Senate Passes Supplemental Appropriations Bill, Next Step Conference
On May 27, 2010, the Senate amended and passed the FY 2010 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act (H.R. 4899), to provide additional funds for war activities in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Gulf Coast oil spill, flood recovery, and Haiti, among other things.
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The Senate has also requested a conference with the House on this measure, as the House passed its version of H.R. 4899 on March 24, 2010.
House Seeks to Amend its Version of Bill by Adding Border Security, Iran Measures
According to a House Appropriations Committee summary and trade sources, the Committee is seeking to pass an amended version of H.R. 4899 in order to strengthen enforcement on the southern border and introduce certain contractor certification measures for Iran.
Southern border security. The amended version would provide $677 million to strengthen enforcement on the southern border as follows:
- $208.4 million for 1,200 additional Border Patrol agents deployed between the ports of entry along the Southwest Border.
- $136 million to maintain current Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer staffing levels and add 500 additional officers at ports of entry along the Southwest Border.
- $67.5 million for improved tactical communications on the Southwest Border, three permanent Border Patrol forward operating bases, and a surge of workforce integrity investigations designed to prevent corruption among the CBP officers and agents.
- $50 million for Operation Stonegarden grants to support local law enforcement activities on the border.
- $30 million for Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities directed at reducing the threat of narcotics smuggling and associated violence.
- $177 million may be used to deploy National Guard troops to the southern border should the President decide to do so.
Iran measures. The amended version would also prohibit funding from being provided for any new contract unless the contractor has certified that it, and any entities it controls, does not engage in activity that could be sanctioned under section 5 of the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996.
(During the Senate’s debate on H.R. 4899 prior to its passage, there were attempts to add certain border security measures and SW border National Guard measures to the bill, but these efforts were defeated.)
May 13, 2010 Senate Appropriations summary of H.R. 4899 available here. May 26 House Appropriations summary of their new version of the bill available here.
(Annotated on July 15, 2010 to indicate that the Committee sought to add these CBP and Iran provisions after the House passed the initial bill. The initial bill did not have these provisions.)