On October 6, conferees reached agreement on the FY2000 defenseappropriations bill, H.R. 2561 , and the conference report was filed onOctober 8. The House approved the conference agreement by a vote of 372-55 onOctober 13, and the Senate approved it by a vote of 87-11 on October 14, and thePresident signed the bill into law, P.L. 106-79 , on October 25. The key issue in theconference concerned funding for the F-22 fighter. The conference agreementprovides a total of $2.522 billion for the program, including $1.222 billion for R&D,$1 billion for acquisition of test aircraft, and $300 million in advance FY2001appropriations for program termination liability. The total amount is about $500million below the request ($1.85 billion in procurement and $1.2 billion in R&D). The conference agreement also prohibits award of an initial low-rate productioncontract unless certain testing is successfully completed. Congress provides funding for national defense programs in several annualappropriations measures, the largest of which is the defense appropriations bill. Congress also acts every year on a national defense authorization bill, whichauthorizes programs funded in all of the regular appropriations measures. Theauthorization bill addresses defense programs in almost precisely the same level ofdetail as the defense-related appropriations, and congressional debate about majordefense policy and funding issues usually occurs mainly in action on theauthorization. Because the defense authorization and appropriations bills are soclosely related, this report tracks congressional action on both measures. The annual defense appropriations bill provides funds for military activities of the Department of Defense (DOD) -- including pay and benefits of militarypersonnel, operation and maintenance of weapons and facilities, weaponsprocurement, and research and development -- and for other purposes. Most of thefunding in the bill is for programs administered by the Department of Defense,though the bill also provides (1) relatively small, unclassified amounts for the CentralIntelligence Agency retirement fund and intelligence community management, (2)classified amounts for national foreign intelligence activities administered by the CIAand by other agencies as well as by DOD, and (3) very small amounts for some otheragencies. Five other appropriations bills also provide funds for national defenseactivities of DOD and other agencies including: the military construction appropriations bill, which finances construction of military facilities and construction and operation of military familyhousing, all administered by DOD; the energy and water development appropriations bill, which funds atomic energy defense activities administered by the Department ofEnergy; the VA-HUD-independent agencies appropriations bill, which finances civil defense activities administered by the Federal Emergency ManagementAgency and activities of the Selective Service System; the Commerce-Justice-State appropriations bill, which funds national security-related activities of the FBI; and the transportation appropriations bill, which funds some defense-related activities of the Coast Guard. The Administration's FY2000 budget includes $280.8 billion for the national defense budget function, of which $262.9 billion is requested in the defense appropriationsbill. Congressional action on defense-related legislation began very early this year;on February 24, the Senate approved S. 4 , a bill to provide pay raisesand improve benefits for military personnel; in March both the Senate and the Houseapproved bills on missile defense policy; and on April 15, both the House and theSenate approved a conference agreement on the annual congressional budgetresolution. On May 18, the House, and on May 20, the Senate, approvedsupplemental appropriations for FY1999. By the beginning of the August recess,both houses had completed floor action on the annual defense authorization andappropriations bills, and the President has now signed both the defense authorizationbill, S. 1059 , and the defense appropriations bill, H.R. 2561 , into law. The status of major legislation to date is as follows: Military pay and benefits: On February 24, by a vote of 91-8, the Senate passed S. 4 , a bill to provide pay raises and improve benefitsfor members of the armed forces. The provisions of S. 4 were finallyaddressed in action on the FY2000 defense authorization. Missile defense policy: On March 17, by a vote of 97-3, the Senate approved S. 257 , the "Cochran-Inouye National Missile DefenseAct of 1999," a bill calling for deployment of a nationwide missile defense systemas soon as technologically feasible. On March 18, by a vote of 317-105, the Houseapproved H.R. 4 , a bill declaring it the policy of the United States todeploy a nationwide missile defense. On May 18, the Senate took up H.R. 4 and substituted the text of S. 257 . On May 20, bya vote of 345-17 the House approved the Senate version, and the President signed thebill into law, P.L. 106-38 , on July 22. Supplemental appropriations for FY1999: On March 23, the Senate approved a bill, S. 544 , providing supplemental appropriationsfor FY1999, including funds to respond to damage caused by Hurricane Mitch andHurricane Georges and aid to Jordan. The House approved its version of the bill, H.R. 1141 , on March 24. On May 6, the House approved H.R. 1664 , a second emergency supplemental appropriations bill toprovide funds for military operations in Yugoslavia and for some other purposes.Subsequently, Senate and House conferees folded Kosovo-related funding into H.R. 1141 and reported a conference agreement on May 13. (1) The Houseapproved the conference report on May 18 and the Senate on May 20, and thePresident signed the bill into law, P.L. 106-31 , on May 21. H.R. 1141 includes funds for a military pay raise and benefit increases and for defense readinessthat normally would be included in the regular FY2000 defense appropriationsbill. FY2000 concurrent budget resolution: On March 24, both the House and the Senate approved versions of the FY2000 congressional budgetresolution -- H.Con.Res. 68 in the House and S.Con.Res. 20 in the Senate. On April 15, both chambers approved a conference report on H.Con.Res. 68 . Defense authorization bill: On May 13 the Senate Armed Services Committee approved its version of the FY2000 defense authorization bill, S. 1059 , and the Senate approved the bill by a vote of 92-3 on May 27. On May 19, the House Armed Services Committee approved its version of theFY2000 defense authorization bill, H.R. 1401 , and the House approvedthe bill by a vote of 365-38 on June 10. A conference agreement was reported on S. 1059 on August 5. The House approved the report by a vote of375-45 on September 15, and the Senate concurred by a vote of 93-5 on September22. The President signed the bill into law ( P.L. 106-65 ) on October5. Defense appropriations bill: On May 25, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved its version of the FY2000 defenseappropriations bill, S. 1122 , and the Senate approved the bill by a voteof 93-4 on June 8. On July 16, the House Appropriations Committee approved itsversion of the bill, H.R. 2561 , and the House passed it by a vote of379-45 on July 22. A conference report was filed on October 8. The Houseapproved the agreement by a vote of 372-55 on October 13, and the Senate approvedit by a vote of 87-11 on October 14. The President signed the bill into law, P.L.106-79 , on October 25. 302(b) allocations: On May 19, the House Appropriations Committee approved its initial allocation of funds to the 13 subcommittees. Theallocations provided $270.292 billion in budget authority and $261.73 billion inoutlays to the defense subcommittee, a total consistent with the amounts allocated tothe national defense budget function in the budget resolution. These allocations weresubsequently reduced, however, in order to allocate somewhat more money tonon-defense appropriations bills. On May 25, the Senate Appropriations Committeeapproved its initial allocations, providing $265.193 billion in budget authority and$253.104 billion in outlays for the defense subcommittee. These allocations, too,were later reduced -- allocations announced on September 15 provide $263.254billion in budget authority and $254.409 billion in outlays for defense. A reallocationon September 28 further reduced the defense level to $255.167 billion in budgetauthority and $249.727 in outlays, but the difference has been made up bydesignating some funds in the bill as "emergency appropriations" not subject to capson total spending. Table 1. Status of FY2000 Defense Appropriations In its February budget, the Administration requested $280.8 billion ($280.5billion as reestimated by the Congressional Budget Office) in new budget authorityfor national defense in FY2000. The Department of Defense (DOD) projects modestgrowth in defense spending in following years. Compared to long-term DefenseDepartment projections last year, the proposal represented a significant increase infunding -- as the Administration calculates it, the plan reflects an increase of $12.6billion in budget authority for defense programs in FY2000 and a total increase of$112 billion over the six-year FY2000-2005 period. The main issue in Congress washow to fit defense increases within overall federal budget constraints.