Common Sense Budget Act of 2006 - Requires certain reductions in amounts appropriated for FY2007 for specified Department of Defense (DOD) and Department of Energy (DOE) programs. Makes amounts from such reductions available for: (1) modernization of school facilities; (2) state child health plans; (3) adult and dislocated worker employment and training activities; (4) programs to increase energy efficiency and conservation and increase investment in sustainable and renewable energy alternatives; (5) sustainable development and humanitarian assistance programs to alleviate global poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, disease, and disaster; (6) homeland security safeguard improvements; (7) reduction of the deficit; and (8) medical research.
[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4898 Introduced in House (IH)]
109th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4898
To reallocate funds toward sensible priorities such as improved
children's education, increased children's access to health care,
expanded job training, and increased energy efficiency and conservation
through a reduction of wasteful defense spending, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 8, 2006
Ms. Woolsey (for herself, Ms. Lee, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Kucinich, Mr.
Davis of Illinois, Mr. Nadler, Mr. McDermott, Mr. Owens, Mr. McGovern,
Mr. Clay, Mr. Conyers, Mr. Honda, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mr. Stark,
Ms. Schakowsky, and Ms. McKinney) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the
Committees on Energy and Commerce, Education and the Workforce,
Homeland Security, and International Relations, for a period to be
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To reallocate funds toward sensible priorities such as improved
children's education, increased children's access to health care,
expanded job training, and increased energy efficiency and conservation
through a reduction of wasteful defense spending, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Common Sense Budget Act of 2006''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The Department of Defense's increasingly large budget
provides for total defense spending that is greater than that
of the other 192 countries in the world combined, yet--
(A) the United States now ranks 25th in the world
in infant mortality, behind most of the nations of
Western Europe and the industrialized Far East, while
$60,000,000,000 of the United States defense budget is
expended annually on weapons designed to thwart Soviet
Union aggression during the Cold War and other wasteful
programs;
(B) Federal spending on elementary and secondary
education has fallen to less than 10 percent of the
proposed 2007 outlays for the Department of Defense,
while schools throughout the Nation are eliminating
programs in music, foreign language, and physical
education;
(C) 61,000,000 individuals in the United States
lack health insurance during some period of any given
year, and half that number of individuals (over
10,000,000 of whom are children) lack such insurance
for the entire year;
(D) the Government Accountability Office estimates
that--
(i) \1/3\ of the Nation's public schools,
serving 14,000,000 children, need extensive
repair or need to have their entire physical
plants replaced;
(ii) 85 percent of the Nation's public
schools, 73,000 facilities serving 40,000,000
children, need some repair work; and
(iii) the total cost for the repairs and
replacement described in this subparagraph is
over $120,000,000,000;
(E) research conducted by the National Center for
Education Statistics shows that middle school students
in the United States rank 18th in science test scores
and 19th in math test scores internationally, behind
students in such countries as the Republic of Korea,
the Slovak Republic, Singapore, the Russian Federation,
and Malaysia; and
(F) the Government Accountability Office estimated
in 2003 that the Department of Defense could not
account for over $1,000,000,000,000 in funds
appropriated to the Department of Defense.
(2) The United States spends over $20,000,000,000 annually
to maintain its nuclear arsenal, although many of the weapons
in that arsenal no longer have practical utility. The United
States needs to eliminate spending on obsolete weapons systems
and use the funds saved to meet urgent domestic needs for
health care, education, job training, and increased energy
efficiency and conservation.
(3) The Department of Defense is spending billions of
dollars developing space weapons and preparing plans to deploy
them, although--
(A) those expenditures and plans contravene White
House policy, in place for a decade, that emphasizes
arms control and nonproliferation pacts; and
(B) the development of those weapons is opposed by
many United States allies, who have rightly stated that
a shift in policy towards that development will create
an arms race in space.
(4) The United States needs to reduce its dependence on
foreign oil by promoting long-term energy security through
greater investment in sustainable and renewable energy
alternatives.
(5) The United States is facing unprecedented challenges to
national security and broader national interests. Sustainable
development and humanitarian assistance programs should be a
central part of United States foreign policy. To address the
root causes of instability and terrorism and undercut the
ability of terrorist organizations to recruit effectively, the
United States needs to address the global challenges of
poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, disease, and disaster by
increasing funding for sustainable development and humanitarian
assistance programs.
SEC. 3. REDUCTIONS IN AMOUNTS AVAILABLE FOR CERTAIN DEFENSE AND ENERGY
PROGRAMS.
(a) Reductions in Amounts Available for Programs.--
(1) Department of defense programs.--
(A) In general.--Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, of the amounts appropriated or
otherwise available for fiscal year 2007 for each
program or account of the Department of Defense
specified in subparagraph (B)--
(i) the amount available in such fiscal
year for such program or account shall be
reduced by the amount specified with respect to
such program or account in that subparagraph;
and
(ii) an amount equal to the aggregate
amount of all such reductions under clause (i)
shall be available instead for the purposes set
forth in subsection (b).
(B) Specified programs and accounts and amounts.--
The programs and accounts, and amounts with respect to
such programs and accounts, specified in this
subparagraph are as follows:
(i) The F-22 fighter aircraft program,
$2,800,000,000.
(ii) The F-35 Joint Strike fighter aircraft
program, $3,300,000,000.
(iii) The C-130J aircraft program,
$1,600,000,000.
(iv) The V-22 Osprey aircraft program,
$2,100,000,000.
(v) The Virginia class submarine program,
$2,300,000,000.
(vi) The next generation destroyer (DD(X))
program, $3,400,000,000.
(vii) The Ballistic Missile Defense
program, $8,300,000,000.
(viii) Cross-service accounts for research,
development, test, and evaluation,
$5,000,000,000.
(ix) Accounts providing funds for personnel
and other costs associated with drawdowns and
other reductions in the Armed Forces,
$5,000,000,000.
(x) Space weapons programs, $5,000,000,000.
(xi) The Future Combat System,
$2,700,000,000.
(xii) Programs relating to the operations
of the Department of Defense that can be
combined to achieve efficiencies in such
operations, $5,000,000,000.
(2) Department of energy national security programs.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, of the amounts
appropriated or otherwise available for fiscal year 2007 for
the Department of Energy for the National Nuclear Security
Administration for national security programs--
(A) the amount available in such fiscal year for
such programs shall be reduced by $14,000,000,000; and
(B) an amount equal to the amount of the reduction
under subparagraph (A) shall be available instead for
the purposes set forth in subsection (b).
(b) Domestic Programs.--From amounts made available under
subsection (a)--
(1) $10,000,000,000 shall be made available to carry out
the modernization of school facilities under section 8007(b) of
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
7707(b));
(2) $10,000,000,000 shall be made available to carry out
State child health plans under title XXI of the Social Security
Act (42 U.S.C. 1397aa et seq.);
(3) $5,000,000,000 shall be made available to carry out
employment and training activities under chapter 5 of subtitle
B of title I of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C.
2861 et seq.);
(4) $10,000,000,000 shall be made available to the
Secretary of Energy for such programs as that Secretary may
specify to increase energy efficiency and conservation and
increase investment in sustainable and renewable energy
alternatives;
(5) $13,000,000,000 shall be made available to the
Secretary of State for such sustainable development and
humanitarian assistance programs as that Secretary may specify
to alleviate the global challenges of poverty, illiteracy,
unemployment, disease, and disaster;
(6) $5,000,000,000 shall be available to the Secretary of
Homeland Security to improve safeguards pursuant to the
Homeland Security Act of 2002;
(7) $5,000,000,000 shall be made available to reduce the
deficit; and
(8) $2,000,000,000 shall be made available for medical
research.
SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Act takes effect 90 days after the date of enactment of this
Act.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Education and the Workforce, Homeland Security, and International Relations, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Education and the Workforce, Homeland Security, and International Relations, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Education and the Workforce, Homeland Security, and International Relations, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Education and the Workforce, Homeland Security, and International Relations, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Education and the Workforce, Homeland Security, and International Relations, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line
Referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Education and the Workforce, Homeland Security, and International Relations, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Health, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Chairman.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Military Personnel.
Referred to the Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Education Reform.