Consolidated Appropriations Act for FY2008: Brief Overview

Consolidated Appropriations Act for FY2008: Brief Overview

Order Code RL34298
Consolidated Appropriations Act
for FY2008: Brief Overview
Updated April 21, 2008
Robert Keith
Specialist in American National Government
Government and Finance Division

Consolidated Appropriations Act
for FY2008: Brief Overview
Summary
The Consolidated Appropriations Act for FY2008 (P.L. 110-161) was the
measure used to wrap up action on the regular appropriations acts in late 2007. The
measure, H.R. 2764, originated as the State-Foreign Operations Appropriations Act
for FY2008, passing the House in June and the Senate in September 2007.
In December 2007, as the first session of the 110th Congress drew to a close,
action on only one of the 12 regular appropriations acts for FY2008 had been
completed. The Defense Appropriations Act for FY2008 was signed into law by
President Bush on November 13, as P.L. 110-116. The act provided FY2008 funding
for regular activities of the Defense Department, but largely left funding for activities
pertaining to military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq for subsequent consideration
in other legislation.
In deciding to use H.R. 2764 as the vehicle for omnibus appropriations for
FY2008 covering the remaining 11 regular appropriations acts, as well as emergency
funding for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, congressional leaders also
decided to avoid conference procedures that often are used to bring the House and
Senate into final agreement on a measure. Instead, congressional leaders decided to
reach final agreement by means of an exchange of amendments between the two
chambers. On December 17, the House began final action on the measure by
agreeing to two amendments to the Senate amendment to the House-passed bill. The
Senate concurred the next day, December 18, in one House amendment (providing
omnibus appropriations for the 11 regular appropriations bills), and amended the
second House amendment with the McConnell Amendment (adding Iraq war
funding). The following day, on December 19, the House concurred in the
McConnell Amendment, thus clearing the measure for the President. President
George W. Bush signed the bill into law on December 26.
The Consolidated Appropriations Act for FY2008 provides $473.5 billion in
funding for 11 of the 12 regular appropriations acts for the fiscal year, as well as $70
billion in emergency spending for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, $3.7
billion in emergency spending for veterans’ health care, and $7.5 billion for other
emergency spending. In total, the act provides $554.7 billion in discretionary budget
authority for FY2008. Total discretionary budget authority, when combined with the
spending provided in the Defense Appropriations Act for FY2008, amounts to
$932.847 billion, a level just at the limit requested by President Bush.
One of the features used to constrain total spending provided in the
Consolidated Appropriations Act for FY2008 was across-the-board spending cuts.
The cuts were not government wide, as had been the case with some omnibus
appropriations acts in earlier years, but instead applied to six of the divisions of the
act, ranging in size from 0.25% (Legislative Branch) to 1.747% (Labor-HHS-
Education). The Office of Management and Budget estimated total savings from the
cuts (excluding cuts affecting the Legislative Branch) at $3.357 billion in
discretionary budget authority. This report will not be updated.

Contents
The Context for Legislative Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Legislative History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Structure and Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Across-the-Board Spending Cuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Appendix A. Final Text of the Consolidated Appropriations Act for FY2008:
Page References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
List of Tables
Table 1. Summary of Discretionary Budget Authority for FY2008 . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Table 2. Consolidated Appropriations Act for FY2008:
Across-the-Board Cuts in Discretionary Budget Authority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Consolidated Appropriations Act
for FY2008: Brief Overview
The Consolidated Appropriations Act for FY2008 (P.L. 110-161; December 26,
2007; 121 Stat. 1844-2456) was the measure used by Congress and the President to
wrap up action on the regular appropriations acts in late 2007, at the end of the first
session of the 110th Congress. This report provides a brief overview of the measure,
including a discussion of the context for legislative action, the legislative history of
the bill, a summary of its structure and content, and information on the use of across-
the-board spending cuts to offset part of its cost.
The Context for Legislative Action
Each year, Congress and the President enact discretionary spending in the form
of regular appropriations acts, as well as continuing and supplemental appropriations
acts.1 Discretionary spending, which accounts for more than one-third of total federal
spending, is spending that is under the control of the House and Senate
Appropriations Committees. For the most part, discretionary spending funds the
routine operations of the federal government. It is distinguished from direct
spending, which is controlled by the legislative committees in substantive law and
funds such mandatory programs as Social Security and Medicare. Discretionary
spending and direct spending together make up total federal spending.
The number of regular appropriations acts had been fixed at 13 for several
decades.2 A realignment of the House and Senate Appropriations subcommittees at
the beginning of the 109th Congress reduced the number of regular appropriations
acts considered each year to 11, and further subcommittee realignment at the
beginning of the 110th Congress increased the number to 12.3
In the late 1970s and continuing into the 1980s, continuing appropriations acts
sometimes took the form of omnibus legislation, often incorporating the full text of
multiple regular appropriations acts for full-year funding instead of providing short-
1 For background on the appropriations process, see CRS Report 97-684, The Congressional
Appropriations Process: An Introduction, by Sandy Streeter.
2 For information on changes in the number of regular appropriations acts over the years, see
CRS Report RL31572, Appropriations Subcommittee Structure: History of Changes from
1920-2007, by James V. Saturno.
3 In the 109th Congress, the Senate Appropriations Committee reported a twelfth regular
appropriations act, for the District of Columbia, but in final legislative action it was
incorporated into another bill.

CRS-2
term funding by formula.4 In recent years, the House and Senate on several occasions
have combined multiple regular appropriations acts into omnibus or “consolidated”
appropriations measures to bring action on appropriations measures to a close at the
end of a session.5
The House and Senate consider annual appropriations acts, and other budgetary
legislation, within constraints established in a yearly budget resolution required by
the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as amended. Budget resolution policies are
enforced by points of order that may be raised during House and Senate consideration
of spending, revenue, and debt-limit legislation.6 On occasion, budget policies may
be modified by agreements reached between congressional leaders and the President;
such modifications may be accommodated during legislative action through the use
of waivers of points of order, emergency spending designations, and other budgetary
or procedural devices.
In his budget submission for FY2008, President George W. Bush requested total
discretionary budget authority for the fiscal year of $929.8 billion (as well another
$145.2 billion in discretionary budget authority for emergency funding for the
“Global War on Terror”).7 The President’s request, excluding emergency spending,
was reestimated by the Congressional Budget Office at $932.8 billion in budget
authority.8
A conference report on the budget resolution for FY2008, S.Con.Res. 21, was
filed on May 16, 2007 (H.Rept. 110-153). The two chambers reached agreement on
the budget resolution the next day, by a vote of 214-209 in the House and 52-40 in
the Senate. Under the plan, Congress proposed total discretionary budget authority
for FY2008 of $954.7 billion (excluding $145.2 billion for Function 970, Overseas
Deployments and Other Activities), an amount more than $20 billion greater than the
President’s request.9
4 For more information on practices relating to the use of continuing appropriations acts, see
CRS Report RL32614, Duration of Continuing Resolutions in Recent Years, by Robert
Keith.
5 For more information on this topic, see CRS Report RL32473, Omnibus Appropriations
Acts: Overview of Recent Practices, by Robert Keith.
6 For a general discussion of budget enforcement procedures, see CRS Report 98-721,
Introduction to the Federal Budget Process, by Robert Keith.
7 Office of Management and Budget, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year
2008, February 2007, Summary Table S-2, p. 152.
8 Congressional Budget Office, An Analysis of the President’s Budgetary Proposals for
Fiscal Year 2008, March 2007, Table 1-6, pp. 20-21.
9 H.Rept. 110-153, Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2008 (to
accompany S.Con.Res. 21), May 16, 2007, table on pp. 51-52. In the table, total
discretionary budget authority for FY2008 ($1,099.862 billion), minus budget authority for
Function 970 ($145.162 billion), yields budget authority of $954.700 billion.
For a discussion of the complexities involved in comparing the President’s request for
(continued...)

CRS-3
From time to time during the 2007 session, the President reiterated his request
to Congress that discretionary budget authority for FY2008 (excluding emergency
spending) not exceed $933 billion. To buttress his position on this issue, the
President threatened, in several Statements of Administration Policy (SAP), to veto
regular appropriations measures that would have provided spending above this
level.10
In December 2007, as the first session of the 110th Congress drew to a close,
action on only one of the 12 regular appropriations acts for FY2008 had been
completed. The Defense Appropriations Act for FY2008, H.R. 3222, was signed into
law by President Bush on November 13, as P.L. 110-116 (121 Stat. 1295-1344).11
The act provided FY2008 funding for regular activities of the Defense Department,
but largely left funding for activities pertaining to military operations in Afghanistan
and Iraq for subsequent consideration in other legislation.12
Another regular appropriations act, the Labor-Health and Human Services-
Education Appropriations Act for FY2008, H.R. 3043, had passed both chambers and
been sent to President Bush, but he vetoed the measure on November 13. On
November 15, the House narrowly failed to override the veto, by a vote of 277-141
(lacking the necessary two-thirds margin). In earlier action on the measure, an effort
by the House to incorporate the Military Construction-Veterans Affairs
Appropriations Act for FY2008 (H.R. 2642) into H.R. 3043, as a separate division,
was rejected by the Senate.13
With regard to the remaining 10 regular appropriations acts, all of them had
been passed by the House and five had been passed by the Senate (Commerce-
Justice-Science; Homeland Security; Military Construction-Veterans Affairs; State-
Foreign Operations; and Transportation-HUD), but by mid-October no further action
occurred on them as separate, free-standing measures.
9 (...continued)
discretionary budget authority for FY2008 to the amount recommended in the FY2008
budget resolution, see “Jeopardy-Style Budget Quiz: 2008 Appropriations” in the Budget
Bulletin, No. 7 (110th Cong., 1st Sess.), November 15, 2007, prepared by the Republican staff
o f t h e S e n a t e B u d g e t C o m m i t t e e a n d a v a i l a b l e a t
[http://www.senate.gov/~budget/republican/analysis/2007/bb07-2007.pdf].
10 See, for example, the SAP of June 25, 2007 on H.R. 2643, the Interior-Environment
Appropriations Act for FY2008.
11 Detailed information regarding congressional action on annual appropriations acts for
FY2008 (and prior fiscal years) is provided in the “Appropriations Status Table,” available
on the CRS website at [http://www.crs.gov/products/appropriations/appover.shtml].
12 For additional information on defense funding for FY2008, see CRS Report RL33999,
Defense: FY2008 Authorizations and Appropriations, by Pat Towell, Stephen Daggett, and
Amy Belasco.
13 See Division B, pp. 59-82 (legislative text) and pp. 434-520 (joint explanatory statement),
in the conference report on H.R. 3043 (H.Rept. 110-424, November 5, 2007).

CRS-4
Following the failure on November 15 to override the President’s veto of the
Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Act for FY2008, Democratic leaders in
Congress signaled their intent to consider an omnibus appropriations act in December
that would “split the difference” with regard to $22 billion in additional spending to
which President Bush objected.14 On December 8, Office of Management and
Budget Director Jim Nussle issued a statement indicating that the President would
veto the omnibus appropriations act being developed, in part because “according to
press reports it would include 18 billion in additional domestic and emergency
spending above the President’s budget.”15 In response to the veto threat, the
Democratic leaders abandoned their “split the difference” plan and developed an
omnibus appropriations act that adhered to the President’s limit of $933 billion, with
limited additional emergency funding.16
Legislative History
The Consolidated Appropriations Act for FY2008, H.R. 2764, originated as the
State-Foreign Operations Appropriations Act for FY2008 (H.Rept. 110-197, June 12,
2007, and S.Rept. 110-128, June 28). It passed the House on June 22, 2007 by a
vote of 241-178, and passed the Senate on September 6, by a vote of 81-12.
In deciding to use H.R. 2764 as the vehicle for omnibus appropriations for
FY2008 covering the remaining 11 regular appropriations acts, as well as emergency
funding for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, congressional leaders also
decided to avoid conference procedures that often are used to bring the House and
Senate into final agreement on a measure. Instead, congressional leaders decided to
reach final agreement by means of an exchange of amendments between the two
chambers.
The resolution of differences between the chambers focused on H.R. 2764, as
passed by the House, and a single Senate amendment to the bill in the form of a
complete substitute thereto. Under the first step, the House on December 17
considered and adopted two different amendments to the Senate amendment under
the terms of H.Res. 878, a special rule reported by the House Rules Committee.17
The first House amendment provided appropriations for each of the remaining 11
14 See, for example, BNA Daily Report for Executives, “Reid Says Democrats to Bundle
Bills, Offer to ‘Split Difference’ With President,” by Nancy Ognanovich and Jonathan
Nicholson, November 16, 2007, p. A-41.
15 Office of Management and Budget, Statement By White House Office of Management and
Budget Director Jim Nussle (press release), December 8, 2007, available on the OMB
website at [http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/pubpress/2007/120807_spending.html].
16 CQ Weekly Report, “Democrats Relent on Spending,” by David Clark and Liriel Higa,
December 17, 2007, p. 3718.
17 The House Rules Committee reported H.Res. 878 on December 17, 2007 (H.Rept. 110-
497). The legislative text of the two House amendments made in order under H.Res. 878
was set forth in the report (see Appendix A of this report). The House agreed to H.Res. 878
on December 17 by a vote of 214-189.

CRS-5
regular appropriations acts for FY2008, as Divisions A-K, with each division
corresponding to a regular appropriations act. It was agreed to by a vote of 253-154.
The second House amendment provided $31 billion in emergency funding for
military operations in Afghanistan, but no emergency funding for military operations
in Iraq. It was agreed to by a vote of 206-201. The legislative strategy anticipated
that the Iraq funding would be added to the measure by amendment in the Senate.
The next day, on December 18, the Senate considered the two House
amendments. In an initial step, the Senate attempted to invoke cloture on a motion
to concur in the House amendments, but the motion failed by a vote of 44-51.
The Senate next considered the second House amendment and agreed to a
Senate amendment thereto (3874), offered by Senate Republican Leader Mitch
McConnell, by a vote of 70-25. The McConnell amendment added funding for
military operations in Iraq to Division L of the act, increasing total spending for that
division to $70 billion. Two amendments to the McConnell amendment, offered by
Senator Russell Feingold (3875) and Senator Carl Levin (3876) and dealing with
military operations in Iraq, were rejected by votes of 24-71 and 50-45, respectively.
The two amendments subsequently were withdrawn because they failed to achieve
60 votes in the affirmative, as required by a unanimous consent agreement entered
into earlier that day.
Finally, the Senate considered a motion to concur in the first House amendment
(providing omnibus appropriations for the 11 regular appropriations acts). Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid offered an amendment (3877) to the House amendment
providing for a one-year “patch” in the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) with
offsets, as required by the “pay-as-you-go” (PAYGO) rules in the House and Senate.
The Reid amendment was rejected by a vote of 48-46 and was withdrawn, pursuant
to the aforementioned unanimous consent agreement that required 60 votes in the
affirmative.18 Following the disposition of the Reid amendment, the Senate agreed
to the motion to concur in the first House amendment, by a vote of 76-17.
On December 19, the House completed action on H.R. 2764 by agreeing to the
McConnell amendment (on Iraq war funding) to the second House amendment, by
a vote of 272-142. The House action occurred pursuant to the terms of H.Res. 893,
a special rule reported by the House Rules Committee (H.Rept. 110-498; December
19, 2007). Before taking its final action, the House returned H.R. 2764 to the Senate
briefly so that a clerical error could be corrected.
The special rule, H.Res. 893, also provided for the consideration of H.J.Res. 72,
the fourth continuing resolution for FY2008. The measure extended continuing
appropriations from December 21 through December 31 and was intended to allow
adequate time for the final processing of the Consolidated Appropriations Act for
18 The House and Senate passed a one-year AMT patch without offsets (H.R. 3996), the Tax
Increase Prevention Act of 2007, which President Bush signed into law on December 26,
2007 (P.L. 110-166; 121 Stat. 2461).

CRS-6
FY2008. The House and Senate passed H.J.Res. 72 on December 19, and President
Bush signed it into law on December 21, as P.L. 110-149 (121 Stat. 1819).
President Bush signed H.R. 2764 into law on December 26, 2007 (P.L. 110-161;
121 Stat. 1844-2456). The President issued a statement upon signing the bill,
indicating his concern with some of its features, including the inclusion of “nearly
9,800 earmarks that total more than $10 billion,” according to his estimates, and
unspecified provisions “similar to those found in prior appropriations bills passed by
the Congress that might be construed to be inconsistent with my Constitutional
responsibilities.”19
Structure and Content
The Consolidated Appropriations Act for FY2008 provides $473.5 billion in
funding for 11 of the 12 regular appropriations acts for the fiscal year, as well as $70
billion in emergency spending for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, $3.7
billion in emergency spending for veterans’ health care, and $7.5 billion for other
emergency spending. In total, the act provides $554.7 billion in discretionary budget
authority for FY2008.20 Total discretionary budget authority, when combined with
the spending provided in the Defense Appropriations Act for FY2008 (P.L. 110-116),
amounts to $932.767 billion, an amount just at the limit requested by President Bush
(see Table 1).21
Representative David Obey, the chairman of the House Appropriations
Committee, inserted explanatory materials into the Congressional Record of
December 17 (see Books II and III) providing detailed tables on the discretionary
spending provided in the measure.22
19 “Statement on Signing the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008” (December 26, 2007),
Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, vol. 43, no. 52, p. 1638.
20 For summary statements on the measure provided by the chairmen of the House and
Senate Appropriations Committee, see (1) House Appropriations Committee, press release,
“FY2008 Appropriations Bill” (December 16, 2007), available at
[http://appropriations.house.gov/pdf/FY08OmnibusSummary.pdf]; and (2) Senate
Appropriations Committee, press release, “Byrd Opening Statement on the Consolidated
Appropriations Act of 2008” (December 18, 2007), available at
[http://appropriations.senate.gov/]. See also BNA Daily Report for Executives, “House
Passes FY2008 Omnibus Bill, Bringing Lengthy Spending Battle to End,” by Jonathan
Nicholson, December 20, 2007, p. A-46.
21 Congressional Budget Office, “Status of Discretionary Appropriations,” tables on pp. 3
a n d 4 ( a s o f J a n u a r y 2 8 , 2 0 0 8 ) , a v a i l a b l e a t
[http://www.cbo.gov/budget/approps/approps.pdf].
22 See the Congressional Record (daily ed.), December 17, 2007, Book II, pp. H15741-
H16379, and Book III, pp. H16381-H16644. The materials in Book II cover Divisions A-H
of the act, and the materials in Book III cover Divisions I-K of the act, as well as Division
L as proposed by the House (which ultimately was superseded by the McConnell
amendment). The authority for the submission of the explanatory material was provided by
Section 3 of H.Res. 869, a special rule providing for the consideration of H.J.Res. 69, a
(continued...)

CRS-7
Table 1. Summary of Discretionary Budget Authority for FY2008
(amounts in $ billions)
House/Senate Appropriations
Non-
Subcommittees
Emergency
Emergency
Total
Agriculture-Rural Development-FDA
18.093
1.490
19.583
Commerce-Justice-Science
51.803
0.286
52.089
Defense
459.332
86.830
546.162
Energy and Water Development
30.888
0
30.888
Financial Services-General Government
20.599
0.250
20.849
Homeland Security
34.852
5.610
40.462
Interior-Environment
26.555
0.800
27.335
Labor-HHS-Education
144.841
0.444
145.285
Legislative Branch
3.970
0
3.970
Military Construction-Veterans Affairs
60.213
3.692
63.905
State-Foreign Operations
32.800
2.385
35.185
Transportation-HUD
48.821
3.173
52.074
Total
932.767
104.960
1,037.727
Source: Congressional Budget Office, “Status of Discretionary Appropriations,” tables on
p p . 3 a n d 4 ( a s o f J a n u a r y 2 8 , 2 0 0 8 ) , a v a i l a b l e a t
[http://www.cbo.gov/budget/approps/approps.pdf].
Note: The discretionary budget authority provided in the table stems from the Consolidated
Appropriations Act for FY2008 (P.L. 110-161) and the Defense Appropriations Act for FY2008
(P.L. 110-116). Both laws provided spending attributed to the Defense Subcommittee.
The act is organized into 11 divisions, A through K, with each of the divisions
corresponding to one of the unfinished regular appropriations acts, and a twelfth
division, Division L, pertaining to funding for military activities in Iraq and
Afghanistan. An abbreviated listing of the contents of H.R. 2764 is provided in
Appendix A. Citations are given to the pages of P.L. 110-161 in slip law form.
In January 2008, the House Appropriations Committee issued a committee print,
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008, which provides the legislative text and
accompanying explanatory material grouped together by division.23 The print was
22 (...continued)
further continuing resolution. Section 3 stated: “The chairman of the Committee on
Appropriations shall insert in the Congressional Record at any time during the remainder
of the first session of the 110th Congress such material as he may deem explanatory of
appropriations measures for the fiscal year 2008.”
23 The committee print is available on the GPO Access website at
(continued...)

CRS-8
issued in two parts; Book 1 covers Divisions A-F and Book 2 covers Divisions G-L. The
print corrects some of the material previously inserted into the Congressional Record.
Appendix A also provides page references to the printed copy of the committee print.
Across-the-Board Spending Cuts
One of the features used to constrain total spending provided in the
Consolidated Appropriations Act for FY2008 was across-the-board spending cuts.
Such devices, applied on a government-wide scale, had been used in omnibus
appropriations acts in recent years, ranging in size from 0.22% to 1.00% spending
cuts.24 Unlike their earlier use, across-the-board spending cuts in the Consolidated
Appropriations Act for FY2008 were not government wide, but instead were
included in some divisions but not others.
Table 2 shows that across-the-board spending cuts were included in six
divisions of the act, ranging in size from 0.25% (Legislative Branch) to 1.747%
(Labor-HHS-Education). The spending cuts generally are required to be made
proportionately, as applied to accounts and programs, projects, and activities within
accounts. Emergency spending generally and certain specified items are exempted
from the spending cuts. Discretionary spending for the Federal Pell Grants program,
for example, is exempted from the 1.747% cut applicable to programs funded in the
Labor-HHS-Education division of the act. Finally, two different percentage cuts are
provided in the Energy-Water Development division of the act — a 1.6% cut from
discretionary accounts that contain congressionally directed projects, and a 0.91% cut
from other discretionary accounts.
In the case of five of the six across-the-board spending cuts, the director of the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) was instructed to submit reports to the
House and Senate Appropriations Committees, within 30 days of the enactment of
the act, regarding the application of the cuts at the account level.25 There was no
reporting requirement with respect to the spending cut for Division H, pertaining to
Legislative Branch appropriations. The OMB director submitted the required reports
to the Appropriations Committees in a single document on January 25, 2008.26
According to the reports, the across-the-board spending cuts (excluding the
Legislative Branch) ranged in size from $89.3 million (Division A) to $2.3 billion
(Division G); total savings for FY2008 for all divisions amounted to $3.357 billion.
23 (...continued)
[http://www.gpoaccess.gov/congress/house/appropriations/08conappro.html]
24 CRS Report RL32153, Across-the-Board Spending Cuts in End-of-Session Appropriations
Acts, by Robert Keith.
25 The Secretary of the Department of Energy was instructed to report on the spending cuts
under Division C, but the required report was made by the OMB director.
26 The OMB director’s submission, Reductions Required in Division A, C, F, G, and J of
the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008, January 25, 2008, 35 pages (letter to The
Honorable Robert C. Byrd, Chairman, Committee on Appropriations, United States Senate),
i s a v a i l a b l e o n t h e O M B w e b s i t e a t
[http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/legislative/fy08consolidated_reductions_01_25_08.pdf].

CRS-9
Table 2. Consolidated Appropriations Act for FY2008:
Across-the-Board Cuts in Discretionary Budget Authority
Division
Act
Section
Percentag
Amount
Coverage
e Cut(s)
($ millions)
A
Agriculture-Rural Development-FDA
752
0.7%
89.341
Cuts from discretionary accounts, except for
(121 Stat. 1884)
$6.020 billion for Women, Infants, and Children
program; $930.120 million for Food Safety and
Inspection Service; and emergency spending.
B
Commerce-Justice-Science
—
—
—
—
C
Energy and Water Development
312
1.6%
7.916
Cuts from Department of Energy: (1) 1.6% from
(121 Stat. 1968-1969)
and
and
discretionary accounts that contain
0.91%
223.517
congressionally directed projects; and (2) 0.91%
from other discretionary accounts.
D
Financial Services-General Government
—
—
—
—
E
Homeland Security
—
—
—
—
F
Interior-Environment
437
1.56%
422.178
Cuts from discretionary accounts, with special
(121 Stat. 2153-2154)
procedures for cuts to the Indian Land and Water
Claims Settlement Account.

CRS-10
Division
Act
Section
Percentag
Amount
e Cut(s)
($ millions)
Coverage
G
Labor-HHS-Education
528
1.747%
2,343.532
Cuts from discretionary accounts, and advance
(121 Stat. 2212-2213)
appropriations for FY2008 provided in prior
appropriations acts, except for discretionary
spending for the Federal Pell Grants program and
emergency spending.
H
Legislative Branch
210
0.25%
n/a
Cuts from discretionary accounts, except for an
(121 Stat. 2252-2253)
appropriation for utility tunnel repairs and
asbestos abatement activities.
I
Military Construction-Veterans Affairs
—
—
—
—
J
State-Foreign Operations
699P
0.81%
270.406
Cuts from discretionary accounts, except for
(121 Stat. 2375)
emergency spending.
K
Transportation-HUD
—
—
—
—
Source: Prepared by the Congressional Research Service.
Note: See Appendix A of this report for page references to the various Divisions of the act. Amounts of discretionary budget authority cut are taken from the report
of the Office of Management and Budget, submitted to the Appropriations Committees on January 25, 2008; the report is available on the OMB website at
[http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/legislative/fy08consolidated_reductions_01_25_08.pdf]. “N/a” means not available.

CRS-11
Appendix A. Final Text of the Consolidated Appropriations Act for FY2008: Page References
House Appropriations
Committee Print
Section/
Content
Public Law 110-161
(January 2008)
Division
(121 Stat. 1844-2456)
Legislative
Explanatory
Text
Statement
Sec. 1
Short Title
121 Stat. 1844
3
8
Sec. 2
Table of Contents
121 Stat. 1844
3
—
Sec. 3
References
121 Stat. 1845
4
8
Sec. 4
Explanatory Statement
121 Stat. 1846
5
—
Sec. 5
Emergency Designations
121 Stat. 1846
5
8
Sec. 6
Statement of Appropriations
121 Stat. 1846
5
—
Division A
Agriculture-Rural Development-Food and Drug Administration
121 Stat. 1846
14
55
Division B
Commerce-Justice-Science
121 Stat. 1884
170
225
Division C
Energy and Water Development
121 Stat. 1937
458
495
Division D
Financial Services-General Government
121 Stat. 1972
798
871
Division E
Homeland Security
121 Stat. 2042
960
1016
Division F
Interior-Environment
121 Stat. 2097
1166
1225

CRS-12
House Appropriations
Committee Print
Section/
Content
Public Law 110-161
(January 2008)
Division
(121 Stat. 1844-2456)
Legislative
Explanatory
Text
Statement
Division G
Labor-Health and Human Services-Education
121 Stat. 2155
1396
1461
Division H
Legislative Branch
121 Stat. 2218
1846
1883
Division I
Military Construction-Veterans Affairs
121 Stat. 2253
1914
1939
Division J
State-Foreign Operations
121 Stat. 2277
2044
2146
Division K
Transportation-HUD
121 Stat. 2375
2236
2311
Division L
Supplemental Appropriations for Operation Enduring Freedom and For
121 Stat. 2446
2619
2631
Other Purposes
Source: Prepared by the Congressional Research Service.
Notes: The legislative text of the Consolidated Appropriations Act for FY2008 (P.L. 110-161), for Sections 1-6 and Divisions A-K (and accompanying explanatory
statement), was inserted into the Congressional Record of December 17, 2007. The legislative text for Division L initially proposed by the House was amended by
the Senate (and the House agreed to the Senate amendment); the final legislative text (and accompanying explanatory statement) for Division L was inserted into the
Congressional Record of December 18. The legislative text of Divisions A-K, and the initial House text for Division L, also was provided in the report of the House
Rules Committee accompanying the special rule, H.Res. 878 (H.Rept. 110-497; December 17, 2007); the report did not provide any of the explanatory material.
In January 2008, the House Appropriations Committee issued a committee print, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008, which provides the legislative text and
accompanying explanatory material grouped together by division. The committee print is available on the GPO Access website at [http://www.gpoaccess.gov/
congress/house/appropriations/08conappro.html]. The print was issued in two parts; Book 1 covers Divisions A-F and Book 2 covers Divisions G-L. The print corrects
some of the material previously inserted into the Congressional Record.