the money included in the Fiscal Year 2009 Omnibus appropriations bill and two supplemental bills.