[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 80 (Wednesday, June 22, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 22, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
      H.R. 4602, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR AND RELATED AGENCIES 
                        APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 1995

  Mr. YATES. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House resolve itself into the 
Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union for the 
consideration of the bill (H.R. 4602) making appropriations for the 
Department of the Interior and related agencies for the fiscal year 
ending September 30, 1995, and for other purposes; and pending that 
motion, Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that general debate be 
limited to not to exceed 1 hour, the time to be equally divided and 
controlled by the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Regula] and myself.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Illinois?
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Yates].
  The motion was agreed to.

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                     in the committee of the whole

  Accordingly, the House resolved itself into the Committee of the 
Whole House on the State of the Union for the consideration of the 
bill, H.R. 4602, with Mr. Glickman in the chair.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  By unanimous consent, the bill was considered as having been read the 
first time.
  Under the unanimous-consent agreement, the gentleman from Illinois 
[Mr. Yates] will be recognized for 30 minutes, and the gentleman from 
Ohio [Mr. Regula] will be recognized for 30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Yates].
  Mr. YATES. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Chairman, the Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies 
appropriations, which has approved this bill, brings it today to the 
House of Representatives with appropriations for fiscal year 1995 for 
the Department of the Interior and various related agencies.
  The recommendations of the committee are within our 602(b) 
allocations for both budget authority and for outlays. In order to stay 
within our allocation, we have recommended $230 million less than was 
requested by the administration.
  The recommended discretionary budget authority, including 
scorekeeping adjustments, is $13.5 billion. The budget that is 
comparable to that for last year was $13.7 billion. So the amount that 
we recommend in this bill is approximately $200 million less than the 
bill that was enacted last year.
  Offsetting the amount of expenditures, Mr. Chairman, is approximately 
$8.1 billion, which it is expected the Federal Government will collect 
during the next fiscal year in fees, in royalties, and in various kinds 
of income that are paid to the various agencies in the bill.

  Despite the overall decrease recommended in this bill, we have 
recommended increases for selective programs, such as the President's 
Northwest forest plan; the climate change action plan; the South 
Florida Ecosystem Initiative; and costs made necessary because of the 
implementation of NAFTA, for which $6.3 million of the $10.8 million 
request was provided.
  The committee has provided almost $46 million of the $57 million 
requested for the South Florida Ecosystem Initiative. The problem here 
requires our very serious and very immediate attention. Because of 
these pressures and the resulting impacts on water quality and 
quantity, the Everglades are now less than half their original size, 
invasive plant species have altered the landscape, wading birds have 
declined by more than 90 percent, and Florida Bay is experiencing 
severe declines in fishery resources.
  The ecosystem initiatives that we have placed in this bill will take 
care of only a portion of the needs in that important area.
  Other important initiatives included in the committee's 
recommendation include the funding for the President's Northwest forest 
plan. The plan offers a new approach to managing old growth forests and 
their biological diversity based on sound science and a commitment to 
existing law.
  The funding included in the bill will allow timber sales under the 
plan to go forward as well as provide for the Jobs in the Woods 
Ecosystem Restoration Projects, watershed assessments, consultation and 
research.
  In addition to reductions made by the committee in order to stay 
within our 602(b) allocation, the agencies in this bill, like those 
throughout the Government, will have to share in the reductions and 
cost adsorptions mandated for all Government programs in 1995.
  For example, the agencies in the Interior bill will have to achieve 
$62 million in administrative savings and almost $38 million due to FTE 
reductions. These agencies will also absorb over $63 million dollars in 
costs related to pay increases, and potentially additional amounts for 
the pay increases recently approved in the Treasury bill.
  In total, the agencies in the Interior bill will have to reduce or 
absorb about $180 million in addition to the specific reductions 
recommended by the committee.
  To meet our 602(b) allocation, the committee was faced with 
eliminating and significantly downsizing several programs. The rural 
abandoned mine program has been eliminated. We did not like to do it. 
It is a program that has helped the areas where it has expended funds, 
but we had no choice.
  As to the natural resource agencies included in the bill, we have 
recommended funding levels which reflect a total decrease of $57 
million from the 1994 level. These agencies provide for operations on 
the public lands in the West as well as all of our national parks, 
wildlife refuges, and national forests. The committee did provide 
increased levels for operating programs to address some of the chronic 
underfunding of operating the parks and managing other public lands, 
but was not able to provide the amounts requested by the 
administration. There just was not enough money in our allocation.
  The committee has provided a 19 percent increase for energy 
conservation programs. The items recommended for the climate plan are 
those expected to yield the largest reductions in greenhouse gas 
emissions. The overall increase for energy conservation is $134 
million, which is about $152 million less than requested by the 
administration.
  The committee was faced with a very difficult situation when the 
President's budget reduced the Indian health programs by $250 million 
below the 1994 level.

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