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1 1 (August 13, 2021)

handle is hein.crs/goveeie0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Updated August 13, 2021 Foreign Affairs Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) Funding: Background and Current Status For the past decade, Members of Congress have debated Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funding levels in the context of annual foreign affairs and defense budgets. First used by the foreign affairs agencies in FY2012, a key feature ofOCO funds was their effective exemption, like emergency funds, fromthe discretionary spending limits established by the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA, P.L. 112-25). Some Members viewed OCO funding as a toolfor preventing contingency needs fromencro aching on funding for core agency activities. Others criticized the OCO designation, labeling it as aslushfund thatprovided funds for programs unrelated to contingency operations. The BCA's spending caps ended in FY2021. Under the Trump Administration, the foreign affairs agencies ceased requesting OCO funds after FY2018. However, Congress appropriated $8.Obillion designated as OCO every year between FY2019 and FY2021 in State-ForeignOperations (SFOPS) appropriations bills. FY2022 may be a turning point, as the House recently approved an FY2022 SFOPS appropriations measure (H.R 4373) that did not include OCO funding. Background on Foreign Affairs OCO The foreign affairs agencies began requesting OCO funding in FY2012, distinguishing between enduring (ongoing costs) versus extraordinary, temporary costs of the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in the frontline states of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. OCO-designated funds largely replaced annual emergency supplemental appropriations to support the Glob alW ar on Terroris m(GW OT) in the frontline states that became the normduring theGeorge W. Bush Administration. Congress, already using the OCO designation within the Department of Defense (DOD) budget, adopted this approach for foreign affairs, although it never permanently definedits uses in statute. Since FY2012, Congress has appropriated OCO-designated foreign affairs funds at higher levels and for broader purposes than were requested each year (see Figure 1). For the first foreign affairs OCO appropriation in FY2012 (P.L. 112-74, Div. I, Title VIII), Congress provided funds for a wide range of activities beyond the three frontline states, including in Yemen, Somalia, Kenya, and the Philippines. In addition to country-specific uses, Congress also used the OCO designation for funds appropriated for the Global Security Contingency Fund. In the FY2013 full- year continuing appropriations (P.L. 113-6, Div. F, Title VII, §§1707-1708), Congress specified only Jordan as an additional OCO-recipient country. For FY2014 (P.L. 113-76, Div. K, Title VIII), Congress provided four accounts with no -year (available until expended) OCO funds, but made most foreign affairs OCO funds available for two years-or until September 30,2015. Congress also expanded the terms of transfer authority, providing greater flexibility across certain accounts. FY2014 OCO-funded activities were implemented in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Jordan, Lebanon, the Central African Republic, and Somalia. Figure 1. Foreign Affairs Overseas Contingency Operations Funding, FY20 1 2-FY2022 (in billions of U.S. dollars) 25 20 1s FY12 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 H ecouested S8.7 58.2 $3a.8 57.F8 '.1 $210.7 512.0 $,1.0 $0.0 51.1 50.0 F nwted $11.2 $10.8 $650 $59.30i $14.9 $20.8 $12.0 58.00 }80)~ $8.00 Sources: Ann ual Department of State Congressional Budget justifications, ann ual SFOPS appropriations measu res. The totals enacted include net rescissions. For FY2015 (P.L. 113-235, Div. J, Title VIII), although Congress did not provide specific OCO funds for countering the Islamic State (IS), as was requested by the Obama Administration, it did provide an increase in OCO funds in many accounts with language that allowed it to be used for counterterrorism. The Obama Administration requested an expanded use of OCO funds for Syria and peacekeeping in FY2016 and FY2017. Congress granted thes e requests in FY2016 (P.L. 114-113, Div. K, Title VIII) and FY2017 (P.L. 115-31, Div. J, Title VIII) and also provided OCO funding in both years to respond to the Ebola and Zika viruses, support counterterrorism, and counter Rus sian aggression. The FY2018 (P.L. 115-141, Div. K, Title VIII) and FY2019 (P.L. 116-6, Div. F, Title VIII) foreign affairs OCO- designated appropriations included funds to address global refugee responses and to support assessed peacekeeping contributions for operations in Somalia, among other activities. In FY2020 (P.L. 116-94, Div. G) and FY2021 (P.L. 116- 260, Div. K), Congress did not designate OCOfunding in a ttps:/'crs reports~congress~gc

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