[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 129 (Friday, August 4, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1640-E1641]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


  DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND 
               RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 1996

                                 ______


                               speech of

                            HON. KEN BENTSEN

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, August 2, 1995

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2127) making 
     appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human 
     Services, and Education, and related agencies, for the fiscal 
     year ending September 30, 1996, and for other purposes:

  Mr. BENTSEN. Mr. Chairman, with this legislation before us today we 
have been asked to make difficult choices. We have been asked to choose 
between funding for medical research and education, cancer research, 
and the right to choose. The committee has included regressive 
legislative language on choice, freedom of speech, and labor law, while 
decimating preschool, elementary, secondary, and post-secondary 
education. And that is what is wrong with the 1996 Labor/HHS/Education 
appropriations bill.
  I applaud and support efforts by the committee to increase funding 
for the National Institutes of Health [NIH] by 6 percent. It is no 
secret that I have long advocated such funding levels, particularly in 
light of the fact that a majority of this same Congress voted to cut 
NIH in the fiscal year 1996 budget resolution which I opposed.
  Biomedical research is an important, cost-effective investment in our 
Nation's health. Less funding for NIH would have dramatic effects on 
all Americans, including threatening the health of our citizens, 
reducing thousands of research projects, reducing potential cost 
savings from future treatments, and jeopardizing U.S. competitiveness 
in the biomedical industry.
  Over 80 percent of NIH's budget goes to universities, institutes, and 
medical schools, and to their researchers who are on the verge of 
significant breakthroughs in treating diseases such as cancer, heart 
disease, Alzheimer's, and AIDS. These funds will continue research 
which could save millions of lives. I am proud to say that I have 
fought all efforts to cut NIH, including the levels contained in 

[[Page E 1641]]
this bill. I strenuously opposed the Blute amendment which would have 
cut NIH by $235 million.
  I am also pleased that this House voted to restore funding for family 
planning programs. For over 25 years, title X funding has served as a 
cost effective and vital source of essential health care and family 
planning services for low-income women. At a time when we are working 
to reduce unintended pregnancy in America, we should be making birth 
control more accessible, not less. In addition, we should not penalize 
community health centers that help these women combat low-birth weights 
and inadequate nutrition. The reality is that this cut was aimed 
directly at Planned Parenthood, which the radical right has targeted.
  I also approve of increases in breast and cervical cancer screening 
programs under the Centers for Disease Control, the Jobs Corps, special 
education programs and vocational rehabilitation services. In fact, I 
am an original cosponsor of legislation to meet this goal.
  However, this legislation contains too many provisions which I 
believe are terribly misguided and completely unacceptable. For 
example, the summer jobs program, which provides 6,000 Houston area 
youngsters with jobs this past summer is eliminated under the 
Republican proposal. Texas will lose $66 million in funds for this
 program next year, and as a result, thousands more young people will 
be on the streets next summer. More importantly, these teens will lose 
an opportunity to receive valuable on-the-job training. Texas will also 
lose 22 percent in vital funds for school-to-work programs to help 
provide the transition from high school to high wage, highly skilled 
jobs. This program, which many community colleges in the 25th district 
utilize, helps train an able work force for the future.

  Other programs slated for severe cuts include adult and youth job 
training programs which are cut 20 percent and the dislocated workers 
assistance programs which are cut by 30 percent. Any American who loses 
their job can expect to receive 30 percent less assistance than they 
may have otherwise anticipated. In southeast Texas, thousands of people 
in the oil and gas industry have lost their jobs and rely on this 
safety net to help them back on their feet.
  The National Labor Relations Board and the Occupational Safety and 
Health Administration are significantly cut that they will face serious 
difficulties in protecting American workers. For example, the National 
Institutes of Occupational and Safety Health is cut by $32 million--
this cut eliminates all training assistance, including safety training 
for hundreds of nurses and doctors at the University of Texas Health 
Sciences Center at Texas Medical Center in the 25th district.
  The bill would repeal the Executive order banning the permanent 
replacement of striking workers. Under this provision, workers would 
lose a fundamental right to collective bargaining. Additionally, the 
legislation would alter the functions of the NLRB heretofore without 
precedent by requiring unanimous decisions. The cumulative effect of 
these initiatives is to deny American workers with equal rights under 
job security and safety laws.
  I am deeply opposed to one provision which is part of a stealth 
campaign to take away a woman's right to choose. While this bill allows 
the use of State Medicaid funds for an abortion when the life of the 
mother is at risk, it prohibits the use of such funds to pay for an 
abortion for women who are victims of rape and incest.
  I am also opposed to a provision in the bill which allows 
institutions to bypass the accreditation process if the standards 
include training in abortion procedures. The Accreditation Council for 
Graduate Medical Education [ACGME] is a private medical accreditation 
body responsible for establishing medical standards for more than 7,400 
residency programs in this Nation. Under ACGME requirements, no 
institution or individual is required to participate in abortion 
training. Any program or resident with a moral or religious objection 
is exempted.
  Congress has never before sought to override private education 
standards, let alone standards for training in medicine. Those who 
would take away a woman's right to choose have now turned their assault 
on both medical schools and doctors.
  Some of the most egregious cuts in this bill, however, come in the 
area of education. Even Republicans would agree that
 education is the key to opportunity and success in our growing world 
economy. This bill cuts education programs in the billions of dollars. 
That is wrong.

  In addition to cutting Head Start for our Nation's youngest children 
by $3.4 billion, this bill dramatically reduces funding for elementary, 
secondary, and post-secondary education. Title I compensatory education 
grants in the bill are cut 17 percent by $1.2 billion. Harris and Fort 
Bend counties, which I represent, would lose close to $15 million in 
funding to help children improve their reading and math skills, 
especially in disadvantaged communities.
  The bill also proposes the elimination of Goals 2000, which is a 
voluntary program to help students improve their academic performance. 
Goals 2000 provides school districts with funds to bring technology 
like computers to the classroom, to increase teacher training, and to 
encourage parents to be actively involved in their children's 
education. Only yesterday, Texas received over $29 million in Goals 
2000 grants to assist in the implementation of our State's education 
reform initiative which passed the State legislature earlier this year. 
Without this funding, we will lose an opportunity to build on the 
progress we have already made in Texas.
  For college students, the Republicans have cut student loans and aid 
by $9.5 billion. They have eliminated the in-school interest subsidy 
for Perkins loans, which help millions of Americans attend college. On 
average, a Texas college student can expect to pay $5,000 more for 
college--and they'll start paying before they have even attended a 
class or moved into their dorm room. At Rice University, which is 
located in my district, 82 percent of all undergraduates receive 
student aid--that's 2,170 students who will most likely have to pay 
more for their education.
  One other irresponsible provision in this bill prohibits any 
recipient of a Federal grant from spending grant funds on political 
advocacy. This provision is not about lobbying Congress as the 
Republicans would have us believe, it is about giving nonprofit 
organizations and individuals the right to express their opinions. This 
would gag such institutions as AARP, the Red Cross, and the 
Presbyterian Church, of which I am a member. At the same time, any 
Government contractor would still be free to subsidize their lobbying 
activities with Federal funds. This provision is a threat to free 
speech.
  In the final analysis, while this bill would sufficiently fund 
programs which are of great national importance, in particular, the 
national Institutes of Health, when weighed against all of the 
egregious provisions affecting education, job training, choice, student 
loans, and free speech, I cannot support it as currently drafted. I 
urge its defeat while looking forward to preserving what is right about 
this bill and correcting what is wrong. That is our charge.


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