House appropriators rescind broadband funding

As part of an effort to offset the costs of the defense supplemental spending bill, the House Appropriations Committee proposed taking back $602 million in Recovery Act funds allocated for Agriculture and Commerce department broadband grants.

That figure represents nearly 9 percent of the $7.2 billion set aside for the grants. Agriculture and Commerce had planned to use the funds to expand broadband access and adoption in communities nationwide, but the House Appropriations Committee said it needed to make $11.7 billion in cuts to offset $75 billion in spending to support the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The committee said it rescinded funds from programs and projects that no longer need the funding, or don't need it right away.

House appropriators also chopped $87 million from Army accounts for purchase of Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio Systems (SINCGARS), which are widely used by infantry units in both backpack and vehicle-mounted versions.

But in their version of the bill, they added $35 million to the Customs and Border Protection budget for improved tactical communications on the Southwest border and three permanent Border Patrol forward operating bases. CBP also received $32 million to purchase two unmanned aerial vehicles for operation on the Southwest border.

Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, chairman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border, Maritime and Global Counterterrorism, said during an interview with Nextgov that he wanted more UAVs on the border to patrol for suspicious activity.

The House is scheduled to take up the supplemental bill late Thursday.