P.L. 107-67 ( H.R. 2590 ), Department of the Treasury, Postal Service, ExecutiveOffice of the President, and General Government Appropriations for FY2002, was approved by thePresident November 12. Congress has received several messages from the President allocating funds from the Emergency Response Fund by P.L. 107-38 , the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act forRecovery from and Response to Terrorist Attacks on the United States, FY2001. P.L. 107-38 alsoauthorized additional emergency funding which was enacted under P.L. 107-117 , Division B,FY2002 Defense Appropriation. Several accounts in the Treasury and General Government appropriation are affected. (See Terrorism section of this report for more details.) On December 28, the President signed Executive Order 13249, establishing the federal pay schedules effective January 2002. The President, through the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), is required to submit toCongress, annually, the Budget of the United States Government. The FY2002 budget was submittedto Congress on April 9, 2001. (1) In late February 2001,the President and the Office of ManagementBudget released A Blueprint for New Beginnings, A Responsible Budget for America's Priorities . (2) It is intended to present a 10-year budget plan and provides more of an overview than details onspecific accounts. (3) In summary, the proposed budgetwould fund the accounts in the Treasury andGeneral Government appropriations legislation at $16.6 billion (discretionary). (4) This is more thana $1 billion over the estimated FY2001 funding levels, not taking into consideration thesupplemental funding subsequently enacted. Under the budget procedures, Congress adopts a concurrent resolution establishing the congressional budget for the government and setting forth budgetary levels for several years in thefuture. The House and Senate Appropriations Committees then allocate the discretionary fundinglevels (302(b)) allocations to each of the subcommittees. Those allocations are subject to change. Subsequent to the September 11 attacks and the need for reordering funding priorities, Congress andthe White House negotiated and new allocations were developed. For accounts covered in this billthe House allocated, on October 9, $17.022 billion and the Senate, on October 11, allocated $17.118billion. With the FY2001 supplemental (5) funding factored in, the total FY2001 estimated funding forthese accounts is $16.7 billion in discretionary funding. The conference agreement would provide$17.069 billion in discretionary funding. This falls between the House and Senate allocations. (6) Appropriations for the Department of the Treasury, in addition to funding the operations of the department, fund the work of a group of law enforcement organizations, which include the Bureauof Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; the Customs Service; the Secret Service; the Financial CrimesEnforcement Network; and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. Treasury appropriationsalso cover the Internal Revenue Service, the Financial Management Service, and the Bureau of the Public Debt. For the most part, the U. S. Postal Service has become self-supporting. Federal contributions are limited to payments to the Postal Service Fund to compensate for revenues forgone( e.g ., free postal service for the blind.) Appropriations for the Executive Office of the President provide salaries and expenses for the White House Office, operations of the residences of the President and Vice President, and most otheragencies within the Executive Office of the President (EOP). Organizations such as the Council ofEconomic Advisers, the National Security Council, the Office of Management and Budget, and theOffice of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) are funded through these provisions. Specificfunding for drug control initiatives is appropriated for distribution to other entities by the ONDCP. Among the independent agencies financed through this appropriation are the Federal Election Commission, the General Services Administration, the National Archives and RecordsAdministration, the Office of Personnel Management, the Office of Special Counsel, and the UnitedStates Tax Court. The Treasury and General Government appropriation always has at least two titles in addition to the four covering the funding for specific agencies. These general titles apply restrictions or "rulesof the road" governmentwide and, quite often, contain authority for defined actions. For example,each year, there is standard language which prohibits the use of any appropriated funds for thepurpose of employing individuals who are not U.S. citizens or citizens of nations either specified inthat section of the act or on the State Department list of nations covered by treaties; which requiresthat all agencies maintain drug-free workplaces; and which authorizes the expenditure of fundsappropriated under any act to be used to pay the travel expenses of immediate family members if afederal employee serving overseas has died or has a life-threatening illness. As part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2001, P.L. 106-554 , there was a .22% across-the-board rescission of FY2001 discretionary budget authority and obligation limitationsfunds (section 1403, H.R. 4577 / H.R. 5666 ). (7) All accounts in the Treasuryand General Government appropriations are affected. The Office of Management and Budget(OMB) is required to report on the implementation of the rescission when the FY2002 budget issubmitted. On January 5, 2001, the Office of Management Budget issued guidelines to the agencies. (8) The budget documents submitted to Congress April 9, 2001 provide account-by-account details on the rescission. (9) The total rescission ofFY2001funds was $1,088,962,000. The rescissionamounts for the accounts discussed in this report will be presented in the context of the accountpresentation below. The funding decisions for agencies are increasingly referencing the performance plans, goals, and measures set by the agencies. Some of the general goals are discussed below in the "GeneralGovernment Function" section. Specific goals and measures can be found in the Budget Appendix for some of the agency accounts. For example, the Internal Revenue Service in the Department ofthe Treasury sets out a substantial series of "Key Operational Measures and Performance Indicators. "These are organized by FY2000 actual, the FY2001 Performance Plan, and the FY2002 President'sBudget. (10) Bills are introduced in the House and Senate when the Committees on Appropriations havecompleted markup on the provisions. Usually the Treasury, Postal Service, Executive Office of thePresident, and General Government Subcommittees draft legislation and the accompanying reports. The full committees use these documents as a basis for discussion and mark up. From the timelegislation is introduced, and through enactment, the status will be noted in Table 1. Hearings. Hearings in the House subcommittee began March 21, with nine scheduled between then and May 10. (11) Hearings in the Senate beganApril 26, with three additional sessions through May 17. (12) House Committee Action. On July 11, 2001, the Subcommittee on Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government, by voice vote, approved aspending measure. The full House Committee on Appropriations, also by voice vote, approved themeasure on July 17, 2001. H.R. 2590 was introduced July 23, 2001, accompanied by H.Rept. 107-152 . (13) House Rule. On July 24, the House Committee on Rules issue a special rule (H. Res. 206) for the consideration of H.R. 2590 . (14) It wasan open rule providing one hour of general debate equally divided and waiving all points of orderagainst the bill. It provided that the amendments printed as part of the rule (one related to Olympicsfunding and one related to the Department of the Treasury Expanded Access account) would beconsidered as adopted. Points of order were waived against provisions of the bill for failure tocomply with rule XXI (prohibiting unauthorized or legislative provisions in a general appropriationsbill) and against amendment number 5 (affecting travel between the United States and Cuba), if itproperly offered. It provided that the bill will be considered by paragraph and instructed theChairman of the Committee of the Whole to accord priority in recognition to Members who havepre-printed their amendments in the Congressional Record . (15) The rule was adopted July 25 (RollNo. 267, 293-129, H4549-53). House Consideration and Passage. By a vote of 334-94 (Roll No. 274), on July 25, 2001, the House considered and passed, amended, H.R. 2590 .