[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 44 (Wednesday, April 20, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: April 20, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                        PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS

  The following petitions and memorials were laid before the Senate and 
were referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:

       POM-443. A joint resolution adopted by the Legislature of 
     the State of Idaho; to the Committee on Environment and 
     Public Works.

                      ``House Joint Memorial No. 9

       ``Whereas, on December 28, 1993, the National Marine 
     Fisheries Service (NMFS) in 50 CFR 226 adopted a final rule 
     which designated critical habitat for the Snake River Sockeye 
     Salmon, Snake River Spring/Summer Chinook Salmon and Snake 
     River Fall Chinook Salmon pursuant to the Endangered Species 
     Act; and
       ``Whereas, this designation impacts the entire Salmon and 
     Clearwater River drainages and the Snake River upstream to 
     Hells Canyon Dam or roughly one-third of the land mass of 
     Idaho; and
       ``Whereas, the following counties contain or border rivers, 
     steams and hydrologic units designated as critical habitat 
     under the NMFS designation: Adams, Benewah, Blaine, 
     Clearwater, Custer, Idaho, Latah, Lemhi, Lewis, Nez Perce, 
     Shoshone and Valley; and
       ``Whereas, in its designation, the NMFS states: ``. . . 
     Because adverse modification of riparian zones may impede the 
     recovery of threatened and endangered salmon, the adjacent 
     riparian zone is included in the critical habitat for listed 
     Snake River Salmon . . .'' and defines ``adjacent riparian 
     zones'' as those areas within a horizontal distance of three 
     hundred feet from the normal high water of a stream channel 
     or from the shoreline of a standing body of water; and
       ``Whereas, this designation will probably have deleterious 
     impacts on livestock grazing, agricultural activities, timber 
     harvest, mining and related activities currently conducted in 
     the designated areas; and
       ``Whereas, in the NMFS designation there is little 
     reference to a restriction of hydroelectric dams on the Snake 
     and Columbia River systems that is causing difficulties with 
     both upstream and downstream passage of anadromous fish, a 
     major reason why salmon have been decreasing in numbers, and 
     the NMFS designation is also largely silent insofar as 
     harvest regulation and control of salmon predators, these 
     being additional major reasons for the decline in salmon 
     numbers; and
       ``Whereas, under Section 4(b)(2) of the Endangered Species 
     Act, critical habitat is required to be designated on the 
     basis of the best scientific data available and after taking 
     into account the economic impact and other relevant impacts 
     of specifying any particular area as critical habitat and an 
     area may be excluded from a critical habitat designation if 
     the overall benefits of exclusion outweigh the benefits of 
     designation and the exclusion will not result in the 
     extinction of the species; and
       ``Whereas,the University of Idaho has currently prepared 
     such a study for two of the twelve Idaho counties designated 
     under the NMFS order; and
       ``Whereas, the NMFS designation has great potential to do 
     severe economic harm to the other Idaho counties, to many 
     Idaho citizens and industries with ramifications to the 
     economic health of the whole State of Idaho, while at the 
     same time being questionably effective toward its main goal 
     and objective: recovery of more salmon; and
       ``Whereas, the ``incremental'' approach used by NMFS in 
     analyzing the socio-economic impacts of designating critical 
     habitat, which resulted in a judging of ``no significant 
     impact'' appear to circumvent the intent of Congress 
     regarding Section 4(b)(2) of the Endangered Species Act.
       ``Now, therefore, be it resolved, By the members of the 
     Second Regular Session of the Fifty-second Idaho Legislature, 
     the House of Representatives and the Senate concurring 
     therein, that we respectfully request the President of the 
     United States and the Administrator of the National Marine 
     Fisheries Service to declare a moratorium in enforcing the 
     critical habitat designation contained in 50 CFR Part 226 as 
     it pertains to the twelve Idaho counties so that the State of 
     Idaho and the affected counties can prepare reliable socio-
     economic impact analyses to determine if justification exists 
     for an exemption pursuant to section 4(B)(2) of the 
     Endangered Species Act.
       ``Be it further resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the House 
     of Representatives be, and she is hereby authorized and 
     directed to forward a copy of this Memorial to the President 
     of the United States, the Administrator of the National 
     Marine Fisheries Service, the President of the Senate and the 
     Speaker of the House of Representatives of Congress, and the 
     congressional delegation representing the State of Idaho in 
     the Congress of the United States.''
                                  ____

       POM-444. A joint resolution adopted by the Legislature of 
     the State of Maine; to the Committee on Environment and 
     Public Works.

                           ``Joint Resolution

       ``Whereas, a modern, well-maintained, efficient and 
     interconnected transportation system that is vital to the 
     economic growth, health, and global competitiveness of our 
     State and the entire nation; and
       ``Whereas, the highway network is the backbone of a 
     transportation system that provides for intermodal 
     connectivity and the movement of people and goods; and
       ``Whereas, it is critical to effectively address highway 
     transportation needs through appropriate transportation plans 
     and programs; and
       ``Whereas, the federal Intermodal Surface Transportation 
     Efficiency Act of 1991 established the concept of a 155,000-
     mile National Highway System, which includes the Interstate 
     System; and
       ``Whereas, on December 9, 1993, the United States 
     Department of transportation transmitted to Congress a 
     proposal for a National Highway System, which identified 104 
     port facilities, 143 airports, 191 railroad-truck terminals, 
     321 Amtrak stations and transit terminals; and
       ``Whereas, the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency 
     Act of 1991 requires that National Highway System maintenance 
     funds may not be released to the states if the National 
     Highway System is not approved by September 30, 1995; and
       ``Whereas, the uncertainty associated with the future of 
     the National Highway System precludes the possibility of the 
     State to actively undertake and properly develop the 
     necessary planning and programming activities; now, 
     therefore, be it
       ``Resolved, That We, your Memorialists, respectfully urge 
     and request that the Congress of the United States enact 
     legislation to designate and approve the National Highway 
     System no later than September 30, 1994; and be it further
       ``Resolved, That suitable copies of this Memorial, duly 
     authenticated by the Secretary of State, be transmitted to 
     the Honorable William J. Clinton, President of the United 
     States, to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the 
     House of Representatives of the Congress of the United 
     States, and to each member of the Maine Congressional 
     Delegation.''
                                  ____

       POM-445. A joint resolution adopted by the Legislature of 
     the State of Idaho; to the Committee on Finance.

                      ``House Joint Memorial No. 13

       ``Whereas, the 1967 United States Supreme Court decision in 
     the case of `National Bellas Hess, Inc. v. Dept. of Revenue,' 
     (386 U.S. 753 (1967)) denies states the authority to require 
     the collection of sales and use taxes by out-of-state mail 
     order firms that have no physical presence in the taxing 
     state, even though they solicit and obtain significant sales 
     there through the mail and common carriers; and
       ``Whereas, in its 1992 decision in `Quill Corp. v. North 
     Dakota,' (U.S.S.C. Doc. No. 91-194), the United States 
     Supreme Court clearly indicated that the Congress of the 
     United States can, consistent with the U.S. Constitution, 
     enact legislation authorizing direct marketers to collect 
     state and local use taxes; and
       ``Whereas, the inability of states like Idaho to require 
     certain direct marketers and other businesses not physically 
     present, but selling to their residents, to collect sales and 
     use tax places many community businesses that support state 
     and local governments at a substantial competitive 
     disadvantage; and
       ``Whereas, restrictions on collecting such taxes result in 
     a loss of billions of dollars nationally and millions of 
     dollars in Idaho of legally due sales and use tax revenue; 
     and
       ``Whereas, according to a recent report released by the 
     Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, the 
     revenue potential to all states from untaxed interstate mail 
     order sales is projected to be $3.27 billion in 1992 and that 
     the loss of tax revenue to the State of Idaho in the same 
     report is estimated to be 12.7 million dollars; and
       ``Whereas, organizations representing local retailers, 
     state and local officials and public service recipient groups 
     are working to achieve enactment of federal legislation that 
     would authorize states to require direct marketers to collect 
     state sales and use taxes; and
       ``Whereas, in the two decades since the `National Bellas 
     Hess' decision, improvements in communications technology and 
     transportation distribution systems have changed the nature 
     and extent of interstate sales and the recent and projected 
     rapid growth in interstate sales, through television, mail 
     order, `800' telephone numbers and by other means of 
     electronic communications indicates that, without corrective 
     legislation, collection of sales and use taxes will become 
     increasingly inequitable and unenforceable; and
       ``Whereas, there has been introduced into the Senate of the 
     United States a bill, S. 1825, `The Fairness for Main Street 
     Act of 1994,' that would allow state and local jurisdictions 
     to require out-of-state companies to collect sales or use 
     taxes on tangible personal property sold to residents of 
     the state or local jurisdictions if the company's national 
     sales are not less than $3 million and sales into the 
     state are not less than $100,000 and which includes other 
     fair and reasonable safeguards for out-of-state companies.
       ``Now, Therefore, Be It Resolved, By the members of the 
     Second Regular Session of the Fifty-second Idaho Legislature, 
     the House of Representatives and the Senate concurring 
     therein, that we respectfully request Congress to enact S. 
     1825, ``The Fairness for Main Street Business Act of 1994,'' 
     or substantially similar legislation that would prevent this 
     state's revenue loss and remove the competitive advantage now 
     enjoyed by some out-of-state businesses.
       ``Be It Further Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the House 
     of Representatives be, and she is hereby authorized and 
     directed to forward a copy of this Memorial to the President 
     of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives 
     of Congress, and the congressional delegation representing 
     the State of Idaho in the Congress of the United States.''
                                  ____

       POM-446. A joint resolution adopted by the Legislature of 
     the State of Idaho; to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
       ``Whereas, President Clinton announced that he is lifting 
     the trade embargo on Vietnam and is establishing a trade 
     liaison office in Hanoi; and
       ``Whereas, last summer, President Clinton outlined four 
     criteria for judging the seriousness of Vietnam's commitment 
     in accounting for missing Americans: these included 
     repatriation of remains; provisions of archival materials 
     related to missing Americans; resolution of last-known-alive 
     discrepancy cases; and cooperation on resolving Laotian POW/
     MIA cases; and
       ``Whereas, Clinton Administration officials gave the 
     Vietnamese Government a list of eighty-four cases that they 
     expected help on before they could recommend lifting the 
     embargo and in each, U.S. officials believe that persuasive 
     evidence exists that the Vietnam Government knows what 
     happened to the men; and
       ``Whereas, accounting for these Americans would provide a 
     concrete demonstration of Vietnam's willingness to address 
     some of the President's stated concerns and it would serve as 
     a gesture of good faith by the Vietnamese to proceed with the 
     hundreds of cases beyond the eighty-four that they could 
     easily resolve; and
       ``Whereas, despite Clinton Administration assertions that 
     Vietnam has made measurable progress in each of the specific 
     areas, the Vietnam Government's record of stonewalling and 
     cynical manipulation for more than twenty years cannot be 
     ignored; and
       ``Whereas, during the Vietnam War, the Vietnamese went to 
     great lengths to keep track of enemy personnel who came under 
     their control, alive or dead, as all units had been 
     instructed on procedures to follow in the event they killed 
     or captured an American, including immediate notification to 
     higher headquarters; and
       ``Whereas, dead Americans were carefully photographed and 
     cataloged and remains were often buried immediately at 
     aircraft crash sites and locations of the graves recorded and 
     a year or more later, teams recovered the remains, preserved 
     them as they did for their own and reburied or stored them 
     above ground in designated locations; and
       ``Whereas, throughout this process, detailed records were 
     kept and over the years the Vietnam Government has returned 
     some of these remains and U.S. intelligence estimates that 
     the Vietnamese could readily provide hundreds more; and
       ``Whereas, today, Vietnamese officials continue to hold 
     back key documents they know are crucial to the accounting 
     process of POWs and MIAs while proving a large volume of 
     inconsequential materials to create the impression of 
     cooperation and progress; and
       ``Whereas, same officials of the Vietnam Government, using 
     words strikingly similar to those they have used for two 
     decades, are again claiming they hold no more American 
     remains despite the fact that Vietnamese records and 
     photographs provided since 1992 back up previous intelligence 
     and diplomatic admissions that they continue to hold hundreds 
     of remains or can provide persuasive explanations why some 
     remains may not be available; and
       ``Whereas, the Government of Vietnam has not provided a 
     single set of remains from the list of eighty-four MIAs given 
     to them months ago and until they do, it is not credible to 
     assert that the President's criteria on the repatriation of 
     remains has been met; and
       ``Whereas, lifting the trade embargo now without achieving 
     real results is a tragic mistake as it will dash the hopes of 
     the families who have been waiting so long for answers, place 
     the Clinton Administration in the position of relying solely 
     on the Vietnam Government's `goodwill' and risk eroding 
     further the American people's trust in government.
       ``Now, Therefore, Be It Resolved, By the members of the 
     Second Regular Session of the Fifty-second Idaho Legislature, 
     the House of Representatives and the Senate concurring 
     therein, that the current administration not take further 
     steps to restore economic or diplomatic relations with the 
     Government of Vietnam until it can be certified that the 
     Vietnam Government is being fully forthcoming in telling us 
     what they know about Prisoners of War and Americans Missing 
     in Action during the War in Vietnam and that it rescind any 
     action lifting the trade embargo on Vietnam and establishing 
     a political liaison office in Hanoi until such facts can be 
     certified.
       Be It Further Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the House 
     of Representatives be, and she is hereby authorized and 
     directed to forward a copy of this Memorial to President Bill 
     Clinton, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the 
     House of Representatives of Congress, and the congressional 
     delegation representing the State of Idaho in the Congress of 
     the United States.''
                                  ____

       POM-447. A joint resolution adopted by the Legislature of 
     the State of Idaho; to the Committee on Labor and Human 
     Resources.

                      House Joint Memorial No. 10

       ``Whereas, the railroad industry is acknowledged as the 
     originator of private company pensions in the United States; 
     and
       ``Whereas, in the 1930's the United States Congress assumed 
     the responsibility for developing a federally administered 
     retirement program to place the various railroad pension 
     plans on a solid financial basis; and
       ``Whereas, the railroad retirement system today covers over 
     one million individuals who have contributed over the years 
     in good faith and who have legitimate expectations of 
     receiving their benefits; and
       ``Whereas, the National Performance Review in its report 
     `From Red Tape to Results: Creating a Government That Works 
     Better and Costs Less' proposes to transfer the functions of 
     the Railroad Retirement Board to the Social Security 
     Administration, to other federal agencies, and to `private 
     section service providers'; and
       ``Whereas this proposal would privatize and terminate a 
     program that has worked well and provided retirement security 
     to millions of people for nearly 60 years; and
       ``Whereas, it now costs less money per benefit dollar to 
     administer Railroad Retirement than it costs to administer 
     Social Security and consequently, the proposal is likely to 
     increase costs to the taxpayer; and
       ``Whereas, the transfer would violate the Federal 
     government's stated commitment to `serving the customer' as 
     current and future Railroad Retirement beneficiaries 
     vehemently oppose the transfer; and
       ``Whereas, this action threatens to disrupt earned and 
     needed benefits for 1.3 million active, retired, and disabled 
     rail workers and their families; and
       ``Whereas, this proposal would adversely affect all active 
     and retired railroad employees and their families in the 
     great state of Idaho.
       Now, Therefore, Be It Resolved, By the members of the 
     Second Regular Session of the Fifty-second Idaho Legislature, 
     the House of Representatives and the Senate concurring 
     therein, that a continued Federal Commitment to the railroad 
     retirement system is essential to assure the integrity of the 
     railroad retirees' benefits and the preservation of the 
     present structure of the railroad retirement system, 
     including the administrative framework of the Railroad 
     Retirement Board, is necessary to fulfill the time-honored 
     responsibility of the Federal Government.
       Be It Further Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the House 
     of Representatives be, and she is hereby authorized and 
     directed to forward a copy of this Memorial to the President 
     of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives 
     of Congress, and the congressional delegation representing 
     the State of Idaho in the Congress of the United States.''

                          ____________________