Even though Congress knows in early January that the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30, as I write this column, we are two weeks from that date and no appropriations bills have been sent to the president nor has a defense authorization bill been sent to the president.Of course that means that federal agencies will be funded at their 2011 levels as directed by a continuing resolution until Congress finally gets off the dime (so to speak) and: Shows us the money!The continuing resolution likely will cover spending at least until mid-November.If the appropriations bills still have not been completed, Congress will have to pass another continuing resolution. It begins to look like we may end up with what is called an omnibus bill where funding for all the appropriations that are not complete are lumped into one enormous piece of legislation that few completely read or understand.At least there is some movement toward completing the defense portion of the appropriations pie.The Defense Appropriations Bill is still in committee in Senate, but the House passed a $649.2 billion defense spending bill (H.R. 2219) in July.The bill would provide $530.5 billion for the Pentagon, $8.9 billion less than President Obama requested but $17 billion more than fiscal 2011 levels. It also includes $118.7 billion for ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, which is approximately $40 billion less than current funding.The bill provides:Funding for a 1.6 percent military pay raise$32.2 billion for the Defense Health Program$5.9 billion to purchase 32 F-35 jets but includes no money for an alternate engine$453 million for production of the M1A2 SEP Abrams tank (Members rejected White House efforts to temporarily cease production of the tank and provided $272 million more than the administration requested.)Approximately $10 billion for missile defense programsThe House also adopted a series of amendments aimed at boosting spending for research on post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, prostate cancer and illnesses affecting veterans of the first Gulf War.The Defense Authorization Bill, also passed by the House, also has not come to the floor of the Senate.When it does, amendments that might be expected include ones that are important to AUSA members on expanding concurrent receipt, eliminating the SBP/DIC offset and early retirement credit for mobilized reserve components soldiers.Should the Defense Authorization Bill pass at some point, it will have to be reconciled with the already-passed House version in a conference committee. So, at best, it seems we are looking at a completed defense authorization bill in November — maybe.Rather than me continuing to beat that horse, let’s turn to a more pleasant subject.By the time you read this the AUSA Annual Meeting and Exposition will have already happened, but as I write this, national headquarters is buzzing with activity preparing for it.We expect record numbers of people interested in our Army to arrive in Washington, D.C., to spend time attending professional development seminars, kicking tires on the exhibit floor, hearing inspirational and often gut-wrenching stories of war from the soldiers who lived them, and breaking bread in a reunion-like atmosphere.The Congressional Staff Breakfast is on track to break attendance records again, and the Resolutions Committee is ready to create AUSA’s legislative agenda for 2012.In the meantime your AUSA government affairs team will continue to advocate for passage of legislation that matters to our members and our Army.