Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies: FY2015 Appropriations (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised May 12, 2015 |
| Report Number |
R43995 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Daniel H. Else, Coordinator Acting Section Research Manager |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Premium April 20, 2015 (35 pages, $24.95)
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Summary:
The Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies appropriations bill provides funding for the planning, design, construction, alteration, and improvement of facilities used by active and reserve military components worldwide. It capitalizes military family housing and the U.S. share of the NATO Security Investment Program and finances the implementation of installation closures and realignments. It underwrites veterans benefit and health care programs administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), provides for the creation and maintenance of U.S. cemeteries and battlefield monuments within the United States and abroad, and supports the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, Armed Forces Retirement Homes, and Arlington National Cemetery. The bill also funds advance appropriations for veterans' medical services.
Military construction appropriations must be both authorized (usually in the annual National Defense Authorization Act) and appropriated. For FY2015, the President requested $6.6 billion in new budget authority for regular (base budget) military construction and an additional $46 million for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) construction associated with ongoing active military operations. Congress appropriated what the President requested, included a small amount of additional new budget authority, and added to that unexpired appropriations rescinded from prior fiscal years, bringing the base plus OCO military construction appropriation to $6.8 billion. In the spring of 2014, the President initiated a European Reassurance Initiative intended to strengthen confidence in U.S. support of its allies' security and territorial integrity. Congress thereupon added $221 million in military construction funding to the appropriation, bringing the total budget authority available for military construction in FY2015 to $7.0 billion.
For Veterans Affairs, the President requested $154.6 billion, an increase of $10.7 billion above the amount enacted for FY2014. The final appropriation of $159.1 billion augmented the President's request by approximately $505 million. The Administration requested $212.6 million to support the other agencies (the American Battle Monuments Commission, the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, Arlington National Cemetery, and the Armed Forces Retirement Home) funded by the act. The final combined appropriation for these agencies for FY2015 was $236.6 million.
The Carl Levin and Howard P. "Buck" McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 (H.R. 3979/P.L. 113-291), which authorizes military construction appropriations and other related activities, was enacted on December 19, 2014. The final version of the FY2015 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015; H.R. 83, Division I/P.L. 113-265) was enacted on December 16, 2014.
