Digest for H.R. 5326
112th Congress, 2nd Session
H.R. 5326
Making appropriations for the Departments of Commerce and Justice, Science, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2013
Sponsor Rep. Wolf, Frank
Committee Appropriations
Date May 8, 2012 (112th Congress, 2nd Session)
Staff Contact Andy Koenig

On Tuesday, May 8, 2012, the House is scheduled to consider H.R. 5326, the Departments of Commerce and Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, under an open rule. The bill was introduced on May 2, 2012, by Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) and referred to the Committee on Appropriations. The bill is scheduled to be considered under an open rule (H.Res. 643) providing for one hour of general debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations. The open rule provides for consideration of any amendment offered that complies with the House rules. Under the rule, the bill would be read for amendment by paragraph and all amendments would be considered pursuant to the five-minute rule.

H.R. 5326 would provide $51.131 billion in discretionary appropriations for agencies and programs funding through the Commerce/Justice/Science appropriations bill for FY 2013. Funding provided under the legislation would be $1.61 billion or 3 percent below the amount of funding provided for FY 2012. The amount of funding provided is $731 million or 1.4 percent below the amount requested by the president for FY 2013.

The Commerce/Justice/Science appropriations bill provides funding for the Department of Commerce, the Department of Justice, and Federal science agencies, such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the National Science Foundation (NSF), and related agencies. Appropriations for Justice programs in the bill provides money for the Federal Bureau of Investigate as well as the Federal Prison System and the U.S. Marshals Service. 

Title I—Department of Commerce

H.R. 5326 would provide $7.7 billion in discretionary budget authority for the Department of Commerce in FY 2013. Funding for the Department of Commerce represents an increase of $96 million or 1.3 percent above last year’s level and a reduction of $280 million or 3.5 percent below the president’s request.

Census Bureau:  The bill would provide $878.6 million for the Census Bureau, a reduction of $9.6 million form FY 2012 and $91.7 million below the president’s request.

EDA: The bill would provide $219 million for the Economic Development Administration (EDA), a reduction of $238 million from FY 2012 and $219,000 below the president’s request. FY 2011 funding for the EDA includes $200 million for disaster assistance in response to natural disaster declarations during fiscal year 2011. The EDA operates a number of taxpayer funded economic development programs.

NOAA:  The bill would provide $4.96 billion for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), an increase of $68 million over FY 2012 and a reduction of $93 million from the president’s request.

ITA:  The bill would provide $458 million for the International Trade Administration (ITA), which is $2.7 million above FY 2012 and $58 million below the president’s request.

NIST: The bill would provide $830 million for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), an increase of $79 above FY 2012 and a reduction of $26.8 million from the president’s request.

 

Title II—Department of Justice

H.R. 5326 would provide $27.41 billion in discretionary budget authority for the Department of Justice (DOJ) in FY 2013. Funding for the DOJ represents an increase of $11 million above last year’s level and $44 million below the president’s request.

FBI: The bill would provide $8.26 billion for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), an increase of $148 million above FY 2012 and $34 million above the president’s request. The bill includes increases for national security programs, investigations of cyber-attacks and violent crime and gang reduction programs.

Prisons: The bill would provide $6.9 billion for the Federal Prison System, an increase of $268 million above FY 2012 and a reduction of $9 million from the president’s request.

Local Assistance: The bill would provide $1.84 billion for state and local law enforcement assistance grants, a reduction of $377 million below FY 2012 and $51 million above the president’s request.

DEA: The bill would provide $2.04 billion for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), an increase of $9 million over FY 2012 and a reduction of $7 million below the president’s request. The bill includes an increase of $31 million for regulatory and enforcement efforts to combat prescription drug abuse, and $12.5 million (by transfer) to assist states and communities with hazardous material clean-up at meth lab sites.

U.S. Marshals: The bill would provide $2.8 billion for the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), which is an increase of $1.65 billion over FY 2012 and a reduction of $35 million below the president’s request. 

BATF: The bill would provide $1.15 billion for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, an increase of $1.3 million above FY 2012 and the same amount as the president’s request.

 

Title III—Science

H.R. 5326 would provide $24.9 billion in discretionary budget authority for the for science programs in FY 2013. Funding for science programs would represent an increase of $74 million above FY 2012 and $178 million below the president’s request.

NASA: The bill would provide $17.57 billion for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), a reduction of $226 million below FY 2012 and $137 million below the president’s request. Funding for NASA includes $3.7 billion for Exploration, $59 million below fiscal year 2012. This includes funding to keep NASA on schedule for upcoming Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle and Space Launch System flight milestones and to maintain progress in a reconfigured commercial crew program. The bill includes $4 billion for Space Operations, which is $249 million below fiscal year 2012. The legislation will continue the closeout of the Space Shuttle program for a savings of $503 million. The bill would provide $5.1 billion for NASA Science programs, $5 million above fiscal year 2012. This includes $1.4 billion for planetary science to ensure the continuation of critical research and development programs that were imperiled by the President’s request. This also includes $628 million, as requested, for the James Webb Space Telescope.

National Science Foundation:The bill would provide $7.3 billion in funding for the National Science Foundation, an increase of $299 million above FY 2012 and a reduction of $40 million below the president’s request.

Title IV—Related Agencies

Commerce/Justice/Science appropriations bill for FY 2013 includes $846 million in spending for a number of related agencies, which is a reduction of $10 million or 1 percent below FY 2012 and $82 million or 9 percent below the president’s request.

 

Commission on Civil Rights: The bill would provide $9.1 million for the Commission on Civil Rights, which is responsible for investigating charges of citizens being deprived of voting and other civil rights. The funding level is the same as FY 2012 and $207,000 below the president’s request.

EEOC: The bill would provide $366 million for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the government agency with jurisdiction over employment discrimination issues. The funding is a $6 million reduction from FY 2012 and $7 million below the president’s request.

Legal Services: The bill would provide $328 million for the Federal Legal Services Corporation (LSC), a reduction of $20 million below FY 2012 and $74 million below the president’s request. The program gives taxpayer funds to provide free civil legal aid for low-income individuals. The program distributes the vast majority of its funding to nonprofit legal aid entities.

 

FY 2013 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations

(Discretionary Appropriations in Thousands of Dollars) 

Program

FY 2012

President Request

H.R. 5326

Change from FY 2012

Change from Request

% Change from FY 2012

% Change from Request

Title I - Department of Commerce

International Trade Administration

455,561

517,000

458,298

2,737

-58,702

0.60%

-11.4%

Bureau of Industry and Security

101,000

102,328

101,000

0

-1,328

0.00%

-1.3%

Economic Development Administration

457,500

219,719

219,500

-238,000

-219

-52.02%

-0.1%

Minority Business Development Agency

30,339

28,689

28,689

-1,650

0

-5.44%

0.0%

Census Bureau

888,336

970,425

878,693

-9,643

-91,732

-1.09%

-9.5%

National Telecommunications and Information Administration

45,568

46,925

45,568

0

-1,357

0.00%

-2.9%

National Institute of Standards and Technology

750,824

857,000

830,173

79,349

-26,827

10.57%

-3.1%

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

4,893,675

5,054,546

4,961,669

67,994

-92,877

1.39%

-1.8%

Commerce Departmental Management

88,946

86,793

83,753

-5,193

-3,040

-5.84%

-3.5%

Title I - Total Discretionary Appropriations

7,607,749

7,983,694

7,703,343

95,594


-280,351


1.26%


-3.5%


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Title II - Department of Justice

DOJ General Administration

 262,129

 161,093

   143,748

-118,381

-17,345

-45.16%

-10.8%

Administrative Review and Appeals

301,000

309,438

309,438

8,438

0

2.80%

0.0%

Detention Trustee

1,580,595

-

-

-1,580,595

0

-100.00%


DOJ Office of Inspector General

84,199

85,985

84,199

0

-1,786

0.00%

-2.1%

US Parole Commission Salaries and Expenses

12,833

12,772

12,772

-61

0

-0.48%

0.0%

General Legal Activities

863,367

903,603

863,367

0

-40,236

0.00%

-4.5%

Antitrust Division Salaries and Expenses

51,587

49,753

44,587

-7,000

-5,166

-13.57%

-10.4%

US Attorneys Salaries and Expenses

1,960,000

1,974,378

1,965,000

5,000

-9,378

0.26%

-0.5%

Foreign Claims Settlement Commission

2,000

2,139

2,000

0

-139

0.00%

-6.5%

Fees and Expenses of Witnesses

270,000

270,000

270,000

0

0

0.00%

0.0%

Community Relations Service

11,456

12,036

11,456

0

-580

0.00%

-4.8%

US Marshals Service

1,189,000

2,881,723

2,845,871

1,656,871

-35,852

139.35%

-1.2%

National Security Division

87,000

90,039

90,039

3,039

0

3.49%

0.0%

Interagency Crime and Drug Enforcement

527,512

524,793

521,793

-5,719

-3,000

-1.08%

-0.6%

Federal Bureau of Investigation

8,117,973

8,232,003

8,265,989

148,016

33,986

1.82%

0.4%

Drug Enforcement Administration

2,035,000

2,050,904

2,043,904

8,904

-7,000

0.44%

-0.3%

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

1,152,000

1,153,345

1,153,345

1,345

0

0.12%

0.0%

Federal Prison System

6,643,981

6,922,106

6,912,917

268,936

-9,189

4.05%

-0.1%

State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance

2,227,300

1,798,387

1,849,800

-377,500

51,413

-16.95%

2.9%

Title II - Total Discretionary Spending

27,407,713

27,463,278

27,419,006

11,293

-44,272

0.04%

-0.2%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Title III - Science

Office of Science and Technology Policy

4500

5850

5850

1,350

0

30.00%

0.0%

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

17,800,000

17,711,400

17,573,800

-226,200

-137,600

-1.27%

-0.8%

National Science Foundation

7,033,095

7,373,100

7,332,513

299,418

-40,587

4.26%

-0.6%

Title III - Total Discretionary Appropriations

24,837,595

25,090,350

24,912,163

74,568

-178,187

0.30%

-0.7%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Title IV - Related Agencies

Commission on Civil Rights

                   9,193

                   9,400

                  9,193

0

-207

0.00%

-2.2%

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

360,000

    373,711

 366,568

6,568

-7,143

1.82%

-1.9%

International Trade Commission

80,000

82,800

83,000

3,000

200

3.75%

0.2%

Legal Services Corporation

348,000

 402,000

328,000

-20,000

-74,000

-5.75%

-18.4%

Marine Mammal Commission

  3,025

       3,081

  3,025

0

-56

0.00%

-1.8%

Office of the U.S. Trade Representative

 51,251

    53,041

  51,251

0

-1,790

0.00%

-3.4%

State Justice Institute

       5,121

     5,121

  5,121

0

0

0.00%

0.0%

Title IV -Total Discretionary Spending

  856,590

929,154

  846,158

-10,432

-82,996

-1.22%

-8.9%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total

52,744,000

51,862,000

51,131,000

-1,613,000

-731,000

-3.06%

-1.4%

 

According to CBO, H.R. 5326 would provide $51.131 billion in discretionary budget authority for programs funded through the Commerce/Justice/Science Appropriations bill in FY 2013.