The bill (long title "Making further continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2014, and for other purposes.") is a

continuing resolution In the United States, a continuing resolution (often abbreviated to CR) is a type of appropriations legislation, which allocates money to specific federal government departments, agencies, and programs. The money provides funding for operation ...

that was introduced into the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

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 Presidency of Barack Obama, Barack Obama's presiden ...

and was signed into law on January 15, 2014 by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

. The bill amended the

Continuing Appropriations Act, 2014 The Continuing Appropriations Act, 2014 (; ) is a law used to resolve both the United States federal government shutdown of 2013 and the United States debt-ceiling crisis of 2013. After the Republican-led House of Representatives could not ag ...

to extend the time-period of funding provided by that continuing resolution from January 15, 2014 to January 18, 2014. The extension was intended to give Congress the extra time it needed to pass the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014 (H.R. 3547; 113th Congress), which would provide the rest of the appropriations for

fiscal year A fiscal year (also known as a financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. La ...

2014. The fiscal year in the United States is the 12-month period beginning on October 1 and ending on September 30 of the next calendar year.

Background

The budget and spending process of the United States federal government is a complex one. The

U.S. Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally including seven articles, the Constituti ...

( Article I, section 9, clause 7) states that "No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time." Traditionally, after a federal budget has been agreed upon in the spring before the upcoming fiscal year, Congress spends the summer writing and passing 12 regular appropriations acts. In 2013, Congress was unable to agree on a budget, but several attempts were made to carry on with the regular appropriations process. The House passed the

Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2014 The Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2014 () is an appropriations bill that was introduced into the United States House of Representatives during the 113th United States Congress. The bill w ...

(, June 4, 2013), the

Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2014 The Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2014 () is an appropriations bill that was introduced into the United States House of Representatives during the 113th United States Congress. The bill would appropriate money to variou ...

(, June 6, 2013), the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2014 (, July 10, 2013), the

Department of State Operations and Embassy Security Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 2014 The Department of State Operations and Embassy Security Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 2014 () is a bill that was introduced in the United States House of Representatives during the 113th United States Congress. The bill would authorize $17,57 ...

(, September 29, 2013), and the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2014 (, July 24, 2103). None of these bills passed in the Senate. All twelve regular appropriations bills were introduced in the House and the Senate, but these five were the only ones to receive a vote. Congress makes appropriations on a yearly basis. If no appropriations were made by October 1, 2013, when Fiscal Year 2014 began, the federal government would have to shut down due to lack of funding. As October 1, 2013 approached, Congress worked on the

Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2014 (H.J.Res 59) The Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2014 () is a bill that was introduced into the United States House of Representatives on September 10, 2013. The original text of the bill was for a continuing resolution that would make continuing appr ...

(), but was unable to pass the bill. The result was the

United States federal government shutdown of 2013 From October 1 to October 17, 2013, the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government entered a Government shutdown in the United States, shutdown and curtailed most routine operations because neither Appropriations b ...

. After 16 days of a federal government shutdown, Congress was able to agree to a new continuing resolution, the

(;), which was passed, ending the shutdown. The bill funded the government until January 15, 2014, and suspended the U.S. debt ceiling until February 7, 2014. As the January 15, 2014 deadline approached, Congress decided it would need extra time to prepare the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014 (H.R. 3547; 113th Congress), which would fund the government for the remainder of fiscal year 2014. They turned to this continuing resolution to extend the deadline.

Provisions of the bill

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

Congressional Research Service The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a public policy research institute of the United States Congress. Operating within the Library of Congress, it works primarily and directly for members of Congress and their committees and staff on a ...

, a

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

source.'' H.J.Res. 106 would amend the

() to extend through January 18, 2014, specified continuing appropriations for FY2014.

Procedural history

H.J.Res. 106 was introduced into the

on January 10, 2014 by Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY). The House voted on January 14, 2014 to pass the bill in a

voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "by live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by respondin ...

. The Senate voted on January 15, 2014, the pass the bill i
Recorded Vote 11 (2nd session)
with a vote of 86-14. President

signed the bill later that day, making it law.

Debate and discussion

Senator

Barbara Mikulski Barbara Ann Mikulski ( ; born July 20, 1936) is an American politician and social worker who served as a United States senator from Maryland from 1987 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she also served i ...

(D-MD) urged fellow senators to vote for the bill "because it is a technical situation. This isn't the usual delay, drama, fiscal-cliff situation."

Notes/References

External links

Library of Congress - Thomas H.J.Res. 106beta.congress.gov H.J.Res. 106GovTrack.us H.J.Res. 106OpenCongress.org H.J.Res. 106House Republican Conference's Legislative Digest on H.J.Res. 106
{{US government sources

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...