[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 204 (Tuesday, December 19, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H15166-H15167]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




DEPARTMENTS OF COMMERCE, JUSTICE, AND STATE, THE JUDICIARY, AND RELATED 
 AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 1996--VETO MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF 
                THE UNITED STATES (H. DOC. NO. 104-149)

  The SPEAKER pro tempore laid before the House the following veto 
message from the President of the United States:

To the House of Representatives: 
  I am returning herewith without my approval H.R. 2076, the 
``Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the 

[[Page H15167]]
Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996.''
  This bill does not meet the priorities and needs of our Nation and 
people. It would undermine our ability to fight the war on crime; 
decimate technology programs that are critical to building a strong 
U.S. economy; and weaken our leadership in the world by drastically 
cutting funding for international organizations, peacekeeping, and 
other international affairs activities.
  First, the bill represents an unacceptable retreat in our fight 
against crime and drugs. It eliminates my COPS initiative (Community 
Oriented Policing Services) to put 100,000 more police officers on the 
street. Already, this initiative has put thousands of police on the 
street, working hand-in-hand with their communities to fight crime. The 
block grant that H.R. 2076 would offer instead would not guarantee a 
single new police officer. That's not what the American people want, 
and I won't accept it. As I have said, I will not sign any version of 
this bill that does not fund the COPS initiative as a free-standing, 
discretionary grant program, as authorized.
  The bill also eliminates my ``drug courts'' initiative. And it 
unwisely abandons crime prevention efforts such as the Ounce of 
Prevention Council and the Community Relations Service. I am also 
disappointed that the funding levels in the bill fall short of my 
request for the Drug Enforcement Administration, and OCDETF (Organized 
Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force). This is no time to let down our 
guard in the fight against drugs.
  Second, the bill constitutes a short-sighted assault on the Commerce 
Department's technology programs that work effectively with business to 
expand our economy, help Americans compete in the global marketplace, 
and create high quality jobs. As we approach a new, technology-driven 
century, it makes no sense to eliminate an industry-driven, highly 
competitive, cost-shared initiative like our Advanced Technology 
Program (ATP), which fosters technology development, promotes 
industrial alliances, and creates jobs. Nor does it make sense to 
sharply cut funding for measures that will help assure our long-term 
growth and competitiveness--such as our National Information 
Infrastructure grants program, which helps connect schools, hospitals, 
and libraries to the information superhighway; the GLOBE program, which 
promotes the study of science and the environment in our schools; the 
Manufacturing Extension Partnership, which helps small manufacturers 
meet the hi-tech demands of the new marketplace; Defense Conversion; or 
the Technology Administration. And I oppose the bill's harmful cuts for 
the Census Bureau and for economic and statistical analysis.

  Third, I am deeply concerned that this bill would undermine our 
global leadership and impair our ability to protect and defend 
important U.S. interests around the world--both by making unwise cuts 
in funding for international organizations and peacekeeping activities, 
and by cutting programs of the State Department, the Arms Control and 
Disarmament Agency, and the United States Information Agency. These 
cuts would impair our ability to support important activities such as 
the nonproliferation of weapons, the promotion of human rights, and the 
control of infectious disease like the Ebola virus. Moreover, sections 
of the bill include inappropriate restrictive language, including 
language limiting the conduct of U.S. diplomatic relations with 
Vietnam, that I believe infringe on Presidential prerogatives. And I 
cannot accept the provision that would cut off all funding for these 
agencies on April 1, 1996, unless the State Department Authorization 
Act and related legislation had been signed into law.
  Fourth, the bill includes three additional provisions that I cannot 
accept.
  It cripples the capacity of the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) to 
fulfill its historic mission of serving people in need--slashing its 
overall funding, sharply limiting the administrative funds LSC needs to 
conduct its business, and imposing excessive restrictions on LSC's 
operations. LSC should be allowed to carry on its work in an 
appropriate manner, both in its basic programs and in special 
initiatives like the migrant legal services program.
  Section 103 of the bill would prohibit the use of funds for 
performing abortions, except in cases involving rape or danger to the 
life of the mother. The Justice Department has advised that there is a 
substantial risk that this provision would be held unconstitutional as 
applied to female prison inmates.
  The bill also includes an ill-considered legislative rider that would 
impose a moratorium on future listings under the Endangered Species Act 
by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other 
agencies. That rider not only would make bad policy, it also has no 
place in this bill.
  Finally, I would urge the Congress to continue the Associate Attorney 
General's office.
  For these reasons and others my Administration has conveyed to the 
Congress in earlier communications, I cannot accept this bill. H.R. 
2076 does not reflect my priorities or the values of the American 
people. I urge the Congress to send me an appropriations bill that 
truly serves this Nation and its people.
                                                   William J. Clinton. 
  The White House, December 19, 1995.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The objections of the President will be 
spread at large upon the Journal, and the message and the bill will be 
printed as a House document.
  Pursuant to the order of the House of today, consideration of the 
veto message is postponed until tomorrow, December 20, 1995.

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