104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. J. RES. 136

JOINT RESOLUTION

Making further continuing appropriations for the

fiscal year 1996, and for other purposes.
104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. J. RES. 136

JOINT RESOLUTION

Making further continuing appropriations for the fiscal year

1996, and for other purposes.

1 Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives

2 of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 TITLE I

2 AID TO FAMILIES WITH DEPENDENT CHIL3 DREN AND FOSTER CARE AND ADOPTION

4 ASSISTANCE

5 The following sums are hereby appropriated, out of

6 any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated,

7 and out of applicable corporate or other revenues, receipts,

8 and funds, for the several departments, agencies, corpora9 tions, and other organizational units of Government for

10 the fiscal year 1996, and for other purposes, namely:

11 SEC. 101. (a) Such amounts as may be necessary

12 under the authority and conditions provided in the appli13 cable appropriations Act for the fiscal year 1995 for con14 tinuing the following projects or activities including the

15 costs of direct loans and loan guarantees (not otherwise

16 specifically provided for in this joint resolution) which

17 were conducted in the fiscal year 1995:

18 All projects and activities funded under the ac19 count heading ‘‘Family support payments to States’’

20 under the Administration For Children and Families

21 in the Department of Health and Human Services;

22 All projects and activities funded under the ac23 count heading ‘‘Payments to States for foster care

24 and adoption assistance’’ under the Administration
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1 For Children and Families in the Department of

2 Health and Human Services; and

3 All administrative activities necessary to carry

4 out the projects and activities in the preceeding two

5 paragraphs:

6 Provided, That whenever the amount which would be made

7 available or the authority which would be granted under

8 an Act which included funding for fiscal year 1996 for

9 the projects and activities listed in this section is greater

10 than that which would be available or granted under cur11 rent operations, the pertinent project or activity shall be

12 continued at a rate for operations not exceeding the cur13 rent rate.

14 (b) Whenever the amount which would be made avail15 able or the authority which would be granted under the

16 Act which included funding for fiscal year 1996 for the

17 projects and activities listed in this section as passed by

18 the House as of the date of enactment of this joint resolu19 tion, is different from that which would be available or

20 granted under such Act as passed by the Senate as of the

21 date of enactment of this joint resolution, the pertinent

22 project or activity shall be continued at a rate for oper23 ations not exceeding the current rate or the rate permitted

24 by the action of the House or the Senate, whichever is
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1 lower, under the authority and conditions provided in the

2 applicable appropriations Act for the fiscal year 1995.

3 (c) Whenever an Act which included funding for fiscal

4 year 1996 for the projects and activities listed in this sec5 tion has been passed by only the House or only the Senate

6 as of the date of enactment of this joint resolution, the

7 pertinent project or activity shall be continued under the

8 appropriation, fund, or authority granted by the one

9 House at a rate for operations not exceeding the current

10 rate or the rate permitted by the action of the one House,

11 whichever is lower, and under the authority and conditions

12 provided in the applicable appropriations Act for the fiscal

13 year 1995.

14 SEC. 102. Appropriations made by section 101 shall

15 be available to the extent and in the manner which would

16 be provided by the pertinent appropriations Act.

17 SEC. 103. No appropriation or funds made available

18 or authority granted pursuant to section 101 shall be used

19 to initiate or resume any project or activity for which ap20 propriations, funds, or other authority were not available

21 during the fiscal year 1995.

22 SEC. 104. No provision which is included in the ap23 propriations Act enumerated in section 101 but which was

24 not included in the applicable appropriations Act for fiscal

25 year 1995 and which by its terms is applicable to more
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1 than one appropriation, fund, or authority shall be appli2 cable to any appropriation, fund, or authority provided in

3 this joint resolution.

4 SEC. 105. Appropriations made and authority grant5 ed pursuant to this title of this joint resolution shall cover

6 all obligations or expenditures incurred for any program,

7 project, or activity during the period for which funds or

8 authority for such project or activity are available under

9 this joint resolution.

10 SEC. 106. Unless otherwise provided for in this title

11 of this joint resolution or in the applicable appropriations

12 Act, appropriations and funds made available and author13 ity granted pursuant to this title of this joint resolution

14 shall be available until (a) enactment into law of an appro15 priation for any project or activity provided for in this title

16 of this joint resolution, or (b) the enactment into law of

17 the applicable appropriations Act by both Houses without

18 any provision for such project or activity, or (c) January

19 3, 1996, whichever first occurs.

20 SEC. 107. Expenditures made pursuant to this title

21 of this joint resolution shall be charged to the applicable

22 appropriation, fund, or authorization whenever a bill in

23 which such applicable appropriation, fund, or authoriza24 tion is contained is enacted into law.
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1 SEC. 108. No provision in the appropriations Act for

2 the fiscal year 1996 referred to in section 101 of this joint

3 resolution that makes the availability of any appropriation

4 provided therein dependent upon the enactment of addi5 tional authorizing or other legislation shall be effective be6 fore the date set forth in section 106(c) of this joint reso7 lution.

8 SEC. 109. Appropriations and funds made available

9 by or authority granted pursuant to this title of this joint

10 resolution may be used without regard to the time limita11 tions for submission and approval of apportionments set

12 forth in section 1513 of title 31, United States Code, but

13 nothing herein shall be construed to waive any other provi14 sion of law governing the apportionment of funds.

15 TITLE II

16 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

17 The following sums are hereby appropriated, out of

18 the general fund and enterprise funds of the District of

19 Columbia for the District of Columbia for the fiscal year

20 1996, and for other purposes, namely:

21 SEC. 201. (a) Such amounts as may be necessary

22 under the authority and conditions provided in the appli23 cable appropriations Act for the fiscal year 1995 for con24 tinuing projects or activities including the costs of direct

25 loans and loan guarantees (not otherwise specifically pro-
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1 vided for in this title of this joint resolution) which were

2 conducted in the fiscal year 1995 and for which appropria3 tions, funds, or other authority would be available in the

4 following appropriations Act:

5 The District of Columbia Appropriations Act,

6 1996:

7 Provided, That whenever the amount which would be made

8 available or the authority which would be granted in this

9 Act is greater than that which would be available or grant10 ed under current operations, the pertinent project or activ11 ity shall be continued at a rate for operations not exceed12 ing the current rate.

13 (b) Whenever the amount which would be made avail14 able or the authority which would be granted under the

15 Act listed in this section as passed by the House as of

16 the date of enactment of this joint resolution, is different

17 from that which would be available or granted under such

18 Act as passed by the Senate as of the date of enactment

19 of this joint resolution, the pertinent project or activity

20 shall be continued at a rate for operations not exceeding

21 the current rate or the rate permitted by the action of

22 the House or the Senate, whichever is lower, under the

23 authority and conditions provided in the applicable appro24 priations Act for the fiscal year 1995: Provided, That

25 where an item is not included in either version or where
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1 an item is included in only one version of the Act as passed

2 by both Houses as of the date of enactment of this joint

3 resolution, the pertinent project or activity shall not be

4 continued except as provided for in section 211 or 212

5 under the appropriation, fund, or authority granted by the

6 applicable appropriations Act for the fiscal year 1995 and

7 under the authority and conditions provided in the appli8 cable appropriations Act for the fiscal year 1995.

9 SEC. 202. Appropriations made by section 201 shall

10 be available to the extent and in the manner which would

11 be provided by the pertinent appropriations Act.

12 SEC. 203. No appropriation or funds made available

13 or authority granted pursuant to section 201 shall be used

14 to initiate or resume any project or activity for which ap15 propriations, funds, or other authority were not available

16 during the fiscal year 1995.

17 SEC. 204. No provision which is included in the ap18 propriations Act enumerated in section 201 but which was

19 not included in the applicable appropriations Act for fiscal

20 year 1995 and which by its terms is applicable to more

21 than one appropriation, fund, or authority shall be appli22 cable to any appropriation, fund, or authority provided in

23 this title of this joint resolution.

24 SEC. 205. Appropriations made and authority grant25 ed pursuant to this title of this joint resolution shall cover
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1 all obligations or expenditures incurred for any program,

2 project, or activity during the period for which funds or

3 authority for such project or activity are available under

4 this title of this joint resolution.

5 SEC. 206. Unless otherwise provided for in this title

6 of this joint resolution or in the applicable appropriations

7 Act, appropriations and funds made available and author8 ity granted pursuant to this title of this title of this joint

9 resolution shall be available until (a) enactment into law

10 of an appropriation for any project or activity provided

11 for in this title of this joint resolution, or (b) the enact12 ment into law of the applicable appropriations Act by both

13 Houses without any provision for such project or activity,

14 or (c) January 3, 1996, whichever first occurs.

15 SEC. 207. Notwithstanding any other provision of

16 this title of this joint resolution, except section 206, none

17 of the funds appropriated under this title of this joint reso18 lution shall be expended for any abortion except where the

19 life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were

20 carried to term or where the pregnancy is the result of

21 an act of rape or incest.

22 SEC. 208. Expenditures made pursuant to this title

23 of this joint resolution shall be charged to the applicable

24 appropriation, fund, or authorization whenever a bill in
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1 which such applicable appropriation, fund, or authoriza2 tion is contained is enacted into law.

3 SEC. 209. No provision in the appropriations Act for

4 the fiscal year 1996 referred to in section 201 of this title

5 of this joint resolution that makes the availability of any

6 appropriation provided therein dependent upon the enact7 ment of additional authorizing or other legislation shall

8 be effective before the date set forth in section 206(c) of

9 this joint resolution.

10 SEC. 210. Appropriations and funds made available

11 by or authority granted pursuant to this title of this joint

12 resolution may be used without regard to the time limita13 tions for submission and approval of apportionments set

14 forth in section 1513 of title 31, United States Code, but

15 nothing herein shall be construed to waive any other provi16 sion of law governing the apportionment of funds.

17 SEC. 211. Notwithstanding any other provision of

18 this title of this joint resolution, except section 206, when19 ever the Act listed in section 201 as passed by both the

20 House and Senate as of the date of enactment of this joint

21 resolution, does not include funding for an ongoing project

22 or activity for which there is a budget request, or whenever

23 the rate for operations for an ongoing project or activity

24 provided by section 201 for which there is a budget re25 quest would result in the project or activity being signifi-
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1 cantly reduced, the pertinent project or activity may be

2 continued under the authority and conditions provided in

3 the applicable appropriations Act for the fiscal year 1995

4 by increasing the rate for operations provided by section

5 201 to a rate for operations not to exceed one that pro6 vides the minimal level that would enable existing activi7 ties to continue. No new contracts or grants shall be

8 awarded in excess of an amount that bears the same ratio

9 to the rate for operations provided by this section as the

10 number of days covered by this resolution bears to 366.

11 For the purposes of this title of this joint resolution the

12 minimal level means a rate for operations that is reduced

13 from the current rate by 25 percent.

14 SEC. 212. Notwithstanding any other provision of

15 this title of this joint resolution, except section 206, when16 ever the rate for operations for any continuing project or

17 activity provided by section 201 or section 211 for which

18 there is a budget request would result in a furlough of

19 Government employees, that rate for operations may be

20 increased to the minimum level that would enable the fur21 lough to be avoided. No new contracts or grants shall be

22 awarded in excess of an amount that bears the same ratio

23 to the rate for operations provided by this section as the

24 number of days covered by this resolution bears to 366.
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1 SEC. 213. Notwithstanding any other provision of

2 this title of this joint resolution, except sections 206, 211,

3 and 212, for those programs that had high initial rates

4 of operation or complete distribution of funding at the be5 ginning of the fiscal year in fiscal year 1995 because of

6 distributions of funding to States, foreign countries,

7 grantees, or others, similar distributions of funds for fiscal

8 year 1996 shall not be made and no grants shall be award9 ed for such programs funded by this title of this resolution

10 that would impinge on final funding prerogatives.

11 SEC. 214. This title of this joint resolution shall be

12 implemented so that only the most limited funding action

13 of that permitted in this title of this resolution shall be

14 taken in order to provide for continuation of projects and

15 activities.

16 SEC. 215. The provisions of section 132 of the Dis17 trict of Columbia Appropriations Act, 1988, Public Law

18 100–202, shall not apply for this title of this joint resolu19 tion.

20 SEC. 216. Notwithstanding any other provision of

21 this title of this joint resolution, except section 206, none

22 of the funds appropriated under this title of this joint reso23 lution shall be used to implement or enforce any system

24 of registration of unmarried, cohabiting couples whether

25 they are homosexual, lesbian, heterosexual, including but
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1 not limited to registration for the purpose of extending

2 employment, health, or governmental benefits to such cou3 ples on the same basis that such benefits are extended to

4 legally married couples; nor shall any funds made available

5 pursuant to any provision of this title of this joint resolu6 tion otherwise be used to implement or enforce D.C. Act

7 9–188, signed by the Mayor of the District of Columbia

8 on April 15, 1992.

9 TITLE III

10 VETERANS AFFAIRS

11 The following sums are hereby appropriated, out of

12 any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated,

13 and out of applicable corporate or other revenues, receipts,

14 and funds, for the several departments, agencies, corpora15 tions and other organizational units of Government for the

16 fiscal year 1996, and for other purposes, namely:

17 SEC. 301. ENSURED PAYMENT DURING FISCAL YEAR 1996

18 OF VETERANS’ BENEFITS IN EVENT OF LACK

19 OF APPROPRIATIONS.

20 (a) PAYMENTS REQUIRED.—In any case during fiscal

21 year 1996 in which appropriations are not otherwise avail22 able for programs, projects, and activities of the Depart23 ment of Veterans Affairs, the Secretary of Veterans Af24 fairs shall nevertheless ensure that—
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1 (1) payments of existing veterans benefits are

2 made in accordance with regular procedures and

3 schedules and in accordance with eligibility require4 ments for such benefits; and

5 (2) payments to contractors of the Veterans

6 Health Administration of the Department of Veter7 ans Affairs are made when due in the case of serv8 ices provided that directly relate to patient health

9 and safety.

10 (b) FUNDING.—There is hereby appropriated such

11 sums as may be necessary for the payments pursuant to

12 subsection (a), including such amounts as may be nec13 essary for the costs of administration of such payments.

14 (c) CHARGING OF ACCOUNTS WHEN APPROPRIA15 TIONS MADE.—In any case in which the Secretary uses

16 the authority of subsection (a) to make payments, applica17 ble accounts shall be charged for amounts so paid, and

18 for the costs of administration of such payments, when

19 regular appropriations become available for those pur20 poses.

21 (d) EXISTING BENEFITS SPECIFIED.—For purposes

22 of this section, existing veterans benefits are benefits

23 under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Af24 fairs that have been adjudicated and authorized for pay25 ment as of—
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1 (1) December 15, 1995; or

2 (2) if appropriations for such benefits are avail3 able (other than pursuant to subsection (b)) after

4 December 15, 1995, the last day on which appro5 priations for payment of such benefits are available

6 (other than pursuant to subsection (b)).

7 SEC. 302. Section 301 shall cease to be effective on

8 January 3, 1996.

Passed the House of Representatives December 22,

1995.

Attest:

Clerk.