The Senate Appropriations Committee approved the FY2003 Commerce, Justice, and State appropriations bill (S. 2778) on July 18 (see The Source, 7/19/02). S. 2778 would provide $43.475 billion for discretionary spending, a $2.9 billion increase over FY2002.
The Senate Appropriations Committee report accompanying the bill includes language detailing a number of programs affecting women and families.
Department of Justice
The committee recommends that the Department of Justice receive $25.8 billion in FY2003, an increase of $2.1 million over the FY2002 allocation and $3 million more than the President’s request.
National Institute of Justice (NIJ): In FY2003, the NIJ would receive $64.9 million, $10.4 million above the FY2002 level and $13.4 million below the President’s request. In addition, the Local Law Enforcement Block Grant would be level-funded at $400 million.
The bill also would include $80 million for the Boys and Girls Clubs, a $10 million increase over the FY2002 level and the President’s request. Report language commends the organization for “its effort to reach children who are in need of support and affirmation.”
The Missing Children program would receive $29 million in FY2003 to “continue and expand efforts to protect the nation’s children, especially in the areas of locating missing children, as well as the growing wave of child sexual exploitation found on the Internet.” Of this amount, $12.5 million would be used to expand the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces and $12.5 million would be allocated for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Programs under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) would be level-funded at $390.6 million in FY2003. The committee recommends that the VAWA programs “be strengthened to encourage reporting of domestic violence by providing assurances that law enforcement and attorney support systems be available.”
VAWA programs would receive the following grants:
The committee also recommends $40 million to reduce the DNA sample backlog.
While the Justice Department received $10 million for grants to assist victims of trafficking in FY2002, there was no line item for these grants in the committee’s report.
Juvenile Justice Programs: S. 2778 would provide $298.4 million for Juvenile Justice programs, $7.4 million less than the FY2002 allocation and $40.6 million more than the President’s request. Of this amount, $11 million would be provided for the Victims of Child Abuse Act. Report language notes that these funds would be used to establish regional and local children’s advocacy centers and would not be used to provide legal aid.
The State Department
The committee recommends that the State Department receive $7.9 billion in FY2003, an increase of $38.3 million over FY2002 and $240.9 million less than the President’s request.
The committee report includes language about “the adequacy of the department’s efforts to counter the serious problem of international child abductions.” The committee recommends that the State Department submit a report that includes the country, location, and number of all known U.S. citizens under the age of 18 who have been abducted by a parent or relative as the result of a custody dispute and who are being held abroad, a summary of actions taken by the department to find the abducted children, and a list of diplomatic measures that “can be used to facilitate the repatriation of abducted American children.”
Last year, the State Department received $2 million to fund an international conference on combating international sex trafficking. This year, the committee report did not include a line item for funds to combat international sex trafficking.
Other Agencies
The Legal Services Corporation and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights would be level-funded at $329 million and $9.1 million respectively. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission would receive $317.2 million in FY2003, a $6.8 million increase over last year. The President requested $308.8 million in FY2003.
Several programs related to women-owned businesses would be level-funded. Women’s Business Centers would receive $12 million in FY2003 and the National Women’s Business Council would receive $750,000. Last year, the Survey of Women-Owned Business Enterprises received $694,000. The committee report did not include a line item for the survey in FY2003.
