[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 94 (Friday, June 9, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8095-S8097]
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-206. A concurrent resolution adopted by the Legislature 
     of the State of Michigan; to the Committee on Agriculture, 
     Nutrition, and Forestry.

                 ``Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 28

       ``Whereas, Michigan's farmers represent an important 
     element of our state's increasingly diversified economy. 
     American consumers purchase ever higher amounts of high 
     quality fresh produce, and Michigan farmers continue to meet 
     that demand. Fresh produce, by its nature, is also highly 
     perishable with a relatively short shelf life compared to 
     manufactured products. This characteristic of fresh fruits 
     and vegetables imposes a burden on farmers unique to them. 
     Specifically, the need to sell produce quickly means that 
     fruits and vegetables may actually be consumed before the 
     farmer can even receive payment. If farmers sell their goods 
     to customers who are slow to pay or who fail to pay at all, 
     farmers have few means to recoup their losses. Consumed goods 
     can hardly be reclaimed, and the costs associated with 
     pursuing a claim through the courts make this avenue futile 
     in many cases; and
       ``Whereas, fortunately, our nation's farmers have been 
     protected from such problems for sixty-five years by the 
     Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA). Enacted in 
     1930, the PACA enforces fair trading practices in the 
     marketing of fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables. It is 
     administered by the Fruit and Vegetable Division of the 
     Agricultural Marketing Service and allows farmers to ship 
     their produce across our country in a timely fashion with 
     confidence that they will be paid for their labor and goods. 
     Should a contract dispute emerge, the PACA provides a means 
     to resolve the problem without further burdening our court 
     system; and
       ``Whereas, consumers benefit in many ways from this act. 
     Not only can consumers purchase high quality produce fresh 
     from the field because farmers may rapidly ship their goods 
     confident that they will be paid, but other protections exist 
     as well. For example, our schools, hospitals, and restaurants 
     cannot be over-charged for produce because the PACA prohibits 
     a produce dealer from hiding the true wholesale cost received 
     by farmers for the fruits and vegetables; and
       ``Whereas, defenders of the PACA recognize that the act can 
     be improved and have been willing to compromise in order to 
     address the concerns of retailers. Unfortunately, legislation 
     has been introduced into the United States House of 
     Representatives that undermines efforts to preserve the PACA 
     while improving it to correct certain shortcomings. HR 669 
     has been introduced into the 104th Congress to repeal the 
     Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act. Rather than being a 
     bill to eliminate unneeded regulations, this bill would 
     impose a severe hardship on our state's farmers, and 
     ultimately all people who purchase and enjoy high quality 
     fruits and vegetables. HR 669, or any other bill that would 
     repeal the PACA, must not be passed for the sake of our 
     farmers and consumers: Now, therefore, be it
       ``Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That we memorialize the United States Congress 
     to reject any efforts to repeal the Perishable Agricultural 
     Commodities Act; and be it further
       ``Resolved, That a copy of this resolution be transmitted 
     to the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of 
     the United States House of Representatives, and the members 
     of the Michigan congressional delegation.''
                                                                    ____

       POM-207. A resolution adopted by the Senate of the 
     Legislature of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; to the 
     Committee on Armed Services.
     [[Page S8096]]
     
                              ``Resolution

       ``Whereas, Tobyhanna Army Depot in Monroe County provides 
     employment for 3,500 Pennsylvanians; and
       ``Whereas, Tobyhanna Army Depot is the nation's most 
     productive and cost efficient maintenance facility, having a 
     highly skilled and technologically advanced mission of 
     designing, building, repairing and overhauling a wide range 
     of communications and electronics systems for the Department 
     of Defense; and
       ``Whereas, the closure of Tobyhanna Army Depot could result 
     in the termination of not only those jobs on the operating 
     base, but also hundreds of base-related jobs and the loss of 
     thousands of dollars in total income; and
       ``Whereas, this Commonwealth has lost 11.5% of all defense 
     jobs eliminated in the United States as a result of the 
     Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission's 1991 and 
     1993 recommendations; therefore be it
       ``Resolved, That the Senate of the Commonwealth of 
     Pennsylvania memorialize the President of the United States 
     and Congress to oppose the closure of Tobyhanna Army Depot in 
     Monroe County for the reasons stated in this resolution; and 
     be it further
       ``Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted 
     to the President of the United States, to the presiding 
     officers of each house of Congress, to each member of 
     Congress from Pennsylvania and to the members of the Defense 
     Base Closure and Realignment Commission.''
                                                                    ____

       POM-208. A resolution adopted by the Council of the Village 
     of Silver Lake, Summit County, Ohio relative to 
     telecommunications legislation; to the Committee on Commerce, 
     Science, and Transportation.
       POM-209. A resolution adopted by the Council of the City of 
     Upper Arlington County, Ohio relative to public rights-of-
     way; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
     Transportation.
       POM-210. A resolution adopted by the Council of the City of 
     Garfield Heights, Ohio relative to public rights-of-way; to 
     the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
       POM-211. A resolution adopted by the City Council of the 
     City of Nassau Bay, Texas relative to NASA's Johnson Space 
     Center; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
     Transportation.
       POM-212. A resolution adopted by the Council of the City of 
     Newton Fall, Ohio relative to telecommunications legislation; 
     to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
       POM-213. A concurrent resolution adopted by the Legislature 
     of the State of Louisiana; to the Committee on Environment 
     and Public Works.
                       ``A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

       ``Whereas, the mainline levee portion of the Mississippi 
     River and Tributaries (MR&T) project has resulted in the loss 
     of hundreds of thousands of acres of bottomland forests in 
     Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Missouri, and 
     Kentucky; and
       ``Whereas, the Corps, Vicksburg District, proposes to 
     continue work on the mainline levee that would clear an 
     additional 11,400 acres of forested wetlands in Arkansas, 
     Louisiana, and Mississippi; and
       ``Whereas, this proposed work would destroy valuable fish 
     and wildlife resources, including fish spawning habitat, in 
     the batture lands along the Mississippi River without 
     minimizing environmental impacts or without providing 
     adequate compensation; and
       ``Whereas, the Corps maintains that they do not have to 
     coordinate with the federal or state agencies as required by 
     the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act (FWCA) since greater 
     than 60 percent of the project costs were obligated before 
     the FWCA was enacted; and
       ``Whereas, the 1976 Environmental Impact Statement for this 
     work is outdated and the last opportunity for public comment 
     was in 1978; and
       ``Whereas, there are a number of significant issues which 
     need to be addressed including a range of alternatives, 
     mitigation loss of bottomland hardwoods, water quality, and 
     potential impacts to the federally listed threatened 
     Louisiana black bear: Therefore, be it
       ``Resolved That the Legislature of Louisiana memorializes 
     the Congress of the United States to cause the Corps' MR&T 
     Mainline Levee Construction Program to adequately mitigate 
     for the loss of valuable forested wetlands and update its 
     1976 Environmental Impact Statement and open hearings for 
     additional public comment; be it further
       ``Resolved That a duly attested copy of this Resolution be 
     immediately transmitted to the president of the United 
     States, to the secretary of the United States Senate, to the 
     clerk of the United States House of Representatives, and to 
     each member of the Louisiana delegation to the United States 
     Congress.''
                                                                    ____

       POM-214. A concurrent resolution adopted by the Legislature 
     of the State of Louisiana to the Committee on Environment and 
     Public Works.

                       ``A Concurrent Resolution

       ``Whereas, the Nuclear Waste Policy Act established a 
     federal program for managing and disposing of spent nuclear 
     fuel and required that the program be fully funded by 
     electric utility customers who benefit from the electricity 
     generated at nuclear power plants; and
       ``Whereas, the United States Department of Energy is 
     obligated under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act to begin storing 
     spent nuclear fuel by January 31, 1998; and
       ``Whereas, the Department of Energy has not made 
     significant progress in meeting its statutory obligation to 
     take title to and remove spent nuclear fuel from nuclear 
     power plants; and
       ``Whereas, the Nuclear Waste Policy Act requires customers 
     who benefit from the electricity generated by nuclear power 
     plants to pay a fee of one-tenth of a cent per kilowatt hour 
     of electricity produced by nuclear power plants; and
       ``Whereas, this fee generates approximately $600 million 
     per year and since its inception in 1983, has provided more 
     than $10.5 billion, including interest, to the federal 
     Nuclear Waste Fund; and
       ``Whereas, monies received by the Nuclear Waste Fund have 
     not been committed to the Nuclear Waste Program, such that a 
     significant portion of Nuclear Waste Fund receipts have been 
     relied on the offset the federal budget deficit; and
       ``Whereas, approximately 25% of the electricity consumed by 
     Louisiana is provided by nuclear power plants based located 
     in the state of Louisiana; and
       ``Whereas, electric utility customers in the state of 
     Louisiana have paid millions of dollars into the Nuclear 
     Waste Fund; and
       ``Whereas, the Department of Energy's failure to begin 
     accepting spent nuclear fuel may result in millions of 
     Louisiana's electric utility customers having to pay for the 
     additional costs of expanding on-site storage capacity, 
     thereby causing customers to pay twice for the storage of 
     spent nuclear fuel; and
       ``Whereas, the United States Congress should address the 
     programmatic and budgetary shortfall that has plagued the 
     Nuclear Waste Program: Therefore, be it
       ``Resolved That the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby 
     memorialize the Congress of the United States to establish an 
     integrated spent fuel management storage facility which 
     includes the following:
       ``(1) A central, interim spent fuel storage facility 
     capable of allowing the Department of Energy to begin 
     accepting spent nuclear fuel in 1998;
       ``(2) A storage and shipping canister system which will 
     minimize the costs of transportation spent nuclear fuel;
       ``(3) Removal of the Nuclear Waste Fund from the federal 
     budget process in order for the department to have adequate 
     access to the funds supplied by utility customers and to 
     timely remove spent fuel from this state's nuclear power 
     plants; and
       ``(4) Require that all nuclear waste shall be taken to the 
     Yucca Mountain Nuclear Depository located in Nevada; be it 
     further
       ``Resolved That a copy of this Resolution shall be 
     transmitted to the secretary of the United States Senate and 
     the clerk of the United States House of Representatives and 
     to each member of the Louisiana congressional delegation.
                                                                    ____

       POM-215. A concurrent resolution adopted by the Legislature 
     of the State of Texas; to the Committee on Environment and 
     Public Works.

                     ``House Concurrent Resolution

       ``Whereas, enacted by the United States Congress in 1973, 
     the Endangered Species Act was designed to promote the 
     laudable goal of protecting threatened and endangered plant 
     and animal species; and
       ``Whereas, the act was widely viewed at the time as the 
     most comprehensive environmental protection law in history 
     but has evolved into a well-meaning but misguided federal 
     policy; and
       ``Whereas, due for authorization by the Congress of the 
     United States, the Endangered Species Act should strike a 
     balance between environmental and resource protection and the 
     social and economic consequences resulting from the listing 
     of threatened or endangered species; and
       ``Whereas, the current Endangered Species Act does not 
     adequately consider the role of states in species protection, 
     nor does it consider the social and economic implications of 
     critical habitat designation or recovery plan development and 
     implementation; and
       ``Whereas, the Endangered Species Act has resulted in 
     complete and partial takings of private property and has 
     threatened the rights of Americans to own and control their 
     own property; and
       ``Whereas, such intrusion by the federal government poses a 
     real and substantial economic and social threat to Texans and 
     all citizens of the United States; and
       ``Whereas, it is imperative that the Congress of the United 
     States re-open the debate on the Endangered Species Act and 
     apply a more balanced, common sense approach to habitat and 
     species protection that does not jeopardize this nation's 
     economic and social well-being or endanger the constitutional 
     rights of property owners. Now, therefore, be it
       ``Resolved, That the 74th legislature of the State of Texas 
     hereby strongly urge the Congress of the United States to 
     amend the Endangered Species Act to require a stronger role 
     for the states, consideration of private property rights, and 
     consideration of the social and economic consequences in the 
     listing and delisting of species, in the designation of 
     critical habitats, and in the development and implementation 
     of recovery programs for threatened or endangered species; 
     and, be it further [[Page S8097]] 
       ``Resolved, That the Texas secretary of state forward 
     official copies of this resolution to the Speaker of the 
     House of Representatives and president of the Senate of the 
     United States Congress and to all members of the Texas 
     delegation to the congress with the request that it be 
     officially entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial 
     to the Congress of the United States of America.''
                                                                    ____

       POM-216. A resolution adopted by the Legislature of the 
     State of Rhode Island; to the Committee on Finance.

                          ``Senate Resolution

       ``Whereas, the proposed ``Personal Responsibility Act'' 
     would impose new restrictions on virtually every program 
     funded by federal, state and local governments. Legal 
     immigrants, with only a few exceptions, would become 
     ineligible for the five major federal programs: AFDC, Food 
     Stamps, SSI, Medicaid and Social Services Block Grants; and
       ``Whereas, additionally, most legal immigrants would be 
     denied all other needs-based benefits via a PRA provision 
     that would impose a ``deeming'' requirement in all needs 
     based programs other than housing programs. Under deeming, 
     the income of the sponsor is counted as though available to 
     the immigrant, regardless of actual availability to the 
     immigrant, to determine if the immigrant meets the income and 
     resource eligibility criteria of any given program. Deeming 
     also disqualifies the immigrant if the immigrant's sponsor is 
     unavailable or unwilling to cooperate by providing evidence 
     of income and property; and
       ``Whereas, the deeming provision contains no exceptions for 
     emergency services. Deeming would apply to almost all 
     emergency services such as church meals provided with public 
     funds, battered women's shelters and child protective 
     services to rescue battered children; and
       ``Whereas, the deeming provision does not contain a time 
     limit. Therefore, a legal immigrant who has lived in the 
     United States and paid taxes for thirty or forty years would 
     be disqualified from benefits solely because he or she is 
     unable to locate their sponsor; and
       ``Whereas, the deeming provision does not contain an 
     exception for battered spouses. Because women are frequently 
     sponsored by their husbands, the PRA would create a situation 
     where a battered woman would be unable to qualify for basic 
     services to escape family violence because she cannot obtain 
     the cooperation of the very husband she seeks to escape; and
       ``Whereas, because the deeming requirement applies to all 
     needs-based programs at the state and local levels, any 
     entity receiving government-funded assistance, including 
     churches, schools, English as a Second Language classes, 
     health care clinics, soup kitchens and shelters would be 
     required to check immigrant status and to obtain financial 
     assistance from immigrant sponsors. The time-consuming nature 
     of this process and the difficulty of ascertaining much of 
     the necessary information would create a tremendous 
     administrative burden for these entities, many of which are 
     already operating on a very limited budget; and
       ``Whereas, Congress recently passed legislation which would 
     prohibit ``Unfunded Mandates''. One could argue that the 
     Personal Responsibility Act is an unfunded mandate of 
     enormous magnitude. Lawfully admitted immigrants in need of 
     services to improve their futures will not suddenly disappear 
     following enactment of the PRA, and it will fall to the 
     states to pay the social and economic costs of relegating 
     them to a new class of poor and downtrodden: Now, therefore, 
     be it
       ``Resolved, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island 
     and Providence Plantations hereby respectfully requests that 
     the United States Senate not pass the ``Personal 
     Responsibility Act'' for the reasons stated previously; and 
     be it further
       ``Resolved, That the Secretary of State be and he hereby is 
     authorized and directed to transmit a duly certified copy of 
     this resolution to the United States Senate.''
                                                                    ____

       POM-217. A resolution adopted by the City Council of the 
     City of Pinole, California relative to the semi-automatic 
     assault weapons ban; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
       POM-218. A resolution adopted by the Senate of the 
     Legislature of the State of Hawaii; to the Committee on 
     Veterans' Affairs.

                     ``Senate Concurrent Resolution

       ``Whereas, service-connected disability compensation for 
     veterans from World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the 
     Vietnam War, and the Persian Gulf War and any other 
     conflicts, as designated by the President of the United 
     States, is compensation for wounds or injuries, or both, 
     sustained while on active duty; and
       ``Whereas, social security disability compensation for 
     these same veterans injured while in the service of their 
     country is vital to the health and welfare of disabled 
     veterans and their families; and
       ``Whereas, the reduction, taxation, or elimination of 
     veterans' disability compensation and social security 
     disability compensation would, in effect, penalize the 
     service-connected disabled, who by the grace of opportunity 
     and the success of unusual determination, have overcome or 
     lessened the economic loss associated with their 
     disabilities; and
       ``Whereas, any taxation, reduction, or elimination of these 
     benefits will guarantee that disabled veterans and their 
     families can never enjoy the potential to rise above a 
     governmentally-mandated economic status and station in life 
     without being penalized; and
       ``Whereas, veterans are not responsible for the current 
     federal deficit; and
       ``Whereas, these disabled veterans, in good faith, have 
     served their country in support of those ideals upon which 
     this country was founded and have answered the call to 
     protect and defend the Constitution of the United States; and
       ``Whereas, this nation has a solemn contract with her 
     veterans to provide health care and compensation for wounds 
     or injuries sustained; Now, therefore, be it
       ``Resolved by the Senate of the Eighteenth Legislature of 
     the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 1995, the House of 
     Representatives concurring, That the Legislature urges 
     Congress to support legislation to safeguard veterans' 
     disability compensation and social security disability 
     compensation from elimination, reduction, or taxation; and be 
     it further
       ``Resolved That certified copies of this Concurrent 
     Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United 
     States Senate, the Speaker of the House of the United States 
     House of Representatives, the United States Secretary for 
     Veterans' Affairs, the members of Hawaii's congressional 
     delegation, and the Director of the State Office of Veterans' 
     Services.''
                                                                    ____

       POM-219. A resolution adopted by the City Commission of the 
     City of Lake Wales, Florida relative to tobacco; to the 
     Committee on Environment and Public Works.
     

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