The Senate Appropriations Committee is a political organization based in the United States of America. The SAC is the organization that decides which programs will receive what funds, and because of this the members of the SAC, or at least some of them, know of the Stargate program, including the Atlantis expedition. After the defeat of the Goa'uld the Chairman, Senator Fisher, decided that the SGC would operate at 30% of its current funds in order to better fund the Atlantis expedition, which they felt was more important to the protection and advancement of Earth. This was done in spite of Major General Henry Landry's warnings regarding the Ori, a threat they could see on the horizon. (SG1: "The Ties That Bind")