Senate panel sets spending targets above Bush's budget

Setting up a confrontation with the House, the administration and Senate conservatives, the Senate Appropriations Committee Thursday unanimously adopted its so-called 302(b) spending allocation for the 13 subcommittees, spending some $9 billion over what the president has said he wants in discretionary funds --and including another $2.2 billion in emergency appropriations as well.

The allocations differ widely from the House-approved numbers in several instances, notably on domestic spending bills. The fiscal 2003 Commerce-Justice-State appropriations bill, for instance, is nearly $3 billion higher than the House number, whereas the 2003 Labor-HHS spending bill is $4.4 billion higher.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., also said he intended to appropriate some $2.2 billion for emergencies, spread among three different spending bills--the same as last year.

The 2003 Interior appropriations bill would get $400 million in emergency funds for firefighting, while the Labor-HHS bill would get $300 million for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. The rest of the emergency funds--some $1.5 billion--would go toward disaster relief through the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the 2003 VA-HUD spending bill, bringing that allocation to nearly $1 billion over the House mark.

In addition, the panel set aside some $10 billion to add to the Defense mark of $355.1 billion and will wait for the administration to make a formal request for the money before it is designated.

Byrd said at Thursday's markup that despite the lack of a budget resolution or any way to enforce the subcommittee allocations when the appropriations bills reach the floor, he and ranking member Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, would do "everything to enforce" the bill's spending totals and would oppose any amendments that were not paid for.

Stevens said he supported the allocations, noting they "will permit us to complete work this year." But the allocations got the thumbs-down from Stevens' GOP colleague, Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., who vowed to work to defeat some of the bills on the floor because they far exceeded the House numbers and the president's request.

"They're unacceptable," said Lott.

He said he would have to evaluate the bills on an individual basis before deciding whether to hold them up to frustrate Democrats, or let them move and see them either tied up in a conference with the House or vetoed by President Bush.

Following are the allocations approved by the Senate, along with the corresponding House mark and the president's request.

• Agriculture: $17.98 billion; House: $17.6 billion; Bush: $17.06 billion.
• Commerce-Justice-State: $43.48 billion; House: $40.33 billion; Bush: $40.73 billion.
• Defense: $355.1 billion; House: $354.45 billion; Bush: $356.6 billion.
• District of Columbia: $517 million; House: $517 million; Bush: $379 million.
• Energy and Water: $26.3 billion; House: $26.03 billion; Bush: $25.15 billion.
• Foreign Operations: $16.35 billion; House: $16.35 billion; Bush: $16.1 billion.
• Interior: $18.92 billion, plus $400 million in emergency funds; House: $19.67 billion; Bush: $18.95 billion.
• Labor-HHS: $133.99 billion, plus $300 million in emergencies; House: $129.9 billion; Bush: $129.9 billion.
• Legislative Branch: $3.41 billion; House: $3.41 billion; Bush: $3.41 billion.
• Military Construction: $10.62 billion; House: $10.08 billion; Bush: $9.54 billion.
• Transportation: $21.1 billion; House: $19.4 billion; Bush: $19.85 billion.
• Treasury-Postal: $18.5 billion; House: $18.5 billion; Bush: $17.96 billion.
• VA-HUD: $91.4 billion, plus $1.5 billion in emergencies; House: $91.8 billion; Bush: $92.5 billion.