FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Wednesday, April 18th, 2012

Press Contact: Ryan Nickel (202) 225-3481 

WASHINGTON- House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rep. Norm Dicks made the following comments after release of the FY2013 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies bill text:

"We continue to be concerned about the outlook for this year's appropriations bills. This Committee's FY13 allocation is based on the Ryan budget which reneges on the Budget Control Act agreement that set in law $1.047 trillion as the discretionary allocation.

"Today House Republicans released their bill text for the FY13 Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations bill. While this bill isn't as bad as it would have been with a more proportional cut based on the Ryan allocation, it is not as high as it should be. In comparison, the Senate CJS Subcommittee approved an FY13 bill on Tuesday that is $731 million higher than the House allocation.

"The House bill contains several funding levels that are difficult for Democrats to support. The COPS hiring program is cut by 76 percent, even as state and local budgets continue to recover from historic losses in revenue.

"The Legal Services Corporation is also cut when it should be getting an increase. The recession has drastically increased the need for legal aid for those who can't afford it, and the LSC helps to ensure that access to justice is not limited to those who can afford an attorney.

"However, I do appreciate that this bill provides significant increases for our federal law enforcement agencies, the National Science Foundation, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and provides healthy funding levels for many NASA programs."

Below is a brief summary of funding levels in the FY2013 Commerce, Justice, Science bill:

Total Allocation: $51.13 billion | -$1.61 billion below the FY2012 enacted level | -$731 million below the President's FY2012 request.

Department of Justice: The bill provides $27.4 billion total, $11 million above the FY2012 enacted level and -$409 million below the President's request.

NASA: The bill provides $17.6 billion total, -$226 million below the FY2012 enacted level and -$138 million below the President's request.

National Science Foundation: The bill provides $7.4 billion total, $299 million above the FY2012 enacted level and -$41 million below the President's request.

Department of Commerce: The bill provides $7.7 billion total, $95.6 million above the FY2012 enacted level and -$280 million below the President's request.

State & Local Law Enforcement Assistance: The bill provides $1.85 billion total, -$378 million below the FY2012 enacted level and -$314 million below the President's request.

Community Oriented Policing Services: The bill provides $73 million total, -$126 million below the FY2012 enacted level and -$217 million below the President's request. This entire reduction in funds comes out of the COPS hiring budget.

Office of Justice Programs: The bill provides $1.36 billion total, -$254 million below the FY2012 enacted level and -$99 million below the President's request.

Office on Violence Against Women: Despite the lack of House action on reauthorizing the office, the bill provides $415 million total, $2.5 million above the FY2012 enacted level and $2.5 million above the President's request.

Federal Bureau of Investigations: The bill provides $8.27 billion total, $148 million above the FY2012 enacted level and $34 million above the President's request.

Drug Enforcement Administration: The bill provides $2.04 billion total, $19 million above the FY2012 enacted level and -$7 million below the President's request.

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosions: The bill provides $1.15 billion total, $1 million above the FY2012 enacted level and equal to the President's request.

Legal Services Corporation: The bill provides $328 million total, -$20 million below the FY2012 enacted level and -$74 million below the President's request.

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