Dear Madam Speaker:
I ask the Congress to consider the enclosed Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 Budget amendments for the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Health and Human Services, the Interior, Justice, Labor, and Transportation, as well as the Commission of Fine Arts. These amendments are necessary to correctly reflect policies assumed in my FY 2023 Budget. These amendments would increase by $85 million the overall discretionary budget authority in my FY 2023 Budget.
In addition, provided for your consideration is an amendment for the Department of Energy's Defense Environmental Cleanup account. The amendment would increase funding provided for the account by $191 million in order to increase amounts for specific cleanup efforts from the levels secured for the program in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022. Also included for your consideration is an amendment that would increase the authorization of appropriations provided by the Water Resources Development Act of 2000, as amended, for the Las Vegas Wash wetlands restoration and Lake Mead improvement project.
This transmittal also contains eight FY 2023 Budget amendments for the Legislative Branch. As a matter of comity and tradition, these appropriations requests for the Legislative Branch are transmitted without change. These amendments would increase by $2 million the overall discretionary budget authority in my FY 2023 Budget.
Taken together, the transmitted amendments would increase by $278 million the overall discretionary budget authority in my FY 2023 Budget.
The details of this proposal are set forth in the enclosed letter from the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
Sincerely,
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.