[House Hearing, 106 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
DEPARTMENTS OF COMMERCE, JUSTICE, AND STATE, THE JUDICIARY,
AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS FOR 2001
DEPARTMENTS OF COMMERCE, JUSTICE, AND
STATE, THE JUDICIARY, AND RELATED
AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS FOR 2001
_______________________________________________________________________
HEARINGS
BEFORE A
SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE
COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SIXTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
________
SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE DEPARTMENTS OF COMMERCE, JUSTICE, AND STATE, THE
JUDICIARY, AND RELATED AGENCIES
HAROLD ROGERS, Kentucky, Chairman
JIM KOLBE, Arizona JOSE E. SERRANO, New York
CHARLES H. TAYLOR, North Carolina JULIAN C. DIXON, California
RALPH REGULA, Ohio ALAN B. MOLLOHAN, West Virginia
TOM LATHAM, Iowa LUCILLE ROYBAL-ALLARD, California
DAN MILLER, Florida
ZACH WAMP, Tennessee
NOTE: Under Committee Rules, Mr. Young, as Chairman of the Full
Committee, and Mr. Obey, as Ranking Minority Member of the Full
Committee, are authorized to sit as Members of all Subcommittees.
Gail Del Balzo, Jennifer Miller, Mike Ringler, and Christine Ryan
Subcommittee Staff
________
PART 9
TESTIMONY OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS AND OTHER
INTERESTED INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS
________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Appropriations
________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
64-897 WASHINGTON : 2000
COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
C. W. BILL YOUNG, Florida, Chairman
RALPH REGULA, Ohio DAVID R. OBEY, Wisconsin
JERRY LEWIS, California JOHN P. MURTHA, Pennsylvania
JOHN EDWARD PORTER, Illinois NORMAN D. DICKS, Washington
HAROLD ROGERS, Kentucky MARTIN OLAV SABO, Minnesota
JOE SKEEN, New Mexico JULIAN C. DIXON, California
FRANK R. WOLF, Virginia STENY H. HOYER, Maryland
TOM DeLAY, Texas ALAN B. MOLLOHAN, West Virginia
JIM KOLBE, Arizona MARCY KAPTUR, Ohio
RON PACKARD, California NANCY PELOSI, California
SONNY CALLAHAN, Alabama PETER J. VISCLOSKY, Indiana
JAMES T. WALSH, New York NITA M. LOWEY, New York
CHARLES H. TAYLOR, North Carolina JOSE E. SERRANO, New York
DAVID L. HOBSON, Ohio ROSA L. DeLAURO, Connecticut
ERNEST J. ISTOOK, Jr., Oklahoma JAMES P. MORAN, Virginia
HENRY BONILLA, Texas JOHN W. OLVER, Massachusetts
JOE KNOLLENBERG, Michigan ED PASTOR, Arizona
DAN MILLER, Florida CARRIE P. MEEK, Florida
JAY DICKEY, Arkansas DAVID E. PRICE, North Carolina
JACK KINGSTON, Georgia MICHAEL P. FORBES, New York
RODNEY P. FRELINGHUYSEN, New Jersey CHET EDWARDS, Texas
ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi ROBERT E. ``BUD'' CRAMER, Jr.,
GEORGE R. NETHERCUTT, Jr., Alabama
Washington MAURICE D. HINCHEY, New York
RANDY ``DUKE'' CUNNINGHAM, LUCILLE ROYBAL-ALLARD, California
California SAM FARR, California
TODD TIAHRT, Kansas JESSE L. JACKSON, Jr., Illinois
ZACH WAMP, Tennessee CAROLYN C. KILPATRICK, Michigan
TOM LATHAM, Iowa ALLEN BOYD, Florida
ANNE M. NORTHUP, Kentucky
ROBERT B. ADERHOLT, Alabama
JO ANN EMERSON, Missouri
JOHN E. SUNUNU, New Hampshire
KAY GRANGER, Texas
JOHN E. PETERSON, Pennsylvania
VIRGIL H. GOODE, Jr., Virginia
James W. Dyer, Clerk and Staff Director
(ii)
DEPARTMENTS OF COMMERCE, JUSTICE, AND STATE, THE JUDICIARY, AND RELATED
AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS FOR 2001
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TESTIMONY OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS AND OTHER INTERESTED INDIVIDUALS AND
ORGANIZATIONS
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Thursday, March 23, 2000.
COPS PROGRAMS
WITNESS
HON. PETER J. VISCLOSKY, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF
INDIANA
Mr. Rogers. The committee will be in order. This commences
the hearing at which individual Members of Congress will
present their views on various aspects of the administration's
budget request for fiscal year 2001. Your statements will be
made a part of the record, and we hope you can summarize and
keep your remarks within the 5-minute frame, and we assure you
that if you do you will be given more favorable treatment.
We will begin with the gentleman from Indiana, Mr.
Visclosky. Welcome to you to your subcommittee.
Mr. Visclosky. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I
want to thank you and every member of the committee for your
judgment as well as your generosity for the last several years.
Mr. LoBiondo and I have introduced the Bulletproof Vest
Partnership Grant Act which was originally authorized 2 years
ago. It was a new start in both of the last two fiscal years
and you fully funded the program.
I am convinced today that there are police officers alive
in the United States of America that would be dead but for the
decision you and the members of the subcommittee made. I thank
you very much and very sincerely for your judgment and
generosity.
Obviously on behalf of Mr. LoBiondo and myself, we again
appreciate the subcommittee's consideration as far as funding
of the program.
Additionally the subcommittee also was very generous last
year in earmarking $2.5 million for the Hoosier SAFE-T
Communication Program. Over the course of years we will need
about $66 million. The request this year is for a follow-on of
$3 million.
The final item is a new item, an earmark for the First
Congressional District of Indiana of $50,000 for an automated
fingerprint identification system (AFIS).
Mr. Chairman, I appreciate your courtesy and again your
consideration in the past years and for your time today.
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Mr. Rogers. Well, I want to I thank the gentleman. It was
his legislation that led to the bulletproof vest authorization
and we jumped on it here and quickly found the moneys to fund
it. It was a very worthwhile expenditure of funds and I agree
with you, I think there are some law enforcement officers who
are alive today because of it.
I thank you for your contribution to a very important
program.
Mr. Visclosky. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Rogers. Thank you. Mr. Cramer. Oh, by the way, Mr.
Visclosky, you get extra points for keeping it brief.
Mr. Visclosky. That is what I was counting on, Mr.
Chairman.
----------
Thursday, March 23, 2000.
CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTER PROGRAMS
WITNESS
HON. BUD CRAMER, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF ALABAMA
Mr. Cramer. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Mr.
Serrano, as well. I am back again on behalf of the National
Children's Advocacy Center Programs.
Mr. Chairman, since 1993 this committee has funded this
national network. Because of your support we now have 500
children's advocacy center programs around this country. We did
a brief on the committee members. Every district represented on
this committee has a children advocacy center program in it. We
are rescuing children.
The beauty of this program, Mr. Chairman, is the money that
has been appropriated has acted as seed money. These programs
come into existence and are supported mainly by the private
sector in all of the communities where they exist. These are
programs that umbrella community resources that allow the law
enforcement detectives, the child protective service workers,
mental health practitioners, law enforcement to come together
to interview together children and family members that are
going through certain processes. It might be the criminal
justice system where children were removed from parents. All of
these children are child abuse victims, many of them severely
injured and many of them child sexual abuse victims.
So on behalf of them I thank you. And just quickly because
you challenged me to be brief and I want to be brief because I
want to be rewarded, the congressional spouses have adopted
this as their program, so locally here with D.C.'s children
advocacy center called Safe Shores. And it has taken the
District--which has a remarkable set of circumstances to deal
with here with this resource scatterings, it has taken them a
few years to get their program established called Safe Shores.
What the congressional spouses are going to help make it happen
here is they are going to help locate our national headquarters
for this program. The District has given us a school on Capitol
Hill, the Gales School across the Hill. And the spouses and the
local program's board is going to raise money so we can locate
our national office of this program that this committee has
caused to be created.
I am just here on behalf of the Children's Advocacy Center
Program to say thank you. Mr. Chairman, you might remember this
program started when I was a district attorney in my prior
political life. In my prior political professional life I was
DA there in Huntsville, Alabama for 10 years. And it was there
on the front line that I saw these children coming through the
system and saw that the system was reabusing them. It wasn't
working together and it wasn't rescuing them. So we started the
first children's advocacy center program there in Huntsville,
Alabama. That is going back in the early days until now we have
seen hundreds of these rise up.
We thank the committee for its support.
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Mr. Serrano. I think that was smart that you reminded the
chairman that you were a prosecutor.
Mr. Cramer. Oh, okay.
Mr. Rogers. Well, the gentleman, again, is the father of
this program. He is the one that came up with the idea and
promoted it all of the way through. Quickly, he convinced us of
the wisdom of it and we have been able to fund a good number of
these. We think they are doing a good job and you have done a
wonderful job in proposing it.
Mr. Cramer. Thank you.
Mr. Rogers. Thank you and you are a very valuable member of
the Appropriations Committee. You have some points stacked up
for you there.
Mr. Cramer. Barely. It is a challenge for a Southerner to
talk fast.
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Thursday, March 23, 2000.
TESTIMONY OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS
WITNESS
HON. ELIJAH CUMMINGS, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF
MARYLAND
Mr. Rogers. Mr. Cummings.
Mr. Cummings. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I represent the 17th
Congressional District of Baltimore. According to the Statistic
Abstract of the United States for 1998, of the 15 largest
cities in the United States, Baltimore ranks first in overall
crime rates at more than 12,000 criminal offenses per 100,000
city residents. We also rank first in violent crime rates,
2,722 violent crimes committed per 100,000 residents and second
in property crime rates, 9,278 property crimes per 100,000
residents. These are firsts that I would rather not win and I
know my constituents would rather not win them either.
More than 72,000 people moved out of Baltimore during the
1990s, a rate of 600 per month and the second highest rate of
population loss in America. While not solely attributable to
crime rates, there is certainly a correlation with the urban
flight experience by Baltimore.
Furthermore, Baltimore City has experienced a significant
dropoff in the number of officers serving on the police force.
As of July 31, 1999, there were 2,985 actual sworn members of
the Baltimore City Police Department. 3,222 positions were
funded and so the city currently has about 337 vacancies. The
current vacancy rate of the Baltimore Police Department is
especially high due to the recent offering of deferred
retirement option program, which saved money for the city but
was a disastrous operational impact on the Police Department.
Over the past 6 years the sworn vacancy rate has averaged 110
officers. This rate is significant because if these positions
were filled they would create a fully staffed drug enforcement
and tactical unit of three-fourths of the personnel necessary
for a police district. The Department has been unable to get
enough qualified candidates to fill these slots.
While the police force shrinks crime increases,
particularly drug-related crime. At present the police
estimates suggest that there are roughly 50 open drug markets
in Baltimore. These sites, which are often located near city
schools or other areas where young people gather, have become
commonplace in Baltimore because Baltimore's resources are
stretched very thinly. Roughly 2,900 children are arrested each
year for purchasing narcotics from drug dealers who prey on
them. The city's new mayor has set the goal of permanently
eliminating a minimum of 10 of these open air markets within
the next 6 months.
Clearly, Mr. Chairman, if this Congress is to live up to
the commitment that we all share, Republican and Democrat, to
help ensure public safety in our urban centers as well as in
rural suburban communities, more resources must be provided to
those on the frontlines of the war against crime.
I want to spend just a short while talking about the
appropriation request I have made to the subcommittee today on
behalf of Mayor O'Malley and our city. I have asked the
subcommittee to provide $10 million in fiscal year 2001 funding
for a multi-faceted violent crime reduction initiative to help
reverse the tide of crime in my home city.
I requested funding to reinstate a Police Cadet Program,
which would serve as a way to recruit and provide young adults
with an education and career path to work police academy. The
police could actually assist in operating and expanding the
Police Athletic League Program and serve as mentors for
community youth in after school programs.
Funding was also requested to support overtime for officers
services necessary to close down the Baltimore open drug
markets. Currently many officers would like to volunteer for
overtime to patrol the neighborhoods where dope dealers peddle
their poison, but the Police Department lacks the resources
that would permit them to serve.
At present Baltimore City's homicide detectives investigate
roughly 300 murders each year with outdated technology and
training that is often behind the cutting edge. With earmarked
funding the city would be able to assist these detectives in
the use of state of the art forensic technologies such as DNA
analysis, voice stress analysis, blood spatters, crime scene
management, and other new investigative tools.
The Baltimore City Police Department would also purchase
new computer software. Right now officers spend between 25 and
50 percent of their time in station houses filling out reports
from arrests they have made. My request would support
technologies that would reduce the amount of time police
officers spend in-house so that these men and women can go back
to walking the beats on Baltimore's streets.
Finally, supporting my request would enable the Baltimore
City Police Department to purchase 55 new vehicles, 55 unmarked
vehicles for violent crime investigators and 10 unmarked cars
for the homicide unit. Baltimore Police Department estimates
that 232 out of the department's 850 marked and unmarked
vehicles are out of service due to excessive milage and
departmental accidents. By providing these resources the
subcommittee would send a loud and clear message to the
citizens of Baltimore and other urban areas around the Nation
that we will no longer tolerate crime at any level, that we
will not tolerate pushers and dealers ruining the lives of our
children, and we will not tolerate the violence that touches so
many lives in our inner city.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and thank you Mr.
Ranking Member.
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Mr. Rogers. Thank you, Mr. Cummings, for that excellent
testimony. This current career we provided $287 million for
juvenile justice assistance, most of which is for grants,
practically all of it are grants such as you speak of, and $552
million for Byrne grants available also for local police forces
and not to mention the huge investment of the COPS program and
the local law enforcement block grants, all of which would be
available for local police departments.
So I would encourage you and the police departments there
to seek those grants because they are for that very purpose.
Mr. Cummings. We will.
Mr. Rogers. Mr. Serrano.
Mr. Serrano. I know the gentleman is interested in this
issue because he has spoken to me concerning it. I think there
are different approaches. One is the one you bring to us today
and, as the chairperson says, make sure we make use of existing
dollars in there because there is quite a bit of money in there
that could be used locally.
Mr. Cummings. Thank you.
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Thursday, March 23, 2000.
TESTIMONY OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS
WITNESS
HON. WAYNE GILCHREST, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF
MARYLAND
Mr. Rogers. Mr. Gilchrest.
Mr. Gilchrest. Mr. Chairman. Good afternoon, everyone.
Mr. Rogers. Welcome.
Mr. Gilchrest. Thank you. Are you ready to go?
Mr. Rogers. Yes, we will make your statement part of the
record and if you would like to summarize it in 5 minutes or
less we would be delighted to hear from you.
Mr. Gilchrest. I do ask unanimous consent that my full
statement be submitted for the record, and for the purposes of
human sensitivity will roll through it rather quickly.
Mr. Chairman, we have come before this committee before
dealing with this most important but sometimes obscure agency
in the Federal Government called National Oceanic Atmospheric
Administration. They deal with the coastal areas and the oceans
of the world. And what we are asking for today from our strong
perspective is adequate funding to let these folks do their job
in specific programs that would be very helpful not only to
constituents in my district but certainly to people around the
country.
The first program I want to talk about is called Lower
Chesapeake Bay Research. This is a program that helps with the
Chesapeake Bay program, which many of you may be familiar with,
establish an understanding for the dynamic marine ecosystem of
the Chesapeake Bay. The reason that is critical to us not only
from an environmental perspective but from an economic
perspective is that basically the most important aspect of my
district as far as the economy of my district is concerned is
the Chesapeake Bay, from commercial fishing to recreational
boating, to restaurants to tourism and so on, is the fishery of
the Chesapeake Bay. And knowing that complex, dynamic ecosystem
so that it can be managed appropriately to sustain the
resources, we would like the amount of $2.5 million funded to
the Chesapeake Bay research organization.
The next area is oyster reef restoration, which we are
asking for a small amount, Mr. Chairman, just $1 million. Now,
the reason this is important is because about 90 percent of the
oyster population in the Chesapeake Bay has been eliminated
because of overharvesting, pollution. It has disappeared over
the last 100 years. If we look back at the turn of the century,
1900, we have lost over 90 percent of the oysters for various
reasons as a result of human activity. What we finally decided
the way to bring the oysters back is to instead of building an
oyster bar which would not be as high as this table is from the
bottom of the water, but bring it back to its natural state,
which is making an oyster reef from the bottom of the bay to as
high as this ceiling or the double height of this ceiling.
If you build an oyster reef you do two things. You make
oysters more resistant to diseases because they are in a more
natural environment and how it has evolved. You can reproduce
oysters because in the process of reproducing when they spit
out those tiny little eggs the current takes them and replaces
them. There is not a lot of oysters around, they just
disappear.
And the third thing is oysters used to filter out the
entire Chesapeake Bay in about 3 days. They would purify the
water because they are filter feeders. Because of the small
number of oysters we have now they don't filter any pollution
from the Bay whatsoever. So the small amount of funding for
that program we feel is significantly important.
The third thing is fisheries research. That is not only for
the Chesapeake Bay but for around the country. Briefly, there
is eight management councils on the coastal areas of the United
States that provide management and expertise as to how to
conduct a fishery, whether it is in New England, the Gulf
States, Alaska or wherever it might be. The only way to manage
our fishery resources so they don't become polluted and more
than 50 percent of our stock is depleted is to get good science
on what the stocks are now. To get the science you have to have
the people with the expertise and you have to have the vessels.
If we don't have the science we don't have the data that these
management councils from around the country that depend on that
information to help restore our fisheries and to sustain our
fisheries, then we will continue to have depletion in the fish
stock.
Harmful algal blooms is probably something that you have
heard in the form of Pfiesteria. Pfiesteria is a microorganism
that is not new. It has been on the planet for about a million
years. It has 24 different life cycles. It is very complex. It
is a plant and an animal depending on its life cycle. When it
comes out and has its reproduction process it emits a small
chemical in the water. That small chemical attaches or attacks
the neurological center of any species that happens to be in
the water at the time, including humans. Some of the fish--and
in North Carolina you probably heard over the years there has
been a billion fish that have been harmed as a result of that.
The reason this has actually killed--in Maryland we have had
millions of fish die. What this harmful algal bloom research
can help with around the country, but particularly in Maryland,
the Department of Agriculture and NOAA have gotten together to
try to understand the impact of human activity, agriculture in
particular, to fisheries and waterways. So we feel that a
number of things could happen as a result of this
appropriation. Not only will there be a better understanding of
these kinds of microorganisms, but what causes these
microorganisms to go into that stage of their life cycle where
they become toxic and how we can better manage the fisheries
and better manage our agricultural resource.
The last two things I will just say very quickly. The
National Sea Grant College Program. The Sea Grant College
Program has been an effective, positive ingredient for making
policy in this Congress. Many Members who choose can have a Sea
Grant fellow. I have had them ever since I have been here. Not
only are they dynamos when it comes to working long hours but
they are very smart people and they help with all of this.
I know George Gekas, if and when he comes through here,
will also support the Susquehanna River flood forecast and
warning system appropriation because it does a lot of help for
people downstream to avoid problems when there is too much rain
in these floods.
So I am prepared to answer all of your questions.
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Mr. Rogers. Well, thank you for your testimony. This
current year we provided $1.8 million for Chesapeake Bay
studies and almost a half million for the Bay Oyster Recovery
Partnership, half a million for Bay Multi-species Transitional
Strategy, 59.2 million for Sea Grants, 185 million for
construction, 283 million for basic core research, and 247
million for external basic research. And I have to tell you
that if this budget resolution that is now pending passes it
looks like the overall appropriations level will be cut by 4
percent from current levels. And we are not going to have any
money for the things that----
Mr. Gilchrest. Can I ask you, is that 596 or 586, what we
are voting for today?
Mr. Rogers. It is--I am not sure. But that is what we have
been told from our leadership, that we are really going to be
in a bad squeeze. It is not flat funding, it is less than flat,
even funding for next year. So we are going to be in a real
bind. I know how strongly the gentleman feels about these
issues as do a lot of people. I am just saying that don't look
for a lot.
Mr. Gilchrest. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman. We will stay
with you on all of these issues and we will be getting funded
as much as is possible. It is worth the numbers.
Mr. Rogers. The budget resolution calls for a 596.5
billion. Thank you.
Mr. Serrano.
Mr. Serrano. No. I just want to thank you for your
testimony and really a lesson on oysters.
Mr. Gilchrest. The committee is invited any time at your
convenience to come to the Eastern Shore. Can I testify again,
Mr. Chairman, with some oyster fritters? I will bring them
tomorrow.
Mr. Rogers. Ms. Roybal-Allard.
The gentleman's testimony is an example of the
extraordinarily broad jurisdiction of this subcommittee. We
deal with everything from embassy security to oysters in the
Bay.
Mr. Gilchrest. We appreciate your responsibilities, Mr.
Chairman.
Mr. Rogers. Thank you very much. Ms. Pelosi.
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Thursday, March 23, 2000.
RADIO FREE ASIA, THE ASIA FOUNDATION, JUVENILE JUSTICE PROGRAMS IN SAN
FRANCISCO, AND INS STAFFING AT SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
WITNESS
HON. NANCY PELOSI, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF
CALIFORNIA
Ms. Pelosi. Mr. Chairman, as a native Marylander I can
testify to the deliciousness of those oysters. A long time ago
oyster roasts were a regular part of our lives. I don't know if
they have enough to do that now but it was a long time ago.
Mr. Rogers. I meant to point out to Mr. Gilchrest and the
others we will make your written statements a part of the
record and if you would like to summarize in 5 minutes or less,
we give you points for less.
Ms. Pelosi. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Serrano, ranking
member, Congresswoman. As a former member of this subcommittee
I fully appreciate the breadth of your jurisdiction and I
admire your power. I am going to be very brief, submit my full
statement for the record and heeding the chairman's admonition,
just enumerate a few requests.
Thank you very much for the opportunity to testify and
thank you always for your previous support for some requests
about Radio Free Asia, the Asia Foundation, and language
supporting funding for improvements of the juvenile justice
system in San Francisco. I appreciate your consideration of the
following requests and look forward to working with you on the
fiscal year 2001 appropriations bill.
Mr. Chairman, seeing this backlog, I am going to be
exceedingly brief. If you want me to elaborate I will. Radio
Free Asia, the administration is requesting 23.77 million for
Radio Free Asia for fiscal year 2001, an increase from an
estimated $22 million for this year. I respectfully request
that the committee provide at least the administration's
request of $23.77 million and that increase is primarily
related to cost of living and inflation. Radio Free Asia is the
only international radio broadcast providing news and
information 24 hours a day to China in seven languages and
dialects. It goes also to North Korea and Vietnam--reporting
important documents.
The Asia Foundation. I support the administration's fiscal
year 2001 request for 10 million for the Asia Foundation. While
this is an improvement over recent years, even this level of
funding will limit the foundation's ability to undertake
important programs given the challenges and opportunities
facing the Asia region. The Asia Foundation advances U.S.
interests by strengthening democratic institutions as well as
advancing economic opportunities and cooperative regional
relations through the Asia Foundation's ability to deliver high
quality programs on the ground through its network and offices
in Asia. More on that and Radio Free Asia are in my full
statement.
The Bureau of Justice. The City of San Francisco has
requested my assistance to obtain $4.5 million for improvement
of San Francisco's juvenile justice system, including the
detention upgrades. I have a fuller description of the request
and the justification in my statement.
Immigration--I am trying to be a model to those who follow,
Mr. Chairman. Immigration and Naturalization Service. I am
concerned about the problem of insufficient INS staffing in San
Francisco International Airport and request funding for 50 new
full-time positions. We are building what will be one of the
largest international travel centers in the world. It is a
Pacific gateway. Working with the INS they recommended an
increase of 54 stations from the 28 existing stations and to
adequately staff this they must increase to 218 full-time
positions. They are at 116 now. So this request is to consider
fuller funding there.
And on behalf of all 52 members of the bipartisan
California delegation, this is a bipartisan request--not that
the others were not, but this is with authority to speak for
all 52 California Representatives--I respectfully request that
the subcommittee provide at least $650 million for the State
Criminal Alien Assistance Program, which is authorized in
fiscal year 2001 level. I commend Congresswoman Roybal-Allard
on her leadership and wanted to bring this to the attention of
the committee the unanimous support of our delegation, which is
not easy to obtain, Mr. Chairman, even though this is a very
top priority for our State. And I elaborate on it further in my
statement.
With that, I thank you again for your past support and for
the opportunity to testify today. I would be pleased to answer
any questions.
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Mr. Rogers. I thank the gentlelady for her testimony and
the abbreviation of it. The gentlelady has been one of the
great captains of Radio Free Asia along with Congressman Porter
and others. We saw fit this current year to provide 8.25
million for the Asia Foundation. And we have tried to fund the
other items that the gentlelady has mentioned, including SCAAP,
which has been a real labor. But again I point out that the
budget resolution that is on the floor, we are going to be
severely strapped for funds again this year more than last year
even.
Mr. Serrano.
Mr. Serrano. Well, just to thank you, Nancy, for your
testimony and I know you have been--we all know you have been a
champion in these issues. The chairman is correct, but even
within that problem we will do what I know is right.
Ms. Pelosi. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, if I may
say about the Asia Foundation, a few years ago we were trying
to get funding up to $20 million and then with everything being
decreased and there has been a real tightening of the belt and
revaluation of how to afford it because the funds simply were
not there. So this $10 million is not something we are seeking
from $2 million or $4 million. It is something that we have
been cut back from seeking to 20 when we were at the 16, or 18
million level several years ago. I hope that we can do our best
on that as well as the others.
Mr. Rogers. The gentlelady is a very forceful and valued
member of the Appropriations Committee. We appreciate your
testimony. Ms. Roybal-Allard.
Ms. Roybal-Allard. You have summarized it and we appreciate
your testimony on these issues.
Mr. Rogers. Mr. Stupak.
----------
Thursday, March 23, 2000.
COPS PROGRAM, BYRNE FORMULA GRANTS PROGRAM, CONVICTED OFFENDER DNA
INDEX SYSEM SUPPORT ACT, INTERNATIONAL JOINT COMMISION, ST. LAWRENCE
SEAWAY STUDY, AND THE NATIONAL GRANT PROGRAM
WITNESS
HON. BART STUPAK, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF
MICHIGAN
Mr. Stupak. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will just quickly
summarize my testimony and open up for any questions that you
may have. First of all, Mr. Chairman, we have talked about the
COPS program. Once again I hope we can honor the President's
request of $1.3 billion for fiscal year 2001.
The Byrne grants formula, you have always been great on
that. Despite the President's request to reduce it to $460
million we would like to see it at $552 million, which is
really last year's level. I would ask this to go at the level
that we had last year on the Byrne grants. You know Byrne
grants as well as I do.
There is sort of a new request we have in here, which is a
DNA bill, Mr. Chairman. Representative Ben Gilman and Jim
Ramstad and myself, we have a Convicted Offender DNA Index
System Support Act. The reason that is important, sexual
offenders, they take their DNA or you go to a crime scene
offense, you take the DNA. But the States and local governments
don't have any money to then test that DNA to classify it. For
instance, nationwide we have over 700,000 backlog on DNA.
California, 132,000 have been collected and 132,000 are
unanalyzed, just sitting there. So if you have a perpetrator
out there of violent crime with DNA, there is no way--if you
get that match there is no way to take it and put it against
your State's bank to see if they may have committed other
crimes.
Kentucky is one of the better states. They have collected
3,102 samples and they have only a backlog of 327. Kentucky has
been one of the better states. Michigan my state, zero. 5200
have been collected and none of them analyzed. We are asking
basically about $40 million. The President's proposal submits
$5.3 million for FBI DNA--that is just the FBI DNA backlog. And
then we would like to see 15 million for State and local DNA
convicted offender backlogs.
So that is why we are coming up with those funds, Mr.
Chairman, to come up to help us out with the DNA data bases and
solve more crime and hopefully get this backlog cleaned up.
The International Joint Commission. As you know, Mr.
Chairman, the Boundary Waters Act of 1909 created the
International Joint Commission. We are asking for $6.172
million for International Joint Commission. That is an increase
of just 250,000 above the President's request. Actually it is
$2.74 million above last year's appropriation.
For many reasons, the St. Lawrence Seaway study has to be
completed. They have just done work on the boundary waters
between the U.S. and Canada, the Great Lakes in particular.
They have to develop a plan to study lake levels on the Great
Lakes. As you know, they are really, really low and that is why
they have additional requests.
The maritime academies. This committee has always been
great in helping all of our state maritime academies. We would
like to see $11 million for the state maritime academies. There
is only one on the Great Lakes and that is the Great Lakes
Maritime Academy at Traverse City, part of my district. That
takes care of all of the shipping concerns on the Great Lakes,
provide our sailors and merchant mariners for the Great Lakes.
Mr. Gilchrest mentioned the National Sea Grant. I
wholeheartedly agree with him on that. We use our program a bit
differently, to help fight the invasion of foreign species in
the water. When the salties or the ocean going ships come up
the St. Lawrence Seaway they discharge their ballast water and
they give us things like Eurasian ruffe, the zebra mussels, sea
lamprey, which really wiped out our fish population and played
havoc with our environment of the Great Lakes. That is why we
have the Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab.
It is all in here, Mr. Chairman. I will stop right there.
If you have any questions on the DNA, the formula for the Byrne
grants, the COPS program, I would be happy to answer any
questions.
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Mr. Rogers. I thank the gentleman for his testimony. We did
provide in the current year $9.3 million for the Great Lakes
Fishery Commission--I'm sorry. I was mistaken. The request from
the administration was for $9.3 million for the commission. We
did provide 595 million for the COPS program and 552 for Byrne
grants not to mention the State and local grants and other
juvenile justice grants and the like.
So we have been, I think, generous in those respects. We
will certainly take your testimony under consideration. We
appreciate you being here.
Mr. Stupak. I can't disagree with the committee. They have
always done a good job on the science projects and helped COPS
and all of the other programs I have argued for. The DNA may be
one that may be of some significance that we haven't done in
the past that needs some attention. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Rogers. Mr. Serrano.
Mr. Serrano. Just to once again congratulate you on your
support of COPS program and the work that you do. We will in
that area definitely continue to push and hope that we continue
to bring that program where it should be. It is a difficult
year and we have to balance that with everything else.
Mr. Rogers. Ms. Roybal-Allard? Thank you. Mr. Weygand.
George Gekas, you are recognized. Chairman of the Subcommittee
on Commercial and Administrative Law of the Judiciary, you are
welcome here.
----------
Thursday, March 23, 2000.
TESTIMONY OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS
WITNESS
HON. GEORGE GEKAS, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF
PENNSYLVANIA
Mr. Gekas. Yes, Mr. Chairman, and members. I wear two hats,
one thrust upon me by Mr. Gilchrest inadvertently so I can
second his testimony not as to the oysters but the cloisters in
Pennsylvania which are safeguarded somewhat by--a great deal by
the flood watch programs of the Susquehanna River Basin
Commission. Part of our request to your committee is the full
funding of the various gauges, gauging equipment and
implementation thereof. That is the one-half. So I will be
bringing you testimony on that a little bit later.
Here today I want to concentrate for a few minutes on the
Legal Services Corporation and to congratulate you, Mr.
Chairman, and the others for their attention to that very
serious portion of our budgetary requirements.
Last year during the debate I supported the amendment that
would have--and did result in lifting the original
recommendation of the committee to its current levels. I did so
and stated very emphatically that I did so with a lump in my
throat because I had in front of me rampant misuses and abuses
of the way that the reporting system was being handled by the
grantees of our legal services system and overcount that was at
least prima facie to me warning enough that more had to be done
to make sure that we were funding it properly and according to
its needs. But I said on the floor then and it bears part of
premise of what I wish to discuss with you that I was willing
to support the additional moneys despite the evidence that I
had giving the benefit of the doubt to the legal services
community, but that I would then conduct hearings as chairman
of the relevant committee to determine the extent of this
overcount of cases that was running through the system.
I report to you, and as I have already reported to you,
that that hearing revealed a great number of abuses in that
special regard. And so when the time comes again for you to
appear on the floor I will want to give the benefit of the
doubt this time to the appropriators in the amount that you
wish to pen to the Legal Services Corporation, keeping in mind
that we still have not reached the end of the line in our
examination of the overcount and other abuses by the grantees.
For instance, we still have evidence in front of us even
after all that has been said and done--by the way, I have to
commend the legal services staff and administration for making
human efforts to correct those situations. That goes without
saying, but I am saying it anyway to their credit. But still we
get bits and pieces of evidence that the grantees are flaunting
the requests for information even from their own departments,
from their own superiors in many cases. We still then do not
have a full picture of how they count cases and how they
determine the needs that they present to our committee and to
our Congress.
So I say that I will be taking the floor at that time to
say sternly that we ought to give the benefit of the doubt this
round until we complete all of these to the appropriators and
not as we did before to the Legal Services Corporation which I
was willing to do and did.
Furthermore, there is one aspect of this that I don't fully
understand but for the benefit of the discussion the GAO
delivered a report managing for results, just yesterday I
suppose, in which it stays using GPRA to help congressional
decision-making and oversight. We have not been able to
determine whether this segment of what we tried to accomplish
back in 1997 applies to the Legal Services Corporation. They
themselves believe that it does not. I think the GAO thinks yes
and the Congressional Budget Office thinks no. But I hope that
the committee will at least in its report and its debate on
this issue mandate to the Legal Services Corporation that they
use the guidelines even if the law is unclear as to whether
they apply. This is of course the--it is the Government
Performance and Results Act, GPRA, but it is the Results Act
let's call it. And this is supposed to give programmatic ways
in which each agency can check on how its dollars are working
pursuant to its program, et cetera.
Again, although we are not sure at this stage whether it
applies to Legal Services, at least there are guidelines and
the way to do business ought to be fastened onto Legal Services
in their work in trying to bring out a real picture of their
needs to our Congress.
With that, I will yield to any questions that the members
may have.
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Mr. Rogers. Chairman Gekas, thank you for your testimony.
As chairman of the subcommittee that authorizes Legal Services,
it is one of the chief things that we have in common with you
because we are called upon to fund the Legal Services that you
authorize, and several years now we have had to do the
authorizing tier as well. With your strong input all of the way
through that, you have been one of the champions over the years
of reforming Legal Services and bringing it under control and
making it work the way it should be working. You are one of the
responsible voices here. There are some irresponsible voices in
respect to Legal Services on both sides of the question.
Mr. Gekas. I might add, Mr. Chairman, that you made it
clear to me from the very first moment that the Republicans
became the majority back in prehistoric days and I made clear
to you that we were both interested in maintaining a program
for legal assistance to the poor, and that we were going to do
everything in our power to strengthen it, to make sure that
every dollar went for legal assistance to the poor for
representations in the gamut of issues that arose. And
notwithstanding our joint efforts to try to revamp it, to try
to reauthorize it in different ways, this theme of it was to
help maintain a system of legal assistance to the poor. We do
no less here, but we still must do our job in making sure that
the dollars match the needs.
Mr. Rogers. We are in agreement and have been all of the
way through. I really appreciate your strong support for a
proper Legal Services Corporation and your fight to make that
happen. And we appreciate further your testimony today that you
would be willing to support our position on the floor when it
comes in regard to the funding level. We don't know what that
is going to be yet because it looks like we are going to be
squeezed even worse than last year, and the current year for
funding levels overall in our full committee and subcommittee
and it is going to be a harder pinch this year than last. We
will look forward to working with you this year as we go
through the process.
Thank you so much for your expertise.
Mr. Serrano, or Ms. Roybal-Allard?
Mr. Serrano. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just wanted to
thank the gentleman for his comments. As a cosponsor of the
Serrano-Ramstad amendment on the floor, I do recall your words
and I take them seriously. I hope that we can work out our
differences before we get to the floor not only in dollars and
what needs to be done because, as you know, this is an
important program that is very popular. President Nixon created
it back in those days. It was one of the greatest things that
he has done so far.
As far as your comment about how long it seems the
Republicans have been in power, it just seems that way. It
hasn't been that long.
Mr. Gekas. We are going to make it a little longer.
Mr. Rogers. Thank you.
Mr. Serrano. Thank you very much.
----------
Thursday, March 23, 2000.
CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND
WITNESS
HON. ROBERT WEYGAND, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF
RHODE ISLAND
Mr. Rogers. Now, Mr. Weygand, we thank you for yielding
your time. You are recognized. We will make all of your written
statement part of the record and we invite you to summarize
your written statement in 5 minutes or less and we do give
points for less.
Mr. Weygand. Your suggestion is well noted. I want to thank
you for allowing me to speak here this morning. I will submit
my full statement for the record as well as the documentation
that supports this statement.
Mr. Chairman, throughout this country whether it is
California, West Coast, the East Coast, or the southern part of
our country we have seen the stresses and strains on economic
development as populations move from many of our urban areas to
more coastal and waterfront areas. We particularly see that in
the Northeast and all along the Eastern Seaboard where
transportation systems have been strained, economic development
has been impeded, housing and other costs have sky-rocketed and
a host of economic problems besiege the coastal areas of our
States, New York, Rhode Island, Florida, and the entire coastal
areas.
The Center for Environmental Studies at the University of
Rhode Island is an attempt to bring all of the various state-
of-the-art techniques, improvements for economic development as
well as transportation planning, land and water conservation as
well as all of the applicable communities agenda. The basis for
all of this, though, is the impact of economic development. We
have seen throughout the years that as people begin to sprawl
out of communities they also cost taxpayers, city, state, and
even Federal Government money. Utilities have also seen the
same thing. The Center for Environmental Studies would bring
together a host of different state-of-the-art curriculums but
also parts of the Livable Communities (community) in a way that
has not been seen before.
There are many universities that have graduate studies of
planning, oceanography, marine studies, planning and
development and a host of others. None of them combines it in a
way the University of Rhode Island is proposing under this
particular center. The purpose for this is really to combine
and look at proclems and solutions and give guidance to States,
communities and the Federal Government in an effort to not only
enhance land development, improve it in an economic sense, but
also provide the most effective and efficient means of
providing for improvements in land use. By doing so we save the
taxpayers in those communities, the States and the Federal
Government money.
This investment is something that needs to be done now. As
we talk about urban sprawl we talk about the problems of going
into the rural and suburban areas. We have seen time and time
again the negative impact on the tax base, on the expenditure
of additional taxes on systems. You in Appropriation Committee
are asked time and time again to provide more money for
community assistance.
This center would be a total of $10 million. Some of it has
already been appropriated through the University of Rhode
Island, through the State of Rhode Island as well as through
last year's appropriation. The total appropriation that is left
is about 7.5 million. We are asking for half of that to be
funded through CJS. We think it is properly before you in terms
of either an EPA grant or a similar type of grant. We would
like to work with the staff to determine the right placement
for it.
But it wouldn't be just for the State of Rhode Island. It
would be used actually throughout the entire country because
its techniques and transportation planning and economic
development and environmental protection could be utilized by
all states and localities.
Mr. Chairman, I thank for your indulgence and the
opportunity to address you and, as I said, I will submit my
full statement for the record as well as documentation for the
support of this request.
[The information follows:]
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Mr. Rogers. That will be fine. We thank you for your
testimony and your diligence on this issue and we will give it
all due consideration. You are a member of the Budget Committee
and you know----
Mr. Weygand. I was waiting for that, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Rogers [continuing]. You know if this budget passes
that is on the floor now we are going to be so severely
restricted we won't be able to fund what we fund now much less
anything new.
Mr. Weygand. I look for your support for the Democratic
alternative, which is to increase the amount of funding in
these areas. Certainly we would be able to fund this and many
others that we talked about from oysters to planning.
Mr. Serrano. And all without any cost to the American
taxpayer.
Mr. Rogers. Any questions? Thank you very much.
Mr. Weygand. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
----------
Thursday, March 23, 2000.
JUVENILE ACCOUNTABILITY INCENTIVE GRANT PROGRAMS, THE COPS TECHNOLOGY
PROGRAM, AND THE PACIFIC COASTAL SECTION RESTORATION FUND
WITNESS
HON. DARLENE HOOLEY, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF
OREGON
Mr. Rogers. Ms. Hooley.
Ms. Hooley. You got the last name right.
Mr. Rogers. Your statement will be made a part of the
record and we invite you to summarize it for us.
Ms. Hooley. I can do it very quickly. Mr. Chairman, Ranking
Member Serrano, thank you for the opportunity to be in front of
your committee along with a whole tent of other people.
I have really three requests, one request--two requests:
Fully fund the Office of Justice programs and particularly the
Juvenile Accountability Incentive Grant and the COPS program.
When I am around my district in talking to law enforcement
officials and police chiefs, they say this program has worked
better than any program they have ever had. They think it is
the best thing the Federal Government has ever done. It has
helped reduce the crime rate in our States. Juvenile crime,
however, is still a problem, particularly methamphetamines. And
so it is why I would like to see the juvenile program funded
fully, if possible.
There is a huge need for Federal assistance. I would just
talk about one county, Clackamas County. We have 12 beds for
the 650 young people held in detention last year. Police
officers have to drive an hour to get to this detention
facility. So there is a lot of wasted hours both in their time
as well as the juvenile. When there are only 12 beds some of
them are turned away and put back in the community when they
really need to be held.
The county is looking for $3 million for a new juvenile
detention facility. They have secured about $1.7 million along
with a site for the facility and they need your help. We also
have a tremendous need to update enforcement equipment and
technology. Thank you very much for your help last year. There
was a million dollars earmarked in the budget for this. It made
a difference. This is about a $6 million project. This got us
off to a great start. We are looking for another $2 million and
the county is putting in their share of almost $3 million.
One of the reasons it is--I will just quickly mention this.
In Clackamas County we have 50 percent of the land is owned by
the Federal Government. We are now trying to cover those more
rural areas and we have been asked to help. There is no way
that you can communicate with the ambulance service and police
service and fire service. So we are trying to make sure that we
have a system that really deals with public safety and works
for everyone. And again thank you for your help on that.
The last issue I am going to talk about is bipartisan and
bi-state and that is in the Northwest we have 12 salmon species
that are listed as endangered species. We have had a tremendous
decline in our wild salmon. This is part of Oregon's heritage
and economy. We are trying to figure out how to bring back the
salmon runs. We have already treaties for salmon harvesting
with tribal governments. What I am worried about is if we don't
bring back the salmon the Federal Government is going to be
liable for some fairly significant costs to the tribal groups.
So what I am asking for, and again this is a delegation to
fund the Pacific Coastal Salmon Restoration Fund at the
administration's of $160 million. $90 million would be divided
equally between Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and California, $10
million for the Pacific and Columbia River tribes and $60
million for the implementation of the Pacific Salmon Treaty
between the United States and Canada. There is already
authority within the Marine Fisheries Services so we just need
the money.
Thank you very much and if you have any questions, I would
be happy to answer them.
[The information follows:]
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Mr. Rogers. Thank for your testimony.
Ms. Hooley. Did I make it under 5 minutes?
Mr. Rogers. Yes. You have some points coming. Any
questions? Thank you very much for your testimony. Mr.
Strickland.
----------
Thursday, March 23, 2000.
TESTIMONY OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS
WITNESS
HON. TED STRICKLAND, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF
OHIO
Mr. Strickland. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I promise you
that I will be under 5 minutes. I have timed it and I would
like my entire testimony to be included in the record if
possible.
Mr. Rogers. It shall be.
Mr. Strickland. I want to thank you for allowing me to be
here to talk about a critical issue in regard to our Federal
Bureau of Prisons. I would like to begin by expressing my
respect for the Bureau. I think it is one of the departments of
our Federal Government that does a good job.
I worked in a maximum state run facility for 8 years and I
know how difficult it is to deal with felons and dangerous
felons at that. I am a founder and cochair of the Congressional
Officers Caucus here in the Congress. I come today for two
reasons.
First, I want to echo Director Hawk Sawyer's request that
language be added to the Department of Justice general
provisions to provide that the Bureau have greater discretion
in the placing of D.C. sentenced felons so that the decision
regarding whether D.C. felons are placed in private facilities
are made in accordance with the Bureau's needs just as is the
case with other Federal inmates.
And the second reason I am here is to implore you that you
require the Bureau provide to you and to the Congress an annual
report on the performance of for profit prisons with which the
Bureau contracts. For profit prisons are responsible for some
of the most heinous public safety catastrophes in recent
corrections history. If the Federal Bureau of Prisons must
contract out its responsibilities of incarceration to for
profit prisons because the Bureau needs more bed space, then
the Bureau's liability for public safety I think demands that
the Bureau at least exercise careful oversight of these
entrepreneurial enterprises to make sure that they are
conforming to the same laws, same rules, regulations, and
standards as the Bureau itself.
To be fair, this for profit industry has come a long way
since it began in the mid-'80s when the Correctional
Corporation of America, which is the Nation's largest private
prison company, accepted its first inmates before it actually
had a facility open. Those inmates were housed in rented motel
rooms until a number of them pushed the air conditioning units
out of the wall and they escaped. Since then, however, for
profit prisons have created a multi-billion dollar industry and
are as likely to be traded on Wall Streets as be listed as
defendants in litigation.
In fact, in my home State of Ohio we have already seen how
the profit motive in private prisons can lead to disaster. In
July of 1998 at a private facility in Youngstown, Ohio, that is
run by CCA, 6 prisoners, 5 of them murderers, cut a hole in the
fence during a recreation break and walked out of the prison in
broad daylight.
This incident in Youngstown is not an isolated event.
Headlines appear almost daily across the country detailing the
latest debacle of for profit prison companies. Although there
have been too many to list to you today I will just highlight a
couple.
In New Mexico for profit prisons run by Wackenhut, the
second largest for profit prison company in the country, have
experienced a series of murders, about one a month. The victims
have included at least one correctional officer. In Texas a
staff of CCA was murdered in December. In 1999, during
Thanksgiving week, CCA had three different escapees on the run,
including two murderers. One of the escapees was convicted
murderer Kyle Bell, who was convinced in North Carolina of
killing an 11-year-old girl that he also molested. Bell escaped
in New Mexico while being transported. The CCA guards had
fallen asleep.
And just last week in Louisiana the story written in the
New York Times, a state judge removed six teenage boys from a
juvenile prison run by Wackenhut after finding they had been
brutalized by guards, kept in solitary confinement for months,
deprived of food, underwear, shoes, blankets, education and
medical care. One of the boys freed by the judge was a 17-year-
old who had been found guilty of robbery. He had been forced to
lie on the floor on his stomach with the knee of a Wackenhut
guard in his back which caused excruciating pain since the boy
had recently had an operation for a gunshot wound to his
abdomen and was wearing a colostomy bag.
I understand the Bureau needs more space. They tell me they
cannot maintain the prisoners we are sending them with the
space they have. But I would sincerely ask that the Bureau be
held accountable for providing to the Congress a report
regarding how these private facilities are operated.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for this time.
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Offset Folios 138 to 141 Insert here
Mr. Rogers. Thank you for your testimony.
Any questions? Thank you very much.
Chairman Gilman. Mr. Gilman.
----------
Thursday, March 23, 2000.
TESTIMONY OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS
WITNESS
HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF
NEW YORK
Mr. Gilman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Rogers. We will make your statement a part of the
record and if you can summarize it very briefly we would
appreciate it.
Mr. Gilman. I will try to be brief. Mr. Chairman, I have
two matters before you: One on the United States Commission for
the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad and for their
funding and also for funding the DNA index system. With regard
to the United States Commission for the Preservation of
Heritage abroad, the commission presently requests a budget of
$550,000 to continue to meet its legislative mandate.
The list of the commission's achievements are extensive.
They are presently involved in vital preservation restoration
projects throughout the Eastern and Central European area and
currently mediating major disputes between a number of
religious factions about the protection of historic cemeteries,
particularly in the--there is a very ancient cemetery in the
Czech Republic. An insurance company is trying to build over
this cemetery and they have had extensive hearings and
visitations and meetings with the government to try to resolve
it. But that is typical of what they have been engaged in.
As you know, the commission received $490,000 appropriation
from the Congress for fiscal year 2000 that was due in great
measure to your subcommittee's strong support for the
commission, for which we are grateful. Dedicating a $500,000
appropriation, fiscal year 2001 would provide them with the
kind of adequate resources they need to continue their efforts
throughout the world. I deeply believe in the commission's work
and they really maintain the integrity of these historic places
throughout the world.
So I would welcome, Mr. Chairman, whatever you think you
can do in this year's appropriation.
Mr. Chairman, let me take an opportunity to discuss the
funding for a measure, H.R. 3375, which I am involved in, the
Convicted Offender DNA Indexing Support Act. That is a
cooperative solution that I propose along with Congressmen
Ramstad and Stupak to eliminate our DNA background. I
understand that Mr. Stupak did testify previously.
The DNA index system is an excellent system for resolving
crimes that have been unresolved based on this index system.
The problem has been that we have a dramatic increase in the
backlog of DNA work. And in order to offset that I worked with
the FBI and with our state police department to try to come up
with a better solution.
The solution that I have suggested will provide expansion
efforts for the State to take care of this backlog of some
700,000 unanalyzed convicted offender DNA samples. I began work
last year on this and this will assist our local, State, and
Federal law enforcement personnel by ensuring that crucial
resources will be provided to the data banks and to crime labs.
The FBI's budget includes a request for $5.3 million to
implement the Federal convicted offender database. The
Department of Justice is proposing 15 million under the COPS
program to reduce the backlog that needs to be processed in
order to get into the CODIS system, where all of these DNA
samples are coded. I support these requests and hope the
subcommittee will offer their assistance in providing our DNA
labs with the necessary support.
Although the administration's request fails to provide any
funding specifically for helping our State and local agencies
to eliminate this backlog, my measure authorizes $25 million to
be appropriated for assistance in the States and FBI and we
would welcome your assistance.
This is a very important tool for our criminal agencies.
They have solved a lot of cases. There are now thousands and
thousands of cases backlogged because they don't have the
resources or the facilities. Your work will help them
accomplish that. I just came from a hearing of the Crime
Subcommittee and they are working on several measures to try to
resolve this backlog.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
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Mr. Rogers. Thank you, Chairman Gilman. Your testimony is
appreciated. I know you are on a tight schedule.
Any questions? Thank you very much.
Mr. Gilman. Thank you very much. I appreciate the
opportunity.
Mr. Rogers. Thank you. Ms. Ros-Lehtinen.
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Thursday, March 23, 2000.
CUBA TRANSITION PROJECT, THE DANTE FASCELL NORTH-SOUTH CENTER AND THE
MIAMI BEACH PROJECT TECHNOLOTY CENTER
WITNESS
HON. ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE
OF FLORIDA
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Serrano, and
Congresswoman RoybalAllard. Thank you for the opportunity to
allow me to testify on behalf of three important projects in my
south Florida district. Two of them are housed at the
University of Miami: The Cuba Transition Project for Cuban and
Cuban American Studies and the Dante Fascell North-South
Center, The third project is the Miami Beach Police Technology
Project.
On the Cuban Transition Project, Mr. Chairman and members,
political change in Cuba from a tyrannical oppression is
inevitable and the United States should be prepared to deal
with these changes in an effective way to assist Cuba in
becoming a free democratic society. Eastern Europe served as an
example to us as to how difficult the transition phase may be.
To paraphrase, if we don't learn the lessons of history we are
condemned to repeat the mistakes.
This Cuba Transition Project is designed to provide policy
makers, analysts and other professionals with accurate
information, with incisive analysis and practical policy
recommendations. It focuses on three major phases: The
pretransition and transition itself and the post transition.
The results of this project will help the U.S. to play an
important role in Cuba's smooth transition and movement from a
centrally planned economy and a communist party state to what
we hope will soon be a free market democracy.
Because of its programs, its location, materials and
language capability and historical associations with Cuba, the
University of Miami is believe be perfectly poised to have a
positive impact in the transformation of a democratic Cuba. Its
unique status and contribution is evident in many of the
programs that the University of Miami has already established.
Its Cuba On Line database, for example, is a database of
historical and contemporary information on the island and also
its position as Secretariat of the prestigious Association for
the Study of the Cuban Economy. It brings together the most
highly qualified economists worldwide for a study of the
island.
We should not have Cuba's transition process mimic Eastern
Europe's and we should learn from our mistakes. These senior
scholars, researchers, and analysts at the University of Miami
are the right people to guide us in that direction. We ask that
you appropriate 10 million for this vital Cuba Transition
Project.
The second project is the Dante Fascell North-South Center
also housed at the University of Miami. It seeks to promote
better relations with United States, Canada, and nations of the
Latin American and Caribbean area. The Fascell North-South
Center is rooted in the democratic values of a market driven
economy and social justice. Through research, public outreach,
education, and training and cooperative study, this information
on the Americas will be published and available for the United
States to have a better opportunity at improving our economy
and expanding jobs and learning the risks associated with
partnering countries in the Western Hemisphere to prevent
economic catastrophes. The scholars and professionals at the
Dante Fascell North-South Center at the university have
successfully been able to study the market and publish first
quality information and to avoid market failures. We have been
very helpful to our neighbors in urging them to take these
correct steps. We would like the subcommittee to grant $1.75
million for this unique center.
And the third project, Mr. Chairman and members, is the
Miami Beach Police Department Technology Program. We ask $1
million for this new technology initiative. The funds will be
utilized to enhance communication and response among law
enforcement officers with respect to disasters and emergencies.
Funds will also be used to acquire the necessary infrastructure
to provide real time online public access to crime reports,
statistics about crime and crime maps. With an appropriation of
$1 million, the Miami Beach Police Department will develop
closer partnerships with the community it serves to better
equip their officers in the community and to make Miami Beach
and, indeed, south Florida a safer place for all of us to live.
I thank the subcommittee for the time to testify.
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Mr. Rogers. The gentlelady has given us a workload and if
this budget resolution, if it passes on the floor and allows us
any leeway, we will be anxious to help what we can. Any
questions?
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. I should try to take an earlier flight
then. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
----------
Thursday, March 23, 2000.
JOINT COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY PROJECT AND A NEIGHBORHOOD
REVITALIZATION PROGRAM
WITNESS
HON. KAREN THURMAN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF
FLORIDA
Mr. Rogers. Mrs. Thurman, you are recognized. Your written
statement will be made a part of the record and you may
summarize.
Mrs. Thurman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I know you have been
sitting through a lot of testimony today and every time I come
to testify before this subcommittee. We have a very needy
country out there, and I understand and appreciate that. And
I--I can't imagine the tasks that are before you in trying to
make decisions. But, I would be remiss if I did not come with
projects for the district that I represent in the communities
that I have the opportunity to serve.
There are a couple of projects here that are very important
to the community. I have to say I think the one thing that we
bring strength in is a lot of our communities are starting to
work together, our cities and counties, in trying to bring
joint projects that they are both investing in to try to make
their communities safe. One of the areas that we have talked
about in here before, and in fact our sheriff was up here a
couple of years ago, is the City of Gainesville's
Communications Technology Project. We are seeking funding to
put a Joint Communications Technology Project together to
enhance public safety. Again this is the City and Alachua
County. They have initiated a joint communication system for
the future. The interesting part about this is also it takes
care of our regional rural area. It also covers a very large
portion of north Florida.
We also have a project that is dealing with Partners for a
Productive Community, and we are seeking Federal funding to
expand our neighborhood revitalization program. It has actually
worked already within the county, but they are trying to expand
it out into some of the more rural areas. Again it is a joint
project to take what is already successful and move it out so
it is successful for the entire community.
There is an area though that we have come up with a
shortfall of about $770,000, which is a business incubator, the
Technology Center, that actually broke ground a couple months
ago. When it was launched about 3 years ago the construction
costs were going to be about $60 per square foot. They have now
gone to $87 per square foot. We are about $770,000 short. It
would be a shame for us to lose what has already been invested,
about $1.4 million, because of the shortfall.
We have some other projects here but I look like the last
one here, at least when I came up. So if I get out of here
maybe you can take a break. I hope you would consider mine and
thank you. I will answer any questions.
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Mr. Rogers. Thank you very much. You just made a lot of
points. Any questions?
Mr. Serrano. Thank you.
Mr. Rogers. Thank you very much.
Mr. McGovern and Mr. Frank.
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Thursday, March 23, 2000.
NATIONAL TEXTILE CENTER
WITNESSES
HON. JIM McGOVERN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF
MASSACHUSETTS
HON. BARNEY FRANK, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF
MASSACHUSETTS
Mr. McGovern. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for allowing us to
appear before you today. We are here to ask the subcommittee to
appropriate 15 million for the National Textile Centers in the
fiscal year 2001 Commerce, Justice, and State appropriations
bill. I represent Dartmouth, Massachusetts, which is located,
which also borders Congressman Frank's district, which is in
New Bedford. This program has already generated a great deal of
help for the textile industry, which is still alive and well in
our region of the country. The best way for textile companies
to remain in business in the face of international competition
is by developing innovative processes, identifying niche
markets, and in providing other innovative ways to help them
compete. We have been told that already 250 million in economic
activity could be traced to the $54 million in Federal
investment in the National Textile Center since fiscal year
1992.
This is an important program. I think all of the
universities that benefit from this will attest to the fact
that it has been of great value and, even more importantly for
us, it has been an incredible help to the industry in our area
in keeping people employed.
I will submit my total testimony for the record.
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Mr. Rogers. Thank you.
Mr. Frank. This is genuinely a national program. The center
itself is in Delaware, and the University of Alabama, Georgia,
Massachusetts, and mostly in the South, both Carolinas
participate. I think the justification is that it is American
trade policy which has caused obviously some of the problems
here. We pay lip service to the principle that what we should
do is go forward with open trade and then compensate those who
have been hurt and try to deal with it.
This is a genuine effort to do this. This is an effort
developed within the United States, a technology based textile
industry, so that whereas we can't compete simply in the area
of wages we would have some sector of industry, a high tech
sector here. And understand that much of the textile industry
goes overseas because of wage deficits, but we can develop some
technology based activity here and that has happened. It has
saved some jobs and it is a relatively small investment. And a
national center willing to distribute technology is the model
for, people tell us, what we are supposed to do with regard to
facilitating globalization while trying to minimize the impact
on working America. It has been very important for us.
University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth is a very good
example of a university that works very well with the private
sector in the surrounding communities. So we think this is a
project that at least as far as we know complies with what
people tell them they are supposed to do.
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Mr. Rogers. We thank both of you for your testimony. We
provided $9 million this current year----
Mr. Frank. They are looking for an increase.
Mr. Rogers. I don't know what the budget request was. I
think it is zero last year. I think it is again zero. We have
$9 million. It is an interesting topic. I formally had lots of
textile workers in my district. I have hardly any now after
NAFTA. They went south. Fruit of the Loom has flown the coop
and many others. I wish you well on trying to develop a high
tech textile end. I am a little bit pessimistic about that. I
don't know how we can do that but----
Mr. Frank. First of all, I know that the loss of Fruit of
the Loom was painful, of course. Now Fruit of the Loom is going
down the tubes. Even if you had it you wouldn't have. There are
mixed emotions to the reaction of the departure of Fruit of the
Loom.
Mr. Rogers. If they had stayed here we would have taken
care of them.
Mr. Frank. He thinks he can take care of himself. I
appreciate that. It does stress that we do think there is some
national responsibility to try to help people who are the
victims of trade policy. They have had some success. It is
obviously a much smaller industry but the flocking process
appears to be one where it works well. We have Malden Mills up
in Massachusetts where they had the fire. But at least so far
it has at least helped it to keep, albeit a much smaller one,
to keep going.
In any case, we have a university that does work on an
ongoing basis with firms in both the cities on either side.
Mr. McGovern. In the testimony I submitted to the committee
it kind of lists the number of successes that the money you
have already invested achieved for the industry, which have
helped strengthen the industry and keep it alive.
Mr. Frank. I voted against that because I wanted to protect
the owners.
Mr. McGovern. I would have voted against that if I was
here.
Mr. Rogers. So did I. Thank you both for your testimony. We
are in recess for the moment.
[Recess.]
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Thursday, March 23, 2000.
NEWARK ARENA, OPERATION NITRO, AND THE CENTER FOR BIODEFENSE
WITNESS
HON. DONALD PAYNE, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW
JERSEY
Mr. Rogers. Mr. Payne, you are recognized. We will make
your written statement a part of the record and if you would,
summarize it for us.
Mr. Payne. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is a pleasure for me
to be here to come before the subcommittee to give me an
opportunity to testify here today about requests of critical
importance for my congressional district, the 10th
Congressional District of New Jersey, right across the river
from Congressman Serrano. It includes my hometown.
Mr. Serrano. It is well noted.
Mr. Payne. Thank you. I very much appreciate all of the
help in the past you have given in the past and I look forward
to your continued support.
Let me just quickly touch on three specific requests. First
is the Newark Arena. This is a very new economic development
initiative which is evolving from a concept to concrete plans.
There is a unique opportunity for a major downtown facility
linked to key transit hubs. The synergy of a major tenant that
is committed to invest for the community for its development
and opportunities for upgrading the center city retail and
economic environment makes this a very attractive proposal. It
is anticipated that the arena would be open for business in the
year 2002. For site acquisition and construction, a total of 20
million is requested through the Economic Development
Administration of the Department of Commerce.
Secondly, the next request is for a Criminal Justice
Operations Narcotics Interdiction to reduce open air drug
markets, NITRO. This program is designed to improve the quality
of life in the city's neighborhoods by reducing the incidents
of drug trafficking.
The Newark Police Department's statistics show that an
estimated 80 percent of crime in Newark is drug related. The
single most significant impact law enforcement could have is
through dismantling criminal enterprises by targeting the
infrastructure and profits associated with the drug trade.
Operation NITRO is a comprehensive effort designed to address
long-term operations through collaboration strategies as, one,
proactive street level enforcement to search warrants for mid
and upper level drug trafficking networks, asset seizures
through civil enforcement, neighborhood problem solving, and
high visibility fear reduction. The Police Department has
identified requirements for specialized facilities and
equipment needs such as cellular phones, wireless transmitters,
recording devices, night vision infrared equipment will be
needed. In addition, vehicle based computers, cameras and
videotape recorders are needed to facilitate this operation.
Finally, and my last request is for the Center for
Biodefense. Changing international conditions, post-Cold War
deployment of U.S. troops in new geographic areas and an
increasingly global economy has contributed to a resurgence of
infectious diseases and the threat of domestic and
international chemical and biological attacks. We saw that in
New York City with the West Nile virus. And so UMDNJ has
created an International Center for Public Health, a world
class infectious disease research and treatment complex in the
University Heights Science Park in Newark as a direct response
to this emerging public health and safety crisis. The center
consists of the Public Health Research Institute, an
internationally prestigious biomedical research institute that
conducts a broad range of infectious disease and public health
research; the UMDNJ National Tuberculosis Center, one of the
three federally funded TB centers; and the UMDNJ New Jersey
Medical School Department of Microbiology and Molecular
Genetics.
The center has received State and Federal support in its
mission to become one of the premier centers focusing on
infectious disease research and treatment. UMDNJ University
Hospital will coordinate training programs for emergency
department physicians and nurses. University EMS will also
coordinate EMS technical classes. Participants from these
programs will be from Newark area hospitals, Level I and Level
II trauma centers, and specialty healthcare centers. This is
the critical logistical challenge confronting New Jersey, and
it warrants your particular consideration.
With that, Mr. Chairman since our time is running out, I
would urge your strong consideration for these three very
worthwhile projects, one of many that are needed. And I know of
the dozens and dozens that come before you, but I do feel that
these three unique projects will have a tremendous impact on
the State of New Jersey and in the 10th Congressional District
which still lags behind other areas. With the great resurgence
in this Nation, we are still lagging behind. So I would
appreciate any consideration you can give us.
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Mr. Rogers. Thank you very much for your very eloquent
statement. Did you say 80 percent of the crimes are drug
related?
Mr. Payne. That is right.
Mr. Rogers. What is the chief drug they have been using?
Mr. Payne. It is cocaine. What happens is out of towners
come into the city. Drug dealing is something that is done very
rarely in the suburbs, and suburban use is as high as in the
city. Matter of fact, it is much higher because inner city
people can't afford it. So the out of towners come in late at
night or early in the morning; there is a pattern. That is why
we need the infrared things. They will come in at 3:00 or 4:00
in the morning, 5:00 o'clock in the morning, 1:00 or 2:00 in
the morning, any time after dark. It is cocaine.
Now, we have a new drug that is being used in the suburbs
that is used by teenagers, and New Jersey has sort of the
highest growing number of users that are addicted to it. It is
very hallucinatory and dangerous and could actually cause
death.
Mr. Rogers. Is that methamphetamine?
Mr. Payne. That is correct, coming from the Netherlands.
Newark International Airport, now being a new international
airport, direct flights from Amsterdam, we see that this drug,
like I said, is usually white teenage and young adults from
suburban communities, is another problem that we have.
So the bad part about it is that many of these youngsters
are really not bad kids. It is just that they figure this is
the only thing they could do for a living. It is sad. You would
be surprised. You could have a roomful of drug dealers and you
could have a roomful of kids going to high school and college
and you wouldn't know the difference because they are basically
not bad. When I was a kid if a guy was a criminal he was tough,
rough, you have got to keep out of his way. These kids are just
kind of brought in because they have nothing else to do.
So anything we could do in this area would not only help
the city but perhaps these kids in the future if we could cut
it off and try to redirect them.
Mr. Rogers. We made available now for several years running
and including the current year hundreds of millions of dollars
for the local law enforcement block grants. Moneys can be used
for anything that the local law enforcement people feel is
suited to their needs. So I would encourage you and them to
attempt to get grants through that program, and the Juvenile
Justice Grant Program as well, and the Violence Against Women
Grants. There are lots of grants that Justice has. And the
record shows they don't give all of that money out every year.
So there is money there. And I would encourage you and your
local police departments to seek that out.
One final question. You mentioned tuberculosis. Is there a
resurgence?
Mr. Payne. Yes. As a matter of fact, the strain is very--it
is a tough strain. One of the problems that happened when
tuberculosis reemerged was that no one made the drug to deal
with it, the streptomycin. No one made it and it was of no
profit to the drug makers. So when it reoccurred there was a
lack of adequate drugs to handle it. Currently this new
tuberculosis though is resistant to the old treatment. There
has to be a cocktail of three or four different drugs that have
to be brought together. As a matter of fact, we have outreach
with people that go in and find--it has to be taken daily if
you are going to eradicate the disease. So it is a tough
strain. We have this new center that is dealing with it to see
about--you know, cocktails or something. You have to take four
or five pills. If they can take the ingredients of four or five
and then come up with a single pill, then you are going to have
more success. One of the reasons people don't want to come to
take it is all day long you are simply taking pills.
But it is a new resistant strain. It is tough to--you see
the bad part about tuberculosis is you don't have to--to get
certain diseases you have to maybe do something you shouldn't
have done. Tuberculosis, all you have to do is be on the subway
and someone coughs in your face or on the metro or in a bus or
plane. It is just contagious. Therefore, I think that we really
have a responsibility because you can get it just by being and
standing somewhere.
So I would hope that we could really have the focus on this
new resurgence because if we are going to have resistant
strains we are in bad shape. Once again a resurgence in
tuberculosis is just unbelievable.
Mr. Rogers. Thank you for your testimony.
Mr. Serrano.
Mr. Serrano. Just very briefly on that point. I am very
much familiar with this issue of tuberculosis. When I was a
child it was major problem in Puerto Rico and then it became a
problem of the Puerto Rican communities in the United States.
Then, thank God, with drugs and proper nutrition and rest and
whatever it disappeared. Now it has come back, not related to
any particular community like it was before but related in
general to a condition, where he is correct. It could be
someone who is suffering from the HIV infection or who has got
a drug problem and then it is spreading throughout areas like
ours and throughout cities like ours with no relationship to
anything that doctors can point a finger to. So it is really a
major problem.
One last point, Mr. Chairman. We don't seem to be paying
attention to it. We don't seem to know that it came back.
Mr. Payne. That is right. It is definitely back.
Mr. Rogers. Thank you so much for your testimony.
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Thursday, March 23, 2000.
TESTIMONY OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS
WITNESS
HON. JIM SAXTON, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW
JERSEY
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Mr. Rogers. The hearing is adjourned.
[The following statements were submitted for the record:]
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