Appropriations are one part of a complex federal budget process that includes budget resolutions, appropriations (regular, supplemental, and continuing) bills, rescissions, and budget reconciliation bills. The process begins with the President's budget request and is bounded by the rules of the House and Senate, the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (as amended), the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990, and current program authorisations. This book is a guide to the regular appropriations bills that Congress considers each year. It is designed to supplement the information provided by the House Committee on Appropriations and Senate Subcommittee on Legislative Branch of the Senate Committee on Appropriations. It summarises the current legislative status of the bill, its scope, major issues, funding levels, and related legislative activity.

As government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are hybrids: created and chartered by Congress for specific public policy purposes, they are nonetheless private, profit-seeking businesses whose shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Their "government-sponsored" nature confers certain advantages over their purely private competitors. As a result, their operations have expanded rapidly over the years and they long ago assumed and continue to play critical roles in the residential mortgage market. This book provides background on the GSE reform issue, summarises the provisions of H.R. 1427 and S. 1100, and compares them to legislation passed by the House in the 109th Congress.