[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 16 (Tuesday, February 6, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S886-S888]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         THE PRESIDENT'S BUDGET

  Mr. DOMENICI. I will depart from the subject matter and just call to 
our attention and to the American people's attention a situation with 
reference to the President's so-called submission of a balanced budget.
  First, as chairman of the Budget Committee, I was advised last week 
by the White House that they were going to submit this kind of 
document. Of course, I cannot do anything about whether they should 
submit this 20-page brochure in lieu of a balanced budget, but I 
suggested that it would not be a budget. The response was that it would 
be submitted in this manner.
  I want everybody to know that the February 5 deadline for the 
submission of a budget which can be reached--I am not suggesting that 
it cannot be delayed, but to tell the American people that the 
President has submitted a balanced budget in compliance with the 
requirements of the law is just not true. This is 15 pages of political 
prose and advertisements and 5 pages of technical economic assumptions 
and the like. It is as if there really is nothing formal and specific 
about the Nation's budget.
  Some may recall in the past when budget directors submitted their 
budgets, they were more than a few hundred pages. They had supplements 
to amend. That is because every item in the Federal budget was itemized 
in terms of expenditure. This budget is 15 pages of prose, 5 pages of 
tables. It says nothing about how the President proposes to spend the 
$12.2 trillion he has proposed to expend over the next 7 years.
  I want the Senate and the people to know that this is not just a 
Senator speaking. There is a law about budgets. The law says in 31 
U.S.C. 1105 that there are 31 specific requirements for a budget to be 
a budget. I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record for 
anyone who would like to peruse this, the 31 requirements of a budget.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

     Sec. 1105. Budget contents and submission to Congress

       (a) On or after the first Monday in January but not later 
     than the first Monday in February of each year,\1847\ the 
     President shall submit a budget of the United States 
     Government for the following fiscal year. Each budget shall 
     include a budget message and summary and supporting 
     information. The President shall include in each budget the 
     following:
     Footnotes at end of article.
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       (1) information on activities and functions of the 
     Government.
       (2) when practicable, information on costs and achievements 
     of Government programs.
       (3) other desirable classifications of information.\1848\
       (4) a reconciliation of the summary information on 
     expenditures with proposed appropriations.
       (5) except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, 
     estimated expenditures and proposed appropriations the 
     President decides are necessary to support the Government in 
     the fiscal year for which the budget is submitted and the 4 
     fiscal years after that year.
       (6) estimated receipts of the Government in the fiscal year 
     for which the budget is submitted and the 4 fiscal years 
     after that year under--
       (A) laws in effect when the budget is submitted; and
       (B) proposals in the budget to increase revenues.
       (7) appropriations, expenditures, and receipts of the 
     Government in the prior fiscal year.
       (8) estimated expenditures and receipts, and appropriations 
     and proposed appropriations, of the Government for the 
     current fiscal year.
       (9) balanced statements of the--
       (A) condition of the Treasury at the end of the prior 
     fiscal year;
       (B) estimated condition of the Treasury at the end of the 
     current fiscal year; and
       (C) estimated condition of the Treasury at the end of the 
     fiscal year for which the budget is submitted of financial 
     proposals in the budget are adopted.
       (10) essential information about the debt of the 
     Government.
       (11) other financial information the President decides 
     desirable to explain in practicable detail the financial 
     condition of the Government.\1849\
       (12) for each proposal in the budget for legislation that 
     would establish or expand a Government activity or function, 
     a table showing--
       (A) the amount proposed in the budget for appropriation and 
     for expenditure because of the proposal in the fiscal year 
     for which the budget is submitted; and
       (B) the estimated appropriation required because of the 
     proposal for each of the 4 fiscal years after that year that 
     the proposal will be in effect.
       (13) an allowance for additional estimated expenditures and 
     proposed appropriations for the fiscal year for which the 
     budget is submitted.
       (14) an allowance for unanticipated uncontrollable 
     expenditures for that year.
       (15) a separate statement on each of the items referred to 
     in section 301(a)(1)-(5) of the Congressional Budget Act of 
     1974 (2 U.S.C. 632(a)(1)-(5)).
       (16) the level of tax expenditures under existing law in 
     the tax expenditures budget (as defined in section 3(a)(3) of 
     the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 622(a)(3)) for 
     the fiscal year for which the budget is submitted, 
     considering projected economic factors and changes in the 
     existing levels based on proposals in the budget.
       (17) information on estimates of appropriations for the 
     fiscal year following the fiscal year for which the budget is 
     submitted for grants, contracts, and other payments under 
     each program for which there is an authorization of 
     appropriations for that following fiscal year when the 
     appropriations are authorized to be included in an 
     appropriation law for the fiscal year before the fiscal year 
     in which the appropriation is to be available for obligation.
       (18) a comparison of the total amount of budget outlays for 
     the prior fiscal year, estimated in the budget submitted for 
     that year, for each major program having relatively 
     uncontrollable outlays with the total amount of outlays for 
     that program in that year.
       (19) a comparison of the total amount of receipts for the 
     prior fiscal year, estimated in the budget submitted for that 
     year, with receipts, a comparison of the amount of receipts 
     estimated in that budget with the amount of receipts from 
     that source in that year.
       (20) an analysis and explanation of the differences between 
     each amount compared under clauses (18) and (19) of this 
     subsection.
       (21) a horizontal budget showing--
       (A) the programs for meteorology and of the National 
     Climate Program established under section 5 of the National 
     Climate Program Act (15 U.S.C. 2904);
       (B) specific aspects of the program of, and appropriation, 
     for, each agency; and
       (C) estimated goals and financial requirements.
       (22) a statement of budget authority, proposed budget 
     authority, budget outlays, and proposed budget outlays, and 
     descriptive information in terms of--
       (A) a detailed structure of national needs that refers to 
     the missions and programs of agencies (as defined in section 
     101 of this title); and
       (B) the mission and basic programs.
       (23) separate appropriation accounts for appropriations 
     under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 
     U.S.C. 651 et seq.) and the Federal Mine Safety and Health 
     Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 801 et seq.)
       (24) recommendations on the return of Government capital to 
     the Treasury by a mixed-ownership corporation (as defined in 
     section 9101(2) of this title that the President decides are 
     desirable.
       (25) a separate appropriation account for appropriations 
     for each Office of Inspector General of an establishment 
     defined under section 11(2) of the Inspector General Act of 
     1978.
       (26)\1850\ a separate statement of the amount of 
     appropriations requested for the Office of National Drug 
     Control Policy and each program of the National Drug Control 
     Program.
       (28)\1851\ a separate statement of the amount of 
     appropriations requested for the Office of Financial 
     Management.
       (b) Estimated expenditures and proposed appropriations for 
     the legislative branch and the judicial branch to be included 
     in each budget under subsection (a)(5) of this section shall 
     be submitted to the President before October 16 of each year 
     and included in the budget by the President without change.
       (c) The President shall recommend in the budget appropriate 
     action to meet an estimated deficiency when the estimated 
     receipts for the fiscal year for which the budget is 
     submitted (under laws in effect when the budget is submitted) 
     and the estimated amounts in the Treasury at the end of the 
     current fiscal year available for expenditure in the fiscal 
     year for which the budget is submitted, are less than the 
     estimated expenditures for that year. The President shall 

[[Page S887]]
     make recommendations required by the public interest when the estimated 
     receipts and estimated amounts in the Treasury are more than 
     the estimated expenditures.
       (d) When the President submits a budget or supporting 
     information about a budget, the President shall include a 
     statement on all changes about the current fiscal year that 
     were made before the budget or information was submitted.
       (e)(1) The President shall submit with materials related to 
     each budget transmitted under subsection (a) on or after 
     January 1, 1985, an analysis for the ensuing fiscal year that 
     shall identify requested appropriations or new obligational 
     authority and outlays for each major program that may be 
     classified as a public civilian capital investment program 
     and for each major program that may be classified as a 
     military capital investment program, and shall contain 
     summaries of the total amount of such appropriations or new 
     obligational authority and outlays for public civilian 
     capital investment programs and summaries of the total amount 
     of such appropriations or new obligational authority and 
     outlays for military capital investment programs. In 
     addition, the analysis under this paragraphs shall contain--
       (A) an estimate of the current service levels of public 
     civilian capital investment and of military capital 
     investment and alternative high and low levels of such 
     investments over a period of ten years in current dollars and 
     over a period of five years in constant dollars;
       (B) the most recent assessment analysis and summary, in a 
     standard format, of public civilian capital investment needs 
     in each major program area over a period of ten years;
       (C) an identification and analysis of the principal policy 
     issues that affect estimated public civilian capital 
     investment needs for each major program; and
       (D) an identification and analysis of factors that affect 
     estimated public civilian capital investment needs for each 
     major program, including but not limited to the following 
     factors:
       (i) economic assumptions;
       (ii) engineering standards;
       (iii) estimates of spending for operation and maintenance;
       (iv) estimates of expenditures for similar investments by 
     State and local governments; and
       (v) estimates of demand for public services derived from 
     such capital investments and estimates of the service 
     capacity of such investments.
       To the extent that any analysis required by this paragraph 
     relates to any program for which Federal financial assistance 
     is distributed under a formula prescribed by law, such 
     analysis shall be organized by State and within each State by 
     major metropolitan area if data are available.
       (2) For purposes of this subsection, any appropriation, new 
     obligational authority, or outlay shall be classified as a 
     public civilian capital investment to the extent that such 
     appropriation, authority, or outlay will be used for the 
     construction, acquisition, or rehabilitation of any physical 
     asset that is capable of being used to produce services or 
     other benefits for a number of years and is not classified as 
     a military capital investment under paragraph (3). Such 
     assets shall include (but not be limited to)--
       (A) roadways or bridges,
       (B) airports or airway facilities,
       (C) mass transportation systems,
       (D) wastewater treatment or related facilities,
       (E) water resources projects,
       (F) hospitals,
       (G) resource recovery facilities,
       (H) public buildings,
       (I) space or communications facilities,
       (J) railroads, and
       (K) federally assisted housing.
       (3) For purposes of this subsection, any appropriation, new 
     obligational authority, or outlay shall be classified as a 
     military capital investment to the extent that such 
     appropriation, authority, or outlay will be used for the 
     construction, acquisition, or rehabilitation of any physical 
     asset that is capable of being used to produce services or 
     other benefits for purposes of national defense and security 
     for a number of years. Such assets shall include military 
     bases, posts, installations, and facilities.
       (4) Criteria and guidelines for use in the identification 
     of public civilian and military capital investments, for 
     distinguishing between public civilian and military capital 
     investments, and for distinguishing between major and 
     nonmajor capital investment programs shall be issued by the 
     Director of the Office of Management and Budget after 
     consultation with the Comptroller General and the 
     Congressional Budget Office. The analysis submitted under 
     this subsection shall be accompanied by an explanation of 
     such criteria and guidelines.
       (5) For purposes of this subsection--
       (A) the term ``construction'' includes the design, 
     planning, and erection of new structures and facilities, the 
     expansion of existing structures and facilities, the 
     reconstruction of a project at an existing site or adjacent 
     to an existing site, and the installation of initial and 
     replacement equipment for such structures and facilities;
       (B) the term ``acquisition'' includes the addition of land, 
     sites, equipment, structures, facilities, or rolling stock by 
     purchase, lease-purchase, trade, or donation; and
       (C) there term ``rehabilitation'' includes the alteration 
     of or correction of deficiencies in an existing structure or 
     facility so as to extend the useful life or improve the 
     effectiveness of the structure or facility, the modernization 
     or replacement of equipment at an existing structure or 
     facility, and the modernization of, or replacement of parts 
     for, rolling stock.
       (f) \1852\ The budget transmitted pursuant to subsection 
     (a) for a fiscal year shall be prepared in a manner 
     consistent with the requirements of the Balanced Budget and 
     Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 that apply to that and 
     subsequent fiscal years.\1853\

     Sec. 1106. Supplemental budget estimates and changes

       (a) Before July 16 of each year, the President shall submit 
     to Congress a supplemental summary of the budget for the 
     fiscal year for which the budget is submitted under section 
     1105(a) of this title. The summary shall include--
       (1) for that fiscal year--
       (A) substantial in or reappraisals of estimates of 
     expenditures and receipts;


                               footnotes

     \1847\ This period is here in the original. Section 
     13112(c)(1) of the Budget Enforcement Act struck the words 
     ``On or before the first Monday after January 3 of each year 
     (or on or before February 5 in 1986)'' here and inserted ``On 
     or after the first Monday in January but not later than the 
     first Monday in February of each year.'' See supra p. 710.
     The statement of managers accompanying the conference report 
     on the Budget Enforcement Act hedges the changes made by that 
     Act:

                    XI. Presidents Budget Submission

     The conference agreement includes a provision permitting the 
     President to delay submission to Congress of The Budget of 
     the United States Government from the present requirement of 
     ``on or before the first Monday after January 3 of each 
     year'' to not later than the first Monday in February. The 
     conferees intended that this increased flexibility be used 
     very rarely to meet only the most pressing exigencies. An 
     orderly and timely budget process requires that Presidential 
     submissions be made on or before the first Monday after 
     January 3 whenever possible. The conferees expect that 
     Presidential submission dates will comply with the January 
     deadline. H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 101-964, 101st Cong., 2d Sess. 
     1171 (1990), reprinted in 1990 U.S.C.C.A.N. 2017, 2876.
     \1848\ In addition to this broad statutory authority, the 
     President also retains the Constitutional authority to 
     ``recommend to [Congress's] Consideration such Measures as he 
     shall judge necessary and expedient.'' U.S. Const. art. II, 
     Sec. 3.
     \1849\ In addition to this broad statutory authority, the 
     President also retains the Constitutional authority to 
     ``recommend to [Congress's] Consideration such Measures as be 
     shall judge necessary and expedient.'' U.S. Const. art. II, 
     Sec. 3.
     \1850\ Section 1006 of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 added 
     this paragraph (26). Pub. L. 100-690, Sec. 1006. 102 Stat. 
     4187 (1988). Section 1009 of that Act provides that this 
     paragraph is repealed ``on the date which is 5 years after 
     the date of enactment,'' or November 18, 1993. Id. Sec. 1009, 
     102 Stat. at 4188.
     Note that section 5301 of the Omnibus Trade Competitiveness 
     Act of 1988 added another paragraph (26), if temporarily. 
     Pub. L. 100-418, Sec. 5301, 102 Stat. 1462 (1988). Section 
     5303 of the Act provides:
     The amendment made by section 5301 shall be effective for 
     fiscal years 1989, 1990, 1991, and 1992, and shall be fully 
     reflected in the budgets submitted by the President as 
     required by section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, 
     for each such fiscal year . . .. Id. Sec. 5303, 102 Stat. at 
     1463.
     The now-former paragraph (26) read:
     (26) an analysis, prepared by the Office of Management and 
     Budget after consultation with the chairman of the Council of 
     Economic Advisers, of the budget's impact on the 
     international competitiveness of United States business and 
     the United States balance of payments position and shall 
     include the following projections, based upon the best 
     information available at the time, for the fiscal year for 
     which the budget is submitted--
     (A) the amount of borrowing by the Government in private 
     credit markets;
     (B) net domestic savings (defined as personal savings, 
     corporate savings, and the fiscal surplus of State and local 
     governments);
     (C) net private domestic investment;
     (D) the merchandise trade and current accounts ;
     (E) the net increase or decrease in foreign indebtedness 
     (defined as net foreign investment); and
     (F) the estimated direction and extent of the influence of 
     the Government's borrowing in private credit markets on 
     United States dollar interest rates and on the real effective 
     exchange rate of the United States dollar. Pub. L. 100-418, 
     Sec. 5301, 102 Stat. 1462 (1988) (expired).
     Compare the parallel requirements for the report to accompany 
     the congressional budget resolution formerly set forth in 
     section 301(e)(10) of the Congressional Budget Act. See supra 
     note 190.
     \1851\ This is so in the original. No paragraph (27) exists. 
     The Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990, Pub. L. No. 101-
     576, 104 Stat. 2838 (1990), added this paragraph.
     \1852\ Section 275(b) of Gramm-Rudman-Hollings provides that 
     section 1105(f) of title 31 shall expire September 30, 1995.
     \1853\ Section 13112(c)(2) of the Budget Enforcement Act 
     amended subsection (f) to read as it does now. See supra p. 
     711. Before enactment of the Budget Enforcement Act, 
     subsection (f) read as follows:
     (f)(1) The budget transmitted pursuant to subsection (a) for 
     a fiscal year shall be prepared on the basis of the best 
     estimates then available, in such a manner as to ensure that 
     the deficit for such fiscal year shall not exceed the maximum 
     deficit amount for such fiscal year as determined under 
     paragraph (7) of section 3 of the Congressional Budget and 
     Impoundment Control Act of 1974.
     (2) The deficit set forth in the budget so transmitted for 
     any fiscal year not exceed the maximum deficit amount for 
     such fiscal year as determined under paragraph (7) of section 
     3 of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 
     1974, with budget outlays and Federal revenues at such levels 
     as the President may consider most desirable and feasible.
     (3) The budget transmitted pursuant to subsection (a) for a 
     fiscal year shall include a budget baseline estimate made in 
     accordance with section 251(a)(6) of the Balanced Budget and 
     Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 and using economic and 
     technical assumptions consistent with the current services 
     budget submitted under section 1109 for the fiscal year. If 
     such budget baseline estimate differs from the estimate in 
     the current services budget, the President shall explain the 
     differences. The budget 

[[Page S888]]
     transmitted pursuant to subsection (a) for such fiscal year shall 
     include the information required by section 251(a)(2) of such 
     Act (other than account-level detail) assuming that the 
     deficit in such budget baseline were the amount estimated by 
     the Director of the Office of Management and Budget on August 
     25 of the calendar year in which the fiscal year begins.
     (4) Paragraphs (1) and (2) shall not apply with respect to 
     fiscal year 1989 if the budget transmitted for such fiscal 
     year provides for deficit reduction from a budget baseline 
     deficit for such fiscal year (as defined by section 251(a)(6) 
     of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 
     1985 and based on laws in effect on January 1, 1988) equal to 
     or greater than $36,000,000,000.
     (5) Paragraphs (1) and (2) shall not apply if a declaration 
     of war by the Congress is in effect.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I submit, and my quick analysis is, that 
the President has complied with none of them. Again, I repeat, if the 
President wanted to tell the American people he sent a vision statement 
up here, or if he wanted to say, ``I sent a sunshine brochure up 
here''--it is in yellow and looks like sunshine--if he wanted to say 
that, that is fine. But to suggest that he sent a budget up here is 
clearly, clearly, a statement without any ability behind the White 
House to prove it. There is no budget.
  Why do I say this and why do I come to the floor? First, some are 
saying, we should have a budget hearing on the budget. I say to my 
friend--two are here on the Budget Committee--there is no budget to 
have a hearing about. We could perhaps have a hearing about the 
nonbudget if some would like to have that.
  Second, it is very easy to submit a budget with bulk numbers if you 
do not have to tell the public what you are going to do, so that in all 
the appropriated accounts, you do not have to tell them what you will 
spend money on and what you will not spend money on. It is another 
effort on the part of the White House to make everybody feel good and 
to make sure you feel good about the President's proposals because he 
has not yet told you what he will and will not do.
  I submitted the 31 requirements, and I merely ask the White House and 
the President to submit a budget at the earliest possible time. I think 
the public deserves it. I think we deserve it. Again, I say to the 
White House, you have not submitted one. We understand that perhaps 
there is a lot of pressure this year and a shortage of time, but it 
would have been better if you would not have told the public you 
submitted one when you did not. Make sure when you do submit one that 
it is a budget, and then we can have hearings on it and let the 
American people know what is in it.
  Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent I be permitted to 
speak up to 5 minutes as in morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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