Don Nickles: “I take this opportunity to report on the budgetary effect of S. 1689, the Emergency Supplemental for Iraq and…”

“I take this opportunity to report on the budgetary effect of S. 1689, the Emergency Supplemental for Iraq and Afghanistan Security and Reconstruction for Fiscal Year 2004, as reported by the Senate Committee on Appropriations. The pending bill provides $87 billion in budget authority and $36.7 billion in outlays for Fiscal Year 2004 for ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and reconstruction of Iraq. Since all funds contained in the reported bill are either emergencies or contingent emergencies, under section 502(c) of the 2004 budget resolution none of these funds count for purposes of section 302, 303, 311, and 401 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and sections 504 and 505 of the 2004 Budget Resolution. Additionally, I would like to remind my colleagues of the criteria for using the emergency designation. Section 502 of the 2004 budget resolution identifies the following criteria for the appropriate use of the emergency designation: that the funding is (1) necessary, essential, or vital, not merely useful or beneficial; (2) sudden, quickly coming into being, and not building up over time; (3) an urgent, pressing, and compelling need requiring immediate action; (4) unforseen, unpredictable, and unanticipated; and (5) not permanent, temporary in nature. The reported bill has satisfied these criteria.”