Senate Passes Commerce, Justice Appropriations Bill Including $4.48 Billion for NOAA: On September 15th , by a margin of 91-4, the Senate passed the FY 2006 Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations (CJS) bill (
The bill’s funding for NOAA remains the same as previously passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee. The Senate approved $4.48 billion for NOAA: $558 million above the FY ’05 enacted level and $890 million above the Administration’s 2006 request. The bill now moves to a Conference Committee with the House of Representatives, to reconcile the funding levels in the bill. On June 16th, the House had approved $3.38 billion, $536 million below FY ’05 levels and $203 million below the request.
Two amendments related to NOAA were added to the bill during debate. The first, by CJS Subcommittee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-AL) would assure “not less than $5.8M (million)” shall be made available for the NOAA’s National Hurricane Center (NHC) and it may employ up to 43 full-time equivalent positions (FTEs). Currently, the NHC has an operating budget of about $5.3M and 39 FTEs.
The second amendment was proposed by Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH), with the purpose of allocating “sufficient funds” to implement the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Amendments Act of 2004. Neither amendment increased the Senate mark for NOAA above the level in the original Committee bill. Both were accepted by Unanimous Consent.
One other amendment, offered by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), which would have eliminated Senate-proposed funds for the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Advanced Technology Program and shifted some of the funds to the NOAA/National Weather Service, was defeated by a vote of 68-29.
A third amendment, added just prior to final passage by Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL) expresses the sense of Congress that “the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force should join with its Federal and State partners to provide an appropriate level of financial and technical support to make the 11th International Coral Reef Symposium a successful event.” None of the amendments change the funding levels allocated in the Senate Committee mark. All three were accepted by Unanimous Consent. ( Researched and written by Matthew Borgia of the NOAA Budget Office).
Senate Passes Commerce, Justice Appropriations Bill Including $4.48 Billion for NOAA:
On September 15th , by a margin of 91-4, the Senate passed the FY 2006 Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations (CJS) bill (
HR 2862), which includes funding for NOAA. NOAA was highly-touted during the debate, and received positive recognition from Appropriations Chairman Thad Cochran (R-MS), CJS Subcommittee Chair Richard Shelby (R-AL), and Subcommittee Ranking Minority Member Barbara Mikulski (D-MD).The bill’s funding for NOAA remains the same as previously passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee. The Senate approved $4.48 billion for NOAA: $558 million above the FY ’05 enacted level and $890 million above the Administration’s 2006 request. The bill now moves to a Conference Committee with the House of Representatives, to reconcile the funding levels in the bill. On June 16th, the House had approved $3.38 billion, $536 million below FY ’05 levels and $203 million below the request.
Two amendments related to NOAA were added to the bill during debate. The first, by CJS Subcommittee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-AL) would assure “not less than $5.8M (million)” shall be made available for the NOAA’s
National Hurricane Center (NHC) and it may employ up to 43 full-time equivalent positions (FTEs). Currently, the NHC has an operating budget of about $5.3M and 39 FTEs.The second amendment was proposed by Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH), with the purpose of allocating “sufficient funds” to implement the
Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Amendments Act of 2004. Neither amendment increased the Senate mark for NOAA above the level in the original Committee bill. Both were accepted by Unanimous Consent.One other amendment, offered by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), which would have eliminated Senate-proposed funds for the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Advanced Technology Program and shifted some of the funds to the NOAA/National Weather Service, was defeated by a vote of 68-29.
A third amendment, added just prior to final passage by Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL) expresses the sense of Congress that “the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force should join with its Federal and State partners to provide an appropriate level of financial and technical support to make the
11th International Coral Reef Symposium a successful event.” None of the amendments change the funding levels allocated in the Senate Committee mark. All three were accepted by Unanimous Consent. ( Researched and written by Matthew Borgia of the NOAA Budget Office).