{
  "id": "RL30083",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL30083",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 105334,
      "date": "1999-05-26",
      "retrieved": "2016-05-24T20:45:05.946941",
      "title": "Supplemental Appropriations for FY1999: Central America Disaster Aid, Middle East Peace, and Other Initiatives",
      "summary": "During the early months of 106th Congress, lawmakers considered several major FY1999\nsupplemental appropriation requests, including those for Central American and Caribbean\nreconstruction aid in the wake of hurricanes that struck the region in late 1998; additional aid for\nJordan, the most urgently sought portion of a three-year package for Israel, Jordan, and the\nPalestinians to help implement the terms of the Wye Memorandum negotiated in October 1998; farm\nloan assistance for farmers affected by continued low commodity prices; and Kosovo military and\nhumanitarian operations, a proposal initially considered separately from the others.\n The President declared Central America aid, farm loan funds, and Kosova operations as\nemergencies, thereby avoiding the need to offset the costs of the supplemental. He proposed to cover\nthe expenses of additional Middle East aid by using mostly Defense Department funds. Last year,\nCongress approved about $21 billion in emergency funds that were not offset with cuts in existing\nappropriations, a decision some lawmakers strongly opposed. They argue that all future\nsupplemental initiatives should be fully offset so as not to violate discretionary spending \"caps\" set\nfor FY1999 and beyond or reduce the projected surplus.\n The House and Senate approved bills providing most of the President's requests for Central\nAmerica and farm relief, plus adding funds for other congressional priorities. The Senate\n( S. 544 ), provided $2.5 billion in supplemental funding, including nearly four times as\nmuch as proposed for farm relief aid ($592 million) and about $300 million in loan and other relief\nprograms for American steel and oil and gas industries. The House approved ( H.R. 1141 ) $1.3 billion in supplemental funds at levels similar to those proposed by the President for\nCentral American, Jordan, and farm relief.\n The congressional decision to provide offsets, rescissions, and deferrals to cover most of the\ncosts of new supplemental spending raised significant opposition and veto threats from the White\nHouse.  S. 544  drew most of the program reductions nearly $3 billion from non-defense\nemergency supplemental funds appropriated last year in the Omnibus Appropriations Act\nfor FY1999 ( P.L. 105-277 ), plus another $1.3 billion from domestic programs. The House bill cut\nmostly (over $850 million) from foreign policy programs. One of the largest was a rescission of\ncallable capital appropriated prior to 1980 to back U.S. contributions to the World Bank.\n After the House, on May 6, passed a separate Kosovo supplemental ( H.R. 1664 ),\ncongressional leaders folded it into the conference report on  H.R. 1141 . Conferees \nagreed on May 13 to a $15.1 billion supplemental measure providing roughly the President's request\nfor Central America and Jordan, but significantly higher amounts for farm relief and Kosovo\noperations. All but $2 billion of the conference agreement is declared an emergency. Conferees\ndropped most of the offsets opposed by the White House, as well as the Senate steel and oil/gas\nindustry loan programs. The President signed  H.R. 1141  on May 21 ( P.L. 106-31 ).",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Appropriations",
    "Foreign Affairs",
    "Intelligence and National Security"
  ]
}