Continuing Appropriations and Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017, and Zika Response and Preparedness Act
Latest action. Became public lawWhat a bill becomes when enacted, numbered by Congress and order of enactment: Public Law 119-4 is the 4th law of the 119th Congress.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) No: 114-223.
(This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the Senate on September 28, 2016. The summary of that version is repeated here.)
Highlights:
This bill provides FY2017 appropriations for Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies; continuing appropriations through December 9, 2016, for other federal agencies; and FY2016 supplemental appropriations to respond to the Zika virus.
The bill also includes several rescissions and provides additional funding for disaster relief. The bill includes four divisions:
Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017;
Zika Response and Preparedness;
Continuing Appropriations Act, 2017; and
Rescissions of Funds.
Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017
This division provides FY2017 appropriations to the Department of Defense (DOD) for military construction, military family housing, the U.S. share of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Security Investment Program, and base closures and realignments.
The division also provides appropriations to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for veterans benefit and health care programs, Departmental Administration, and the National Cemetery Administration.
Related agencies and programs funded in the division include the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims; the Armed Forces Retirement Home; and the Cemeterial Expenses of the Army, including Arlington National Cemetery.
The division includes both mandatory and discretionary funding. It increases FY2017 discretionary funding for Military Construction and Veterans Affairs above FY2016 levels, including an increase for the VA and a decrease for Military Construction.
The division includes provisions that:
permit the VA to pay for fertility treatments, counseling, and adoption expenses for veterans with certain service-connected disabilities;
establish additional procedures and protections for VA whistle-blowers;
and prohibit funds from being used for: (1) constructing, renovating, or expanding a facility for the purpose of housing individuals detained at U.S. Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; and (2) closing or transferring the facility.
Zika Response and Preparedness
This division provides FY2016 supplemental appropriations to the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and State to respond to the Zika virus. The division permits the funds to be used for the duration of FY2017, designates the funds as emergency requirements, and sets forth congressional reporting and notification requirements. Continuing Appropriations Act, 2017
The summary continues for 277 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Public Law" stage on September 29, 2016. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
This bill has been enacted. It is law.
The record's latest action, on September 29, 2016: Became Public Law No: 114-223.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Tom Graves (R-GA) introduced it on May 25, 2016. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HousePassed
- SenatePassed
- PresidentSigned into law