As Congress investigates the issues surrounding the September 11, 2012, attacks on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya, some Members have questioned whether security funding was adequate or was a factor that may have contributed to inadequate security at that facility. The State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 authorizes the Department of State to "use appropriated and other funds to provide the maximum security of U.S. government-owned or leased properties and vehicles abroad." After several attacks occurred on U.S. facilities and other American interests in Beirut, Lebanon and Kuwait in the early 1980s, Congress passed the Diplomatic Security Act of 1986, further emphasizing the role the Secretary of State plays in providing funding for the security of U.S. diplomatic facilities and personnel worldwide (hereinafter referred to in this report as diplomatic/embassy security). Following the August 1998 bombings of U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, an independent panel, chaired by Admiral William Crowe, reported that it was "most disturbed by two inter-connected issues: First, the inadequacy of resources to provide protective measures against terrorist attacks; and second, the relative low priority accorded security concerns throughout the US Government by the Congress, the Department, other agencies in general, and the part of many employees—both in Washington and in the field." Responding to that panel, Congress, within the Secure Embassy Construction and Counterterrorism Act of 1999 (SECCA), established more stringent security requirements and mandated additional training, authorized $900 million to be spent annually for Embassy Security, Construction, and Maintenance (ESCM) for the next five years (FY2000-FY2004), and mandated the Secretary of State to convene an Accountability Review Board (ARB) whenever serious injury, loss of life, or significant destruction of property occurs. It required co-location of virtually all agency personnel in a country and 100-foot perimeters around diplomatic facilities, but also provided waiver authority for those measures. After the September 11, 2012, attacks on the U.S. facilities in Benghazi, a new ARB was convened. Its report, referring to the State Department's need for risk mitigation at U.S. facilities around the world, states: For many years the State Department has been engaged in a struggle to obtain the resources necessary to carry out its work, with varying degrees of success. This has brought about a deep sense of the importance of husbanding resources to meet the highest priorities, laudable in the extreme in any government department. But it has also had the effect of conditioning a few State Department managers to favor restricting the use of resources as a general orientation. Experienced leadership, close coordination and agility, timely informed decision making, and adequate funding and personnel resources are essential.... One overall conclusion in this [ARB] report is that Congress must do its part to meet this challenge and provide necessary resources to the State Department to address security risks and meet mission imperatives. Congress annually appropriates funds for the security of diplomatic personnel and facilities within the Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs appropriation, which is about 1% of the total federal budget. Security funding amounts to about 9% of that appropriation. (See Figure 1 below.) Congress has not enacted a stand-alone State Department appropriation prior to the start of the fiscal year since 1995 and has not passed a stand-alone Foreign Relations Authorization law since 2002. Both could have been legislative vehicles for debate regarding Administration of Foreign Affairs, including diplomatic/embassy security funding and priorities. Instead, Congress has provided ongoing security funding within Continuing Resolutions (CRs) that have delayed by several months the full-year appropriation eventually provided. Funding within a CR is usually based on the previous year's funding levels. Furthermore, if spending was not in the previous-year's appropriation (as was the case with Benghazi in 2012), it would not be funded by a CR. Only after the final appropriation is passed by Congress and signed into law by the President would State Department officials know what level of funding they can allocate on a daily/weekly/monthly basis over the 275 worldwide diplomatic posts (or 1,600 work facilities) and over the remainder of the fiscal year. Congress provides funding for diplomatic/embassy security within the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs appropriations. The bulk (typically more than 90%) of the funding is provided by two subaccounts: Worldwide Security Protection (WSP), within the Diplomatic and Consular Programs (D&CP) account, and Worldwide Security Upgrades (WSU) within the Embassy Security, Construction, and Maintenance (ESCM) account. Funds within both of these accounts are typically available until expended. Other appropriations are within the subaccounts Diplomatic Security (DS) and Counterterrorism (both within D&CP), and Diplomatic Security (DS) within the Border Security Program (BSP). A brief description of each follows: WSP, the largest component of security-related funding within Department of State appropriations, supports numerous security programs addressing the security of life, property, and information, including a worldwide guard force protecting overseas diplomatic missions and residences, as well as domestic facilities. In FY2015, for the first time, many DS-related salaries and related costs from DS and other bureaus have been requested under WSP rather than in Diplomatic and Consular Programs as part of what the Department calls a Security Realignment Initiative. WSU, within ESCM, provides funding for bricks and mortar-type of security. It funds the Department of State's portion of the Capital Security Cost Sharing program that combines with funds from other agencies represented overseas for planning, design and construction of secure new embassy compounds. It also funds ongoing security activities and security-related maintenance. The Bureau of Diplomatic Security (DS), funded under D&CP, is the law enforcement and security arm of the Department of State. DS protects people, property, and information. It conducts international investigations, provides threat analysis, and focuses on cyber security, counterterrorism, personnel security, and security technology. The Bureau manages much of the WSP funding. The Bureau of Counterterrorism (CT), funded within D&CP, leads the U.S. government in counterterrorism diplomacy and provides an on-call capability to respond to terrorist incidents worldwide. Funding within the Border Security Program (BSP) is allocated to DS to fund the protection of consular affairs facilities in the United States. The subaccount also funds the coordination and investigation of security issues related to U.S. visas and passports. The Appendix presents annual diplomatic/embassy security requests and actual funding levels from FY2008 to the FY2015 request. Base funding (also referred to as regular or enduring appropriations) is available to U.S. facilities worldwide. Total security funding includes the base funding plus supplemental and/or Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funding for diplomatic/embassy security that has been available primarily for Iraq, but also for Afghanistan and Pakistan. Supplemental security funds (excluding those available only for Iraq) were requested and enacted for FY2008 and FY2009. OCO funds were requested and enacted for FY2012, FY2013, FY2014, and have been requested for FY2015. Following are some observations derived from the data shown in the Appendix and in the related Figures 2-5 : The peak years since FY2008 for requests for security funding and funds that Congress made available were in FY2013-FY2015 request, the fiscal years following the Benghazi attacks. (See Figure 2 .) The FY2015 request represents the largest request for total security funding at $4.7 billion, following recent-year increases in base funding. OCO had been nearly half of the request in FY2013, but in FY2015, requests for OCO are about one-third of the total. (See Figure 3 .) FY2013 and FY2014 were peak years for total security funding made available by Congress. In FY2013, of the total $4.5 billion, nearly 50% was OCO funding, largely because Congress provided transfer authority of OCO funds previously identified for Iraq to be used for broader security needs following the Benghazi attacks. In FY2014, of the total $4.68 billion, 19% was OCO. (See Figure 3 .) For total security funding, Congress provided less than was requested every year except FY2009 and FY2014. The FY2013 total security request was $4.6 billion, including the request for transfer authority of OCO funds. That year, Congress provided a total of $4.5 billion, including transfer authority. (See Figure 4 .) Total security funding as a portion of Administration of Foreign Affairs expenditures was highest (40%) in FY2014 and also was the highest (32%) as a portion of total State Department funding that same year. (See Figure 5 .) Figure 2 illustrates the trend line for State Department total diplomatic/embassy security expenditures using data from the Appendix . After trending upward between FY2008 and FY2009, the funding declined to the recent-year low in FY2011and was virtually flat in FY2012. In 2009, the United States was transitioning control of the "green zone" to the Iraqi government. Also that year, President Obama announced his intention of ending military operations in 2010. With the diminishing role of the U.S. military in Iraq and increasing security needs in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, Congress supported more funds for DS, WSP, and WSU than were sought. Congress provided increased security funding in FY2013, the fiscal year following the Benghazi attacks and the first full fiscal year after the troops left Iraq in December 2011, when security efforts became the responsibility of the Department of State. Figure 3 illustrates diplomatic/embassy security funding data from the Appendix broken out by base and supplemental/OCO funding.