[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 161 (Monday, December 15, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12723-S12724]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


               STATEMENT ON THE BALANCED BUDGET AGREEMENT

 Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, with the completion of the 13 
annual fiscal year 1998 appropriations bills by the Congress, I believe 
we can say that Congress lived up to its end of the Balanced Budget 
Agreement.
  The Balanced Budget Agreement had two major assumptions for the 
appropriated programs. The first was the protection of 13 priority 
domestic discretionary programs that were assumed to be funded at the 
level of the President's request. For these programs, Congress was on, 
or close to, the President's requested funding level with few 
departures.
  The second assumption was the protection of funding for five specific 
budget functions--International Affairs, Natural Resources, 
Transportation, Education, and the Administration of Justice. Congress 
came within $0.3 billion of the overall total of $126.5 billion for 
these five budget functions, a shortfall of only 0.2 percent.
  The funding departures for the 13 priority domestic discretionary 
programs were largely for items that Congress had not specifically 
agreed to--Pell grants--for a new program that was advance appropriated 
and made subject to authorization--Opportunities for Out of School 
Youth--and where anticipated reform was not enacted--Superfund.

[[Page S12724]]

  Adjusting for these three items, Congress exceeded by $54 million, 
the overall $34 billion assumed in the budget agreement for these 13 
protected programs. I will submit a table displaying congressional 
action on these programs at the end of my statement.
  Mr. President, the Congress matched the BBA assumptions for bilingual 
and immigrant education, for BIA tribal priority allocations, and for 
the Job Corps.
  The Congress exceeded the BBA assumptions for the technology literacy 
challenge fund, for Head Start, for National Park System operations and 
land acquisition, and for the violent crime reduction trust fund.
  I ask to have printed in the Record the pertinent tables.
  The material follows:
  Partially offsetting these increases, Congress provided slightly less 
than the BBA assumed for the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology and the Community Development Institutions Fund.
  For Pell grants, the commitment made in the BBA was more complicated 
than simply a funding level. The BBA assumed the President's funding 
request for Pell grants, which was more than needed to fund the only 
policy change promised in the BBA--a $300 increase in the maximum Pell 
grant award. The BBA was silent on other policy changes, such as 
independent students, that were contemplated in the President's 
request.
  While Congress provided $290 million less than assumed in the BBA for 
Pell grants, as part of the overall funding increase, the 
appropriations committees provided an additional $286 million above the 
base program level, which can be used to increase the income protection 
allowance [IPA] for independent and dependent students in the needs 
analysis formula applied in all need-based financial assistance 
programs. The final conference report makes clear, however, that the 
maximum Pell grant of $3,000 is to be funded first, before IPA's can be 
increased.
  For the protected training and employment services programs at the 
Department of Labor, the final appropriations bill fell $307 million 
short of the BBA. The difference results mainly from Congress delaying 
$250 million from 1998 to advance 1999 funding for a new program called 
opportunities for out of school youth, provided that such program is 
authorized as part of job training consolidation legislation enacted by 
July 1, 1998. The appropriations bill provides $25 million for pilots 
and demonstrations for this activity in 1998. The President sought all 
funds for 1998.
  For Superfund, while enacted funding may not be at the President's 
requested level, Congress abided by the BBA. The BBA incorporated the 
President's request ``if policies can be worked out'' to reform the 
program. The President requested $2.094 billion in discretionary budget 
authority for Superfund, and proposed $200 million in new direct 
spending, for a total of $2.294 billion in 1998.
  The Congress provided $2.15 billion for Superfund in the VA-HUD 
appropriations bill--$56 million more than the President requested in 
discretionary funding. Congress approved $1.5 billion in regular 
program funds, delays the obligation of $100 million of this budget 
authority until October 1, 1998, and provides that $650 million of the 
overall appropriation will only be made available if legislation 
reauthorizing Superfund is enacted by May 15, 1998.

  Section 204 of the budget resolution includes a $200 million 
allowance for direct spending for the Superfund Program, which will be 
allocated once reform legislation is reported.
  Finally, while Congress reduced EPA operating programs by $0.1 
billion relative to the BBA, Congress also restored funding reductions 
proposed by the President to the State and tribal assistance grants--
which was not a protected program--providing $3.2 billion compared to 
the requested $2.8 billion.
  For all the suspense at the end of the session, funding levels for 
these 13 programs were not the issue. The administration and the 
Congress came to mutual agreement on these funding levels, and other 
legislative matters held up the completion of the fiscal year 1998 
appropriations bills.
  Mr. President, I will also submit at the end of my statement a table 
displaying final action on funding for the five priority budget 
functions. It is somewhat remarkable that final appropriations action 
for these functions fell only $0.3 billion short of the $126.5 billion 
assumed in the BBA, considering that the responsibility for living up 
to the agreement was dispersed over 11 of the 13 appropriations 
subcommittees, which do not appropriate funds by function. Again, the 
President and the Congress came to agreement to depart somewhat from 
the request on funding for these functions, but the BBA was largely 
implemented as envisioned.
  I ask to have printed in the Record the pertinent tables.
  The material follows:

             BBA: PROTECTED DOMESTIC DISCRETIONARY PROGRAMS             
                        [In billions of dollars]                        
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                  Final                 
           Protected item               BBA       action    Final +/-BBA
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dept of Commerce:                                                       
    Nat Inst of Standards & Tech...     0.693        0.678        -0.015
Dept of Education:                                                      
    Technology Literacy Fund.......     0.510        0.541         0.031
    Pell Grants....................     7.635        7.345        -0.290
    Bilingual & Immigrant Ed.......     0.354        0.354         0    
    Child Literacy Initiatives.....     0.260        0.210        -0.05 
Dept of HHS:                                                            
    Head Start.....................     4.305        4.355         0.05 
Dept of Interior:                                                       
    National Park System...........     1.220        1.234         0.014
    Land Acquisition...............     0.867        0.969         0.102
    Everglades Restoration.........     0.140        0.135        -0.005
    Tribal Priority Allocations....     0.757        0.757         0    
Dept of Labor:                                                          
    Training & Employment Service..     4.049        3.742        -0.307
    Job Corps......................     1.246        1.246         0    
Dept of the Treasury:                                                   
    Community Development..........     0.125        0.080        -0.045
EPA:                                                                    
    EPA Operating Program..........     2.739        2.632        -0.107
    Superfund......................     2.042        1.453        -0.589
Violent Crime:                                                          
    VCRTF..........................     5.416        5.500         0.084
    COPS...........................     1.405        1.400         0.005
                                    ------------------------------------
      Total........................    33.763       32.631        -1.122
------------------------------------------------------------------------


    COMPARISON OF NON-DEFENSE DISCRETIONARY LEVELS IN BALANCED BUDGET   
                   AGREEMENT TO ENACTED APPROPRIATIONS                  
                        [In billions of dollars]                        
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                            BBA     Enacted   Difference
------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Affairs:                                                  
    Budget authority...................    19.038    19.021       -0.017
    Outlays............................    19.179    18.954       -0.225
Natural Resources:                                                      
    Budget authority...................    22.807    23.409        0.602
    Outlays............................    21.393    21.691        0.298
Transportation:                                                         
    Budget authority...................    13.556    13.520       -0.036
    Outlays............................    38.267    38.453        0.186
Education:                                                              
    Budget authority...................    46.721    45.978       -0.743
    Outlays............................    43.185    42.899       -0.286
Justice:                                                                
    Budget authority...................    24.405    24.290       -0.115
    Outlays............................    22.170    21.711       -0.459
TOTAL:                                                                  
    Budget authority...................   126.527   126.218       -0.309
    Outlays............................   144.194   143.708       -0.486
------------------------------------------------------------------------


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