[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 114 (Wednesday, September 3, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H6724-H6725]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




APPOINTMENT OF CONFEREES ON H.R. 2158, DEPARTMENTS OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 
      AND HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, AND INDEPENDENT AGENCIES 
                       APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 1998.

  Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take 
from the Speaker's table the bill (H.R. 2158) making appropriations for 
the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, 
and for sundry independent agencies, commissions, corporations, and 
offices for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1998, and other 
purposes, with Senate amendments thereto, disagree to the Senate 
amendments and agree to the conference asked by the Senate.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.


                Motion to Instruct Offered by Mr. Stokes

  Mr. STOKES. Mr. Speaker, I offer a motion to instruct.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Mr. Stokes moves that the managers on the part of the House 
     be instructed to insist on the position of the House 
     regarding the total funding level provided for the 
     Environmental Protection Agency's `Hazardous Substance 
     Superfund' account.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Stokes] will be 
recognized for 30 minutes and the gentleman from California [Mr. Lewis] 
will be recognized for 30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Stokes].
  Mr. STOKES. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, nearly one person in four in this country lives close to 
a Superfund site. We know all too well what the result of that fact is: 
too many reported cases of cancer and other diseases caused by 
breathing, eating, and drinking too many hazardous contaminants.
  This motion is pretty simple. If you want to be on record for doing 
as much as possible to clean up Superfund sites around the country and 
reduce the amounts of hazardous pollutants to which your constituents 
are exposed, you vote for this motion.
  Supporting this motion does not bust the budget. Although the budget 
resolution assumed funding for the Superfund program at the enhanced 
level of $2.1 billion, the level called for by the administration as 
part of the so-called Kalamazoo initiative, the House level is still 
$600 million below that.
  The total Superfund spending in the House-passed bill is $1.5 
billion, compared with $1.4 billion in the Senate. The House amount is 
definitely superior to the Senate's recommendation in several ways: The 
House version provides $28 million, or 14 percent more,

[[Page H6725]]

for Superfund enhancement activities, $5 million more for research 
activities, and $12 million more for the Agency for Toxic Substances 
and Disease Registry.
  Mr. Speaker, much criticism has been lodged against the operation of 
the Superfund program since its inception. I think most Members would 
agree that reforms are needed. However, until the authorization 
committees are able to reach agreement on what these reforms should be, 
we should still be trying to do all we can to get Superfund sites 
cleaned up.
  This administration has made good progress in getting Superfund 
appropriations spent on actual cleanup and not on litigation and 
administrative costs.
  I strongly urge an ``aye'' vote to keep Superfund moneys flowing at 
as high a level as possible to clean up as many sites as quickly as we 
can.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1245

  Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I certainly am not going to object to this suggestion by 
my colleague. By way of commentary, however, I must say that it was at 
least 15 years ago as a member of this committee I traveled to the 
northern part of the State of New York, and during that trip I visited 
a place called Love Canal. At that point in time we knew that the 
Superfund program had many a problem. The new Administrator indicated 
to us that this was a program and project that was very, very important 
but which was broken.
  I certainly do hope that between now and the time we go to conference 
that my colleague will join with me one more time in asking the 
administration for their suggestion as to how we fix this program, for 
she has been talking about it publicly a lot, but I have seen no 
recommendation.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. STOKES. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Snowbarger). Without objection, the 
previous question is ordered on the motion to instruct.
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to instruct 
offered by the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Stokes].
  The motion was agreed to.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the Chair appoints the 
following conferees: Messrs. Lewis of California, DeLay, Walsh, Hobson, 
Knollenberg, Frelinghuysen, Neumann, Wicker, Livingston, Stokes, 
Mollohan, Ms. Kaptur, Mrs. Meek of Florida, Mr. Price of North 
Carolina, and Mr. Obey.
  There was no objection.

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