[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 138 (Monday, September 30, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S11982]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. PELL:

[[Page S11982]]

  S. 2169. A bill to promote the survival of significant cultural 
resources that have been identified as endangered and that represent 
important economic, social, and educational assets of the United States 
and the world, to permit United States professionals to participate in 
the planning and implementation of projects worldwide to protect the 
resources, and to educate the public concerning the importance of 
cultural heritage to the fabric of life in the United States and 
throughout the world, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Energy and Natural Resources.


              the endangered cultural heritage act of 1996

  Mr. PELL. Mr. President. I rise to express my concern for the many 
historic and artistic sites around the world that are in grave danger 
through a growing range of threats from natural catastrophes and 
environmental deterioration to destructive acts of man. These 
magnificent sites are resources of great importance, not only for their 
spiritual and educational meaning, but also as valuable economic, 
social, and learning blocks for the global community.
  Through personal travel and my observations as a member of the 
Foreign Relations Committee and Honorary Chairman of the American 
Committee for Tyre, I have come to understand the value of preserving 
and protecting cultural heritage, especially in times of political 
upheaval or social change. In Cambodia, Vietnam and Croatia, we have 
seen that the use and abuse of culturally significant sites plays a 
large role in international relations.
  The actual number of endangered sites is being well-documented by the 
World Monuments Fund, a United States nonprofit organization devoted to 
the conservation of cultural heritage on a worldwide scale that 
maintains an international listing of endangered sites. Within this 
country, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the National 
Park Service work with the World Monuments Fund to track sites in need 
of conservation and rehabilitation.
  I believe that the United States is in a unique position to lead an 
effort among independent nations to protect the future of our cultural 
legacy worldwide. A timely response is critical to prevent further 
losses. This can be achieved through sustained funding to stabilize and 
strengthen the ability of local institutions to protect their cultural 
resources on a consistent and long-term basis. Conservation work must 
increase. Professionals need to be trained in cultural resource 
management, and the public needs to be instilled with a concern for the 
survival of our significant cultural heritage.
  I hope that the 105th Congress will take action to establish an 
endangered cultural heritage fund and am today introducing legislation 
to serve as a discussion piece to move us in that direction. As a 
nation composed of the people of many cultures, it is fitting to 
support the care of great historic and artistic sites which define 
national character and pay tribute to human accomplishment of universal 
significance.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mrs. KASSEBAUM:
  S. 2170. A bill to establish spending limits for entitlement programs 
and other mandatory spending programs, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on the Budget and the Committee on Governmental Affairs, 
jointly.


                    the save our savings act of 1996

 Mrs. KASSEBAUM. Mr. President, one good result of the 
strenuous budget debate of the past 2 years has been a bipartisan 
embrace of the need for reform in the long-sacrosanct realm of 
entitlement spending. The exchange of offers and counteroffers that 
characterized the budget process produced a new consensus that 
entitlement spending must be controlled. Most of us now realize that 
without controls, entitlement programs will continue to grow at a pace 
that threatens our fiscal security, jeopardizing any effort to balance 
the budget and squeezing funding away from important discretionary 
programs.
  As we come to the end of this Congress, the fruits of that consensus 
are in peril. Republicans and Democrats, Congress and the White House--
almost all of us have agreed that, at the very minimum, we can save 
$232 billion over 6 years from entitlement programs. We have not been 
able to agree on the policies to produce those savings, but we should 
not release ourselves from our obligation to do so. The legislation I 
am introducing today, the Save Our Savings Act of 1996, would ensure 
that we fulfill that obligation.
  Sometimes when we talk about entitlements, we use terms that support 
the view that they are beyond our control. We often define entitlements 
as programs not controlled by the annual appropriations process, 
programs that must distribute payments to all eligible, regardless of 
the cost. On its face, that definition is correct. But at a more basic 
level, it betrays a sense of helplessness, an aversion to action, and a 
passive acceptance of their growing might.
  When I was sworn in as a Senator 18 years ago, discretionary spending 
represented nearly 50 percent of the Federal budget. Now we spend 
little more than a third on these programs. We have seen in the past 2 
years how hard it is to squeeze savings from discretionary programs. If 
we do nothing about entitlements, spending constraints will become 
tighter still.
  Part of the explanation is that we now must set aside about one-sixth 
of the budget just to pay interest on the debt. At the same time, 
spending on entitlement programs has escalated rapidly in recent years, 
and the forecast is for even more rapid expansion in the future. In 
fact, if entitlements are allowed to grow unimpeded, they, combined 
with interest on the debt, will consume all revenues by 2012.
  This bill takes affirmative steps to lock in significant entitlement 
savings that, without action, will vanish. The legislation would cap 
entitlements from fiscal years 1997 to 2002 at the CBO-defined levels 
of the President's budget or, where applicable, the levels in the 
recently passed welfare reform legislation. You can consider those 
levels of savings the lowest that most of us have agreed to.
  Multiple caps would be enforced, including individual caps on the 11 
largest entitlement programs, an all other cap, and an aggregate cap. 
Sequestration would be triggered only on programs that exceeded their 
caps, and the caps themselves would be adjusted for economic and 
demographic factors. The caps could be adjusted by recorded vote.
  Some might argue that the very fact that both parties now advocate 
significant savings from entitlement programs has demonstrated our 
capacity to control Government spending--that we do not need our feet 
held to the fire--but experience is eloquent. If we let the evolution 
of the last 2 years' budget proposals fade into memory, the courage and 
resolve that should be invested in making difficult policy decisions 
will be spent instead on producing yet another set of budget 
blueprints. Congress does not need to start all over again; we need to 
finish what we have started.
  I realize that nothing more can be done on this matter in this 
Congress. I also realize that I will not be here in the next Congress 
to carry on this effort. However, I believe it is important to voice 
both my concern and a specific proposal to give weight to that concern 
for those who must take up this battle in the years ahead.
                                 ______