[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 46 (Friday, March 29, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3190-S3191]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
THE OMNIBUS APPROPRIATIONS BILL
Mr. SPECTER. I have sought recognition, Mr. President, to express my
chagrin and disappointment that we are apparently not going to have an
omnibus appropriations bill, but later today are going to proceed with
another continuing resolution. Perhaps it is appropriate on April 1, on
April Fool's Day, that Washington, DC, again looks like a collective
group of April fools unable to pass a budget, and on April Fool's Day
unable to finish the business of the preceding year, 1995.
Within the past hour I have come from the conference of the House and
Senate where very strenuous efforts have been made for the past several
days to find a compromise on appropriations.
I have the honor to chair the Senate Subcommittee on Labor, Health
and Human Services. Perhaps I use the wrong word when I say it is an
``honor.'' It has been really an embarrassment that we have not been
able to bring a bill, the legislation, to fruition for funding which
should have been in place by last October 1. But that bill has been
tied up for a variety of reasons, with equal blame apportioned on both
sides of the aisle, while we have been in gridlock on a number of
matters.
For many, many weeks I have been pressing very hard to try to get the
matter resolved, have been working with Chief of Staff Leon Panetta to
find offsets, have scheduled a series of hearings with the Secretaries
of the three Departments--Labor, Health and Human Services, and
Education--and we finally brought the bill to the Senate floor and
finally got it passed by a very substantial number, 79 to 21.
The key part of that bill was a bipartisan amendment worked out by
the distinguished Senator from Iowa, Senator Harkin, and myself,
Senator Harkin being the ranking member of the committee. We passed
that amendment 84 to 16. During about 20 hours of conferencing, Mr.
President, I think we had been able to finally thread the needle to
find a bill which would probably have been signed by the President and
which was acceptable to the House of Representatives.
That is pretty hard to do in Washington, DC, today. There is
considerably more flexibility in the U.S. Senate in trying to arrive at
accommodation. We passed the bill which had the amendment which Senator
Harkin and I had constructed and fashioned, which added $2.7 billion to
some very important functions, to education, worker safety, and to
health and human services.
Notwithstanding that addition, the President had sent word that he
wanted some $484 million more. Well, we were at the break point with
the bill which we conferenced with the House of Representatives when we
had called for $2.7 billion more in spending.
Let me point out that that $2.7 billion was endorsed by both leaders,
Senator Dole and Senator Daschle, 37 out of the 53 Republicans voted
for the amendment, 37 Republicans voted for it and 16 voted against it,
more than two-thirds of our Republican body voted for it, which is a
very, very strong showing, given the constituency of our Senate caucus,
and the amendment received all of the 47 Democratic votes. So, when we
went to conference with this bill I thought, Senator Harkin thought,
Senator Hatfield thought, that we were within range to have it signed
by the President. We were not sure, but we thought we were within that
range.
We also constructed the bill so that it would be agreed to by our
House colleagues. We were not sure about that either. It was very, very
tough on negotiations. Finally, the House Labor, Health and Human
Services conferees approved the bill by a vote of 6 to 5. You cannot
get any closer than 6 to 5. But what we were veritably doing is running
between the raindrops in a hurricane to find something which would
satisfy our House colleagues and something which might be signed by the
President.
Regrettably, that is all for naught or mostly all for naught--mostly
for naught or probably for naught--because when we do not get the bill
and have a 3-week hiatus, it all unravels.
Senator Baker was the majority leader when I first came to this body.
I learned a great deal from Senator Baker. One of his famous
statements--we were here at 11:30 one night. We were on the finance
bill. There were 63 amendments pending. Senator Baker said, ``We're
going to proceed and finish this bill because amendments, like
mushrooms, grow overnight.'' We stayed through until 6:30 in the
morning. We had some accepted. We had half a dozen votes. Many dropped
by the wayside. We finished the bill.
The dynamism in the U.S. Senate and the House is, if you do not push
to get it through, it all unravels. We were on the verge of getting it
through. I compliment our distinguished colleague, Senator Hatfield,
for his prodigious work in shepherding this matter through and would
note his consternation and amazement when he heard last night that we
were going to have a continuing resolution. That was not known by the
chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, who was chairing the
conference.
I think it is very regrettable because, if we were going to have the
time to present this bill on the floor today, or perhaps tomorrow--it
would not be unheard of or out of line for us to work on a Saturday,
even if it would mean a day less of the recess. That has happened
before.
These matters just do not coalesce until the very last minute. If
there is more time for argument, more time for discussion, and more
time for disagreement, when we finally work it out, it is an
accommodation and a compromise. Nobody is really happy, and if you have
more time to argue it some more, you expected to be in session last
night until past midnight and then again today.
With that pressure on, we were on the verge of having an omnibus
appropriations bill, which I think would have concluded the matter. It
is with considerable chagrin and considerable disappointment, speaking
for myself, that we are not finishing. I think it is with considerable
chagrin and considerable disappointment that the American people are
watching the process and seeing April 1 come and seeing a bunch of
``April fools'' in Washington, DC, at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue,
unable to get the matter done. There is a responsibility in both
Houses, a bicameral responsibility, and a responsibility on both sides
of the aisle--Republicans and Democrats are equally at fault--and
responsibility at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, because there is no
easy compromise and no meeting of the minds without an elaborate,
inordinate thrashing process where the White House always wants more
and some here always want less. We are on the verge of getting it done.
[[Page S3191]]
I think it is very regrettable we did not conclude it.
Mr. President, when we added the $2.7 billion included in the
Specter-Harkin amendment, we were able to add to some very, very
important programs on education--that is a priority, second to none--
and important matters on worker safety, important matters on Health and
Human Services.
I know my distinguished colleague from Rhode Island is on the floor
waiting to speak, and I will not go through the detail which I would
have. Sometimes on Friday afternoon at 1:30 there is nobody seeking
recognition on the floor. Instead, I will have printed in the Record
this chart which shows a comparison, a transition, as to where the
appropriations process had been, how we made the additions, how we came
to the accommodations and compromises, and finish within $20 million,
which is a small fraction of the $2.7 billion, we came in $20 million
under the $2.7 billion, and actually only $14 million, because a $6
million addition was added by Congresswoman Pelosi on an education
program, which I thought was fine.
So we did the job. Regrettably, it is not altogether finished.
Hopefully, a good part of this work will last, and we will be able to
build on this when we come back, to finish this omnibus appropriations
bill.
There are a few outstanding matters on language and a few other
outstanding issues, but I think they would have been resolved fairly
quickly had the pressure been maintained to finish this, without the
talk of a continuing resolution.
I ask unanimous consent that this chart be printed at the conclusion
of my remarks.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
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Conference, Conference 3/ Conference, Conference 3/
Fiscal year House Specter/Harkin Senate proposal, 3/27/ 27/96 vs. proposal, 3/28/ 28/96 vs.
1995 floor amend. 96 Senate 96 Senate
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Labor:
School to Work...................................... $122,500 $95,000 $91,000 $186,000 170,000 (16,000) 170,000 (16,000)
Dislocated Workers.................................. 1,228,550 867,000 333,000 1,200,000 1,100,000 (100,000) 1,100,000 (100,000)
One-Stop Career Ctrs................................ 100,000 125,000 18,000 110,000 ............... ............... ............... ...............
Summer Youth Jobs................................... 867,000 0 635,000 635,000 635,000 0 625,000 (10,000)
Adult Training...................................... 996,813 830,000 154,300 900,000 850,000 (50,000) 850,000 (50,000)
OSHA................................................ 311,660 ............... ............... 289,000 289,000 0 289,000 0
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Total, Labor...................................... 3,626,523 1,917,000 1,231,300 3,320,300 3,044,000 (166,000) 3,034,000 (176,000)
=======================================================================================================================================
HHS:
HRSA:
Consolidated Health Centers..................... 756,518 756,518 ............... 759,623 759,623 ............... 759,623 0
Natl Health Service Corps....................... 120,185 120,185 ............... 115,000 115,000 0 115,000 0
Health Professions.............................. 278,977 278,977 ............... 235,669 260,162 24,493 260,162 24,493
Pediatric Emergency............................. 10,000 11,000 ............... 10,500 11,000 500 11,000 500
Ryan White, Title II............................ 198,147 250,147 ............... 198,147 250,147 52,000 250,147 52,000
Health Care Facilities.......................... 10,000 10,000 ............... 10,000 20,000 10,000 20,000 10,000
SAMHSA.............................................. 2,180,668 1,883,715 ............... 1,800,469 1,859,146 58,677 1,859,146 58,677
AHCPR............................................... 135,290 94,186 ............... 65,390 94,186 28,796 94,186 28,796
HCFA Medicare Contractors........................... 1,604,171 1,604,171 ............... 1,584,767 1,604,171 19,404 1,604,171 19,404
ACF:
Head Start...................................... 3,534,129 3,397,429 136,700 3,534,129 3,570,129 36,000 3,570,129 36,000
Social Services BG.............................. 2,800,000 2,520,000 ............... 2,310,000 2,420,000 110,000 2,311,000 1,000
Child Welfare Services.......................... 291,989 277,389 ............... 268,629 277,389 8,760 277,389 8,760
Admin. on Aging:
AOA Research.................................... 25,630 0 ............... 4,991 2,850 (2,141) 2,850 (2,141)
HHS Office of the Secretary:
HHS Gen'l Dept. Mgt............................. 88,150 96,439 ............... 96,439 98,439 2,000 98,439 2,000
Office of Minority Health....................... 0 27,000 ............... 20,000 27,000 7,000 27,000 7,000
Inspector General............................... 89,456 73,956 ............... 79,162 79,162 0 79,162 0
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Total, HHS.................................... 12,123,310 11,401,112 136,700 11,092,915 11,448,404 355,489 11,339,404 246,489
=======================================================================================================================================
Education:
Goals 2000.......................................... 371,870 362,000 60,000 350,000 350,000 0 350,000 0
Title I (Total)..................................... 7,228,116 7,010,113 814,489 7,328,000 7,228,116 (99,884) 7,228,116 99,884
Basic Grants.................................... (5,968,235) (5,405,895) (700,228) (5,960,089) (5,792,897) ............... (5,968,235) ...............
Concentration Grants............................ (663,137) (1,044,945) (114,261) (805,459) (905,459) ............... (663,137) ...............
BIA Set-Aside................................... (66,984) (65,160) ............... (68,339) ............... ............... (66,984) ...............
Drug Free Schools................................... 465,981 200,000 200,000 400,000 366,000 (34,000) 400,000 0
School to Work...................................... 122,500 95,000 91,000 186,000 170,000 (16,000) 180,000 (6,000)
Charter Schools..................................... 6,000 8,000 8,000 16,000 16,000 0 18,000 2,000
Ed. Technology...................................... 22,500 25,000 10,000 35,000 48,000 13,000 48,000 13,000
Voc. Ed Basic Grants................................ 972,750 890,000 82,750 972,750 953,105 (19,645) 972,750 0
Perkins Loans....................................... 158,000 0 58,000 158,000 75,000 (83,000) 93,297 (64,703)
SSIG................................................ 63,375 31,375 32,000 63,375 31,375 (32,000) 31,375 (32,000)
Impact Aid.......................................... 728,000 693,000 ............... 691,159 693,000 1,841 693,000 1,841
Bilingual Education................................. 206,700 ............... ............... 150,000 167,000 17,000 175,000 25,000
Prison Literacy..................................... 5,100 4,346 ............... 5,100 4,723 (377) 4,723 (377)
Pell Grants......................................... 6,178,680 5,423,331 ............... 4,814,000 ............... ............... 4,967,446 153,446
Max Grant....................................... ............... (2,440) ............... (2,500) ............... ............... (2,470) ...............
Howard University................................... 204,663 174,671 ............... 174,671 182,348 7,677 182,348 7,677
Ellender............................................ 3,000 0 ............... 2,760 1,500 (1,260) 1,500 (1,260)
Libraries........................................... 144,161 131,505 ............... 131,505 132,505 1,000 132,505 1,000
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Total, Education.................................. 16,734,235 14,916,836 1,356,239 15,344,055 10,284,667 (245,388) 15,344,055 0
=======================================================================================================================================
Related Agencies:
Corp Natl Comm Service.............................. 214,624 196,270 ............... 201,294 198,393 (2,901) 198,393 (2,901)
Fed Med Conciliation Service........................ 31,344 32,896 ............... 32,396 32,896 500 32,896 500
Social Security Admin............................... 3,125,356 2,946,197 ............... 2,785,875 2,760,875 (25,000) 2,736,375 (49,500)
Railroad Retirement Board........................... 90,816 90,816 ............... 89,094 89,955 861 89,955 861
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Total, Related Agencies........................... 3,462,140 3,266,179 ............... 3,108,659 3,082,119 (26,540) 3,057,619 (51,040)
=======================================================================================================================================
Scorekeeping Adjust:
1% Cap Perf. Awards................................. (30,500) ............... ............... (30,500) 0 30,500 (30,500) 0
Direct Loans Admin.................................. ............... ............... ............... 460,000 ............... ............... 420,000 (40,000)
Totals............................................ 35,915,708 31,501,127 2,724,239 33,295,129 27,859,190 (51,939) 33,164,578 (20,551)
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Mr. SPECTER. I yield the floor.
____________________