Permanent Appropriation of Proceeds of National Defense Stockpile Rotation Sales

The Bureau of Government Financial Operations requested an opinion on the interpretation of the Strategic and Critical Materials Stockpiling Revision Act of 1979 as a permanent indefinite appropriation of moneys received from the sale of certain items from the National Defense Stockpile. The question was whether the language "to be available only for the acquisition of replacement materials" constituted a permanent indefinite appropriation. It was clear from the language of legislation that Congress intended that the moneys received from rotation transactions and from special disposals were to be available from the fund for the acquisition of replacement materials without any further action by Congress. The statute, which authorized the rotation or disposal of stockpile materials, the deposit of proceeds of these transactions in a special fund, and the availability of these moneys for special purpose, constitutes a permanent indefinite appropriation of these moneys. In this instance, it was clear also from legislative history that Congress intended that these moneys be available without the need for further appropriation.