November 13, 2007

President Vetoes Domestic Spending Bill

On November 13, President Bush made good on his repeated promises and vetoed the fiscal 2008 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill (H.R. 3043), which includes funding for agencies that support health services research and health data.

A press release issued that morning by House Appropriations Chairman, David Obey (D-MI) noted, "The same President who is asking us to spend another $200 billion on the misguided war in Iraq and is insisting on providing $60 billion in tax cuts next year to folks who make over a million bucks a year, is now pretending to protect the deficit by refusing to provide a $6 billion increase to crucial domestic investments in education, healthcare, medical research and worker protections that will make this country stronger."

The bill was sent to the White House on Thursday, November 8, after the House voted 274 to 141 to approve it; just one vote shy of a veto-proof majority. A date has not yet been set for the House to vote to override the president's veto.

In the meantime, the President on November 13 signed the fiscal 2008 Defense appropriations bill, which contains a provision to extend the current continuing resolution to December 14. This stop-gap funding measure sustains most federal government operations at fiscal 2007 levels until a resolution is reached on the remaining fiscal 2008 appropriations bills. It also includes $2.9 billion in additional funding for the VA, bringing the agency's current budget up to the level originally requested by the president.

For more information on the funding levels contained in the original Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bills, please visit our funding chart. Questions? Email us at coalition@academyhealth.org.