[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 7, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S101-S102]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                  THE SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

  Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I would like to take a few moments to 
acknowledge the Sons of the American Revolution, Gen. David Humphreys 
Branch, and the East Haven Historical Society. In a combined effort, 
these three groups have placed a marker on the northeast corner of the 
East Haven Town Green as a memorial to the Marquis de Lafayette, 
general in the Continental Army. General Lafayette and his troops 
camped on that site en route to support the American and French forces 
at Providence, RI, on July 26, 1778.
  The dedication took place on May 27, 1996, in observance of Memorial 
Day. The ceremony included planes from the Connecticut Air National 
Guard flying overhead. Mayor Henry Luzzi of East Haven introduced State 
Representative Michael P. Lawlor, 99th District, as the guest speaker. 
Representative Lawlor spoke of General Lafayette's concern for our 
newly formed Government and his firm dedication to the cause of 
freedom. General Lafayette served at his own expense as a volunteer 
using his personal funds to supply the troops under his command and 
soon reached virtual bankruptcy. Additionally, he forged a friendship 
between two nations which has lasted to the present time. When he died 
in 1834, soil from each of the individual United States was placed on 
his grave. I commend the Sons of the American Revolution, Gen. David 
Humphreys Branch, and the East Haven Historical Society for their 
efforts and dedication to preserving the history of the United States.


              Monitoring the new Line-Item Veto Authority

  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, on the first of January, the clock began 
ticking on an historic 8-year experiment. The Line-Item Veto Act became 
effective on that date, a law that provides the President with 
significant new authority to cancel discretionary spending and new 
entitlement spending, along with an extremely limited ability to cancel 
new spending done through the Tax Code.
  Though the version enacted was flawed in several ways, I supported 
this new authority to provide the President with some additional 
flexibility to eliminate inappropriate spending. I do not believe the 
line-item veto is the whole answer to our deficit problem, or even most 
of the answer, but it certainly can be part of the answer.
  A key part of the new Presidential authority is the sunset clause. 
Unless Congress renews this authority, it will expire. The sunset 
clause will put the burden on those who want to retain the authority to 
demonstrate the experiment has worked.
  Mr. President, though the continuing Federal budget deficits justify 
granting this temporary authority to the President on a trial basis, 
there are many extremely serious issues surrounding this proposal that 
merit close monitoring over the next several years. At the time I voted 
for the final version of this new authority last year, I announced my 
intention to form a line-item veto watchdog project to regularly 
monitor how this new law is implemented over the next 8 years, and I am 
pleased to take this opportunity to report on that project.
  Mr. President, joining me in this line-item veto watchdog project are 
a number of distinguished observers of Federal policymaking, including 
Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute, Stephen Moore of 
the CATO Institute, and Demetri Coupanis on behalf of the Concord 
Coalition. In addition, several individuals from my home State of 
Wisconsin have also agreed to participate in the project. They include 
State Senator Lynn Adelman, State Representative Dave Travis, and 
attorney Fred Wade of Madison. Each of those three individuals has a 
deep interest in the partial veto authority granted to Wisconsin's

[[Page S102]]

Governors and brings a critical perspective to the new authority given 
the President.
  Mr. President, though we have no prior experience at the Federal 
level, many in this body who have served in State government may have 
seen the use of line-item veto authority at the State level. Indeed, 
much of the support for a Federal line-item veto stems from the State 
experience. But few other States, if any at all, have witnessed the 
abuses of line-item veto authority that we have seen in Wisconsin. That 
abuse has been bipartisan--Governors of both parties have used 
Wisconsin's partial veto authority in ways it is safe to say no one 
anticipated when that authority was first contemplated. For example, 
Wisconsin's current Governor, Governor Thompson, has used the veto 
authority not only to rewrite entire laws, but actually to increase 
spending and increase taxes.
  Mr. President, given that history, the participation of Senator 
Adelman, Representative Travis, and attorney Wade will be invaluable in 
helping us monitor potential abuses of the new Presidential authority.
  Mr. President, the watchdog project will be monitoring and 
chronicling a number of aspects of the Presidential power--first, the 
actual amount of Federal spending eliminated by the President's use of 
the line-item veto. Reducing unnecessary spending was the central 
argument for this new authority, and keeping track of how much spending 
is eliminated will be useful in seeing how effective this new tool 
actually is. It may also help encourage Presidents to make sure that 
they are making full use of this new authority as we will attempt to 
track missed opportunities as well as successes.
  The watchdog project will also monitor instances where the new 
authority is abused by the executive branch. Some have suggested that 
the line-item veto could be used to coerce Members of Congress to toe 
the line on an administration's policies through the threat to cancel 
spending in home States. If a President starts misusing the line-item 
veto authority as a club to get votes on nominations or other policy 
matters, the public ought to hear about it, and our project will seek 
to document this kind of abuse if it takes place.
  Mr. President, the watchdog project will also look for examples of 
excess spending that escape scrutiny because of loopholes in the new 
law. Some already are speculating on the different techniques that may 
be attempted to avoid the reach of this new Presidential power.
  Mr. President, in this regard, I am especially concerned that the 
sections of the line-item veto authority that deal with tax 
expenditures were too narrowly drawn, and that many new special 
interest tax breaks could escape the line-item veto pen. Along with my 
good friend in the other body, Representative Tom Barrett of Milwaukee, 
I have introduced legislation to address this weakness in the new law, 
and will do so again this session. It makes no sense to provide the 
President with this new authority while protecting one of the fastest 
growing areas of spending in the Federal budget, an area that includes 
unjustified subsidies to some of the wealthiest individuals and 
corporations in the world.
  Mr. President, the watchdog group will also monitor efforts to twist 
the line item authority beyond its stated purpose. As I noted above, in 
Wisconsin, the partial veto authority has been abused by our Governors 
by striking out single letters in appropriation bills to create new 
words and new meanings to legislation. In some cases, the Wisconsin 
statute has been used to actually increase State spending. The new 
Federal law does not, on its surface, appear to allow for that kind of 
abuse, but our project will be monitoring that aspect of implementation 
of the new law as well.
  Other aspects of the new law that warrant review are also sure to 
present themselves as we begin its actual use later this session, and I 
welcome suggestions from my colleagues who are interested in this 
historic new law.
  It is critical that we track closely how the new authority is being 
used so that when it expires in 8 years, Congress and the public will 
have some measurable criteria by which to assess its effectiveness.

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