On May 4th, the U.S. Senate passed H.R. 4939, the Fiscal Year 2006 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Bill. The spending package funds ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and recovery and reconstruction activities in hurricane-affected Gulf Coast areas. Included in the bill is $20 million for the National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) to continue their disaster relief work in the Gulf through August 2007.
Two amendments were introduced to strike the NCCC funding from the bill by Senator Tom Coburn (OK) and Senator John Thune (SD). Senator Coburn voluntarily withdrew his amendment, and Senator Thune’s amendment was defeated this morning, 39-59. Please review the vote tally below and see how your senator voted.
A “Yea” vote was in support of Thune – taking the $20 million reserved for the NCCC, and using it to increase funding for Veteran’s Health. A “Nay” vote was in opposition to Thune – sustaining the $20 million to support the NCCC’s ongoing disaster relief assistance in the Gulf Coast Region.
The Emergency Supplemental now heads into Conference, where the House and Senate will try and reconcile their individual bills. The House Supplemental provided $92 billion for defense, hurricane recovery and other projects. The Senate measure totaled about $109 billion.
