[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 134 (Wednesday, October 1, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S10292]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            TREASURY/POSTAL APPROPRIATIONS CONFERENCE REPORT

  Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. President, I appreciate the chance to record my 
comments regarding the conference report on the Treasury-Postal 
appropriations bill.
  This legislation will help fund national functions, such as law 
enforcement and delivery of the mail. The law-enforcement provisions 
include an important anticrime initiative for Florida, which is 
strongly supported by public-safety officials. The anticrime provision 
would fund the establishment of a high intensity drug trafficking area 
in central Florida.
  I have worked closely with colleagues Senator Connie Mack and 
Congressman John Mica of Florida to include this measure in the 
conference report.
  In an effort to fight crime and to support law enforcement, I voted 
for the conference report for the appropriations for the Treasury 
Department, the U.S. Postal Service, the Executive Office of the 
President, and certain independent agencies for the fiscal year ending 
September 30, 1998.
  This conference report also contains a provision to adjust 
congressional pay for cost of living. When the Senate considered its 
version of this appropriations bill, the legislation did not include a 
pay adjustment for Members of Congress. The record reflects that I 
support the Senate version of this legislation that was submitted to a 
House-Senate conference.
  If I had the opportunity to vote on the proposed adjustment as a 
separate, stand-alone measure, I would have voted ``no.''

                          ____________________