[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 54 (Thursday, March 23, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4489-S4490]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.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-35. A concurrent resolution adopted by the Legislature 
     of the State of West Virginia; ordered to lie on the table.
                 ``Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 16

       ``Whereas, the constitution of the United States of America 
     is the most perfect example of a contract between a people 
     and their government; and
       ``Whereas, the congress of the United States is currently 
     considering an amendment to the constitution, known as the 
     ``Balanced Budget Amendment''; and
       ``Whereas, the House of Representatives has already 
     approved its version of such a balanced budget amendment; and
       ``Whereas, the House of Representatives approved its 
     version without obtaining a projection of how it would be 
     implemented; and
       ``Whereas, the House of Representatives rejected a version 
     of the balanced budget amendment, offered by Representative 
     Bob Wise of West Virginia, that would have protected against 
     cuts in social security and would have allowed for both a 
     capital and operating budget; and
       ``Whereas, the proposal for a balanced budget amendment is 
     now under active consideration in the United States Senate; 
     and
       ``Whereas, United States Senators Robert C. Byrd and John 
     D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia have called for a `right 
     to know' provision so that the senators would know before 
     they vote how a balanced budget would be achieved; and
       ``Whereas, the treasury department of the United States has 
     projected that a balanced budget amendment implemented by 
     across-the-board cuts would reduce federal grants to West 
     Virginia state government by $765 million, requiring the 
     Legislature to increase state taxes to compensate for such 
     losses or eliminate the programs and services currently 
     provided to our citizens by federal funds; and
       ``Whereas, many citizens of West Virginia would likely 
     suffer from cuts imposed to meet the requirements of the 
     proposed balanced budget amendment, including thousands of 
     our citizens who receive social security, veterans benefits, 
     medicare, medicaid and other essential benefits; and
       ``Whereas, through the efforts of Senator Robert C. Byrd 
     and other members of our congressional delegation 
     appropriations have been made for numerous projects in West 
     Virginia, including completion of the Appalachian corridor 
     highway system, relocation of the federal bureau of 
     investigation center 
     [[Page S4490]] to West Virginia and a myriad of other 
     projects; and
       ``Whereas, these benefits and projects are vital to the 
     economic development and well being of the people of our 
     state and deserve to be protected if the constitution is 
     amended to require a balanced budget; and
       ``Whereas, West Virginia receives $1.45 in federal benefits 
     for each dollar in federal taxes; and
       ``Whereas, on a per capita basis, each man, woman and child 
     receives approximately $2,000 more in benefits from the 
     federal government that he or she pays in federal taxes; and
       ``Whereas, a proposal to balance the federal budget by 
     returning the programs to the states would mean that West 
     Virginia would be required to either raise its taxes by 
     $2,000 dollars for each man, woman and child or eliminate the 
     programs and services currently provided to our citizens by 
     federal funds; and
       ``Whereas, the balanced budget amendment would be submitted 
     to the Legislature for ratification if approved by the 
     congress; and
       ``Whereas, this Legislature will be unable to establish its 
     own budget without knowing what reductions will be made by 
     the congress to effect the balanced budget amendment; and
       ``Whereas, this Legislature therefore has a right to know 
     what effect the proposed balanced budget amendment would have 
     on state government, but more importantly, on the people of 
     our state; Now, therefore, be it
       ``Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia, That the 
     Legislature recognize that a balanced federal budget is a 
     desirable objective; and, be it
       ``Further resolved, That the Legislature commends the 
     president and the congress for their efforts toward this 
     objective by supporting and enacting legislation that will 
     result in the reduction of the federal deficit for three 
     years in a row; and, be it
       ``Further resolved, That the Legislature will be asked to 
     vote for ratification of a balanced budget amendment to the 
     constitution if such a measure is submitted to the states by 
     the congress; and, be it
       ``Further resolved, That the Legislature, acting on behalf 
     of the citizens of West Virginia in deciding whether to 
     ratify such an amendment, is entitled to be fully informed of 
     its consequences on our people; and, be it
       ``Further resolved, That the congress is hereby urged to 
     submit such an amendment to the states for ratification only 
     if congress provides a detailed projection of what reductions 
     will be made in the federal budget and how these will affect 
     the government and people of West Virginia, including but not 
     limited to, the effect on social security benefits, veterans 
     benefits, medicare, medicaid, education, highway moneys, 
     including completion of the Appalachian corridor system, and 
     other programs necessary for the health and well-being of the 
     people of our state; and, be it
       ``Further resolved, That the Clerk of the Senate is hereby 
     requested to forward a copy of this resolution to the 
     president of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the 
     House of Representatives and each member of the West Virginia 
     congressional delegation.''
                                                                    ____

       POM--36. A resolution adopted by the Cooperative 
     Agricultural Bargaining and Marketing Associations relative 
     to the USDA; to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and 
     Forestry.
       POM--37. A resolution adopted by the Agricultural 
     Bargaining Council relative to the USDA; to the Committee on 
     Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
       POM--38. a resolution adopted by the Senate of the 
     Legislature of the State of California; to the Committee on 
     Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

                        Senate Resolution No. 9

       ``Whereas, the United States Department of Agriculture 
     (USDA) announced in the Federal Register on November 15, 
     1994, that the government of Mexico has requested that the 
     Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) allows the 
     importation into certain areas of the United States of fresh 
     Hass avocado fruit grown in approved orchards in approved 
     municipalities in Michoacan, Mexico; and
       ``Whereas, in response, APHIS has held two public meetings, 
     one in Florida and one in California, for the purpose of 
     receiving public comment prior to deciding whether to publish 
     a proposed rule in the Federal Register that would allow the 
     importation of avocados as requested by the Mexican 
     government; and
       ``Whereas, the request of the Mexican government would 
     require that the USDA substantially modify its current policy 
     relating to pest quarantine, which has served to protect 
     United States agriculture from the threat of pest infestation 
     by the full array of injurious pest species known to exist in 
     Mexico; and
       ``Whereas, the negative economic impact resulting from the 
     presence of these exotic pests in California would be 
     devastating to a wide spectrum of California agriculture, 
     including apples, apricots, avocados, citrus, and pears; and
       ``Whereas, a programmatic environmental impact report 
     prepared by the California Department of Food and Agriculture 
     in June 1993, states that a Mexican fruitfly infestation in 
     California would cause increased cost to the private sector 
     totaling $124.4 million and lead to the use of as much as 
     5,560,000 pounds of pesticide; and
       ``Whereas, an eradication of a fruitfly infestation often 
     requires intensive ground and aerial spraying of urban areas; 
     and
       ``Whereas, in 1989, Mediterranean fruitfly, melon fruitfly, 
     and oriental fruitfly cost the agricultural industry $300 
     million in lost markets and $5.4 million in damaged produce 
     and postharvest treatments; and
       ``Whereas, California and the federal government have spent 
     more than $500 million since 1975 in their continuing effort 
     to eradicate exotic pests in California; and
       ``Whereas, California has recently announced that pest 
     discoveries increased 195 percent over 1993, and there is a 
     significant increase in prohibited fruit discoveries in 
     violation of domestic quarantines; and
       ``Whereas, the USDA announced in July 1994, that it had 
     imposed a hiring freeze; and
       ``Whereas, the scientific data submitted by Mexico--a 
     research study and pest survey data--to support its request--
     lacks scientific integrity and ignores the fact that 
     virtually every quarantine pest known to infest Hass avocados 
     has been detected during border interceptions at El Paso, 
     Texas; and
       ``Whereas, these quarantine pests are the same species that 
     Mexico claims to have eradicated in Michoacan and are the 
     very ones upon which the current USDA pest quarantine is 
     based; and
       ``Whereas, the proposed modification of the USDA pest 
     quarantine makes no provision for costs incurred by federal 
     and state governments and by the California agricultural 
     industry if a pest infestation occurs as a result of a 
     modified quarantine; now, therefore, be it
       ``Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, That 
     the request by the Mexican government that the United States 
     permit the importation of fresh Hass avocado fruit grown in 
     Michoacan, Mexico into this country be denied due to a lack 
     of valid scientific data; and be it further
       ``Resolved, That the USDA consider no further proposals of 
     this nature unless the request contains all of the following: 
     (1) baseline information on the seasonal abundance, 
     geographical distribution, and biology of all of the 
     quarantine pests known to infest Mexican avocados, and a 
     declaration that that information has been collected and 
     analyzed by scientists representing the USDA and Mexican and 
     Californian agricultural interests; (2) laboratory and field 
     studies that conclusively establish the host susceptibility 
     of Hass avocados to fruitfly infestation through 
     scientifically credible and reproducible data; (3) an 
     identification of definite areas and districts free from 
     injurious, quarantined pests known to attack Hass avocados; 
     (4) a showing that scientifically valid pest surveys have 
     been conducted in these definite areas over a minimum period 
     of 12 months with oversight by the USDA, the Mexican 
     government, and private sector entomologists and that those 
     survey results are negative; and (5) proof that the Mexican 
     government has adopted and enforced regulations that will 
     prevent the introduction of quarantined pests into any of the 
     designated areas that form the pest-free zones; and be it 
     further
       ``Resolved, That the burden of alleviating risks associated 
     with the shipment of pest infested Mexican avocados into the 
     United States should remain with Mexico and the United States 
     should not assume this burden; and be it further
       ``Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit 
     copies of this resolution to the President and Vice President 
     of the United States, to the Speaker of the House of 
     Representatives, to each Senator and Representative from 
     California, Arizona, Florida, and Texas in the Congress of 
     the United States, and to the Secretary of the United States 
     Department of Agriculture.''
                                                                    ____

                                  

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