Congress Fails to Complete
FY 2004 Spending Bill
December 12, 2003 - For the second year in a row,
Congress has adjourned for the year without finishing its
appropriations work. Although the House Dec. 8 passed the
conference report on the Consolidated Appropriations Act (H.R.
2673) by a margin of 242 to 176, Senate Majority Leader
Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) failed to overcome Democrats' objections
in his effort to gain Senate approval of the measure without
a recorded vote. Despite urging by President Bush, Sen. Frist
kept his promise to not recall senators for a vote after the
Thanksgiving recess, thus delaying final action on the $328
billion omnibus spending measure until the Senate returns
to Washington in January. The Senate is scheduled to vote
to cut off debate on the spending bill on Jan. 20, the date
of President Bush's annual State of the Union address.
Both Democrats and Republicans expressed anger over the measure,
which includes 7 of the 13 annual appropriations bills, including
the Labor-HHS-Education and VA-HUD bills. Democrats objected
to the way the omnibus package was put together and to a number
of controversial provisions added to the conference report
at the last minute. Meanwhile, conservative Republicans criticized
spending levels in the bill. In fact, 38 Republicans voted
against the measure in the House, but that was more than offset
by the 58 Democrats who voted for passage. Members on both
sides of the aisle also criticized the large number of projects
earmarked for specific projects in members' home districts
or states.
Both the House and Senate did approve a new continuing resolution
(H.J.Res.
82) to continue funding at FY 2003 levels the programs
covered by the omnibus spending bill through Jan. 31. This
is the same date as the current CR (P.L.
108-135); however, the new CR was needed to authorize
additional security programs at the Federal Aviation Administration
and a new guarantee limit for FHA loans.
Information:
Dave Moore, Senior Associate Vice President
AAMC Government Relations
dbmoore@aamc.org
(202) 828-0525
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