U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007

Bill: 110-s-965
Sponsor: Sen. Byrd, Robert C. [D-WV]
Introduced: 2007-03-22 in the Senate
Policy area: Economics and Public Finance
Subjects: AIDS (Disease)
Administrative procedure
Admission of nonimmigrants
Afghanistan
Africa (Sub-Saharan)
Agriculture and Food
Agriculture in foreign trade
Air force
Alabama
American investments
Appropriations
Architect of the Capitol
Armed Forces and National Security
Armed forces reserves
Army
Army Corps of Engineers
Asbestos
Block grants
Cambodia
Capitol (Washington, D.C.)
Central Asia
Chemical industries
Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues
Coastal zone
Columbia River development
Commemorations
Commerce
Congress
Congressional agencies
Congressional oversight
Congressional reporting requirements
Conservation easements
Courthouses
Crime and Law Enforcement
Debt relief
Defense budgets
Department of Agriculture
Department of Commerce
Department of Defense
Department of Education
Department of Energy
Department of Health and Human Services
Department of Homeland Security
Department of Housing and Urban Development
Department of Justice
Department of State
Department of Transportation
Department of Veterans Affairs
Department of the Interior
Disaster loans
Disaster relief
District of Columbia
Drug abuse
Drug abuse prevention
Drug law enforcement
East Asia
Economic development
Education
Electric power production
Elementary and secondary education
Emergency Management
Emergency housing
Emergency medicine
Energy
Energy assistance for the poor
Energy research
Entrepreneurs
Environmental Protection
Epidemics
Executive Office of the President
Executive reorganization
Families
Farm lands
Federal aid to child health services
Federal aid to education
Federal aid to law enforcement
Federal aid to water resources development
Federal employees
Federally-guaranteed loans
Finance and Financial Sector
Fire prevention
Flood control
Foreign Trade and International Finance
Forest conservation
Forest fires
Foster home care
General Services Administration
Geothermal resources
Government Accountability Office (GAO)
Government Operations and Politics
Government procurement
Governmental investigations
Gulf of Mexico
Health
Health insurance
Health warnings
Higher education
Historic sites
History
Housing and Community Development
Human immunodeficiency viruses
Human rights
Hurricanes
Immigration
Import relief
Indian housing
Influenza
Inspectors general
Insurgency
International Affairs
International broadcasting
International military forces
Iraq
Iraq compilation
Jordan
Judicial compensation
Kazakhstan
Labor and Employment
Laboratories
Law
Leases
Lebanon
Liberia
Local finance
Louisiana
Lumber trade
Marine and coastal resources, fisheries
Marines
Maryland
Medicaid
Medical education
Medical personnel
Medically uninsured
Metropolitan areas
Middle East and North Africa
Military assistance
Military bases
Military construction operations
Military hospitals
Military medicine
Military occupation
Military operations
Military training
Military vehicles
Military withdrawal
Mines and mineral resources
Minorities
Mississippi
NATO military forces
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
National Archives and Records Administration
National forests
National parks
Navy
Nevada
Nuclear nonproliferation
Nuclear security measures
Nuclear weapons
Pakistan
Peacekeeping forces
Performance measurement
Petroleum industry
Planning-programming-budgeting
Poor children
Power marketing administrations
Produce trade
Public Lands and Natural Resources
Public housing
Real estate appraisal
Rescission of appropriated funds
Research and development
Science, Technology, Communications
Securities regulation
Security classification (Government documents)
Security measures
September 11, 2001
Signs and signboards
Small Business Administration
Small business
Social Welfare
South Asia
Storms
Subpoena
Sudan
Supplemental appropriations
Supreme Court justices
Technical assistance
Terrorism
Texas
Timber sales
Torture
Treaties
Tunnels
Urban affairs
Vegetables
Veterans' benefits
Veterans' medical care
War relief
Water Resources Development
Wetlands

Summary:
action_date: 2007-03-22
text: 
U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007 - Makes emergency supplemental FY2007 appropriations for specified activities related to the global war on terror to the Departments of Agriculture (including food relief to certain foreign countries), of Justice, of Defense (Military, including funds for Iraqi and Afghan security forces), of Defense (military construction), of Energy, of Homeland Security, and of State (including international peacekeeping operations), of the Treasury, and related agencies.
 
Provides funds to enable military commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan to respond to urgent humanitarian relief and reconstruction requirements.
 
Requires the Secretary of Defense to inspect periodically military medical treatment facilities, including military quarters housing medical hold or holdover personnel, to insure that the facilities or quarters meet acceptable standards for their maintenance and operation. Requires additional inspections of identified deficiencies.
 
Provides funds to the Government of Iraq to support the disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration of militias and illegal armed groups.
 
Requires the President to commence the phased redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq with the goal of redeploying, by March 31, 2008, all U.S. combat forces from Iraq, except for a limited number essential for: (1) protecting U.S. and coalition personnel and infrastructure; (2) training and equipping Iraqi forces; and (3) conducting targeted counter-terrorism operations.
 
 Expresses the sense of Congress that achieving success in Iraq is dependent on the Government of Iraq's meeting specific benchmarks, as reflected in previous commitments made by such Government. 
 
 Provides funds to assist: (1) Liberia in retiring its debt arrearages; (2) Jordan; and (3) Lebanon.
 
Sets forth benchmarks for certain reconstruction assistance for Iraq.
 
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to revise the authority of the Secretary of State or the Secretary of Homeland Security regarding temporary admission of certain Iraqi, Hmong, and other nonimmigrants.
 
Makes additional appropriations for disaster relief and recovery related to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita to the Departments of Agriculture, of Justice, of Commerce, of Defense (Civil), of the Interior, of Homeland Security, as well as the Small Business Administration (SBA).
 
Makes additional appropriations for specified purposes to the Departments of the Interior and of Agriculture (for wildfire suppression), of Health and Human Services (for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and for response to an influenza pandemic), of Education, of Defense (military construction and base closure), Veterans Affairs (particularly veterans' health programs), of Transportation, of Housing and Urban Development, as well as the legislative branch.
 
Rescinds certain military construction funds for the Air Force Reserve.
 
Makes appropriations to the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, to eliminate the FY2007 shortfall in funding for the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).
 
Prohibits the use of funds in this or any other Act to downsize staff or to close, realign, or phase out essential services at Walter Reed Army Medical Center until specified requirements are met.
 
Requires the Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to report to congressional appropriations committees on a projection of appropriations necessary for the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs to continue providing necessary health care to veterans of the conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan.
 
Makes additional appropriations to the Departments of Agriculture (Farm Service Agency) and of Housing and Urban Development (Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight).
 
Rescinds specified unobligated balances of the Department of Agriculture for adjustment assistance for farmers.
 
Requires the Commandant of the Coast Guard to utilize full and open competition, with exceptions, for any contract providing for acquisition or modification of assets with respect to the Integrated Deepwater System Program of the Coast Guard.
 
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to authorize a grant to the (Mississippi) Delta Health Alliance.
 
Emergency Farm Relief Act of 2007 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to provide specified crop and livestock disaster assistance.

action_date: 2007-03-22
text: 

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

 
U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007 - 
Title I: Global War on Terror Supplemental Appropriations - Chapter 1: Department of Agriculture - 
Makes emergency supplemental FY2007 appropriations for specified activities related to the global war on terror to the Department of Agriculture (including food relief to certain foreign countries).
 
(Sec. 1101) Makes specified appropriations to reimburse the Commodity Credit Corporation for the release of eligible commodities for emergency humanitarian food needs in developing countries under the Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust Act, in order to replenish the Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust.
 

Chapter 2: Department of Justice - 
Makes additional appropriations for specified purposes to the Department of Justice, to remain available through FY2008. 
 
Allocates certain funds to implement corrective actions in response to the findings and recommendations in the Office of Inspector General report, &quot;A Review of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Use of National Security Letters.&quot;
 

Chapter 3: Department of Defense--Military - 
Makes additional appropriations for specified purposes to the Department of Defense (DOD) (Military, including funds for Iraqi and Afghan security forces, the Defense Health Program, and Drug Interdiction and Counter-Drug Activities) and the Intelligence Community Management Account. Makes certain appropriations available through FY2008 or FY2009.
 
(Sec. 1306) Specifies an allocation of Drug Interdiction and Counter-Drug Activities appropriations for counter-drug activities of the governments of Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, and Pakistan, subject to certain limitations.
 
(Sec. 1307) Provides funds to enable military commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan to respond to urgent humanitarian relief and reconstruction requirements.
 
(Sec. 1309) Amends the National Defense Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 2007 to increase the authorized contributions by the Secretary of Defense in FY2007 to the NATO Military Budget.
 
(Sec. 1310) Prohibits the obligation or expenditure of funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this or any other Act to: (1) establish any military installation or base for the purpose of providing for the permanent stationing of United States Armed Forces in Iraq; or (2) exercise U.S. control over any oil resource of Iraq.
 
(Sec. 1311) Prohibits the use of funds under this Act in contravention of specified federal laws or regulations promulgated to implement the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (done at New York on December 10, 1984).
 
(Sec. 1312) Amends the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2007 to increase from 20 to 287 the number of heavy and light armored vehicles for force protection purposes that DOD may purchase for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
 
(Sec. 1313) Requires the Secretary of Defense to inspect periodically military medical treatment facilities, including military quarters housing medical hold or holdover personnel, to insure that the facilities or quarters meet acceptable standards for their maintenance and operation. Requires additional inspections of identified deficiencies.
 
(Sec. 1314) Provides funds to the Government of Iraq to support the disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration of militias and illegal armed groups.
 
(Sec. 1315) Requires the President to commence the phased redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq with the goal of redeploying, by March 31, 2008, all U.S. combat forces from Iraq, except for a limited number essential for: (1) protecting U.S. and coalition personnel and infrastructure; (2) training and equipping Iraqi forces; and (3) conducting targeted counterterrorism operations.
 
Expresses the sense of Congress that achieving success in Iraq is dependent on the Government of Iraq's meeting specific benchmarks, as reflected in previous commitments made by such Government.
 

Chapter 4: Department of Energy
 -Makes additional appropriations for specified purposes to the Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration, Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation.
 

Chapter 5: Department of Homeland Security - 
Makes additional appropriations for specified purposes to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
 
(Sec. 1501) Denies the availability of certain funds for reorganization of DHS.
 
(Sec. 1502) Amends the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2007 with respect to the requirement that the DHS Secretary issue interim final regulations: (1) establishing risk-based performance standards for security of chemical facilities; and (2) requiring vulnerability assessments and the development and implementation of site security plans for chemical facilities.
 
Declares that such requirement shall not preclude or deny any right of a state or local government to adopt or enforce any regulation, requirement, or standard of performance with respect to chemical facility security that is more stringent than a regulation, requirement, or standard of performance issued by the Secretary, unless there is an actual conflict between the Act and the law of that state.
 
 
Chapter 6: Military Construction- 
Makes additional appropriations for specified purposes to the Department of Defense for military construction, Army, Navy and Marine Corps, and Air Force.
 
Prohibits the obligation or expenditure of certain construction funds by the Army until the Secretary of Defense certifies that none of them are to be used to provide facilities for the permanent basing of U.S. military personnel in Iraq.
 

Chapter 7: Department of State and Related Agency - 
Makes additional appropriations for specified purposes to the Department of State (including international peacekeeping operations) and the Department of the Treasury, International Affairs Technical Assistance Program.
 
(Sec. 1702) Amends the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Hurricane Recovery, 2006 to extend for an additional year the availability of amounts in the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund.
 
(Sec. 1703) Amends the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense and for the Reconstruction of Iraq and Afghanistan, 2004 to extend through FY2007 the oversight authority of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction.
 
(Sec. 1704) Provides funds to assist: (1) Liberia in retiring its debt arrearages; (2) Jordan; and (3) Lebanon.
 
(Sec. 1707) Makes the Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor responsible for all policy, funding, and programming decisions regarding funds made available under this Act and prior Acts making appropriations for foreign operations, export financing and related programs for the Human Rights and Democracy Fund of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.
 
(Sec. 1708) Authorizes the Inspector General of the State Department and the Broadcasting Board of Governors to use personal services contracts, subject to certain requirements, to engage up to 20 U.S. citizens to facilitate and support the Office of the Inspector General's oversight of programs and operations related to Iraq and Afghanistan.
 
(Sec. 1710) Sets forth benchmarks for certain reconstruction assistance for Iraq.
 
Withholds certain Economic Support Fund and International Narcotic and Law Enforcement funds from obligation for assistance to Iraq, with certain exceptions, until the President certifies to specified congressional committees that the government of Iraq has: (1) enacted a broadly accepted hydrocarbon law that equitably shares oil revenues among all Iraqis; (2) adopted legislation necessary for the conduct of provincial and local elections, taken steps to implement it, and set a schedule to conduct such elections; (3) reformed current laws governing the de-Baathification process to allow for more equitable treatment of affected individuals; (4) amended the Constitution of Iraq consistent with the principles contained in its Article 137; and (5) allocated and begun expenditure of $10 billion in Iraqi revenues for reconstruction projects, including delivery of essential services, on an equitable basis.
 
 
(Sec. 1711) Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to revise the authority of the Secretary of State or the Secretary of Homeland Security to allow temporary admission into the United States of certain Iraqi, Hmong, and other nonimmigrants who do not pose a threat.
 

Title II: Katrina Recovery, Veterans' Care and for Other Purposes - Chapter 1: General Provision -This Chapter - 
(Sec. 2101) Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to extend indefinitely the emergency forestry conservation pilot program in states that have suffered damage to merchantable timber in counties affected by the 2005 hurricanes.
 

Chapter 2: Department of Justice - 
Makes additional appropriations for specified purposes to: (1) the Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, for local law enforcement initiatives in the gulf coast region related to the 2005 hurricanes aftermath; and (2) the Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
 
(Sec. 2201) Authorizes the use of certain funds made available to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for emergency hurricane and other natural disaster-related expenses in order to reimburse hurricane-related costs incurred by NASA in FY2005.
 
Makes additional appropriations for disaster relief and recovery related to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita to the Departments of Agriculture, of Justice, of Commerce, of Defense (Civil), of the Interior, of Homeland Security, as well as the Small Business Administration (SBA).
 

Chapter 3: Department of Defense--Civil - 
Makes additional appropriations for specified purposes to: (1) the Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers-Civil for construction, flood control, and coastal emergencies related to the 2005 hurricanes; and (2) the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation.
 
(Sec. 2301) Directs the Secretary to reimburse local governments for expenses incurred in storm-proofing pumping stations, constructing safe houses for operators, and other interim flood control measures in and around the New Orleans metropolitan area, subject to certain requirements.
 
(Sec. 2302) Waives application of a specified limitation on total project costs under the Water Resources Development Act of 1986, as amended, during FY2008 to any water resources project for which funds were made available during FY2007.
 
(Sec. 2303) Directs the Secretary of the Army to use certain Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies funds remaining available for obligation for projects in the greater New Orleans metropolitan area in order to prosecute these projects in a manner promoting the goal of continuing work at an optimal pace, while maximizing, to the greatest extent practicable, levels of protection to reduce the risk of storm damage to people and property.
 
Authorizes any reallocation of funds necessary to accomplish this goal.
 

Chapter 4: Small Business Administration - 
Makes additional appropriations to the Small Business Administration for disaster loans.
 
(Sec. 2401)Makes appropriations for economic injury disaster loans to covered small business concerns in 2005 hurricane major disaster areas in Louisiana or Mississippi.
 
(Sec. 2402) Amends the Small Business Act to include 2005 hurricane major disaster areas in historically underutilized business zones (HUBZones) for a two year period, which may be extended to three years.
 
Amends the Small Business Competitive Demonstration Program Act of 1988 to declare that the Small Business Competitiveness Demonstration Program shall not apply to any contract related to relief or reconstruction from Hurricane Katrina of 2005 or Hurricane Rita of 2005 during the same time period.
 

Chapter 5: Department of Homeland Security - 
Makes additional appropriations to the Department of Homeland Security for disaster relief.
 
(Sec. 2501) Makes the federal share of assistance for the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas in connection with Hurricanes Katrina and Rita under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 100% of the eligible costs. Limits specified kinds of such assistance to projects for which applications have been prepared for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) before enactment of this Act.
 
(Sec. 2502) Amends the Community Disaster Loan Act of 2005 and the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Hurricane Recovery, 2006 to allow cancellation of direct loans, under the Disaster Assistance Direct Loan Program, to assist local governments in providing essential services.
 
(Sec. 2503) Amends the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Hurricane Recovery, 2006 to extend from 12 to 24 months the length of leases related to which a state or local government may receive certain FEMA funds to pay for utility costs resulting from the provision of temporary housing units to 2005 hurricane evacuees.
 

Chapter 6: Department of the Interior - 
Makes additional appropriations for specified purposes to the Departments of the Interior and of Agriculture (for wildfire suppression).
 
(Sec. 2601) Provides for FY2007 payments to states from: (1) National Forest system lands for use by counties to benefit public education and transportation; and (2) Bureau of Land Management lands for use to benefit public safety, law enforcement, education, and other public purposes. Requires such payments to be made from up to a certain amount of any revenues, fees, penalties, or miscellaneous receipts from Forest Service activities on federal lands, as described in the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (SARSCSDA), to the maximum extent practicable in the same amounts, for the same purposes, and in the same manner as were made to States and counties in 2006.
 
Makes appropriations to cover any shortfall for such payments.
 
Extends through FY2007 authority under SARSCSDA for specified special projects on federal lands, as well as county projects.
 
(Sec. 2602) Authorizes the use of certain disaster relief funds relating to the National Park Service, Historic Preservation Fund, and the consequences of the 2005 hurricanes to reconstruct destroyed properties meeting certain criteria that at the time of destruction were listed in the National Register of Historic Places and are otherwise qualified to receive these funds.
 

Chapter 7: Department of Health and Human Services - 
Makes additional appropriations for specified purposes to the Departments of Health and Human Services (for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and for response to an influenza pandemic) and of Education (for institutions of higher education in the 2005 hurricane major disaster areas).
 
(Sec. 2701) Amends the Hurricane Education Recovery Act, under the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations to Address Hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico and Pandemic Influenza, 2006 to extend through FY2008 specified waiver authority for certain grants of immediate aid to local educational agencies (LEAs) and nonpublic schools to restart school operations in 2005 hurricane major disaster areas in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas.
 
(Sec. 2702) Rescinds certain funds from unexpended balances of the amounts available in the 2001 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Recovery from and Response to Terrorist Attacks on the United States for the Department of Labor, Employment Training Administration, Training and Employment Services.
 
Appropriates equivalent amounts for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for carrying out activities under the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act to Address Hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico and Pandemic Influenza, 2006 involving health care for emergency services personnel, or rescue and recovery personnel, related to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.
 
(Sec. 2703) Extends through FY2008 the availability for state expenditures of certain Social Services Block Grant funds for necessary expenses related to the consequences of the 2005 hurricanes, which have been provided under the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations to Address Hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico and Pandemic Influenza, 2006.
 
(Sec. 2704) Amends title XXI (State Children's Health Insurance Program) (SCHIP) to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to allot each remaining SCHIP shortfall state the amount necessary to eliminate the remainder of FY2007 funding shortfalls.
 
Makes additional FY2007 appropriations (to the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, State Children's Health Insurance Fund) to provide additional allotments to remaining FY2007 shortfall states.
 
(Sec. 2705) Imposes a two-year moratorium on implementation of a proposed rule (&quot;Medicaid Program; Cost Limit for Providers Operated by Units of Government and Provisions To Ensure the Integrity of Federal-State Financial Partnership&quot;) relating to the federal-state financial partnerships under Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) under titles XIX and XXI of the Social Security Act.
 
Prohibits the Secretary of Health and Human Services, at any time before the end of such two-year period, from taking any action to: (1) finalize (or otherwise implement) provisions contained in the proposed rule; or (2) restrict Medicaid payments for graduate medical education (GME).
 
Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to increase from 15.1% to 20% the minimum rebate percentage in the basic rebate for single source and innovator multiple source drugs covered by Medicaid.
 
(Sec. 2706) Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services, for grant years beginning in 2006-2007, to waive certain requirements of the Public Health Service Act for grants for health care and support services for individuals and families with HIV/AIDS in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas and any eligible metropolitan area in those states.
 

Chapter 8: Legislative Branch - 
Makes additional appropriations, to remain available through FY2011, to the Architect of the Capitol for emergency utility tunnel repairs and asbestos abatement in the Capitol Power Plant.
 
Makes additional appropriations, to remain available until expended, to the Government Accountability Office for salaries and expenses.
 

Chapter 9: Department of Defense - 
Makes additional appropriations for specified purposes to the Departments of Defense (DOD) (military construction, Air Force Reserve, and base closure) and of Veterans Affairs (VA) (particularly veterans' health programs).
 
(Sec. 2901) Prohibits the use of funds in this or any other Act to downsize staff or to close, realign, or phase out essential services at Walter Reed Army Medical Center until: (1) equivalent medical facilities at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center at Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, and/or the Fort Belvoir, Virginia, Community Hospital have been constructed and equipped; and (2) the Secretary of Defense has certified in writing to the Congress that specified requirements have been met.
 
Directs the Secretary, within 30 days after enactment of this Act, to report to specified congressional committees a proposed timetable outlining DOD's plan to transition patients, staff, and medical services to the new facilities at Bethesda and Fort Belvoir without compromising patient care, staffing requirements or facility maintenance at the Walter Reed Medical Center.
 
Requires the Walter Reed Army Medical Center to: (1) be adequately funded during the transition period, including for necessary renovation and maintenance of existing facilities; and (2) continue the maximum level of inpatient and outpatient services.
 
(Sec. 2902) Directs the VA to contract with the National Academy of Public Administration for an independent study and analysis of the organizational structure, management and coordination processes, including Seamless Transition, utilized by the VA to provide: (1) health care to active duty and veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom; and (2) benefits to such veterans.
 
(Sec. 2903) Requires the Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to report to congressional appropriations committees on a projection of appropriations necessary for the Departments of Defense and of Veterans Affairs to continue providing necessary health care to veterans of the conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan.
 

Chapter 10: Department of Transportation - 
Makes additional appropriations for specified purposes to the Departments of Transportation and of Housing and Urban Development.
 
(Sec. 3001) Authorizes the repair, replacement, or reconstruction of any nonconforming sign that is or has been damaged, destroyed, abandoned, or discontinued as a result of a hurricane determined to be an act of God, if the replacement sign has the same dimensions as the original sign, and is located within a state found within FEMA Region IV or VI.
 
(Sec. 3002) Amends the Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2007, with respect to the level of FY2007 funding for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Public and Indian Housing, Tenant-Based Rental Assistance, to declare that public housing agencies eligible for assistance, because they are located within the most heavily impacted 2005 hurricane disaster areas of Louisiana and Mississippi, shall receive funding for calendar 2007 based on the amount such agencies were eligible to receive in calendar 2006.
 

Title III: Other Matters - Chapter 1: Department of Agriculture
 - Makes additional appropriations for salary and expenses to the Department of Agriculture.
 
(Sec. 3101) Rescinds specified unobligated balances made available to such Department for import relief adjustment assistance to farmers under the Trade Act of 1974.
 
(Sec. 3102) Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to revise the formula for compensation for easements acquired by the Secretary of Agriculture for the wetland reserve program. Declares that such compensation shall not exceed the fair market value of the land as determined in accordance with the method of valuation used by the Secretary as of January 1, 2003.
 
Requires the Secretary when purchasing certain conservation easements for the farmland protection program to determine fair market value in accordance with such method.
 
(Sec. 3103) Provides that specified limitations on guarantees of outstanding loans under the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 shall not apply in the case of a cooperative lender that has previously received a guarantee under such Act. Prohibits such additional guarantees from exceeding the amount provided in the Revised Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2007.
 
(Sec. 3104) Prohibits use of funds made available under this Act to make payments to growers and first handlers of fresh spinach that were unable to market spinach crops as a result of the Food and Drug Administration Public Health Advisory issued on September 14, 2006.
 

Chapter 2: General Provisions - This Chapter
 - (Sec. 3201) Amends the Revised Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2007 to reserve for geothermal research and development activities as well as the weatherization assistance program specified portions of FY2007 appropriations to the Department of Energy for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Resources.
 
(Sec. 3202) Classifies federal employees at the National Energy Technology Laboratory as inherently governmental for the purpose of the Federal Activities Inventory Reform Act of 1998.
 
(Sec. 3203) Prohibits use of funds made available during FY2007 to make, plan, or prepare to make, any payment on bonds issued by the Administrator of the Bonneville Power Administration, or for an appropriated Federal Columbia River Power System investment, if the payment is both: (1) greater, during any fiscal year, than the payments calculated in the Administrator's rate hearing using the repayment method used to establish the Administrator's rates as in effect on October 1, 2006; and (2) based or conditioned on the Administrator's actual or expected net secondary power sales receipts.
 

Chapter 3: General Provisions - This Chapter
 - (Sec. 3301) Requires the structure of any of the offices or components within the Office of National Drug Control Policy to remain as they were on October 1, 2006. Prohibits use of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available in the Revised Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2007 to implement a reorganization of offices within such Office without the explicit approval of the congressional appropriations committees.
 
(Sec. 3302) Requires funds appropriated for other federal drug control programs in the Revised Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2007 to be made available to a nonprofit tax-exempt entity: (1) with a wide anti-drug coalition network and membership base that has a demonstrated track record and specific expertise in providing technical assistance, training, evaluation, research, and capacity building to community anti-drug coalitions; (2) with authorization from Congress, both before FY2007, and in FY2008-FY2012, to perform such duties; and (3) that has previously received funding from Congress, including through a competitive process as well as direct funding, for providing such duties. Requires such appropriated funds to be obligated within 60 days after enactment of this Act.
 
(Sec. 3303) Requires funds made available in the Science, State, Justice, Commerce, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006 for Nevada's Commission on Economic Development to be made available to the Nevada Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology (CET).
 
(Sec. 3304) Authorizes the National Archives and Records Administration to obligate monies for the Public Interest Declassification Board from specified funds under the Revised Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2007.
 
(Sec. 3305) Prohibits the obligation of any funds appropriated or made available in the Revised Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2007 for the General Services Administration, Real Property Activities, Federal Buildings Fund for design, construction, or acquisition until the congressional appropriations committees approve a revised detailed plan, by project, on the use of such funds. Requires the new plan to include funding for completion of courthouse construction projects which received FY2006 funding above $5 million.
 
(Sec. 3306) Authorizes the District of Columbia Courts, notwithstanding a certain notice requirement, to reallocate specified FY2007 funds for the federal payment to such Courts from facilities to operations.
 
(Sec. 3307) Requires the Secretary of the Treasury, in coordination with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), to report to specified congressional committees the names of all: (1) companies trading in securities registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 which either directly or indirectly conduct business operations in Sudan relating to natural resource extraction (including oil-related activities and mining of minerals); and (2) other nonregistered companies that conduct such business operations. Excludes companies operating under licenses from the Office of Foreign Assets Control or otherwise expressly exempted under federal law from having to obtain such licenses in order to operate in Sudan.
 
Requires the General Services Administration (GSA) to notify the appropriate congressional committees whether the federal government has an active procurement contract with any of the identified companies, as well as the nature of the contract and dollar amounts involved.
 
(Sec. 3308) Rescinds specified FY2007 funds provided for the GSA Office of the Inspector General in the Revised Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2007. Makes additional funds, in the same amount, available to GSA for such purpose, to remain available through FY2008.
 
(Sec. 3309) Amends the Revised Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2007 to require any appropriation or funds made available to the District of Columbia for the federal payment for foster care improvement to be available in accordance with a detailed expenditure plan submitted by the Mayor within 60 days after the enactment of this Act.
 
(Sec. 3310) Authorizes federal justices and judges to receive a salary adjustment during FY2007.
 

Chapter 4: General Provisions - This Chapter
 - (Sec. 3401) Requires any unobligated balances remaining from prior appropriations for U.S. Coast Guard retired pay to remain available until expended, including for payment of obligations otherwise chargeable to lapsed or current appropriations.
 
(Sec. 3402) Requires the Commandant of the Coast Guard to utilize full and open competition for any contract for acquisition or modification of certain assets under, or in support of, the Integrated Deepwater System Program. Excludes specified asset classes under a production contract and any legacy asset class.
 
Prohibits the Commandant from entering into a contract for lead asset production under the Program until the Commandant obtains an independent estimate of life-cycle costs of the asset concerned.
 
Prohibits the Commandant from carrying out any asset acquisition or modification, or implementing any major asset design change, unless an independent third party with no financial interest in any Program component determines that such action is advisable.
 
(Sec. 3403) Prohibits the use of funds to alter or reduce operations within the Civil Engineering Program of the Coast Guard nationwide, including the civil engineering units, facilities, design and construction centers, maintenance and logistics command centers, the Coast Guard Academy, and the Coast Guard Research and Development Center, except as specifically authorized by a statute enacted after the enactment of this Act.
 

Chapter 5: General Provisions - This Chapter
 - (Sec. 3501) Amends the Revised Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2007 to make certain funds available for: (1) contract support costs of the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Operation of Indian Programs; (2) the Department of Health and Human Services for the Indian Health Service; and (3) the Department of Agriculture for the Save America's Treasures program of the Forest Service.
 
(Sec. 3504) Makes certain FY2007 funds available to the Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for land conservation partnerships authorized by the Highlands Conservation Act of 2004.
 
(Sec. 3505) Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to grant to the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF), subject to certain conditions, such sums as were directed in FY2005-FY2006 for the On-Farm Assessment and Environmental Review program.
 
(Sec. 3506) Requires EPA, in providing any grants for small and rural community technical and compliance assistance under the Fiscal Year 2007 Operating Plan of the Environmental Protection Agency, to give priority to small systems and qualified organizations that have the most need (or a majority of need) from small communities in each state.
 

Chapter 6: Department of Health and Human Services
 - Transfers funds provided by the Revised Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2007 to the Department of Health and Human Services for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund to carry out advanced research and development activities.
 
(Sec. 3601) Amends the Revised Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2007 to require the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation to transfer certain funds to the Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of Labor for the development of an electronic Form 5500 filing system (EFAST2).
 
(Sec. 3602) Amends the Revised Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2007 to increase the amount available to the Department of Education, Education for the Disadvantaged for basic grants, school improvement grants, and grants for quality initiatives for, as well as a clearinghouse on, comprehensive school reform.
 
(Sec. 3603) Makes funds provided by the Revised Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2007 to the Department of Education for safe schools and citizenship education available for safe and drug-free schools state grants and for safe and drug-free schools national programs (including competitive grants to local educational agencies (Leas) to address youth violence and related issues in persistently dangerous schools).
 
(Sec. 3604) Makes the mandatory funding in the Department of Education Appropriations Act, 2006 for alternative financing programs under the Assistive Technology Act of 1998 inapplicable to the Revised Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2007.
 
(Sec. 3605) Authorizes the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service to transfer up to a certain amount of funds from the Corporation's operating expenses account to its salaries and expenses account.
 
(Sec. 3606) Makes 45 CFR 1310.12(a), which requires use of school buses or allowable alternate vehicles for the transport of Head Start children, effective 30 days after enactment of this Act. Exempts such vehicles in use as of January 1, 2007, however, from the requirement regarding rear emergency exit doors for another two years.
 
Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to revise allowable alternate vehicle standards (or any corresponding similar regulation or ruling), consistent with specified findings, to exempt any vehicle used to transport children for a Head Start program from federal seat spacing and supporting seating requirements related to compartmentalization, if the vehicle meets consistent federal motor vehicle safety standards for seating systems, occupant crash protection, seat belt assemblies, and child restraint anchorage systems.
 
(Sec. 3607) Rescinds a specified amount of funds made available by the Revised Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2007 to the Department of Health and Human Services for the Office of the Secretary for general departmental management.
 
Makes the same amount available for special olympic activities carried out by the Secretary of Education under the Special Olympics Sport and Empowerment Act of 2004.
 
(Sec. 3608) Rescinds a specified amount of funds made available in the Revised Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2007 to the Department of Education for student aid administration.
 
Makes the same amount available to such Department for a grant to the University of Vermont for the Educational Excellence Program.
 
(Sec. 3609) Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award a grant to the Delta Health Alliance (a nonprofit alliance of academic institutions in the Mississippi Delta region) to solicit and fund proposals from specified entities and organizations for research development, educational programs, health care services, job training, planning, construction, and the equipment of public health-related facilities in such region.
 
Authorizes appropriations.
 
(Sec. 3610) Declares that Sec. 3608 of this Act, making certain funds available for a grant to the University of Vermont for the Educational Excellence Program, shall not take effect.
 

Chapter 7: General Provisions - This Chapter
 - (Sec. 3701) Amends the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 1993 to authorize the Secretary of the Senate to transfer proceeds from the sale of holiday ornaments from the Senate Gift Shop Revolving Fund to the Senate Employee Child Care Center to fund necessary Center activities and expenses, including scholarships, educational supplies, and equipment.
 
(Sec. 3702) Rescinds specified funds provided in the Revised Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2007 for the Capitol Guide Service and Special Services Office.
 
Provides the same amount of funds for such Office, to remain available through FY2008.
 

Chapter 8: General Provision - This Chapter
 - (Sec. 3801) Provides that appropriations made by the Revised Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2007, or any other Act, which the Secretary of Veterans Affairs contributes to the Department of Defense/Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Sharing Incentive Fund shall remain available until expended.
 

Chapter 9: General Provisions - This Chapter
 - (Sec. 3901) Makes certain funds provided in the Revised Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2007 for the United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission available for obligation only in accordance with a spending plan submitted to and approved by the congressional appropriations committees which addresses the recommendations of GAO's audit of the Commission.
 
(Sec. 3902) Makes inapplicable to the Revised Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2007 specified earmarks in the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2006 (FOEFRPA 2006) for assistance to Ukraine for nuclear reactor safety initiatives and coal mine safety programs.
 
Amends FOEFRPA 2006 to exempt the Middle East Foundation, or any other similar entity whose purpose is to support democracy, governance, human rights, and the rule of law in the Middle East region, from any requirement that a majority of its board of directors be U.S. citizens.
 

Chapter 10: Department of Housing and Urban Development
 - Makes additional appropriations for salaries and expenses to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
 
(Sec. 4001) Authorizes the obligation or expenditure of Department of Transportation funds to grant authority to a Mexican motor carrier to operate beyond federal municipalities and commercial zones on the United States-Mexico border only to the extent that: (1) granting such authority is first tested as part of a pilot program; (2) the pilot program complies with federal requirements; and (3) simultaneous and comparable authority to operate within Mexico is made available to motor carriers domiciled in the United States.
 
(Sec. 4002) Amends the Revised Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2007 and the Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, the Judiciary, the District of Columbia, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006 with respect to the funding of section 8 tenant protection rental assistance costs and project-based rental assistance.
 
(Sec. 4003) Requires that the dates be moved forward for subsidy reductions and demonstrations for discontinuance of operating subsidy reductions under a specified new operating fund formula, in order that: (1) the first demonstration date for asset management compliance shall be September 1, 2007; and (2) subsidy reductions for calendar year 2007 shall be limited to 5%. Permits any public housing agency that has filed information to demonstrate compliance on or before April 15, 2007, to re-file the same or different information to demonstrate such compliance on or before September 1, 2007.
 

Chapter 11: General Provisions - This Act
 - (Sec. 4102) Designates amounts provided in title I and title II of this Act as emergency requirements pursuant to the concurrent resolution on the budget for FY2006.
 

Title IV: Emergency Farm Relief
 - Emergency Farm Relief Act of 2007 - (Sec. 402) Defines specified terms, including: (1) the &quot;applicable period&quot; (January 1, 2005 through February 28, 2007); and (2) &quot;applicable crop&quot; (2005 and 2006 crop years and that part of the 2007 crop year prior to February 28, 2007).
 

Subtitle A: Agricultural Production Losses -
 (Sec. 411)Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to provide financial assistance for crop disaster assistance for qualifying quantity or quality losses (other than sugar beets) due to weather or related conditions (including disease, insects, and delayed harvest). Requires a producer who suffered qualifying losses to elect assistance for only one of such years.
 
(Sec. 412) Provides financial assistance to dairy producers for production losses in disaster counties.
 
(Sec. 413) Amends the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, respecting national dairy market loss payments, to revise the payment allocation formula and end payments after September 30, 2007.
 
(Sec. 414) Directs the Secretary to provide, for the applicable period: (1) payments through the 2002 livestock compensation program for livestock assistance for disaster-caused losses, including losses from blizzards that began in 2006 and continued into 2007; (2) livestock indemnity payments for disaster-caused losses, including wildfires, hurricanes, floods, extreme heat, anthrax, and blizzards that began in 2006 and continued into 2007; and (3) 2006 ewe lamb replacement and retention.
 
Requires a producer who suffered qualifying losses to elect assistance for only one of such years.
 
(Sec. 415) Directs the Secretary to compensate eligible owners of flooded crop and grazing land in North Dakota, including discretionary additional payments for owners who allow public recreational use of such land.
 
(Sec. 416) Directs the Secretary to provide: (1) sugar beet disaster assistance; and (2) assistance to sugarcane growers in Hawaii through a payment to an agricultural transportation cooperative in Hawaii. Requires a producer who suffered qualifying losses to elect assistance for only one of such years.
 
(Sec. 417) Amends the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 to direct the Secretary to permit the use of one certified claims adjuster to assess the quantity of loss on the acreage or allotment of a producer devoted to grazing for livestock.
 
(Sec. 418) Reduces producer payments under this subtitle by amounts received for the same or similar loss under: (1) the Department of Defense, Emergency Supplemental Appropriations to Address Hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, and Pandemic Influenza Act, 2006; (2) an agricultural disaster assistance provision contained in the announcement of the Secretary on January 26, 2006, or August 29, 2006; (3) the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Hurricane Recovery, 2006; or (4) the livestock assistance grant program announced by the Secretary on August 29, 2006.
 

Subtitle B: Small Business Economic Loss Grant Program
 - (Sec. 421) Directs the Secretary to make grants to departments of agriculture or comparable agencies in states (in which at least 50% of the counties were declared to be agricultural disaster areas) for direct payments to eligible small businesses that suffered weather-related crop or livestock losses during the applicable period. 
 
Authorizes emergency grants for low-income migrant and seasonal farmworkers.
 

Subtitle C: Forestry
 - (Sec. 431) Directs the Secretary to provide assistance to tree or fruit and tree nut producers in disaster counties that suffered losses during the applicable period. Defines "tree" to include: (1) a tree (including a Christmas tree, ornamental tree, nursery tree, and potted tree); (2) a bush (including a shrub, nursery shrub, nursery bush, ornamental bush, ornamental shrub, potted bush, and potted shrub); and (3) a vine (including a nursery vine and ornamental vine). 
 

Subtitle D: Conservation
 - (Sec. 441) Directs the Secretary to use specified funds for emergency measures under: (1) the emergency conservation program, including wildfire recovery efforts in Montana and other states and irrigation-related repairs; and (2) the emergency watershed protection program.
 

Subtitle E: Farm Service Agency - 
(Sec. 451) Directs the Secretary to use specified funds to: (1) hire additional county Farm Service Agency personnel to expedite the delivery of agricultural disaster and economic assistance; and (2) carry out agriculture and disaster assistance programs.
 

Subtitle F: Miscellaneous
 - (Sec. 461) Prohibits the Secretary, in carrying out this title and crop disaster assistance contract waivers under the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Hurricane Disasters Assistance Act, 2005, from requiring participation in a crop insurance pilot program relating to forage.
 
(Sec. 462) Directs the Secretary to use not less than a minimum amount of specified funds for insect infestation control in Nevada, Utah, and Idaho.
 
(Sec. 463) Directs the Secretary to use Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) facilities and funds, which shall remain available until expended, to carry out this title.
 
(Sec. 464) Authorizes the Secretary to promulgate necessary regulations.
 

Subtitle G: Emergency Designation 
- (Sec. 464) Designates funds provided under this title as an emergency requirement.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-03-22
text: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 83.
action_date: 2007-03-22
text: Committee on Appropriations. Original measure reported to Senate by Senator Byrd. With written report No. 110-37.
action_date: 2007-03-22
text: Committee on Appropriations. Original measure reported to Senate by Senator Byrd. With written report No. 110-37.
action_date: 2007-03-22
text: Introduced in Senate