[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 133 (Wednesday, September 21, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: September 21, 1994]



  DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 1995; DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 
   SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS AND RESCISSIONS ACT, 1994--CONFERENCE 
                                 REPORT

  Mr. KOHL. Mr. President, I submit a report of the committee of 
conference on H.R. 4649 and ask for its immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The report will be stated.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The committee on conference on the disagreeing votes of the 
     two Houses on the amendment to the bill (H.R. 4649) making 
     appropriations for the government of the District of Columbia 
     and other activities chargeable in whole or in part against 
     the revenues of said District for the fiscal year ending 
     September 30, 1995, and for other purposes, having met, after 
     full and free conference, have agreed to recommend and do 
     recommend to their respective Houses this report, signed by 
     all of the conferees.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the Senate will proceed to 
the consideration of the conference report.
  (The conference report is printed in the House proceedings of the 
Record of August 4, 1994.)
  Mr. KOHL. Mr. President, I am pleased to present the conference 
report on H.R. 4649, the D.C. appropriations bill for fiscal year 1995, 
to the Senate. It represents a fair bipartisan compromise with the 
House on the items of disagreement and deserves the support of the 
Senate. Every single conferee, Republican and Democrat, signed the 
conference report.
  At the outset I want to complement our House colleagues, led by their 
able Chairman Julian Dixon, for the professional and concise way in 
which they conducted the conference in reaching consensus on this bill.
  The conferees met on August 4, 1994, and the House adopted the 
conference report on August 8 and sent it to the Senate. We have been 
attempting to clear this measure for the President since that time. The 
agreement includes a requirement that the Mayor submit a plan for 
cutting the $140 million in required savings 30 days after enactment. 
The conferees intended that this bill be enacted by mid-August so that 
those proposed savings could be in place by this time in September, 
close to the end of the fiscal year. I hope that we can move this 
agreement through the Senate and on to the President in very short 
order.

  Mr. President, this conference report deserves the support of 
Senators. We were able to convince the House to accept a reduction in 
the Federal payment to $660 million. This amount is approximately the 
midpoint between the amount the city has wanted and the amount in the 
Senate bill.
  We also included $140 million in budget cuts that the District of 
Columbia will have to make during the fiscal year 1995. This amount 
will no doubt be difficult to achieve, but is reachable. We should note 
that the Mayor has proposed $140 million in cuts, which the council 
will soon consider. Ultimately it is the local government that must 
make the tough decisions and implement a plan to achieve the necessary 
cuts.
  Language is included in section 138 that places a limit on the 
District's disbursements both by individual funds and in the aggregate. 
The purpose of this language, which was agreed to by the conferees, is 
to keep the District government from spending more cash in fiscal year 
1995 that it collects. During the past 3 years, fiscal years 1991, 
1992, and 1993, the District government has had balanced budgets 
according to generally accepted accounting principles [GAAP] but during 
those same 3 years had disbursed $276 million more from the general 
fund that is has collected in cash. In other words, the city has been 
spending more than it has taken in, even though it reports that its' 
budgets are balanced. Most people would find that difficult to 
comprehend.
  Mr. President, the conferees want to make it clear that the 
disbursements and net payables, by fund and for the District government 
as a whole, are not to exceed the cash receipts collected by fund and 
for the District government as a whole. In all cases the controlling 
factor is the cash receipts collected and deposited.
  If this legislation is violated, the following year's Federal payment 
will be reduced by the amount that the disbursements and net payables 
exceed the cash receipts.
  Mr. President, it is important that this limitation be fully and 
clearly understood by the District government.
  In addition, Mr. President, it should be understood that the 
conferees expect that every branch and agency of the D.C. government is 
expected to participate and contribute their fair share toward these 
spending cuts. The conferees recognize the independence of other 
branches of the local government and of certain independent agencies, 
however, the conferees believe that the overall fiscal condition is of 
overriding concern and expect full cooperation with the Mayor and 
council in implementing these reductions.
  Mr. President, the conference agreement modifies the Senate amendment 
requiring a reduction of 3,559 full-time equivalent positions over 5 
years. The modification provides that the city must eliminate 2,00 
full-time equivalent positions in one year, fiscal year 1995.
  The Senate agreed to recede to the House on the D.C. School of Law. 
As part of her plan of cuts the Mayor has proposed closing the law 
school. Because of the debate that we have begun, I believe that the 
council and citizens of the District of Columbia will carefully look at 
the Mayor's proposal. I also believe that the D.C. government is now 
engaged in a process that puts every item in the budget up for a fair 
and impartial review.
  In closing, Mr. President, I want to express my appreciation to the 
Senator from Montana, our distinguished ranking member, for his work in 
shaping this bill. His efforts have made this a better bill and his 
hard work have made it possible to bring it to final adoption today.
  Finally, Mr. President, I want to thank the staff on both sides of 
the aisle and both sides of the Capitol for their assistance in making 
what could have been a very contentious conference reach a bipartisan 
compromise. That concludes my explanation of the conference agreement.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  Mr. BURNS addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Montana [Mr. Burns] is 
recognized.
  Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I want to first of all thank Senator Kohl 
from Wisconsin, who has put a lot of time and effort in on this bill. 
It has been remarkable to work with him, because there were some 
contentious things that came up within this bill, and it was all worked 
out. I compliment him and his staff on this.
  This conference report represents a significant change in the way 
this committee has gone about its business with the District of 
Columbia.
  We have cut the Federal payment by over $13 million from the 
President's request.
  We have mandated that the District cut their own budget by $140 
million.
  I realize that is a very tough thing to do in these times when local 
governments have a hard time coming up with money. I can remember back 
in my days of county government when an initiative in Montana was 
passed, called 105, which meant that you could not increase property 
taxes to fund county government. Of course, that went for the school 
districts as well within Yellowstone County. But we made it through 
there because we had done some things and one of them was to establish 
a 5-year budget, which gives us a look into the future that if certain 
things happen, this is how it reflects on how we finance our local 
government.
  And, we have mandated that the District eliminate 2,000 FTE's in 
fiscal year 1995.
  Again, that is a big order, and something that can be obtained 
whenever you take a look at the resources here in the District of 
Columbia.
  The Congress has directed the city to submit no less than 17 
independent reports, audits, and evaluations for review by the 
Congress. Some of these reports are linked to the release of money. All 
of them will be valuable tools in the future consideration of 
additional federal funding for the District.
  In total, this conference report represents a comprehensive overhaul 
of Congress' relationship with the District.
  Mr. President, we have a responsibility to our constituents to 
protect the integrity of these and other federal investments by 
exercising our statutory right in overseeing the District of Columbia.
  A house well furnished will be unstable without an adequate 
foundation upon which to sit. Looking at it today, the Capital City is 
indeed resting on a cracking foundation.
  I hope these changes in course will lead the District to calmer 
waters both with Congress and with the citizens of this great city.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. KOHL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. KOHL. Mr. President, at this time, I ask for the yeas and nays on 
the conference report.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There is a sufficient second.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.


            statement on district on columbia appropriations

  Mr. SASSER. Mr. President, the Senate Budget Committee has examined 
H.R. 4649, the District of Columbia appropriations bill and has found 
that the bill is under its 602(b) budget authority allocation by $8 
million and under its 602(b) outlay allocation by $8 million.
  I compliment the distinguished manager of the bill, Senator Kohl, and 
the distinguished ranking member of the District of Columbia 
subcommittee, Senator Burns, on all of their hard work.
  Mr. President, I have a table prepared by the Budget Committee which 
shows the official scoring of the District of Columbia appropriations 
bill and I ask unanimous consent that it be inserted in the Record at 
the appropriate point.
  There being no objection, the table was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

    SENATE BUDGET COMMITTEE SCORING OF H.R. 4649--FY 1995 DISTRICT OF   
                COLUMBIA APPROPRIATIONS--CONFERENCE BILL                
                          [Dollars in millions]                         
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                      Budget            
                   Bill summary                     authority   Outlays 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Discretionary totals:                                                   
  New spending in bill............................        712        712
  Outlays from prior years appropriations.........  .........          2
  Permanent/advance appropriations................          0          0
  Supplementals...................................          0          0
                                                   ---------------------
    Subtotal, discretionary spending..............        712        714
Mandatory Totals..................................          0          0
    Bill total....................................        712        714
    Senate 602(b) allocations.....................        720        722
                                                   ---------------------
      Difference..................................         -8         -8
                                                   =====================
Discretionary Totals above (+) or below (-):                            
  President's request.............................        -10        -10
  House-passed bill...............................         -8         -8
  Senate-reported bill............................         12         12
  Senate-passed bill..............................         12         12
    Defense.......................................          0          0
    International affairs.........................          0          0
    Domestic discretionary........................        712        714
------------------------------------------------------------------------

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there further debate?
  If not, the question is on agreeing to the conference report. The 
yeas and nays have been ordered.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. SIMPSON. I announce that the Senator from Rhode Island [Mr. 
Chafee] and the Senator from South Carolina [Mr. Thurmond] are 
necessarily absent.
  I further announce that, if present and voting, the Senator from 
South Carolina [Mr. Thurmond] would vote ``nay.''
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 71, nays 27, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 302 Leg.]

                                YEAS--71

     Akaka
     Bennett
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Boren
     Boxer
     Bradley
     Breaux
     Bryan
     Bumpers
     Byrd
     Campbell
     Cohen
     Conrad
     D'Amato
     Danforth
     Daschle
     Dodd
     Dole
     Dorgan
     Durenberger
     Exon
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Ford
     Glenn
     Gorton
     Graham
     Harkin
     Hatfield
     Hollings
     Inouye
     Jeffords
     Johnston
     Kassebaum
     Kennedy
     Kerrey
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lugar
     Mack
     Mathews
     Metzenbaum
     Mikulski
     Mitchell
     Moynihan
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Nunn
     Packwood
     Pell
     Pressler
     Pryor
     Reid
     Riegle
     Robb
     Rockefeller
     Sarbanes
     Sasser
     Simon
     Simpson
     Specter
     Stevens
     Warner
     Wellstone
     Wofford

                                NAYS--27

     Baucus
     Brown
     Burns
     Coats
     Cochran
     Coverdell
     Craig
     DeConcini
     Domenici
     Faircloth
     Gramm
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hatch
     Heflin
     Helms
     Hutchison
     Kempthorne
     Lott
     McCain
     McConnell
     Moseley-Braun
     Nickles
     Roth
     Shelby
     Smith
     Wallop

                             NOT VOTING--2

     Chafee
     Thurmond
       
  So the conference report was agreed to.
  Mr. KOHL. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote by which the 
conference report was agreed to.
  Mr. BURNS. I move to lay that motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
  Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? Without objection, it is 
so ordered.
  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I be permitted 
to proceed as in morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The 
Senator may proceed.

                          ____________________