Department of Homeland Security funding finalized

Fiscal 2015 funding for the Department of Homeland Security was contained in P.L. 114-4, signed by President Obama on March 4. A total of $39.7 billion was appropriated, an increase of $400 million compared to fiscal 2014. Some of the major accounts which interest The American Legion are:

• Customs & Border Protection: The law contains $9.9 billion for this agency, about $700 million below last year’s amount.
• Coast Guard: A total of $9.86 billion was approved, which was nearly $600 million below the previous fiscal year’s funding.
• Disaster Relief: Funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency totals $7 billion. This includes $2.5 billion for first responder grants; and $1.5 billion for state and local grants, amount equal to the previous year’s amounts.
• Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE): The law provides $5.9 billion for ICE, $600 million above fiscal 2014 levels. Among ICE’s areas of responsibility are human trafficking, child exploitation, cyber-crime and drug smuggling. The bill also fully funds E-Verify, a program that helps companies check if their employees may legally work in this country.
• Transportation Security Agency (TSA): Funding for TSA totals $4.8 billion. This includes funding for security enforcement, cargo inspections, intelligence functions, and increases for canine detention teams and privatized screening operations.
• Secret Service: The law includes $1.7 billion for the U.S. Secret Service. The bill increases funding for cybersecurity investigations, rejects the president’s proposed cuts to critical Secret Service staffing, and continues funding for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that the president proposed to zero out.

The measure also includes a prohibition on the transfer or release of detainees from Guantanamo Bay.

Senate, House take different paths to boost Defense spending

The House and Senate unveiled their fiscal 2016 budget resolutions in mid-March. A budget resolution is a nonbinding measure. It sets out, in broad strokes, goals for spending, tax revenues, and changes to crucial programs like Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps and student loans, as well as the health-care law. Lawmakers in the House and Senate vote on the resolution, but it stays in Congress, never reaching the president's desk. Instead, it requires follow-up legislation to implement any changes proposed by the resolution, and that's often a major challenge.

The two budget resolutions are basically on the same page for military spending next year, although they get to that point in very different ways. The plans are only $1 billion apart after the Senate Budget Committee added $38 billion in war funds to its plan. Both stick with a $523 billion limit on base discretionary defense spending, reflecting the statutory post-sequester cap for fiscal 2016.