The Military Construction Appropriations conference report, recommending $8.834 billion,was approved by the House on June 29, 2000, and the Senate on June 30, 2000. It became P.L.106-246 on July 13, 2000. In authorization action, on May 18, 2000, the House approved its defense authorization bill ( H.R. 4205 , H.Rept. 106-616 ). The Senate substituted their version of the defenseauthorization bill - S. 2549 , S.Rept. 106-292 - in H.R. 4205 and passedthat bill on July 13, 2000. The conference report ( H.Rept. 106-945 ) was passed by the House onOctober 11, 2000 and by the Senate on October 12, 2000. The conference authorized $8.8 billion,$787 million more than the President's request. The FY2001 defense authorization bill became P.L.106-398 on October 30, 2000. The Department of Defense (DOD) manages the world's largest dedicated infrastructure,covering over 40,000 square miles of land and a physical plant worth over $500 billion. The militaryconstruction appropriations bill provides a large part of the funding to maintain this infrastructure. The bill funds construction projects and real property maintenance of the active Army, Navy &Marine Corps, Air Force, and their reserve components; defense-wide construction; U.S.contributions to the NATO Security Investment Program (formerly called the NATO InfrastructureProgram); and military family housing operations and construction. The bill also provides fundingfor the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) account, which finances most base realignment andclosure costs, including construction of new facilities for transferred personnel and functions, andenvironmental cleanup at closing sites. The military construction appropriations bill is only one of several annual pieces of legislation that provide funding for national defense. Other major legislation includes (1) the defenseappropriations bill, that provides funds for all military activities of the Department of Defense,except for military construction; (2) the national defense authorization bill, that authorizesappropriations for national defense, (1) and (3) theenergy and water development appropriations bill,that provides funding for atomic energy defense activities of the Department of Energy. Two otherappropriations bills, VA-HUD-Independent Agencies and Commerce-Justice-State, also includesmall amounts for national defense. In addition, the energy and water development appropriationsbill provides funds for civil projects carried out by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The annual defense authorization bill authorizes all the activities in the defense appropriation measures described above. Therefore, major debates over defense policy and funding issues,including military construction can be also found in the authorization bill. Since issues in thedefense authorization and appropriations bills intertwine, this report highlights salient parts of theauthorization bill, along with the military construction appropriation process. The separate military construction appropriations bill dates to the late 1950s when a large defense build-up occurred in response to intercontinental ballistic missile threats and the Sovietlaunch of Sputnik. Defense construction spending soared, as facilities were hardened, missile siloswere constructed, and other infrastructure was built. The appropriations committees established themilitary construction subcommittees to deal with this new level of activity. Consequently, theseparate military construction bill was created. The first stand-alone military construction bill wasin FY1959, P.L. 85-852. Previously, military construction funding was provided through annualdefense appropriations or supplemental appropriations bills. Military construction appropriations are the major, but not the sole, source of funds for facility investments by the military services and defense agencies. The defense appropriations bill providessome funds for real property maintenance in operation and maintenance accounts. In addition, fundsfor construction and maintenance of Morale, Welfare, and Recreation-related facilities are partiallyprovided through proceeds of commissaries, recreation user fees, and other income. Most funds appropriated by Congress each year must be obligated in that fiscal year. Military construction appropriations are an exception, since these funds are generally made available forobligation for five fiscal years. Consideration of the military construction budget starts when the President's budget is delivered to Congress early each year. For FY2001, the President requested $8.0 billion in funding for themilitary construction program. Table 1 shows the key legislative steps necessary for the enactment of the FY2001 militaryconstruction appropriations. Table 1. Status of Military Construction Appropriations,FY2001 Conference Appropriations Action. The Military Construction Appropriations conferencereport, recommending $8.834 billion, was approved by the House on June 29, 2000,and the Senate on June 30, 2000. It became P.L. 106-246 on July 13, 2000. Theconference report debate centered on domestic and defense items in the FY2000supplemental emergency appropriations. (For more details, see SenateAppropriations Emergency Appropriations Action for FY2000 section, below.) House Appropriations Action. On May 16, 2000, the House passed the FY2001 Military Construction AppropriationsAct ( H.R. 4425 ), by a 386-22 roll call vote. The House followed theHouse Appropriations Committee's lead and passed the bill with only oneamendment. The Traficant amendment prohibits any money in the bill from goingto individuals or companies convicted of violating the "Buy American" laws. The House Appropriations Committee decided, as written in its report ( H.Rept. 106-614 ) to: reprimand the Pentagon about serious shortfalls in the militaryconstruction request and the severe backlog in readiness, revitalization, and qualityof life projects, deny the Pentagon's advance appropriations requests, direct the DOD Comptroller to monitor the impact of nocontingency funding for construction and hopes this action will improve the Services'cost estimating, and expect the Pentagon to include facility modernization programsin its Quadrennial Defense Review. The $8.634 billion bill passed by voice vote. This bill is 4% over last year's billand some $600 million more than the President's FY2001 request. The bill provides$3.9 for military construction, $3.5 million for family housing and $1.2 billion forBase Realignment and Closure costs. (2) Senate Appropriations Action. On May 18, 2000, the Senate passed S. 2521 , by a vote of 96-4. Because emergency supplemental appropriations for FY2000 was added to this bill,the debate on S. 2521 has centered on domestic and defense ridersattached on the bill. (See below.) On May 9, 2000, the Senate Appropriations Committee reported out its version ( S. 2521 ), of the FY2001 military construction appropriations bill. The Senate Appropriations Committee decided, as written in its report ( S.Rept. 106-290 ) to: chastise the Pentagon for its inadequately-fundedproposal, require the Pentagon to add 5% contingency funding in itsFY2002 request, in order to promote flexibility in completing projects (the Pentagonproposed zero in FY2001), and continue to require the Pentagon to report repair projects inOperations and Maintenance account funding to Congress. The $8.634 billion bill passed by voice vote. This bill is $292 million over last year's bill and some $600 million more than the President's FY2001 request. The billprovides $3.81 for military construction, $3.5 million for family housing and $1.2billion for Base Realignment and Closure costs. (3) Senate Appropriations Emergency Supplemental Action for FY2000. FY2000 supplemental funding was attached tothis Senate bill, S. 2521 . Defense items include: peacekeeping costs inKosovo and East Timor, counter-terrorism, growth in fuel and health-care costs forDOD dependents and retirees, and counter-narcotics costs in Columbia. (For acomplete list of supplemental items attached to S. 2521 , see Appendix1.) The debate on S. 2521 is centering on supplemental riders on guncontrol and Kosovo. The most controversial provision that would have put adeadline to have U.S. troops withdraw from Kosovo, by July 1, 2001, was voteddown by the Senate. For background and comprehensive information on the supplemental, see CRS Report RL30457(pdf) , Supplemental Appropriations for FY2000: Plan Colombia,Kosovo, Foreign Debt Relief, Home Energy Assistance and Other Initiatives , by[author name scrubbed], et al. For background on the Kosovo operations, see CRS Issue Brief IB98041, Kosovo and U.S. Policy , by Steve Woehrel, and CRS Issue Brief IB10027, Kosovo: U.S. and Allied Military Operations, by [author name scrubbed]. On May 18, 2000, the House passed the defense authorization bill ( H.R. 4205 , H.Rept. 106-616 ) Following the lead of the MilitaryConstruction Subcommittee, the House recommended $8.4 billion dollars for militaryconstruction, $400 million more than the President's request. The Senate substituted their version of the defense authorization bill - S. 2549 , S.Rept. 106-292 - in H.R. 4205 and passed thatbill by 97-3 on July 13, 2000. The Senate recommended $8.46 billion for militaryconstruction, $430 million more than the President's request. The conference report ( H.Rept. 106-945 ) was passed by the House on October 11, 2000 and by the Senate on October 12, 2000. The FY2001 defense authorizationbill became P.L. 106-398 on October 30, 2000.