A House appropriations bill (HR 4899) that was passed this week provides full funding for both the NTIA's Broadband Technologies Opportunities Program (BTOP) and RUS's Broadband Initiative Program (BIP). Initially, the House had balked and proposed to cut $602 million from the two programs. The House intended to take the money to offset deficits for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, industry groups like the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) successfully lobbied against these cuts. As the Senate already had passed its own appropriations bill last week with full funding for BTOP and BIP, the passage of the House appropriations bill clears the way for its approval by President Obama.