The Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2015 (; ) is a

continuing resolution In the United States, a continuing resolution (often abbreviated to CR) is a type of appropriations legislation. An appropriations bill is a bill that appropriates (gives to, sets aside for) money to specific federal government departments, ag ...

and United States public law that funded the

federal government of the United States The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...

through December 11, 2014 by appropriating $1 trillion. The bill was introduced into the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together the ...

during the

113th United States Congress The 113th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, from January 3, 2013, to January 3, 2015, during the fifth and sixth years of Barack Obama's presidency. It was composed of the ...

Background

A continuing resolution is a type of appropriations

legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolling, enacting, or promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred to ...

. An appropriations bill is a bill that appropriates (gives to, sets aside for) money to specific federal government departments, agencies, and programs. The money provides funding for operations, personnel, equipment, and activities. Regular appropriations bills are passed annually, with the funding they provide covering one fiscal year. The ''fiscal year'' is the accounting period of the federal government, which runs from October 1 to September 30 of the following year. When Congress and the president fail to agree on and pass one or more of the regular appropriations bills, a continuing resolution can be passed instead. A continuing resolution continues the pre-existing appropriations at the same levels as the previous fiscal year (or with minor modifications) for a set amount of time. Continuing resolutions typically provide funding at a rate or formula based on the previous year's funding. The funding extends until a specific date or regular appropriations bills are passed, whichever comes first. There can be some changes to some of the accounts in a continuing resolution. The continuing resolution takes the form of a

joint resolution In the United States Congress, a joint resolution is a legislative measure that requires passage by the Senate and the House of Representatives and is presented to the President for their approval or disapproval. Generally, there is no legal differ ...

, and may provide bridging funding for existing federal programs at current, reduced, or expanded levels.

Provisions of the bill

''This summary is based largely on the summary provided by the

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, a

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...

source.'' The Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2015 would provide continuing FY2015 appropriations to federal agencies at the current annual rate until December 11, 2014, or specified conditions are met. The bill would appropriate funds to federal agencies for continuing projects and activities at the rate and under the authority and conditions provided in the applicable divisions of the

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014 The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014 (, nicknamed the Cromnibus) is an omnibus spending bill that packages several appropriation bills together in one larger bill. The 113th United States Congress failed to pass any of the twelve regular ...

: :*the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2014; :*the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2014; :*the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2014; :*the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2014; :*the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2014; :*the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2014; :*the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2014; :*the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2014; :*the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2014; :*the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2014; :*the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2014; and :*the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2014. The bill would provide funding until whichever of the following first occurs: (1) enactment of an appropriation for any project or activity funded in this joint resolution, (2) enactment of the applicable FY2015 appropriations Act without any provision for the project or activity, or (3) December 11, 2014. The bill would amend the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 to extend the operating authority of the Export-Import Bank through June 30, 2015. The bill would provide funding to the

United States Department of Health and Human Services The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto ...

(HHS) and the

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(CDC) to respond to the outbreak of the Ebola virus in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. The bill would amend the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1999 to extend the

Internet Tax Freedom Act The 1998 Internet Tax Freedom Act is a United States law authored by United States House of Representatives, Representative Christopher Cox and United States Senate, Senator Ron Wyden, and signed into law as title XI of on October 21, 1998 by Pres ...

through December 11, 2014. The bill would provide U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement with funding flexibility to sustain staffing levels, border security operations, and immigration enforcement activities. The bill would specify additional changes to existing law and funding levels.

Congressional Budget Office report

''This summary is based largely on the summary provided by the

Congressional Budget Office The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is a federal agency within the legislative branch of the United States government that provides budget and economic information to Congress. Inspired by California's Legislative Analyst's Office that manag ...

, a

source.'' This resolution would provide funding through December 11, 2014, except for $88 million to respond to the

Ebola virus ''Zaire ebolavirus'', more commonly known as Ebola virus (; EBOV), is one of six known species within the genus '' Ebolavirus''. Four of the six known ebolaviruses, including EBOV, cause a severe and often fatal hemorrhagic fever in humans and o ...

, which would be available until September 30, 2015 (sections 136 and 137). In addition, section 147 would continue the authorization for the Export-Import Bank of the United States through June 30, 2015. All other amounts are shown on an annualized basis. These amounts are subject to discretionary spending limits in the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 as amended (The Deficit Control Act). The spending limits were established in the

Budget Control Act of 2011 The Budget Control Act of 2011 () is a federal statute enacted by the 112th United States Congress and signed into law by US President Barack Obama on August 2, 2011. The Act brought conclusion to the 2011 US debt-ceiling crisis. The law in ...

(), which amended the Deficit Control Act. The spending limits for 2015 are $521,272,000 for the defense category and $492,356,000 for the nondefense category, for a total of $1,013,628,000.

Procedural history

The Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2015 was introduced into the

on September 9, 2014 by Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY). The bill was referred to the

United States House Committee on Appropriations The United States House Committee on Appropriations is a committee of the United States House of Representatives that is responsible for passing appropriation bills along with its Senate counterpart. The bills passed by the Appropriations Comm ...

and the

United States House Committee on the Budget The United States House Committee on the Budget, commonly known as the House Budget Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. Its responsibilities include legislative oversight of the federal budget process, ...

. On September 17, 2014, the House voted i
Roll Call Vote 509
to pass the bill 319-108. On September 18, 2014, the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and ...

voted i
Roll Call Vote 270
to pass the bill 78-22. President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

announced on September 17, 2014 that he supported the bill. He signed it into law on September 19, 2014.

Debate and discussion

In the House, both support and opposition to the bill was bipartisan in nature. Voting in support of the bill were 143 Democrats and 176 Republicans, while 55 Democrats and 53 Republicans voted against it. Some conservative Republicans opposed the reauthorization of the Ex-Im bank. The ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, Rep.

Nita Lowey Nita Sue Lowey ( ) ( Melnikoff; born July 5, 1937) is an American politician who formerly served as a U.S. Representative from New York from 1989 until 2021. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Lowey also served as co-Dean of the New York ...

(NY), said that she wanted to pass regular appropriations bills prior to the end of the 113th Congress in order to ensure that the

114th United States Congress The 114th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States of America federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from Ja ...

did not get to set the appropriations levels, in case Congress was controlled by Republicans at that time. The bill includes a 1 percent raise for federal employees in 2015. Rep. Rogers, who introduced the bill, said that "this is a critical measure that ensures that hard-working Americans continue to have access to the government programs and services they rely on, and helps avoid the unnecessary uncertainty and economic harm caused by the threat of a government shutdown." The bill was amended to include an authorization for the administration to train and arm Syrian rebels in order to better equip them to fight against the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

(ISIL).

References

External links

Library of Congress - Thomas H.J.Res. 124beta.congress.gov H.J.Res. 124GovTrack.us H.J.Res. 124OpenCongress.org H.J.Res. 124Congressional Budget Office's report on H.J.Res. 124
{{US government sources United States federal appropriations in the 113th Congress Acts of the 113th United States Congress