[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 25 (Wednesday, February 28, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1387-S1388]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     AN OMNIBUS APPROPRIATIONS BILL

  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I am optimistic today that the Congress 
will move forward with an omnibus appropriations bill to cover the 
departments now not covered in existing legislation. I have been 
particularly concerned about what has happened to the subcommittee of 
Appropriations which I have the honor to chair, the Subcommittee on 
Labor, Health and Human Services and Education. The absence of an 
appropriations bill in these departments has been very, very, very 
problemsome.
  It has been impossible for the Secretary of Labor to plan on worker 
safety and impossible for the Secretary of Education to advise various 
States as to the allocation of their funding. It has been impossible 
for the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make allocations on 
very important items, although we have taken some items out like the 
National Institutes of Health, where we have maintained, again, an 
increased appropriation on that very important line.

  I had scheduled last week a hearing of the three Secretaries to 
outline the needs of their Departments and to the approaches which they 
might be able to take. I deferred that hearing because, in the absence 
of knowing how much the additional funding would be, it was impossible 
to have that hearing in a meaningful way.
  I had been in touch with the Chief of Staff, Leon Panetta, on a 
number of occasions spreading over several weeks trying to push ahead 
to see to it that we had an opportunity to construct this legislation 
well in advance of the March 15 date when the current continuing 
resolution would expire.
  As a matter of fact, I even made an effort to talk to Chief of Staff 
Panetta when he was traveling with the President recently, when he 
traveled Friday to Wilkes-Barre, where the President was due to stop to 
look at flood damage in Pennsylvania, which was very extensive. There 
is flood damage all over the State, not only with the Susquehanna in 
Wilkes-Barre, the Lackawanna River in Scranton, and the Susquehanna 
through central Pennsylvania, very great damage off Dauphin and 
Cumberland counties, other places, Pittsburgh as well, and western 
Pennsylvania.
  When the President came to Wilkes-Barre, he was scheduled to have Mr. 
Panetta with him. I thought I would be able to get the facts there. But 
Chief of Staff Panetta had left the party, so I had a chance to talk 
with the President about the additional funding. The President was in 
agreement we needed to do just that.
  Yesterday I was advised that there would be an additional $4.5 
billion in budget authority, slightly in excess of $1.7 billion in 
budget outlays, so we can go ahead.
  I am looking forward to rescheduling the hearing with Secretary of 
Labor Reich, Secretary of Health and Human Services Shalala, Secretary 
of Education Riley, to make a determination as to where those funds 
ought to be added.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a copy of my letter to 
Chief of Staff Leon Panetta dated February 20, 1996, be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the letter was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                                      U.S. Senate,


                                  Committee on Appropriations,

                                Washington, DC, February 20, 1996.
     Hon. Leon Panetta,
     Chief of Staff, the White House, Washington, DC.
       Dear Leon: I called again this morning to try to find out 
     from you the possible offsets to add approximately $3.3 
     billion for appropriations for my Subcommittee on Labor, 

[[Page S1388]]
     Health and Human Services and Education. As you know, when we talked 
     the week before last, you expected to be able to identify 
     those offsets by last Tuesday. When I caught up with you on 
     Friday, you thought the offsets could at least be identified 
     by today.
       As I had mentioned to you, a Subcommittee hearing has been 
     scheduled for February 21 to hear from Secretary Reich, 
     Secretary Shalala and Secretary Riley to try to structure an 
     appropriations bill which the President would sign with the 
     additional funding.
       I believe it is advisable to defer that hearing until we 
     can identify the amount of the additional funding and the 
     offsets so that we can pass a bill in advance of the March 15 
     expiration of the continuing resolution.
       As I have said on many occasions, I think it is very 
     important that we move ahead on these preliminary steps 
     forthwith because I anticipate many controversial issues in 
     the Senate floor debate and then a House-Senate conference 
     which could take considerable time.
       As I mentioned to you when we talked Friday afternoon, I 
     had hoped to see you in Wilkes-Barre with the Presidential 
     party, but I understood you had to leave in advance of that 
     stop.
       At Wilkes-Barre, I discussed with President Clinton the 
     urgency of identifying these offsets. The President said he 
     had already discussed the offsets with you and agreed on the 
     importance of moving ahead promptly to identify additional 
     funding for these three important departments.
       As soon as you can advise me on the additional funding and 
     the offsets, we shall move ahead to reschedule the hearing.
           Sincerely,
                                                    Arlen Specter.

  Mr. SPECTER. In the absence of any other Senator on the floor, Mr. 
President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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