110th Congress

Supplemental Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2007 (Rescission for NIH)

P.L. 110-28 (H.R. 2206)

Impact of Public Law

P.L. 110-28 transfers a total of $99 million from the fiscal year 2007 National Institutes of Health (NIH) appropriation to the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response for advanced development of medical biodefense countermeasures. This work is to be conducted by the Assistant Secretary, consistent with the authority provided in the “Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act.” The transfer consists of $49.5 million from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and $49.5 million from the NIH Office of the Director. The House and Senate bills would have transferred $49.5 million from NIAID only.

Legislative History

H.R. 2206, the Fiscal Year 2007 Second Emergency Iraq/Hurricane Supplemental Appropriations, was introduced by Representative David R. Obey (D-WI) on May 8, 2007. It was passed by the House on May 10 and by the Senate on May 24. On May 25, President George W. Bush signed the $120 billion war funding bill into law as P.L. 110-28, thereby providing the Pentagon with funding to continue operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and replenish accounts from which it had borrowed to support the war.

The first emergency supplemental bill was vetoed by the President, who cited excess domestic spending that had been added to the measure as the reason. The agreed-upon bill language was split into two amendments offered on the House floor as a substitute for the text of H.R. 2206. One amendment funded the war effort, and the other included nonwar items from the vetoed supplemental bill, such as agriculture disaster relief, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, hurricane recovery, minimum wage/tax relief, and other items. The main differences between P.L. 110-28 and the vetoed bill are that Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program and pandemic influenza funding are no longer included, and language changes have been made in the Head Start and Wisconsin waiver provisions.