[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
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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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