Order Code RS21456
March 10, 2003
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
FY2004 Budget Documents: Internet Access
and GPO Availability
Justin Murray
Information Research Specialist
Information Research Division
Summary
Every year the President submits to Congress a series of budget volumes which
provides the text of the President’s proposed budget for the coming fiscal year. Neither
CRS nor the Library of Congress can provide giveaway copies of these documents. This
report provides brief descriptions of these budget volumes and related documents,
together with Internet addresses, Government Printing Office (GPO) stock numbers, and
prices to obtain these publications. CRS can also provide information on how to find
locations of government depository libraries, which can provide both printed copies for
reference use and Internet access to the text.
Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2004
The President’s budget for FY2004 consists of a multivolume set of materials, issued
by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). It contains information on new budget
proposals, summary tables, detailed financial information on individual programs and
accounts, economic analysis, historical data, explanations of budget processes, and
supporting documents. Every year the President submits these materials to Congress at
the start of the budget cycle for the next fiscal year.

Related documents include the annual Economic Report of the President issued in
February by the Council of Economic Advisors, and the Budget and Economic Outlook,
an annual publication issued by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which includes
10 years of baseline projections on government finances and economic activity. See
below for details about these publications.
The President’s Budget Documents
Both the OMB and GPO provide Internet access to the main and supporting budget
documents, spreadsheet files, the public budget database, and budget amendments and
supplementals proposed by the President:
Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress

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[http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2004/index.html]
[http://w3.access.gpo.gov/usbudget/]
[http://w3.access.gpo.gov/usbudget/fy2004/maindown.html]
To perform word searches across budget documents online:
[http://w3.access.gpo.gov/usbudget/fy2004/fy2004_srch.html]
Budget of the United States Government, FY2004.
GPO stock number: 041-001-00585-4, $65, 341 p.
Contains information and color photos, charts, and graphs on the President’s new
budget proposals, overviews of government activities by agency and topic (the war on
terrorism, homeland defense, health, international assistance, etc.), discussions of
governing with accountability, congressional earmarks, and budget function tables in each
agency chapter. Summary tables containing projections of budget baselines, receipts, and
outlays from FY2003 to FY2013 appear on pp. 311-332.
Budget of the United States Government, FY2004, Appendix.
GPO stock number: 041-001-00586-2, $67, 1181 p.
Designed primarily for the use of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees,
the Appendix contains more detailed financial information on individual programs and
appropriation accounts than any of the other budget documents. For each agency, it
provides:
! the proposed text of appropriations language;
! budget schedules for each account;
! new legislative proposals;
! explanations of the work to be performed and the funds needed; and
! proposed general provisions applicable to the appropriations of entire
agencies or groups of agencies.
These elements are presented by varying the font and typeface, so that proposed
appropriations and prior year funding can be compared at a glance. The box below
provides an example from the FY2004 Budget Appendix to illustrate this.
“For construction, acquisition, expansion, rehabilitation, and conversion of facilities for the
training and administration of the Air Force Reserve as authorized by chapter 1803 of title 10,
United States Code, and Military Construction Acts, [$67,226,000] $44,312,000, to remain
available until September 30, [2007] 2008.1
Note that numerous programs listed in the FY2004 Appendix volume, except for Department
of Defense and Military Construction programs, had not had regular FY2003 appropriations
enacted at the time the FY2004 budget was prepared; therefore, these accounts operated under
a continuing resolution (P.L. 107-229 as amended). The amounts included for 2003, in the
FY2004 Appendix volume reflect the Administration’s 2003 policy proposals.”2
1 Italic type indicates proposed new language or dollar amounts. Brackets [ ] indicate programs
or dollar amounts proposed for deletion. Standard (roman) typeface shows enacted FY2003
appropriations used as the base for the FY2004 estimates.
2 The President signed P.L. 108-7 into law on Feb. 21, 2003, enacting the remaining 11 FY2003
appropriations bills as approved by Congress.

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Analytical Perspectives, Budget of the United States Government,
FY2004.
GPO stock number: 041-001-00587-1, $59, 740 p.
Includes economic and accounting analyses, information on federal receipts and
collections, analyses of federal spending, detailed information on federal borrowing and
debt, Budget Enforcement Act preview reports, current services estimates, and other
technical presentations. It also includes information on the executive and congressional
budget process. Chapter 10 provides information on state-by-state obligations for 19
major federal formula grant programs to state governments appears on p. 249-286.
Chapter 26 presents detailed budget authority and outlay tables by category and program
from FY2001 to FY2008.
Historical Tables, Budget of the United States Government, FY2004.
GPO stock number: 041-001-00588-9, $41, 306 p.
Provides data by agencies and programs from 1940 (or earlier) to estimates for
FY2008. Data are adjusted to provide consistency with the 2004 budget and to provide
comparability over time. Among the special topics included are Social Security and
Medicare spending, federal payments for individuals, budget surplus or deficit, federal
debt, federal employment, and grants to states and local governments.
Performance Measures and Management Assessments, FY2004.
GPO stock number: 041-001-00590-1, $44, 298 p.
This report contains evaluations and analyses of programs and management of
federal departments and agencies. The report is part of the Administration’s agenda to
reform the management of the government and improve the performance of federal
programs.
Other supporting documents on the FY2004 budget are available from the OMB and
GPO Web sites at [http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2004/index.html] and
[http://w3.access.gpo.gov/usbudget/fy2004/maindown.html]:
! Object Class Analysis
! Balances of Budget Authority
! Federal Credit Supplement
! Budget Amendments and Supplementals
Budget Information for the States (BIS). The OMB will not release a BIS
report this year. Information on state-by-state obligations for the major federal formula
grant programs to state governments appears on in Chapter 10 of the FY2004 Analytical
Perspectives volume (pp. 249-286). The allocations for the coming fiscal year are
estimates based on the proposals in the President’s budget.
Budget of the United States Government CD-ROM, FY2004.
GPO stock number 041-001-00589-7, $20
The CD-ROM contains all of the budget documents and software to support reading,
printing, and searching the documents. The CD-ROM also presents many tables in
spreadsheet form.

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Economic Report of the President
Economic Report of the President, 2003.
GPO stock Number: 040-000-00760-1, $32, 404 p.
The annual Economic Report of the President, transmitted to Congress in February
2003, presents the Administration’s report on its economic policies and contains the
Annual Report of the Council of Economic Advisors. Appendix B of the economic report
includes current and historical statistics on major aspects of U.S. economic activity (pp.
270-404).
The report is available from the GPO Web site at [http://www.access.gpo.gov/eop].
Spreadsheet files from the appendix of the report can be searched and retrieved from the
site at [http://w3.access.gpo.gov/usbudget/fy2004/erp.html]. The report is also available
from the White House Web site at [http://www.whitehouse.gov/cea/pubs.html]
Congressional Budget Office
Budget and Economic Outlook: FY2004-FY2013.
GPO stock Number: 052-070-07359-4, $27, 182 p.
The CBO extends budget projections for 10 years in this report, and provides three
baseline variations of discretionary budget authority—inflated, frozen, and capped—to
show annual budget deficits or surpluses and economic projections covering FY2004-
FY2013. In addition to chapters on the budget and on economic, revenue, and spending
outlooks, this publication also includes a glossary, and historical budget and economic
data. See [http://www.cbo.gov/showdoc.cfm?index=4032&sequence=0].
GPO Ordering Information
Print copies of these government publications are available from the Government
Printing Office, and may be purchased using Discover, MasterCard, or Visa credit cards:
! by telephone, (202) 512-1800,
! by fax, (202) 512-2250,
! online at the GPO [http://bookstore.gpo.gov/index.html], or
! by mail (check or money order), addressed to Superintendent of
Documents, P.O. Box 371954, Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7954
Depository Libraries
These documents are often available for reference use at large public or university
libraries, or at a federal government depository library. Addresses of the closest
depository libraries can often be obtained through a local library or from the office of
Depository Services of the U.S. Government Printing Office, (202) 512-1119. Internet
users may prefer to obtain this information from the GPO Access Web site, which can be
searched by state or area code. It is available at [http://www.gpo.gov/libraries].

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Web Sites for Congressional Users
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) developed two Web sites (for Members
of Congress and their staffs) covering the budget and appropriations process for
congressional offices:
Appropriations Analysis and Votes. For the most current information,
congressional staff can access the Appropriations and Budget Web page, with active links
to CRS appropriations analysis, votes, committee reports, and related legislation for each
of the 13 appropriations bills, [http://www.crs.gov/products/appropriations].
CRS Budget Fact Sheets. Short explanations of budget concepts, terminology,
the congressional and executive budget process, congressional budget timetable, budget
resolutions and reconciliation, the authorization and appropriations process, entitlements
and discretionary spending, the Budget Enforcement Act, sequestration, and
surpluses/deficits are available at [http://www.crs.gov/products/guides/guidehome.shtml].
Web Sites for the Public
Constituents have access to THOMAS, the legislative Web site produced by the
Library of Congress with data from the House and Senate, which contains links to bills,
committee and conference reports, and votes for the 13 appropriations bills.
[http://thomas.loc.gov]

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