Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005

On Friday November 19, 2004 it was announced that the United States government was in danger of running out of money by midnight that night. Eager to adjourn for the year, the House

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

responded by drafting a 3,500 page Consolidated Appropriations Act approving $388 billion in spending in a late night session.

Among the spending cuts made were several of President Bush

George W. Bush

George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

's initiatives. These included funding to AmeriCorp

AmeriCorps

AmeriCorps is a U.S. federal government program that was created under President Bill Clinton by the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993 and later expanded by 50 percent under President George W. Bush...

, and a rejection of his plans to build up the United States nuclear weapons stores. The bill funded a dozen agencies including the Departments of Labor, Agriculture, Treasury, State and Justice. However its most major change was to raise the debt limit of the Federal Government. The bill was passed by the House in an emergency session on Saturday November 20, even though the members were not aware of the specific wording of the bill.

By Monday November 21, the bill reached the Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

where it was revealed by Democratic Senator Kent Conrad

Kent Conrad

Kent Conrad is the senior United States Senator from North Dakota. He is a member of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party, the North Dakota affiliate of the Democratic Party...

that among the many over-looked provisions, the bill gave two committee chairmen, the chairmen of the House or Senate Committee on Appropriations, the ability to access anyone's tax return

Tax return (United States)

Tax returns in the United States are reports filed with the Internal Revenue Service or with the state or local tax collection agency containing information used to calculate income tax or other taxes...

s. In response, Rep. Ernest Istook

Ernest Istook

Ernest James Istook Jr. is a former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Oklahoma's 5th congressional district. He held his congressional seat for 14 years, completing seven terms in the House...

of Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

, who was in charge of this section of the bill, said the provision was intended to "include visiting and inspecting the huge IRS

Internal Revenue Service

The Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...

processing centers but not inspecting tax returns." He also stated adamantly that there is no conspiracy. Opponents claimed this was evidence of a real problem in the legislative system and it must be required that bills must be reviewed in their entirety before they are passed. The Senate refused to send the bill to the president until the tax provision was changed or removed. It was decided that an already existing provision would fund the country until a minimalistic session was held on December 6 when the house would vote to remove the language. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist

Bill Frist

William Harrison "Bill" Frist, Sr. is an American physician, businessman, and politician. He began his career as an heir and major stockholder to the for-profit hospital chain of Hospital Corporation of America. Frist later served two terms as a Republican United States Senator representing...

said "accountability will be carried out" for whoever put the provision in.

Also, buried within the bill was a provision that stated doctors, hospitals, and clinics no longer have to offer abortion

Abortion

Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...

as an alternative to birth control

Birth control

Birth control is an umbrella term for several techniques and methods used to prevent fertilization or to interrupt pregnancy at various stages. Birth control techniques and methods include contraception , contragestion and abortion...

undermining the Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade
Roe v. Wade
Roe v. Wade, , was a controversial landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court on the issue of abortion. The Court decided that a right to privacy under the due process clause in the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution extends to a woman's decision to have an abortion,...

.

By the middle of the following week, November 24, more and more of the actual text of the bill was known. It included such provisions as $335,000 to protect North Dakota

North Dakota

North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....

sunflower

Sunflower

Sunflower is an annual plant native to the Americas. It possesses a large inflorescence . The sunflower got its name from its huge, fiery blooms, whose shape and image is often used to depict the sun. The sunflower has a rough, hairy stem, broad, coarsely toothed, rough leaves and circular heads...

s from blackbird

Icterid

The Icterids are a group of small to medium-sized, often colorful passerine birds restricted to the New World. Most species have black as a predominant plumage color, often enlivened by yellow, orange or red. The family is extremely varied in size, shape, behavior and coloration...

s, $2.3 million for an animal waste management research lab in Bowling Green, Kentucky

Bowling Green, Kentucky

Bowling Green is the third-most populous city in the state of Kentucky after Louisville and Lexington, with a population of 58,067 as of the 2010 Census. It is the county seat of Warren County and the principal city of the Bowling Green, Kentucky Metropolitan Statistical Area with an estimated 2009...

, $50,000 to control wild hogs in Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

, and $443,000 to develop salmon

Salmon

Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...

-fortified baby food, $131 million for abstinence

Abstinence

Abstinence is a voluntary restraint from indulging in bodily activities that are widely experienced as giving pleasure. Most frequently, the term refers to sexual abstinence, or abstention from alcohol or food. The practice can arise from religious prohibitions or practical...

programs in public schools, and most notably $350,000 for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...

to develop music education programs.

Sen. Richard Shelby

Richard Shelby

Richard Craig Shelby is the senior U.S. Senator from Alabama. First elected to the Senate in 1986, he is the ranking member of the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and was its chairman from 2003 to 2007....

a Republican from Alabama

Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

and chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, managed to win several dozen special items for his state, more than anyone else. However many members of Congress, Republicans and Democrats, stepped forward to defend special projects for their states that make up the bulk of the bill. Part of President Bush's platform for re-election was to cut so called "congressional pet projects" and spend the government's money on things that would help the country as a whole. President Bush signed the bill into law on December 6. Public Law No. 108-447

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The following is a short list of items in the bill.

Education:

$59.7 billion, $1.4 billion over 2003 and $300 million below President Bush's request.
Aid to low-income school districts $12.8 billion, $500 million below Bush but $500 million more than 2003.
Grants for improving teacher quality $1.5 billion, 0.7% over the previous year.
Aid for disabled students $11.8 billion, 5.4% over 2003.

Transportation:

Overall $59 billion, $1.1 billion over 2003 and $1 billion more than Bush requested.
Highway construction gets $34.7 billion, $1 billion over 2003 and over Bush's proposal.
Federal Aviation Administration gets $10.4 billion, $100 million over 2003.
Amtrak gets $1.2 billion, the same as 2003.

Foreign aid:

$19.5 billion, $2 billion over 2003 and $1.8 billion below Bush's request.
Total $2.9 billion for fighting AIDS in poor countries, $100 million more than Bush wanted.

State Department:

$8.3 billion, a $554 million cut from 2003.
Embassy security would grow by 17% to $612 million.

Land and cultural programs:

The Interior Department would get $9.9 billion, nearly $100 million less than Bush wanted and 0.4% more than 2003.
National parks operating money goes up 6%, but money for buying park lands remains nearly two-thirds below the peak of three years ago.

Health and social programs:

Maternal and child health gets $896 million, 0.7% over 2003.
AIDS programs get almost $2.1 billion, 1.2% over the previous year.
National Institutes of Health get $28.5 billion, 3.1% over last year, one of its smallest increases in years.
Energy assistance for low income families $2.2 billion, 4% over 2003.

Veterans:

Veterans' health care programs will get $30.3 billion, $1.9 billion over last year and $1.2 billion more than Bush wanted.

Housing, urban affairs:

$37.3 billion, 1.6% below last year and 1.4% over Bush's request.

Justice Department
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...

:

$20.9 billion, $1 billion over last year. FBI gets $5.2 billion, almost a 14% increase over last year.
Aid to state and local law enforcement agencies is $1.3 billion, $90 million below 2003.

United States Environmental Protection Agency
United States Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...

:

$8.1 billion, 3.3 percent below last year but 3.8% over Bush's request.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration:

$16.2 billion, or 5.3% over last year.

Postal Service
Mail
Mail, or post, is a system for transporting letters and other tangible objects: written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post.In principle, a postal service...

:

Bill includes $507 million for equipment to detect biohazards and to build a postal facility in Washington, D.C., to irradiate mail to destroy possible biological contamination.

Congress:

$3.6 billion, $43 million over last year.
Capitol Police get $232 million, $13 million over last year.
No funds provided for continuing construction of Capitol Visitors' Center, which is running well under budget and has money left over from previous years.

See also