[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 80 (Tuesday, June 10, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S5443]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          DISASTER RELIEF BILL

  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I would like to finish by adding to 
what Senator Lautenberg has said, that we sent a bill to the President 
for disaster relief for the victims of North and South Dakota and 
Minnesota. We sent him a bill that we hoped he would sign. I don't 
think the President has explained why he would veto a bill that he says 
is necessary for these disaster victims when, in fact, all we did was 
say we are also going to make sure that we don't shut down the 
Government so that the very people we are trying to help will not be 
able to get the checks that they need after September 30 if Congress 
and the President have not come to agreement.
  It is very important that people understand that the budget agreement 
for the 1998 budget year are allocations, they are not appropriations. 
In fact, to actually spend the money, it takes both Congress and the 
President to agree. Sometimes, the Congress and the President don't 
agree before September 30, which is the end of the fiscal year. So we 
have to start a new fiscal year. Now, if there is not an agreement and 
we don't have a provision for continuing Government, then we can shut 
down Government again. That is not what anyone wants to do.
  So Congress has in the disaster relief bill and the supplemental 
appropriations to go with that bill, the process that says we are not 
going to shut down Government, we are going to keep spending money at 
the same level that is being spent this year, and then when the 
agreement is made between Congress and the President, we will be able 
to go into whatever Congress and the President agree on.
  When anyone talks about cuts in spending because we go into the 1998 
year under the 1997 spending, there are no cuts because there have been 
no appropriations for 1998, and we haven't come to agreement on the 
specifics.
  I think it is very proper to ask why the President did not sign the 
bill. I think it is proper to say to the President, ``We did send you a 
bill; you chose not to sign it. I think you owe an explanation to the 
disaster victims of why you would stand for the authority to shut down 
Government when we are trying to continue the process of covering 
people in case some of the appropriations bills are not passed at the 
end of the fiscal year.''
  We just want to make sure that people can plan ahead, that they will 
know that their paychecks will be there if they work for the 
Government, that their pensions will be there if they are veterans who 
have earned their pensions, that there will not be a disruption of our 
Government. We are not cutting back from this year's expenditures. We 
will say we will keep on going until we have an agreement, and when 
that agreement is made, then we go forward and the President and the 
Congress together do the job that both of us were elected to do. So I 
think it is very important the people of this country have the facts 
and know that we are trying to help with all of the Federal emergency 
management funds that need to be replenished as well as the funds to 
replenish the Bosnia accounts and the many other supplemental 
expenditures that are in that bill.
  Mr. President, I think it is very important that the President of the 
United States sign the bill and continue the operation of Government as 
usual so that the people in our country, on September 30, will not have 
to worry about a disruption in their lives if they work for the 
Government or if they have earned veterans' pensions or if they plan a 
family vacation or if they are going on a business trip and they have 
not renewed their passports. Those are the things that are at stake 
here.
  We have a lot of responsibility. We can meet that responsibility by 
making sure that the disaster victims are covered and that we keep 
Government going on a rational and responsible basis.
  Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.

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