[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 137 (Saturday, September 28, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11660-S11666]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       OMNIBUS PARKS LEGISLATION

  Mr. MURKOWSKI. I wonder if I could respond to my good friend from 
North Dakota relative to his concerns about the process here, 
particularly on the Presidio-omnibus parks bill, because, I, too, as 
chairman of the committee on which he serves, feel an extraordinary 
frustration about what we went through in committee because, as the 
Members know, we held the hearings, accommodated members as they 
introduced their bills, and then we attempted to move these bills to 
the floor.
  I think it is important to recognize that virtually every single bill 
in the parks package, 126 sections to accommodate Members, immediately 
have holds put on them by one Senator from New Jersey. That is just the 
fact. The record will reflect that reality. His motivation--it is part 
of the rules; it is appropriately done--was to get the House to move on 
Sterling Forest. There were objections over there on Sterling Forest. 
And that is part of the process. They have a right to do that. But as a 
consequence, we could not move a single bill to the floor for action 
because there was a hold on them.
  Here we have this package today of 126 sections in the Presidio parks 
bill, and that is why we have it, Madam President. It is as a 
consequence of Members using the rules, if you will, to advance the 
position of their own bills. But my job as chairman of the committee is 
to try to advance all those bills

[[Page S11661]]

that came out of my committee. That is what the Presidio parks package 
is all about.
  As a consequence, we are in a situation now where, having been 
notified by the administration of certain objections to that package, 
we responded. We responded in a conference mode, and we pulled off what 
they objected to. They objected to Utah wilderness. They objected to 
grazing. They objected to the 15-year Tongass extension contractual 
commitment. They objected to the Minnesota wilderness waters. So we 
pulled those. And then, they came back 2 days later with provisions in 
the Presidio conference report which would invoke a Presidential veto, 
and they listed: Conveyance to the city of Sumner, 1.5 acres to the 
City of Sumner, OR; 218. Shenandoah National Park; 219. Tulare 
conveyance; Alpine school district, 30 acres of land to the Alpine 
School District for a public school facility, passed the House by 
suspension. They never raised an objection. Coastal barrier, FL, 40 
acres of developed property out of 1.2 million acres, supported by a 
bipartisan Florida delegation and the Governor; conveyance to Del Norte 
County Unified School District, transfer of small acres to the school 
district in California for recreation, recess purposes.
  Now, Madam President, this administration has a responsibility for 
killing this package. This package is dead once the CR comes over from 
the House, as the majority whip is well aware. Right now there is a 
hold on this package, and the hold is by the minority leader on behalf 
of the administration. Otherwise we can move this conference back to 
the House while they are still in session and they will move it back 
here and it is passed. And the Presidio takes place as a reality, the 
Snow Basin takes place, so we can host the winter Olympics, that 
becomes a reality, the San Francisco Bay delta cleanup becomes a 
reality, Sterling Forest becomes a reality. And they are not even 
responding.
  Last night we sent a letter down saying we are ready to continue 
discussions to get this done. It is 2:30, Saturday afternoon, no 
response.
  I ask unanimous consent this letter be printed in the Record, as well 
as the identification of the 40-some-odd individual items that they 
indicated they would invoke a Presidential veto over, with an 
explanation on them, so that everyone who reads the Record can readily 
understand, if you will.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                         U.S. Senate, Committee on


                                 Energy and Natural Resources,

                               Washington, DC, September 27, 1996.
     Mr. John L. Hilley,
     Assistant to the President and Director for Legislative 
         Affairs,
     The White House.
       Dear Mr. Hilley: After our discussion earlier today, I 
     thought it would be constructive if as Chairman of the 
     Conference on H.R. 1296, I provided you with comments on the 
     items to which the Administration appears to object by virtue 
     of the fact they were not included on the list of acceptable 
     items you provided to me late last night.
       As you will see many of the legislative provisions 
     previously passed the House under suspension with no 
     Administration objections. Still other provisions passed the 
     Senate or the House after the Administration testified in 
     support. Others had passed the House or Senate after bi-
     partisan negotiations had attempted to address specific 
     Administration concerns. Yet other provisions, while 
     important to individual members, relate to such minor matter 
     as the study of a four foot radio tower at the site of an 
     existing tower on a national forest. It is difficult to 
     comprehend an objection to such a provision in the context of 
     this conference report. Finally, some provisions to which you 
     apparently object have the broad bi-partisan support of House 
     and Senate delegations, often including the Governor of the 
     relevant state.
       I hope this information is helpful to the Administration in 
     re-considering its position. Tomorrow I will again attempt to 
     recommit H.R. 1296 to conference for the purpose of allowing 
     the conferees to meet and consider changes to the conference 
     report. If the Administration would care to present 
     information concerning its objections to specific provisions 
     at such a meeting of the conferees I would be pleased to 
     arrange this meeting and give the information presented due 
     consideration. Obviously such a meeting will not be possible 
     unless H.R. 1296 is recommitted to conference. I believe that 
     in the short time remaining in the 104th Congress this is a 
     reasonable path to take to a successful conference report. It 
     is my sincere hope that for the benefit of the many intensely 
     interested members both Democrat and Republican, some 
     retiring at the end of this Congress, this important parks 
     and public lands legislation will pass the Congress.
           Sincerely,
                                               Frank H. Murkowski,
     Chairman.
                                                                    ____


     Provisions in Presidio Conference Report Which Would Invoke a 
                           Presidential Veto.

       216--Conveyance to city of Sumpter Oregon: Authorizes 
     Secretary of Agriculture to convey 1.5 acres to City of 
     Sumpter, Oregon for public purposes. Administration raised no 
     objections when bill passed under suspension in the House.
       218--Shenandoah National Park: Adjusts 1923 Park boundary 
     authorization to match today's existing park boundary. 
     Similar bill passed House 377-33 under suspension. Provision 
     has support of bi-partisan VA. Delegation.
       219--Tulare conveyance: Clears title of 14 acres owned by a 
     railroad to citizens of Tulare, California. Attempt by City 
     of Tulare to clean-up blighted downtown area. Hearings held 
     and provision was reported by Resources Committee. DOI 
     reportedly has no objection.
       220--Alpine School District: Conveys 30 acres of land to 
     the Alpine school district for a public school facility. 
     Passed House by suspension and Administration never raised 
     objection.
       223--Coastal Barrier Resource System: Removes 40 acres of 
     developed property out of a 1.2 million acre Coastal Barrier 
     Resource System. Reported by the Resources Committee. 
     Supported by bi-partisan Florida Delegation and the Governor.
       224--Conveyance to Del Norte County Unified school 
     district: Transfers small acreage to the School district in 
     California for educational purposes. Passed House under 
     suspension. Provision includes Forest Service requested 
     amendments.
       303--Alaska peninsular subsurface consolidation: Authorizes 
     Secretary to exchange subsurface holdings of Koniag 
     Corporation on an equal value basis for lands and interest 
     owned by the federal gov't. Passed House and Senate. Included 
     in the original Presidio package, the Administration 
     indicated it would sign.
       304--Snow basin land exchange: Would allow expedited land 
     exchange to facilitate the 2002 Winter Olympics. Passed both 
     House and Senate. Included in the original Presidio package, 
     the Administration indicated it would sign.
       309--Sand Hollow exchange: Equal value exchange in Zion 
     National Park to transfer water development rights in order 
     to protect Zion National Park. Passed the House. The 
     Administration has indicated supported.
       311--Land exchange, city of Greely, Colorado: Equal value 
     exchange to secure property needed by the city to secure 
     protection of the city's water supply.
       312--Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve land 
     exchange and foundary adjustment: This would add more than 2 
     million acres of native owned lands to Gates of the Arctic 
     National Park and Preserve in AK--in exchange for lands in 
     the NPR-A.
       313--Kenai Natives Association land exchange: This would 
     facilitate exchange between KNA and the FWS to allow an 
     Alaska Native Corp. to gain economic use of their land--this 
     would be an acre-for-acre exchange. An Administration 
     supported two-for-one acre exchange passed the House.
       401--Cache La Poudre corridor: Establishes a corridor to 
     interpret and protect a unique and historical waterway. 
     Included in the original Presidio package the Administration 
     indicated it would sign.
       405--RS2477: Places a moratorium on final regulations 
     without Congressional approval. Language agreed to by Senate 
     Republicans and Democrats and the Administration. Reported by 
     Energy Committee.
       406--Hanford Reach preservation: Extends a moratorium on 
     construction of any new dams or impoundments in this area. 
     Passed House under suspension with Administration objections.
       502--Vancouver National historic reserve: Establishes a new 
     historic reserve. Administration testified in support. Passed 
     the Senate. Hearings held in both bodies.
       602--Corinth, Mississippi Battlefield Act: Establishes a 
     visitors center at Shiloh National Military Park in 
     Mississippi. Included in the original Presidio package the 
     Administration indicated it would sign. Passed the Senate.
       603--Richmond National Battlefield Park: Establishes 
     boundary in accordance with new NPS management plan dated 8/
     96. Passed the House 337-33 under suspension. Administration 
     opposed House-passed bill, however it has been modified to 
     address their concerns. Supported by the bipartisan Va. 
     Delegation.
       604--Revolutionary War: A study to determine if these sites 
     warrant further protection Senate Energy reported bill--
     Administration testified in support. Hearings in both bodies.
       607--Shenandoah Valley Battlefield: Establishes Historical 
     Area. Does not create a new park. Administration opposed 
     House-passed bill, however it has been modified to address 
     their concerns. Supported by the bi-partisan Va. Delegation.
       701--Ski area permits: Simplifies ski area fee collection. 
     Passed House and Senate. Included in the original Presidio 
     package the Administration indicated it would sign. 
     Administration testified in support.
       703--Visitor services: Would raise $150 million for parks 
     to help with badly needed repairs of existing park 
     structures. 100% of new fees go back to the parks. Provision 
     was

[[Page S11662]]

     modified to address Administration concerns.
       704--Glacier Bay National Park: Raises fees to support 
     research and natural resources protection through a per-
     person charge on vessels entering Glacier Bay.
       803--Ozark wild horses: Would protect and prevent the 
     removal of a existing wild horse herds at Ozark National 
     Scenic Riverway. Passed the House under suspension without 
     Administration objection. Passed Senate Committee.
       806--Katmai National Park agreements: Authorizes research 
     in National Parks, including the ability of the USGS to 
     conduct volcanoligical research in Katmai National Park. 
     Administration has supported research cooperative agreements 
     for the last three Congressional sessions.
       811--Expenditures of funds outside boundary of Rock 
     Mountain National Park: Allows NPS to build a visitor center 
     outside the park with private funds. Administration and the 
     National Park Service requested this provision. Passed the 
     House under suspension. Passed Senate Energy Committee.
       815--NPS administrative reform: Provides authorities NPS 
     has requested for years--aids parks in protection of 
     resources and provide facilities for employees. Provides 
     Senate confirmation of NPS Director. Administration testified 
     in support at House hearings. Portions incorporated in 
     President Clinton's Earth Day address on National Parks. 
     Passed House under suspension with no Administration 
     opposition.
       816--Mineral King: Authorizes the continuation of summer 
     cabin leases. Totally discretionary for the Secretary. 
     Supported by bi-partisan members of House and Senate 
     California Delegation. House hearings held. Reported by 
     Resources Committee. Provision has been modified to address 
     Administration's concerns.
       818--Calumet Ecological Park: A study of the Calumet Lake 
     area to determine alternatives for preservation.
       819--Acquisition of certain property in Santa Cruz: 
     Provides for the acquisition of property on Santa Cruz Island 
     to prevent the further destruction of the resource due to 
     over-population of feral goats.
       1021--Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park: Formally 
     designates a recreation area. Changes monument status to park 
     and creates a BLM Conservation area. Designates 22,000 acres 
     of wilderness. Energy Committee hearings held.
       1022--National Park Foundation: Provides the opportunity 
     for the private sector to sponsor the NPS, similar to the 
     sponsorship of the Olympic games. Administration has 
     testified in support. Administration testified in support. 
     Part of President Clinton's Earth Day proclamation on Parks. 
     Provision has been modified to address last minute 
     Administration concerns.
       1028--Mount Hood: Exchange between private company and 
     federal gov't. Passed the Senate with no Administration 
     objection.
       1029--Creation of the Coquille Forest: Equal value exchange 
     creating a tribal forest. Passed the Senate with no 
     Administration objection.
       1034--Natchez National Historical Park: Creates an 
     auxiliary area to a NPS unit and provides $3 million for an 
     intermodal transportation system and visitor center. 
     Administration testified in support at Energy Committee 
     hearing. Reported by Senate Energy.
       1036--Rural electric and telephone facilities: Authorizes 
     BLM to waive right-of-way rental charges for small rural 
     electric and phone cooperatives.
       1037--Federal borough recognition: Allows the unorganized 
     borough in Alaska to receive PILT payments. Language was 
     modified in conjunction with BLM and Administration has 
     raised no objection. Reported by Energy Committee.
       1038--Alternative processing: Prohibits the termination of 
     a timber sale contract solely for the reason of failure to 
     operate a pulp mill. Provides flexibility so that jobs in the 
     sawmill portion of the contract are not lost along with the 
     pulp mill jobs. This is not a contract extension nor is it an 
     increase in timber harvesting. Language has been drastically 
     modified from original proposal. Hearings on contract issues 
     held in both bodies.
       1039--Village land negotiations: Provides authority for the 
     Secretary to negotiated with five tiny Alaskan villages 
     regarding their entitlements under ANCSA. Language has been 
     modified to address Administration concerns. Provides the 
     Secretary with already existing authority to negotiate 
     without the restrictions of a legal challenge against him. 
     Language has been further modified from earlier versions and 
     does not include the conveyance of any land or assets. 
     Hearings held in both bodies.
       1040--Unrecognized communities in SE Alaska: Authorizes the 
     native residents of five Southeast Alaska villages to 
     organize as urban or group corporations under an amendment to 
     ANCSA. Provision does not direct grants of any federal land 
     or compensation to these villages without a future act of 
     congress. Language has been drastically modified from earlier 
     proposals in that it does not contain any guarantee of land 
     to the villages.
       1041--Gross brothers: Transfers approximately 160 acres of 
     Forest Service land to Daniel J. Gross and Douglas K. Gross 
     of Wrangell, Alaska. These are the children of the original 
     homesteaders. Energy Committee hearing held.
       1043--Credit for reconveyance: Would allow Cape Fox 
     Corporation to transfer 320 acres of land near the Beaver 
     Falls Hydro project to the Forest Service. CFC's ANCSA 
     entitlement would be credited with an equal amount of 
     acreage. This provision does not provide CFC any additional 
     entitlement. Hearing held in the House. Administration raised 
     no objection to this provision.
       1044--Radio site report: A study to determine if an 
     existing radio site continues to be necessary.
       1045--Retention and maintenance of certain dams and weirs, 
     etc.: Requires the Forest Service to maintain specific dams 
     and weirs in the Immigrant Wilderness Area.
       1046--Matching land conveyance (University of Alaska): 
     Authorizes the Secretary of Interior to discuss a land grant 
     with the University of Alaska who has never received its 
     federal entitlement under the Land Grant College Program. 
     Provides for a matching grant to the State. Provision 
     specifically excludes lands that are part of a CSU or part of 
     a National Forest.
  Mr. NICKLES. Will the Senator yield for a question?
  Mr. MURKOWSKI. I will be happy to yield to my friend from Oklahoma.
  Mr. NICKLES. Correct me if I am wrong, but I remember the 
administration originally said they might veto it if it had a provision 
dealing with an Alaska pulp mill, a provision in Minnesota, a couple of 
major provisions that they strongly objected to.
  Those were removed, were they not, out of the package?
  Mr. MURKOWSKI. The Senator from Oklahoma is correct. They were 
removed. The 15-year contract extension was removed. Minnesota 
wilderness waters were removed. And, of course, Utah wilderness and 
grazing were removed.
  Mr. NICKLES. I was going to say, the grazing provisions were also 
seriously objected to. So you have removed the really contentious 
issues. I have looked through the list of 46. There are some 
Democrat's, and mostly Republican projects. For most of those there is 
not a great deal of land, there are not significant projects that they 
are trying to have removed. But it bothers me to think in many cases 
there has never been an objection raised to any of those, even in the 
Senate, when we passed it in the past, or from the House. Is that not 
correct?
  Mr. MURKOWSKI. The Senator from Oklahoma is correct.
  For example, this is in Missouri: Ozark wild horses preservation. 
What we would do would be to protect, prevent the removal, of the wild 
horse herds of the Ozarks on the national scenic riverway. This passed 
the House under the suspension without the administration's objection. 
It passed the Senate Energy Committee. Without this in the package, 
without this passing, those horses are going to be killed. They are 
going to be shot.
  There is no explanation. I cannot imagine the administration, in an 
election year--I cannot imagine the administration not responding to 
the needs of the Presidio, or cleaning up the San Francisco Bay area, 
or getting behind the land exchange for Snow Basin, allowing the 
Olympics to continue in this plan. But there is no explanation.
  Mr. NICKLES. Madam President, I compliment the Senator from Alaska, 
again. I want to encourage him not to give up faith, and maybe we will 
have some better cooperation from the administration and hopefully the 
minority leader so we can pass this package. It does have strong 
bipartisan support.
  As I mentioned before, I read through a few of these projects. There 
are a lot of projects by Democrats and Republicans in this package. The 
Senator from Alaska runs the Energy Committee in a very bipartisan way, 
as Senator Johnston has. So these projects are not partisan.
  Mr. MURKOWSKI. Absolutely, the Senator is correct. As a matter of 
fact, I have a list here of those that affect Democratic Members, many 
of whom are retiring, that they want to encourage passage of. My 
Democratic friends on the committee know that, as we address the 
hearing process, it is in a bipartisan manner. We work very well 
together. I have always felt very comfortable with Senator Johnston as 
the ranking member, and the professional staff of both sides.
  I think our efforts are recognized, as trying to be responsive to 
Members regardless of what their party affiliation is.
  I will share this with my friend from Oklahoma. The largest single 
beneficiary is the State of California. There are probably about 18 
sections in here,

[[Page S11663]]

including the Presidio, Elsmere Canyon, San Francisco Bay enhancement--
cleanup of the San Francisco Bay area.

  The Arkansas-Oklahoma land exchange, which affects you and the State 
of Arkansas as well. Obviously, Senator Bumpers is interested in that. 
Senator Heflin, who is retiring--Alabama, Selma to Montgomery Historic 
Trail. These are in the package and these affect our Democratic 
colleagues.
  Florida, the Florida coastal barrier amendments, Senator Graham. 
Georgia, Senator Nunn retiring, Chickamauga-Chattanooga. Hawaii, 
Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan--Montana, Lost 
Creek exchange; New Jersey, Sterling Forest; Senator Moynihan in New 
York, Women's rights boundary adjustment, Sterling Forest; Virginia, 
Senator Robb, Senator Warner, Cumberland Gap boundary, Richmond 
Battlefield boundary adjustment, Shenandoah Valley Battlefield 
establishment.
  That is why this is so cumbersome, because there are so many 
sections, 126 sections. West Virginia, West Virginia rivers, Senator 
Byrd.
  I am absolutely at a loss. Maybe the administration simply feels 
that, somehow, they can put a spin on this that this is not important; 
or somehow the environmental community is not supporting the package in 
its entirety. There are a few items in here that probably the 
environmental community would not support. But when you put a package 
together in a democratic process it is a give and take, and that is why 
this package is together and not individually brought before the 
Senate, because holds were put on every single bill that came out of 
the committee. As the whip knows, as a member of the committee, we 
could not get anything to the floor because we had holds on every 
single bill that came out of this committee by the Senator from New 
Jersey, who saw fit to do that to influence the House. That issue was 
Sterling Forest, which I have always supported. I do not have any 
problem with Sterling Forest. It is a good piece of legislation. I want 
it to happen.
  Now we are in the process of sacrificing everything, and I think, in 
these waning hours, it is very important the public understand where 
the responsibility has to lie. It has to lie at 1600 Pennsylvania 
Avenue.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.
  Mr. NICKLES. Madam President, again, I thank my colleague from Alaska 
for his leadership. He has been very fair, No. 1, in putting this 
package together. As a member of the Energy Committee for many, many 
years, working with him, he has done a good job. I might say, most of 
these deal with our national parks. I think a lot of us like to 
consider ourselves big friends of the national parks. We like to enjoy 
them. You mentioned Shenandoah Park. You think of Yellowstone or you 
think of some of the other projects, Presidio next to San Francisco.
  That is a project that a lot of people have been working on. The 
compromise package on Presidio is going to allow better management so 
the Federal Government is not writing checks, as we were, and 
utilization of the property is going to be a lot better for the public. 
Thinking of some of the other parks and systems that we have in this, 
to enhance the parks throughout our country is a good, significant 
investment. That is what we are trying to do by this bill.
  I did talk to our colleague, Senator Campbell, from Colorado, who, 
unfortunately, had a bad motorcycle accident and is not here. But he 
requested, he said, would you please help me try to pass some of these 
bills? I have been working on these for the last couple of years. I 
counted, I think, eight or nine bills dealing with Colorado and the 
parks and so on, some land exchanges, that are important to Colorado 
and really important to our country.

  I told him I would try to help. I told the Senator from California I 
would try to pass Presidio. I want to do it.
  There have been holds, primarily on the Democrat side, that have been 
blocking this bill for months. The Senator from Alaska has been trying 
to bring it up. Some of that dealt with the land in New Jersey.
  That is in this bill. So we do need to pass it. I hope we can still 
find a way. I cannot imagine, when you have such strong bipartisan 
support, that we cannot find a way to do it. I am troubled by the 
administration's objection. I am troubled by the fact that they would 
come up with moving the goalposts.
  They had objections before. The Senator from Alaska took those out. I 
urged him to take out, at some sacrifice to the Senator and to the 
State of Alaska, one of his largest year-round employers. And he made 
that sacrifice so we could pass this package. I compliment him for his 
willingness to make some sacrifice so we could enact a bill that would 
benefit most of the country.
  Now, for the administration to come up with a lot of, I don't know, 
excuses, to object to that package? I hope they will relent. I hope 
they will reconsider. Because it will be a real shame not to be able to 
pass most all of this legislation that the Senator from Alaska has 
brought before the Senate.
  Mr. MURKOWSKI. I wonder if I can ask my colleague a question, 
relative to what the possible motivation might be? Why will they not 
allow us as a body, bipartisan, to address this and resolve it by 
lifting the holds and letting us vote on it? Because the procedure is 
that it would come before the Senate. There would be, if it were in 
order, a vote to recommit back. If it prevails, then the Presidio and 
the entire omnibus package is dead.
  We are being prevented from voting to make an ultimate determination 
of the disposition of the package. I tried to find out what possible 
explanation there might be. With this hold on it we cannot move the 
conference report back to the House. It is my understanding, 
procedurally, in the House, someone could move to recommit. That would 
kill it in the House. But I have been assured by the Members in the 
House that is very unlikely to occur. It is doubtful it would even come 
up, but, procedurally, it would come back here, be subject to 
recommittal, and we would have a vote so we could determine by a 
democratic process the disposition. But we are being precluded from 
that at this time.
  Mr. NICKLES. To respond to the question of the Senator from Alaska, 
the parliamentary situation is such, in the last day or two of the 
Senate, a lot of things will not move unless you have unanimous 
consent. I know the Senator from Alaska has tried to get this bill up 
but there have been holds. There have been objections. Now I think we 
are at the place where we cannot bring this bill up unless we have 
unanimous consent.
  We have an objection from the Democratic side. Maybe that will be 
removed. I hope that it will. I hope they realize what is at stake, and 
maybe it will be reconsidered. I am urging them to do so. I just think 
there are too many positive things for the entire country for us to let 
this fall.
  Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the 
Record the sections which I understand the administration is objecting 
to, so people can see.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                            Sections Deleted

       216--Conveyance to City of Sumter Oregon (Hatfield): 
     Authorizes Secretary to convey 1.5 acres to City of Sumter 
     Oregon for public purposes.
       Parks--public purpose--this is supposed to be the people 
     President--What in the world does he have against a place for 
     kids to play.
       218--Shenandoah National Park (Robb/Warner/Bliley/Wolf): 
     Adjusts 1923 Park boundary authorization to match today's 
     existing park boundary.
       White House Staff informs you that they would have reached 
     the same conclusion on the boundary adjustment but they 
     needed more process.
       Doesn't take anything away from the park--old map 
     authorized 500,000 acres--if we went to that limit there 
     wouldn't be enough money in the Treasury to buy all the 
     private farms and homes that would be in the park.
       219--Tulare conveyance (House GOP): Affirms that land sold 
     by the railroad to citizens in Tulare, California is free 
     from any title problems.
       This was an attempt to bring some stability and certainty 
     to land ownership in the town of Tulare--this administration 
     doesn't seem to care about the towns folks or their future.
       220--Alpine School District (Kyl, McCain): 30 acres of land 
     to the Alpine School District for a public school facility.
       What in the world is wrong with supporting a school 
     district and aiding in the education of school children--I 
     thought this was the education President.
       223--Coastal barrier resource system (All Florida): 
     Transfers 40 acres of development property out of a 2.1 
     million acre undeveloped resource area.

[[Page S11664]]

       This was what the Florida delegation and the Governor 
     believes is best for their citizens--since this President 
     knows better than the States ``elected'' officials what's 
     good for the people--there is certainly no longer a need for 
     State level elected officials.
       224--Conveyance to Del Norte County Unified School District 
     (House California GOP): Transfers small acreage to the school 
     district for educational purposes.
       I guess that it now takes more than a village to raise a 
     child--the title to the new book he is writing is ``All You 
     Really Need is a President to Raise a Child.''
       303--Alaska Peninsula subsurface consolidation (Murkowski): 
     Authorizes Secretary to exchange subsurface holdings of 
     Koniag Corporation on an equal value for lands and interest 
     owned by the federal govt. This will complete exchanges 
     approved earlier.
       It was this provision of the bill that caused the tax 
     problem in the bill.
       From this action I can only conclude that the President 
     thinks it's a ``good'' idea to have private in-holdings in 
     national parks and refuges.
       304--Snow-Basin land exchange (Hatch/Bennett/Hansen and all 
     of Utah): This provision would allow expedited land exchange 
     to facilitate the 2002 winter Olympics which would be an 
     economic boom for the U.S. especially the west. This has been 
     in the process for six years and have received nothing from 
     the Clinton Administration.
       I'm not sure what the President has against the Olympics or 
     the people of Utah--maybe he would like to see the United 
     States embarrassed in the eyes of the world.
       309--Sand Hollow exchange (Hatch/Bennett): Equal value 
     exchange to add acreage to Zion National Park and allows 
     additional water to flow through the park.
       His ``own'' people and the environmental community have 
     pushed this exchange--what does this guy have against Utah!--
     all I can conclude is that a young Bill Clinton must 
     have been pushed down by a big kid from Utah during 
     recess.
       311--Land exchange city of Greely, Colorado (Campbell/
     Brown):
       Equal value exchange to secure property needed by city to 
     secure ownership of the cities water supply.
       Apparently this administration would like to manage the 
     city of Greely's water supply--having achieved world peace 
     and cured the common cold they apparently are bored and need 
     something to do--sorry Greely.
       312--Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve land 
     exchange and boundary adjustment (Murkowski, Knowles):
       This exchange could have led to a more than 2 million acre 
     expansion of the Gates of the Arctic National Park and 
     Preserve in AK--in Exchange for lands in the NPR-A.
       Since when is helping the national parks a bad idea in the 
     Clinton administration--the only conclusion that can be drawn 
     is that they don't like it because its not their idea.
       313--Kenai Natives Association land exchange:
       This would facilitate exchange between KNA and the FWS to 
     allow an Alaska Native Corp. to gain economic use of their 
     land--this would be an acre-for-acre exchange.
       There seems to be no rhyme or reason in the White House 
     position--on one hand they don't want to add two million 
     acres to a national park and on the other they want to double 
     the acreage put into a withdrawal.
       401--Cache la Poudre Corridor (Campbell/Brown's number #1 
     priority):
       Establishes Corridor to interpret and protect unique and 
     historical waterway.
       All I can conclude from their refusal to support this 
     action is that they don't think the Cache la Poudre deserves 
     to be protected--I guess the people of Colorado are wrong in 
     wanting to preserve an important piece of their history.
       405--RS2477 (Murkowski/Hatch/Bennett/Stevens):
       Puts a moratorium on the putting new regulations in place 
     without Congressional approval.
       This is ``just'' moratorium lanaguage--the minority and the 
     BLM negotiated this language with us--we were all in 
     agreement.
       406--Hanford Reach Preservation (Gorton/Doc Hastings):
       Extends a moratorium on construction of any new dams or 
     impoundment sin this area.
       Can we conclude from this action that Clinton ``wants'' to 
     start building dams on the river.
       502--Vancouver National Historic Preserve (Gorton/Murray):
       Changes a historic site into a National Park.
       Apparently Senator Gorton doesn't know his constituents.
       602--Corinth, Mississippi Battlefield Act (Lott):
       Establishes a NPS civil war site in Mississippi.
       Is there something wrong with honoring the events 
     associated with the civil war in Mississippi?--or could it be 
     that this is in Trent Lott's State.
       603--Richmond National Battlefield Park (Warner/Robb/
     Bliley/Wolf):
       Establishes Boundary in accordance with new NPS management 
     Plan dated 8/96.
       Administration concerned about the process--this did not 
     seem to bother them when he declared a national monument in 
     Utah--no process!
       604--Revoluntionary War (Jeffords):
       A study to determine if these sites warrant further 
     protection.
       Most of the problems we have had with this administration 
     is that the leap before they think--I guess the idea of 
     studying the need for something before doing it is a alien 
     concept in the White House.
       607--Shenadoah Valley Battlefield (Warner/Robb):
       Establishes Historical Area. Does not make a new park.
       This is what the delegation wants--can they not be trusted 
     to determine what's right for their own constituents.
       701--Ski area permits:
       Simplifies ski area fee collection.
       This is supported by National Ski Association and western 
     State elected officials.
       703--Visitor services:
       Would raise $150 million dollars for parks to help with 
     badly needed repairs of existing park structures. 100% of new 
     fees go back to park.
       Opposition to this provision is simply ridiculous--the Park 
     Service needs these funds to maintain operations--this seems 
     like a blatant attempt to tear down the national parks and 
     blame the Congress.
       704--Glacier Bay National Park (Murkowski):
       Raises fees to support research and natural resource 
     protection through a head tax on passenger vessels into 
     Glacier Bay.
       Never let it be said that this administration would let 
     scientific data get between them and a political decision.
       803--Ferel burros and horses (Ashcroft and Bond):
       Our bill would prevent the slaughter of horses by the NPS.
       It's not bad enough that the White House has declared an 
     open hunting season on people in the West--now they want to 
     shoot the horse they rode in on, too.
       806--Katmai National Park agreements (Young):
       Authorizes USGS to drill scientific core samples.
       Volcanological research--what can be wrong with that--maybe 
     Mr. Clinton needs to live at the base of an active volcano 
     for a while to appreciate the need for volcano research.
       811--Expenditures of funds outside boundary of Rocky 
     Mountain National Park (Campbell/Brown):
       Simply allows NPS to build a visitor center outside the 
     park mostly with private funds.
       The NPS has sought this for years--I guess that Mr. Clinton 
     no longer even trusts his own park service.
       815--NPS administrative reform:
       Provides authorities NPS has requested for years--Aid park 
     in protection of resources and provide facilities for 
     employees. Provides Senate confirmation of NPS Director.
       In keeping with that theme--not only does he not trust his 
     park employees--now he wants them to live under substandard 
     conditions.
       816--Mineral king (Boxer/Feinstein):
       Extends summer cabin leases. Totally discretionary by 
     Secretary.
       Again, the President does not trust his Secretary of the 
     Interior or his Park Service folks to do the right thing--
     this bill gives them complete control.
       818--Calumet Ecological Park (Simon/Mosley/Braun):
       A study to Extend I and M canal National Heritage Corridor 
     to incorporate a large portion of Chicago.
       Not much to say about this one.
       819--Acquisition of certain property in Santa Cruz
       Goats are ruining this Island--provision in this bill would 
     allow the NPS to remove goats from Island and restore to 
     pristine conditions.
       Those portions of the island that are not under government 
     management look like Afghanistan--the remainder of this 
     island needs to be protected.
       1021--Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park (The only 
     thing that Campbell wants. They are punishing him):
       Formally creates a recreation area. Changes monument 
     status to park. Creates a BLM Conservation area. Creates 
     22,000 acres of wilderness. Has all the four management 
     agencies involved operating under one complex.
       1022--National Park Foundation: Park Foundation--Murkowski/
     Lieberman/et. al. Provides for the opportunity for the 
     Private Sector to sponsor the NPS similar to the sponsorship 
     of the Olympic games. We have accepted Bumpers 6 amendments 
     which clarify the sanctity of the NPS. Which clarifies that 
     in no way the corporate entity can over commercialize the 
     Park service system.
       Can anybody deny that our national parks are in need of 
     help and support and that Government funding is certainly not 
     on the increase!
       1028--Mount Hood (Hatfield): Exchange between private 
     company and federal Gov't. Provision is already in CR.
       1029--Creation of the Coquille Forest (Hatfield): Already 
     in CR. Equal value exchange creating a tribal forest.
       1034--Natchez National Historical Park (Cochran): Creates 
     an auxiliary area to a NPS unit and provides $3 million for 
     an intermodel transportation system and visitor system.
       Is this administration opposed to creating less intrusive 
     modes of transportation to allow more people to be able to 
     enjoin the magnificent national park system--or are the just 
     opposed to Republicans getting something for their home 
     States?
       1036--Rural electric and telephone facilities: Authorizes 
     BLM to waive Right-of-way rental charges for small rural 
     electric and phone cooperatives.

[[Page S11665]]

       1037--Federal borough recognition (PILT) (Murkowski/
     Stevens): This allows the unorganized borough in Alaska to 
     receive PILT payments. 60% of the federal lands in Alaska are 
     in this borough. The Administration did not oppose this 
     during committee and the language was worked out in 
     cooperation with them.
       The administration supported this in committee. This is a 
     slap in the face to rural Alaskans who lose out of economic 
     opportunities because of the massive amount of public lands 
     in their backyards--what could possibly be the reason for 
     opposing this--other than it is in a State that did not vote 
     for the President.
       1038--Alternative processing (Murkowski): This is an 
     attempt to save the remaining jobs in SE Alaska.
       Why doesn't the President just tell us, ``I want the 
     remaining jobs to go away and I want the communities to 
     suffer.'' This is what he is doing.
       1039--Village Land Negotiations (Appendix C issue) 
     (Murkowski): This is an outright slap in the face of Alaska 
     natives. This provision just asked the Secretary to talk to 
     five tiny Alaskan villages who have waited more than 20 years 
     to receive the land they were promised under ANCSA.
       This is a classic example of the Federal Government giving 
     the old bait-and-switch routine to America's native people 
     and having no intention of ever making good on their 
     promises.
       1040--Unrecognized communities in SE Alaska (Murkowski): 
     This merely let five communities in Alaska establish as a 
     group or Urban corporation. It involved no land transfers. It 
     was a Native Alaska equal right bill.
       Another situation in which the Federal Government has 
     turned its back on Alaska's Native people!
       1041--Gross brothers (Murkowski): They served their country 
     in uniform and now there country is denying them the land 
     they homesteaded.
       1043--Credit for reconveyance (Murkowski): This would have 
     allowed Cape Fox Corporation to transfer 320 acres of land 
     near the Beaver Falls Hydro project Back to the Forest 
     Service. CFC would not have gotten any new lands in exchange.
       Does the Federal Government oppose receiving land back?
       1044--Radio site report
       A study to determine if a existing radio site is needed.
       1045--Retention and maintenance of certain dams and weirs 
     etc.: Forces the Forest Service to maintain specific dams and 
     weirs in the Immigrant Wilderness Area.
       1046--Matching land conveyance (University of Alaska) 
     (Murkowski): This authorized the Secretary of the Interior to 
     discuss a land grant with the University of Alaska who has 
     never received it's federal entitlement. On a matching basis 
     with the state.
       Once again the ``Education President'' strikes again and 
     proves he is against education.

  Mr. NICKLES. Madam President, I will make one comment. Looking at the 
first one, authorizes the Secretary of Interior, I believe, to convey 
1.5 acres to the city of Sumter, OR, for public purposes. Senator 
Hatfield and Senator Wyden, I am guessing, felt like this was important 
to the city of Sumter. I don't know. It is an acre and a half. I 
somewhat question why they are objecting to that. Senator Hatfield is 
going to be retiring.
  I am shocked, and I almost bet there has never been a veto threat or 
objection raised on that land before.
  I see the Shenandoah National Park, adjust 1923 park boundary 
authorization to match today's existing park boundary. That seems to me 
to make sense.
  We could go through this entire list. We already have entered it in 
the Record so people can see.
  I have looked through this list, and there is no reason to veto this 
bill or to object to taking up this bill. To answer the question of my 
colleague from Alaska, I urge the minority to allow us to bring the 
bill up and vote. I will be shocked if we don't get 90 votes for this 
bill, 90-some votes, because there is no reason to object to this 
package, if you look at all the good things in this bill.
  I am not totally knowledgeable of all 126 projects, but I have looked 
through the list, and what they are objecting to makes very, very 
little sense. My guess is--and I count votes on occasion--my guess is 
we will have overwhelming support. At least 80 or 90 percent of our 
colleagues would vote for passage of this package.
  So I urge the minority leader to reconsider and talk to the 
administration and allow us to bring this bill up, pass it and let it 
become law this year.
  Mr. MURKOWSKI. I wonder if I can just share with my friend, the whip, 
the Senator from Oklahoma, relative to the roles that seem to be 
eroding here as authorizers, and as a member of the Committee on Energy 
and Natural Resources, my friend from Oklahoma knows really what is 
happening here. It is almost like a line-item veto that is being 
dictated by the administration on this legislation, where we have met 
with them, taken out what they objected to, then they move the 
goalposts and come back with 46 more.
  The constitutional structure of Government suggests the legislative 
body is involved in a process. Our process is hearings, input and 
movement on the bill. But they seem to come in and line-item veto or 
cherry-pick and say, ``No, this is unacceptable.''
  If this continues, clearly the legislative responsibility that we 
have as authorizes is taken away. Of course, I have always had a 
concern about these items moving on to the appropriations bill, because 
the appropriators then become the authorizers as well, or they simply 
control the disposition.
  It would seem to me that as a consequence of what happened this year 
in our committee, I refer to the experience and observation of my 
friend from Oklahoma, where every single bill that you try to move out 
results in a hold, that we are going to have to take some extreme means 
next year in the process, if we introduce this package and pass it out 
of committee, that if Members put holds on it, maybe the Senate is 
simply going to have to stop, maybe we are going to have to object to 
any unanimous consent agreement until we can get some kind of a 
restructuring so we can move bills as we report them out of committee, 
get them to the floor and get them to a vote. The disposition should be 
determined by a vote, not one Member holding up 126 bills.

  So that is my degree of frustration, having the responsibility of 
chairman of the committee and the authorizing responsibility. To be put 
in a position where I am subject to negotiations with the 
administration to spin off bills that we passed and reported out for 
those that they will take and those they won't take clearly puts them 
in a position of line-item veto and circumvents the responsibility that 
we have as authorizers.
  I know there are a lot of Members out there who have bills that are 
very important to them who want some kind of exception from the 
package, but the problem I have is I hold a responsibility equally to 
Republicans and Democrats within the committee to do the best I can to 
get their bills collectively passed. When I get in the position of 
having to pick and choose because of the administration's dictate, it 
is very, very difficult, and I am not sure I want to proceed in that 
kind of a manner because it is simply not fair to all the Members. I 
would like the Record to note that.
  Mr. NICKLES addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.
  Mr. NICKLES. Madam President, I appreciate the Senator's comment. I 
agree with him. Hopefully, we will figure out a way to get through this 
impasse. I am going to work with the Senator from Alaska today to try 
and make that happen, but it has to happen today because I think the 
House will be leaving later this evening.
  Mr. MURKOWSKI. This is the last chance. The bus has left. If we don't 
get this done, I am guessing by--well, I am guessing the House is going 
to probably finish around 6 with the CR.
  Mr. NICKLES. Or before.
  Mr. MURKOWSKI. So we probably don't have much more than an hour or an 
hour and a half to have a hold that is applicable now, put on by the 
Democrats at the dictate of the White House, and if we don't get this 
thing done now, it is going to be too late and there is not going to be 
a Presidio, there is not going to be a San Francisco Bay cleanup, there 
is not going to be Sterling Forest, there is not going to be the ski 
exchange, and we simply have to move now. It is now or never, and I 
implore my colleagues on the other side to look at the merits of this 
package in its entirety and let us vote on it. That is why we are here.
  Mr. NICKLES. Madam President, I thank my colleague from Alaska.
  I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record an article in 
today's paper, Saturday, September 28, from the Denver Post. The 
headline of the editorial is ``Clinton's partisanship threatens lands 
bill.''
  There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

[[Page S11666]]

                 [From the Denver Post, Sept. 28, 1996]

              Clinton's Partisanship Threatens Lands Bill

       In an election, a certain number of power plays are 
     expected. But the reasons President Clinton gave for 
     threatening to veto an omnibus parks bill go beyond power 
     politics to inject a dangerous level of partisanship into 
     public lands policies.
       A congressional conference committee already had stripped 
     many of the most objectionable provisions from the bill, 
     including an ill-advised grazing proposal. Most of the 126 
     projects that survived into the final version were 
     noncontroversial.
       Clinton, however, has labeled 45 of those remaining 
     projects as unacceptable and threatened to veto the whole 
     bill because of them. Of those, four are in Colorado.
       Only one Colorado project had stirred much controversy 
     previously; A deal would have let the U.S. Forest Service 
     cede control of a reservoir whose water the city of Greeley 
     wants, in exchange for Greeley giving the U.S. government 
     some ranchland next to national forest property. 
     Environmentalists feared the deal could let Greeley dry up 
     streams near the reservoir. At the very least, the deal 
     should wait until a pending study of the region's bypass flow 
     issue has been completed.
       But Clinton didn't cite only controversial projects as 
     reasons for threatening to kill the bill. He also targeted 
     mundane projects that enjoyed widespread bipartisan support.
       For example, the bill would have funded construction of a 
     new visitors center at the Fall River entrance of Rocky 
     Mountain National Park, a project Clinton's own Interior 
     Department had requested.
       The president also objected to a deal that would have added 
     22,000 acres of wilderness to the Black Canyon of the 
     Gunnison National Monument and transformed it into a full-
     fledged national park. A series of lengthy public hearings 
     already had resolved concerns about the national park 
     designation.
       Strangest of all, the White House spurned plans to protect 
     a stretch of the Cache La Poudre River from development and 
     to build a system of hiking, biking and horse-riding trails 
     in the preserved open space. Environmental groups had joined 
     the cities of Fort Collins and Greeley in support of the 
     plan.
       Now, the GOP is howling because the 45 projects on 
     Clinton's hit list all happen to be sponsored by 
     congressional Republicans Clinton thus handed his foes a 
     whole box of political ammunition that they will shoot back 
     at him from now until Election Day.
       If Clinton decided to veto the bill based on policy 
     concerns, he has been poorly advised on the merits of the 
     projects. If he is simply opposing projects as an election-
     year ploy, however, he may have committed a serious blunder 
     in the eyes of many Colorado voters.

  Mr. NICKLES. Madam President, looking through it, there are several 
projects in Colorado that are objected to. It says:

       The President also objected to a deal that would have added 
     22,000 acres of wilderness to the Black Canyon of the 
     Gunnison National Monument and transformed it into a full-
     fledged national park. A series of lengthy public hearings 
     already had resolved concerns about the national park 
     designation.

  That is just one. I know President Clinton stood outside of the Grand 
Canyon and had a big environmental picture day and talked about taking 
1.8 million acres in Utah, without consulting the Utah delegation or 
the Utah Governor. But I am looking at their reluctance to cooperate 
with us on this package as being a lot more detrimental, because this 
package does lots of things in all States, from California to New 
Jersey, including Colorado.
  I just think there are some real inconsistencies here. I hope our 
colleagues will join us in working together to see if we can't pass 
this bill later today.
  I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative 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 (Mr. Gorton). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

                          ____________________