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Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 2446 - Military Construction Appropriations Bill, FY 1993

September 28, 1993

STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY

(SENT 9/29/93)
(Senate Floor)
(Sponsors: Byrd (D), West Virginia; Sasser (D), Tennessee)

This Statement of Administration Policy provides the Administration's views on H.R. 2446, the Military Construction Appropriations Bill, FY 1994, as reported by the Senate Appropriations Committee. Although the Administration generally supports Senate passage of H.R. 2446, the Senate is urged to address the concerns discussed below.

The Administration urges the Senate to delete funding for unrequested projects and to provide funding for the high-priority programs included in the President's request.

The Committee bill would provide $763 million for unrequested projects, including $403 million for the National Guard and Reserve. Most of these projects cannot be executed in FY 1994 because designs have not been initiated and construction could not be started until FY 1995.

The President has requested $240 million for NATO infrastructure and $222 million for other overseas construction projects, for a total request of $462 million. The Committee bill would create a new account for all overseas construction projects, including NATO infrastructure, and would provide a total of $300 million, $162 million less than requested. The reduction to overseas project funding could affect NATO infrastructure agreements and treaty commitments, and could undermine our efforts to increase burden-sharing contributions of our allies. Additionally, key overseas initiatives, such as the relocation of naval forces from Subic Bay to Guam, would be seriously underfunded if required to compete with the NATO infrastructure for limited funds.

The Committee bill would reduce the request for the Military Construction, Defense Agencies account by $569 million. The bulk of this reduction, $499 million, is a result of the Committee's decision to fund hospital construction projects on an incremental basis, rather than providing full financing up-front as requested. The Administration urges the Senate to fund these projects fully to ensure that sufficient funding is available to complete the projects.

A general provision added by the Committee would reduce each account in the bill by four percent, for an overall reduction of $415 million. This provision could have serious effects, especially on family housing operation and maintenance, for which there is no flexibility to reprogram funds between fiscal years to cover must-pay bills, such as utilities. The Senate is urged to delete this provision.

William J. Clinton, Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 2446 - Military Construction Appropriations Bill, FY 1993 Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/330076

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