[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1376 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1376

 To repeal the Helium Act, to require the Secretary of the Interior to 
    sell Federal real and personal property held in connection with 
  activities carried out under the Helium Act, and for other purposes.


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                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

               August 5 (legislative day, June 30), 1993

  Mr. Wofford introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

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                                 A BILL


 
 To repeal the Helium Act, to require the Secretary of the Interior to 
    sell Federal real and personal property held in connection with 
  activities carried out under the Helium Act, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) the United States Government's helium recovery program 
        was instituted in 1925, when helium conservation was deemed to 
        be a matter of national security and no private sector helium 
        recovery industry existed;
            (2) today, as compared to 1925, there is little likelihood 
        that the United States will have to field a fleet of blimps on 
        an emergency basis;
            (3) private sources of helium are more than adequate for 
        serving existing and foreseeable future national needs;
            (4) since 1925, there has been a dramatic increase in 
        private industry's involvement in helium recovery, as a result 
        of the free market discovery of numerous commercial uses for 
        helium;
            (5) currently, private industry accounts for 90 percent of 
        all helium extraction and consumption;
            (6) the Government's helium recovery program currently owes 
        the Department of the Treasury $1,400,000,000 and loses an 
        additional $120,000,000 yearly on interest alone, and there is 
        no prospect for repayment of this debt without significant 
        reform; and
            (7) with combined public and private helium reserves 
        considerably in excess of foreseeable national helium needs, 
        there is no longer any need for the Federal Government to own 
        and operate a helium extraction and reserve program.

SEC. 2. REPEAL.

    The Helium Act (50 U.S.C. 161 et seq.) is repealed.

SEC. 3. SALE OF PROPERTY.

    The Secretary of the Interior shall sell or otherwise dispose of, 
at the best possible terms available to the United States, all 
facilities, equipment, and other real or personal property, or rights 
thereto, held by the United States in connection with activities 
carried out under the Helium Act, unless such facilities, equipment, or 
other real or personal property, or rights thereto, are required for 
other Federal purposes.

SEC. 4. SALE OF HELIUM RESERVE.

    The Secretary of the Interior shall sell or otherwise dispose of, 
at the best possible terms available to the United States, all helium 
reserves held by the United States other than amounts required for the 
specific immediate needs of the Federal Government. Such sale shall be 
conducted in a manner consistent with the orderly conduct of commercial 
helium markets.

SEC. 5. REDUCTION OF FEDERAL DEBT.

    All funds received pursuant to sections 3 and 4, and all amounts 
remaining in the helium production fund established under section 6(f) 
of the Helium Act, shall be considered full repayment of loans made 
under section 12 of the Helium Act. Such funds shall be applied, 
subject to appropriations, solely to the retirement of outstanding 
United States Government debt, and may not be obligated or expended for 
any other purpose, notwithstanding any other provision of law that does 
not specifically reference this section.

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