Congressional Record, Volume 144 Issue 41 (Thursday, April 2, 1998)

[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 41 (Thursday, April 2, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3023-S3028]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET FOR THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT FOR FISCAL YEARS
1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, AND 2003

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will now
resume consideration of S. Con. Res. 86, which the clerk will report.
The legislative clerk read as follows:

[[Page S3024]]

A concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 86) setting forth the
congressional budget for the United States Government for
fiscal years 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003 and revising
the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 1998.

The Senate resumed consideration of the concurrent resolution.

Pending:

Allard amendment No. 2170, to require the reduction of the
deficit, a balanced Federal budget, and the repayment of the
national debt.
Conrad (for Boxer) modified amendment No. 2176, to increase
Function 500 discretionary budget authority and outlays to
accommodate an initiative promoting after-school education
and safety.
Brownback amendment No. 2177, to express the sense of the
Senate regarding economic growth, social security, and
Government efficiency.
Smith (Oregon) amendment No. 2179, to express the sense of
the Senate on Social Security taxes.
Smith (Oregon) amendment No. 2180, to express the sense of
the Senate with respect to the use of marijuana for medicinal
purposes.
Smith (Oregon) amendment No. 2181, to express the sense of
the Senate concerning increases in the prices of tobacco
products.
Kennedy amendment No. 2183, to express the sense of the
Senate concerning the enactment of a patient's bill of
rights.
Kennedy amendment No. 2184, to increase Function 500
discretionary budget authority and outlays to support
innovative education reform efforts in urban and rural school
districts.
Kennedy amendment No. 2185, to express the sense of the
Congress regarding additional budget authority for the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission.
Wellstone modified amendment No. 2186, to provide a reserve
fund to pay for increased Pell Grants by reducing or
eliminating corporate welfare tax expenditures.
Wellstone/Moynihan amendment No. 2187, to express the sense
of the Senate regarding a report of the Secretary of Health
and Human Services evaluating the outcomes of welfare reform.
Wellstone modified amendment No. 2188, to provide
additional funds for medical care for veterans.
Thurmond amendment No. 2191, to clarify outlay levels for
major functional categories.
Thurmond amendment No. 2192, to clarify outlay levels for
national defense.
Lautenberg amendment No. 2194, to express the sense of the
Senate to ensure that the tobacco reserve fund in the
resolution may be used to protect the public health.
Lautenberg amendment No. 2195, to establish a deficit-
neutral reserve fund for environmental and natural resources.
Lautenberg (for Kohl/Reid) modified amendment No. 2204, to
express the sense of the Senate regarding the establishment
of a national background check system for long-term care
workers.
Reid/Bryan amendment No. 2206, to express the sense of the
Senate that the landowner incentive program included in the
Endangered Species Recovery Act should be financed from a
dedicated source of funding and that public lands should not
be sold to fund the landowner incentive program of the
Endangered Species Recovery Act.
Domenici (for Hutchison) amendment No. 2208, to express the
sense of the Senate that any budget surplus should be
dedicated to debt reduction or direct tax relief for hard-
working American families.
Lautenberg (for Torricelli/Jeffords) amendment No. 2212, to
express the sense of the Senate on battlefield preservation.
Bond/Mikulski modified amendment No. 2213, to express the
sense of the Senate that the Elderly Housing program shall be
funded at not less than the fiscal year 1998 funding level.
Kerrey amendment No. 2215, to express the sense of the
Senate regarding passage of the IRS Restructuring and Reform
Act of 1997.
Murray amendment No. 2216, to increase Function 500
discretionary budget authority and outlays to accommodate
both Administration investments in education and the $2.5
billion increase assumed by the resolution for IDEA.
Murray amendment No. 2217, to express the sense of the
Senate regarding the expansion of Medicare benefits.
Dorgan modified amendment No. 2218, to strike section 301
of the concurrent resolution, which expresses the sense of
Congress regarding the sunset of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986, and replace it with a section expressing the sense of
Congress that important tax incentives such as those for
encouraging home ownership and charitable giving should be
retained.
Dorgan amendment No. 2219, to establish a reserve fund for
health research at the National Institutes of Health, funded
by receipts from tobacco legislation.
Biden amendment No. 2220, to permit the use of Federal
tobacco funds to reimburse the Veterans Administration for
the costs of treating smoking-related illnesses.
Kyl amendment No. 2221, to express the sense of the Senate
supporting a supermajority requirement for raising taxes.
Domenici (for Grams) amendment No. 2222, to use any budget
surplus to reduce payroll tax and establish personal
retirement accounts for hard-working Americans.
Bingaman/Lieberman amendment No. 2223, to establish a
deficit-neutral reserve fund for civilian research and
development.
Feingold amendment No. 2224, to establish a disability
reserve fund.
Domenici (for DeWine) amendment No. 2225, to state the
sense of the Senate regarding the quality of teachers.
Lautenberg (for Rockefeller) amendment No. 2226, to revise
outlays and new budget authority for transportation (400)
programs and allowances (920), and to strike those provisions
with regard to outlays and new budget authority for programs
of function 700, Veterans Benefits and Services.
Lautenberg (for Conrad) amendment No. 2227, to ensure that
the tobacco reserve fund in the resolution may be used to
strengthen social security.
Lautenberg (for Bumpers) amendment No. 2228, to provide for
funding to help the states comply With the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act by eliminating an unjustified tax
loophole.
Lautenberg (for Feinstein) amendment No. 2229, to express
the sense of the Senate on education goals.
Lautenberg (for Kerry) amendment No. 2230, to ensure that
tobacco reserve fund in the resolution protects public
health.
Lautenberg (for Wellstone) amendment No. 2231, to express
the sense of the Senate supporting additional funding for
fiscal year 1999 for medical care for veterans.
Lautenberg (for Robb) amendment No. 2232, to ensure that
the tobacco reserve fund in the resolution protects tobacco
farmers.
Lautenberg (for Biden) amendment No. 2233, to provide for
the Senate's support for Federal, State and local law
enforcement.
Lautenberg (for Boxer) amendment No. 2234, to expand the
uses of the tobacco reserve fund to include funding for
health research, including the National Institutes of Health.
Lautenberg (for Bingaman/Lieberman) amendment No. 2235, to
express the sense of the Senate regarding the analysis of
civilian science and technology expenditures in the budget.
Lautenberg (for Bingaman) amendment No. 2236, to express
the sense of the Senate regarding long-term civilian science
and technology budget trends.
Lautenberg (for Kerrey) amendment No. 2237, to express the
sense of the Senate on long-term Federal budgeting and the
repayment of the public debt.
Lautenberg (for Moseley-Braun) amendment No. 2238, to
express the sense of the Senate regarding tax legislation
that increases the complexity of any tax return.
Lautenberg (for Moseley-Braun) amendment No. 2239, to
express the sense of the Senate that the President should
submit a generational study with the budget request.
Lautenberg (for Moseley-Braun) amendment No. 2240, to
express the sense of the Senate regarding the value of the
social security system for future retirees.
Lautenberg (for Durbin) amendment No. 2241, to express the
sense of Congress regarding the right to affordable, high-
quality health care for seniors.
Lautenberg (for Dorgan) amendment No. 2242, to express the
sense of the Senate on ensuring social security solvency.
Lautenberg amendment No. 2243, to express the sense of the
Senate that the Congress and the Administration should
fulfill the intent of the Amtrak Reform and Accountability
Act of 1997 and appropriate sufficient funds in each of the
next five years to enable Amtrak to implement its Strategic
Business Plan, while preserving the integrity of the $2.2
billion provided under the Taxpayer Relief Act for the
statutory purpose of capital investment.
Lautenberg (for Daschle) amendment No. 2244, in the nature
of a substitute.
Lautenberg (for Torricelli) amendment No. 2245, to express
the sense of the Senate on battlefield preservation.
Lautenberg (for Torricelli) amendment No. 2246, to express
the sense of the Senate on the Land and Water Conservation
Fund.
Lautenberg (for Moynihan) amendment No. 2247, to express
the sense of the Senate that the Committee on Finance should
consider legislation to preserve social security and ensure
its long-run solvency; and that no policy options, affecting
either outlays, revenues, or the manner of investment of
funds, should be excluded from consideration.
Domenici (for Bond) amendment No. 2248, to express the
sense of the Senate regarding Immigration and Naturalization
Service circuit rides in the former Soviet Union.
Domenici (for Abraham) amendment No. 2249, to express the
sense of Congress that the Budget Act should be amended to
facilitate the use of future unified budget surpluses to
strengthen and reform social security, reform the tax code,
and reduce the tax burden on middle-class families.
Domenici (for Thurmond) amendment No. 2250, to express the
sense of the Senate regarding long-term care needs.
Domenici (for Sessions) amendment No. 2252, to express the
sense of the Senate regarding the display of the Ten
Commandments by a judge on the circuit court of the State of
Alabama.
Domenici (for Stevens) amendment No. 2253, to express the
sense of the Senate regarding outlay estimates of the
Department of Defense budget.
Domenici (for Specter) amendment No. 2254, to modify the
use of the tobacco reserve fund.
Domenici (for Specter) amendment No. 2255, to modify the
tobacco reserve fund to allow up to $10.5 billion to be spent
on post-service smoking related Veterans compensation
benefits.

[[Page S3025]]

Domenici (for Specter) amendment No. 2256, relating to the
distribution of certain receipts from tobacco legislation.
Domenici (for Nickles) amendment No. 2257, to establish a
prohibition on precatory language on budget resolutions.
Domenici (for Frist) amendment No. 2258, to express the
sense of the Senate regarding funding for the Airport
Improvement Program.
Domenici (for McConnell) amendment No. 2259, to express the
sense of the Congress that the award of attorneys' fees,
costs, and sanctions of those amounts ordered by U.S.
District Judge Royce C. Lamberth on December 18, 1997, should
not be paid with taxpayer funds.
Domenici (for Sessions) amendment No. 2260, to express the
sense of the Senate regarding limitations on attorneys' fees
under any global tobacco settlement.
Domenici (for Craig) amendment No. 2261, to express the
sense of the Senate on the eligibility of individuals
suffering from post-service smoking-related illnesses for VA
compensation.
Domenici (for Coverdell) amendment No. 2262, to express the
sense of the Senate on the procurement of Blackhawk utility
helicopters for Colombia to reduce illicit drug trafficking.
Domenici (for Santorum) amendment No. 2263, to express the
sense of the Senate regarding reauthorization of the Farmland
Protection Program.
Domenici (for Santorum) amendment No. 2264, to express the
sense of the Senate concerning health care quality for
participants in the Federal Employees Health Benefits
Program.
Domenici (for Kempthorne) amendment No. 2265, to express
the sense of the Senate regarding the Market Access Program.
Domenici (for Gramm) amendment No. 2266, to extend the
Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund.
Domenici (for Coverdell) amendment No. 2267, to express the
sense of the Senate regarding the Department of Justice's
pursuit of Medicare fraud and abuse.
Domenici (for Coverdell) amendment No. 2268, to express the
sense of the Senate regarding national response to the threat
of illegal drugs.
Domenici (for Coverdell) amendment No. 2269, to express the
sense of the Senate regarding wasteful spending in Defense
Department acquisition practices.
Domenici (for Coverdell/Kyl) amendment No. 2270, to express
the sense of the Senate regarding the United States' response
to the changing nature of terrorism.
Domenici (for Coverdell/Dodd) amendment No. 2271, to
express the sense of the Senate regarding a multinational
alliance against drug trafficking.
Domenici (for Mack) amendment No. 2272, to express the
sense of the Senate regarding funding of the National
Institutes of Health.
Domenici (for Hatch) amendment No. 2273, to assume that the
use of the tobacco reserve fund is consistent with tobacco
legislation approved by the Senate.
Domenici (for Sessions) amendment No. 2274, to express the
sense of the Senate regarding limitations on attorneys' fees
under any global tobacco settlement.

amendment No. 2228

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will now
resume consideration of the Bumpers amendment No. 2228 on which there
shall be 30 minutes of debate equally divided. Who yields time?
Mr. BUMPERS addressed the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arkansas.
Mr. BUMPERS. I yield myself 5 minutes.
Colleagues, not long ago we debated what we called unfunded mandates
to the cities and States of the country. A lot of tears were shed on
this floor, because we said we were imposing all sorts of obligations
on the cities and the counties and the States and making them pick up
the tab for it. I am here this morning to tell you about the biggest
unfunded mandate of all.
In 1975, the Congress--this body, along with the House--passed what
is called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, IDEA, and we
said in 1975 in the legislation that we wanted disabled children taken
care of and that we would pay 40 percent of the cost. Twenty-three
years later we are paying 9 percent of the cost.
The schools of this Nation have been literally bankrupting themselves
to make up the difference. You are talking about billions of dollars
that the United States made a solemn obligation to pay and has reneged
on.
Having said that, let me tell you about the most unwarranted tax
loophole in the Nation, and it is called a depletion allowance. It goes
to the oil companies. It goes to natural gas companies. It goes to coal
companies. And it goes to people in the mining industry who hardly paid
a red cent for the gold, silver, platinum, palladium, zinc, copper--you
name it--that they take off Federal lands.
I stood here on this floor--this is about the 8th or 9th year--and
everybody knows the arguments. Everybody knows that it is the biggest
ripoff going on in America today. And you talk about--you talk about--
doing away with the Internal Revenue Code and betting on the come that
somehow or other we will get a new revenue code before this one
expires--listen to this.
You go down to the Gulf of Mexico and you bid $1 billion to drill for
oil and gas in the Gulf of Mexico, and you are entitled to a depletion.
You ought to get a depletion allowance. And how much is it? Oh, it is
about--well, I do not have it here. I think it is 15 percent. Fifteen
percent they get for a depletion allowance because they paid $1 billion
for it. And everybody--the coal companies--we let coal competitively.
We let our oil and gas leases competitively. But for some reason or
other we give away all the gold and silver and platinum and palladium
and other hard-rock minerals we have.
So what else do we do? We not only give them away, we pay them to
take it. How do we do that? Here it is. Let us assume that Stillwater
Mining Company in Montana, for example, which says there is $35 billion
worth of platinum and palladium under a 2,000 acre tract, they intend
to mine it and they intend to pay the Government roughly $10,000 for
it--$10,000 for $35 billion worth of minerals that belong to the
taxpayers.
Oh, the poor taxpayers. How we lament their plight in this body.
Except when it comes to hard-rock mining. And then you know what the
taxpayers get? They get nothing. You know what they pay? They buy this
land for $2.50 an acre. Stillwater will pay about $10,000 for $35
billion. That is what they are going to pay for it. And here is what
they pay the Federal Government. That is what they pay the taxpayers in
royalties--zip, zero, zilch. Not a red cent.
What else do they get? They get a depletion allowance of 15 percent
on gold. They get a depletion allowance on silver of 15 percent. They
get a depletion allowance on platinum of 22 percent and on palladium of
22 percent.
That is right. The American taxpayer--the American taxpayer--is the
big sucker in this whole thing. Here is an opportunity to fulfill an
unfunded mandate and remove one of the most scandalous loopholes on the
tax books of this Nation.
Mr. President, I yield the floor and reserve the remainder of my
time.
How much time does the Senator from New Hampshire desire?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has 7\1/2\ minutes remaining.
Mr. GREGG. If I could have that.
Mr. BUMPERS. I yielded myself 5 minutes and nobody interrupted me.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. If I could explain, we started late. The order
was for the vote to actually occur at 9 o'clock, so we had a total of
25 minutes to divide instead of 30.
Mr. BUMPERS. I had asked unanimous consent that we be given 30
minutes, but the Chair said in the opening this amendment would be 30
minutes, equally divided.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is correct.
Mr. BUMPERS. I ask unanimous consent that 30 minutes be provided.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. BUMPERS. I yield 3 minutes to the Senator from New Hampshire.
Mr. GREGG. Mr. President I rise in support of the amendment offered
by the Senator from Arkansas.
First, the underlying purpose of the amendment is legitimate. The
fact is that these companies buy this opportunity to go on to Federal
land at basically zero dollars. They make millions, billions of dollars
over the years off of this land. They pay no depletion. They pay no
taxes. They get a depletion allowance that gives them a tax deduction
even though they didn't have to pay anything for the land to begin
with, which makes absolutely no sense. The depletion allowance is the
concept that you are using up an asset which you paid something for.
They didn't pay anything for the land, so why should they get a
depletion allowance?
The Senator's amendment on the facts on substance is correct. More
importantly, the Senator's amendment is taking this totally
inappropriate deduction and applying the revenues which would occur by
eliminating it to something which is totally appropriate, and that is
special education.

[[Page S3026]]

We all know that this administration has, regrettably, underfunded
special education in its budget. We have attempted to correct that in
the Republican budget, but we haven't gotten as far as we need to go.
Thus this opportunity to put an additional revenue stream into special
education is extraordinarily important. It means that kids who are in
the special needs program, who are today being pushed into a position
with other kids who are not in special needs programs over a
confrontation of resources, will be put in less of a situation which is
detrimental to them.
The Federal Government committed to pay 40 percent of the costs of
the special needs child. As a result of Republican initiatives, we have
gotten from a 6 percent level to a 9.5 percent level, but we are still
well short of the 40 percent commitment. This amendment by the Senator
from Arkansas will help us move another step toward that 40 percent
commitment. It will help relieve local taxpayers who are paying the
Federal share of the tax burden of supporting special needs children
from having to pay the difference between 9.5 percent and 40 percent,
or some part of that.
So, essentially, the proposal of the Senator from Arkansas is right
on two counts. First, it is right on the concept of eliminating the
depletion allowance because there is absolutely no justification for a
depletion allowance where people pay essentially nothing for the lands
they are mining and the land is owned by the public. Secondly, it is
right because it will help special needs children and it will start to
fulfill or assist in fulfilling the obligation of the Federal
Government to fund the 40 percent share which we said we would fund
when we started this program.

It is a good amendment. I strongly support it.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time?
Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, we have five Senators who will split
time, 3 minutes each. We will not use all of our time, but we will
start with Senator Craig, 3 minutes.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Idaho.
Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, let me say first to the Senators from
Arkansas and New Hampshire, this has to be one of the most gratuitous
taxes on the mining industry you have yet come up with.
Let me be blunt, let me be honest: Every citizen benefits from the
wealth of the products that flow from mining, and certainly disabled
Americans have benefited considerably from light metal technology and
advanced computer technology that depends on our mining industry. It
has made them mobile. It has made them active. It has changed their
lives.
The Senator from New Hampshire knows better than to say that mining
industries don't pay taxes. They are in the 32 percent bracket on the
profits of those industries. Everyone knows that, and that kind of
statement ought to be taken from the record because it simply is not
true.
What is true is that the mining industry is characterized by
relatively rare, commercially valuable metal deposits and mineral
deposits. There is high economic risk, geologic unknowns, high capital
requirements, and long lead times for the development of the mining
companies. We know that, and that is why this Congress years ago
provided that depletion allowance, because mining industries invest so
much upfront for a resource that is rapidly depleting as they mine it
out.
It recognizes, by this action and by what Congress has already done,
unique natural mineral extraction provides for this country the
valuable base for our industrial-based economy. It is difficult to
replace minerals. Much of the money must be used for exploration and
development, millions and millions of dollars upfront, like no other
industry that we have seen, only to play in a market that is oftentimes
dramatic, in a world market with changing values, and as a result there
are dramatic losses and, yes, dramatic profits. But the one thing that
is clear and constant across it is a recognition of the constant use or
the depletion of the resource that they have discovered.
I am disappointed that the Senator from Arkansas would try to offset
this against disabled people. It just simply doesn't make sense. This
Congress has been tremendously responsive to disabled people--the
Senator from Arkansas has, the Senator from Idaho and New Hampshire and
all of us--and now to play this kind of gratuitous game simply doesn't
make a lot of sense.
Mr. DOMENICI. I yield to the Senator from Nevada, Senator Bryan.
Mr. BRYAN. Mr. President, I will correct some misimpressions that may
have been unintentionally offered here on the floor of the Senate. I
think it is helpful to put this in some context.

This proposal, which has been offered by the Senator from Arkansas on
previous occasions, was in my idea never a good idea, but now the
timing could not be worse because the status of at least one aspect of
that industry, the gold industry in my State, is facing some very
critical times. The international price of gold on the markets of the
world has dropped precipitously, substantially below $300 an ounce. The
break-even cost in the gold industry is approximately $296, so in my
own State of Nevada, which leads the Nation and is one of the largest
gold-producing areas in the entire world, we have had just in the last
year more than 2,000 layoffs and a substantial number of mines that
have closed, and the spot price of gold has been as low as $283 an
ounce. So this is a very, very difficult time for this industry.
The proposal offered by the Senator from Arkansas would, indeed, have
a catastrophic impact upon the industry, and it would have a serious
impact upon thousands of people in my own State. About 120,000 people
in America work directly in the hardrock mining industry. In the State
of Nevada, more than 15,000 have been employed at the high-level mark
before these layoffs occurred. These are good-paying jobs. We talk a
lot in America about good jobs that provide a full range of benefits,
an adequate salary base to provide a decent living standard for
America's workers. The average wage for mining in my State is nearly
$49,000 a year. That is higher by far than any other industry.
Finally, let me conclude by saying that the impression given that
somehow the mining industry gets a free ride, doesn't have to pay any
taxes, could not be further from the truth. The Natural Mining
Association last year estimates that over $600 million in Federal taxes
was paid. According to a recent GAO report, the average tax rate for
the mining industry from 1987 to 1992 was 35 percent. That is compared
with other industries: the auto industry, 23 percent; chemical
industry, 19 percent; 33 percent for the transportation industry. In my
own State, the gold industry paid more than $141 million in State and
local taxes in 1995, including $32.7 million in property taxes.
I note my time has expired. I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time?
Mr. BUMPERS. I yield 4 minutes to the Senator from Wisconsin.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wisconsin.
Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President I am very pleased to join with my friend,
the Senator from Arkansas, and my friend, the Senator from New
Hampshire, in offering an amendment that enables States to comply with
the IDEA Program Act.
Mr. President, I promised to hold a town meeting or listening session
in each of Wisconsin's 62 counties each year of my first term as a
Senator. At these meetings I very frequently hear from both parents and
school officials talking about the merits of the IDEA program. They
struggle to meet the high costs of disabled education and need
additional Federal funding for the program. Of course, this amendment,
as good as it is, will by no means meet all of these needs. However, it
will finally provide some deserved relief for this deserving
constituency.
The funds our amendment provides for the IDEA program are derived, as
the Senator from Arkansas has indicated, from the elimination of the
percentage depletion allowances tax deduction for companies mining on
U.S. public lands. What this does is simply close an outdated subsidy
that contributes to environmental degradation. We can assist States
providing for our Nation's disabled youth by using some of these funds
that are going for tax loopholes.

[[Page S3027]]

Mining companies have a special percentage depletion tax deduction
that they can take which other companies can't receive. Under
percentage depletion, the deduction for recovery of a company's
investment is a fixed percentage of ``gross income''; namely, sales
revenue from the sale of the mineral. This percentage is specifically
defined in the Tax Code, and under this method total deductions may
exceed the capital that the company actually invested.
The rates for percentage depletion are quite significant. Section 613
of the U.S. Tax Code contains depletion allowances for more than 70
metals and minerals at rates ranging from 10 to 22 percent.
In today's budget climate, we are faced with the question of who
should bear the costs of exploration, development and production of
natural resources. The question is, should it be all taxpayers or the
users and producers of the resource?
Given that we face significant constraints in funding other budget
priorities such as the IDEA program, these subsidies are really nothing
more than a tax expenditure that shifts a greater tax burden to other
taxpayers to pay for the IDEA program to compensate for the special tax
breaks provided to the mining industry.
I am delighted to join with the other Senators in this very
appropriate shifting of our priorities.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time?
Mr. DOMENICI. I yield 3 minutes to Senator Reid of Nevada.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, schools are helped every day by mining.
Mining pays taxes that provide all types of things for education. It
takes millions and millions of dollars to find the minerals that are
hidden in the ground. You don't just walk out and say, here, I am going
to dig a gold mine or find copper here. It takes millions to find these
minerals.
The United States is a net exporter of gold. It was only 10 or 12
years ago we were here on the Senate floor and throughout the country
telling people we need to do things so that we can become a net
exporter, especially of minerals. At that time we were depending on
South Africa, which was in deep trouble in the world, and the former
Soviet Union. We are now an exporter of many of the minerals we weren't
just a few years ago. That is good.
I want to show you some recent Nevada newspaper headlines, many from
the same day. ``Getchell loses $29.4 million in '94.'' ``Echo Bay Mines
loses $240 million in 1997.'' ``Placer Dome loses $249 million in
1997.'' ``Meridian Gold loses $69.2 million in 1997,'' a small company.
It is very, very difficult. ``Vista Gold to lay off 135 workers.''
Small company, big layoffs. ``Newmont lays off 155 at Carlin, 460
total.'' ``Layoffs Reach Beyond the Mining Industry.''
Mr. President, it is not only Nevada experiencing these headlines.
Yesterday, in the paper--I wish it were an April Fools' joke; it
isn't--``487 Arizonans Lose Their Jobs as Copper Prices Fall.'' The
United States mineral industry is suffering significantly and when the
minerals industry suffers so does the rest of the economy.
Here is from one newspaper's AP story. ``And the ripple effect of
layoffs at Newmont Gold has spread to Carlin. Even some of the service
industries are starting layoffs at this time.''
Another newspaper article. ``Homestake Mining Reports '97 Loss of
$168.9 million. Homestake laid off its nearly 900 strong work force
while restructuring is under way and still isn't saying how many of
those will be rehired according to spokesperson Steeves.''
The minerals industry is suffering significantly. They are doing
their best to hang on to maintain employment. The best paying blue-
collar jobs in the entire Western United States are mining jobs.
Thousands of people are being laid off. Gold prices are at an 18-year
low. And now we are being told that they are pigs, that they are using
all of these tax benefits. The fact is thousands of people have good
jobs because of mining.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time?
Mr. DOMENICI. I wonder if Senator Bumpers might not object to a
request that we each have 1 additional minute.
Mr. BUMPERS. Not at all.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. DOMENICI. I pose that question.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? Without objection, it is
so ordered.
Mr. DOMENICI. Would Senator Thomas like to speak for 1 minute?
Mr. THOMAS. Yes. I thank the Senator very much.
I simply want to join my friends in opposition to this amendment, for
two reasons. One is that the basic facts that we set out here are not
valid. More importantly, this is not the place to do that. We have been
dealing with things like mining reform, and we ought to do that and we
can do that. Unfortunately, to some here it is either their way or the
highway, so it never happens. But this is not the place. I rise in
opposition to this amendment.
I thank the Senator.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time?
Mr. DOMENICI. I yield 3 minutes to the chairman of the Energy
Committee, Senator Murkowski.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska.
Mr. MURKOWSKI. I thank the Chair.
Mr. President, let's be sure we understand each other. The budget
resolution before us already provides a $2.5 billion increase for the
IDEA program, that is, individuals with disabilities, and it does so
without raising taxes and creating a new entitlement program. The
Senator from Arkansas is aware of that. When you strip away all the
rhetoric, the issue boils down to the basic question of whether this
Senate wants to go on record to support a nearly $311 million tax
increase on the domestic mining industry.
Retention of the depletion allowance, for those who do not understand
it--and there are a few--is important to the health of the domestic
mining industry because it recognizes the nature, the uniqueness of the
mineral industry as an extraction industry by providing a realistic
method of measuring the decreasing value of a mineral deposit which
declines when you take it out, while generating the necessary capital
to build a replacement project, so we can have employment. Metal prices
are down, as has been evidenced. Gold has dropped from over $400 an
ounce to $300 an ounce, the lowest price in 18 years.
On a daily basis, newspapers throughout the West announce further
mine closures.
The Senator from Arkansas wants to tax the industry now. Lost jobs,
lost futures. I ask my colleagues if they really believe this country
has lost its hunger for raw materials, or do we simply want to send the
industry overseas, import our minerals from overseas? If you do not
think increased costs of operation such as proposed by the amendment by
Senator Bumpers pose a real threat to the domestic mining industry and
local economies, ask the people of Lead, SD. ``Homestate Mining just
laid off 466 workers at the Lead mine due to increased costs of
operations and diminished gold prices.''

This is not the time to be launching punitive action against an
industry that contributes over $130 million annually to the American
economy. We have a bill in my committee to accomplish comprehensive
mining reform. The Senator from Arkansas is aware of that. I will be
holding hearings on comprehensive reform on April 28. That is the
place, in the hearing room, and the time to go about reforming mining
law, not in a 10-minute debate on the floor of the Senate during
consideration of the budget.
I strongly urge my colleagues to join with me and defeat Senator
Bumpers' amendment.
One more time. Do not be fooled. This budget resolution already
provides a $2.5 billion increase for the IDEA program without raising
taxes and creating a new entitlement program. So I encourage my
colleagues to recognize what this is. It is a $311 million tax on our
mining industry that is going to cause a job loss, and we are going to
be more dependent on imported minerals.
THE PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time?
Mr. BUMPERS. How much time do I have remaining?
THE PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arkansas has 5 minutes 44
seconds.

[[Page S3028]]

Mr. BUMPERS. I yield myself such time as I may use.
Mr. BUMPERS. Mr. President, isn't it wonderful that the hard rock
mining companies don't pay taxes? Isn't that just remarkable? We give
them billions of dollars' worth of minerals for $2.50 an acre, we allow
them to create environmental disasters, we allow them to take the
minerals and not pay one dime in royalty, and they are not subject to
pay any taxes. Isn't that just wonderful? The oil companies, who right
now are getting about 50 percent as much for their oil as they got a
year ago, not only have to pay billions for the rights to drill for oil
on Federal lands, but they also have to pay royalties. And they pay
taxes.
If somebody walked in here and made the argument that was just made
about the fact that mining companies pay taxes, if somebody made the
suggestion that oil companies not pay taxes, you would be laughed out
that door. If the same argument were made for coal companies who pay
zillions just for the right to take the coal and a 12.5 percent
royalty, and if we suggested that they not have to pay taxes, you would
be laughed out the door.
What is it about the rock mining industry? We give them billions of
dollars' worth of gold, silver, platinum, palladium; they create
environmental disasters; they don't pay a dime in royalties; they take
a depreciation allowance on top of that of 15 to 12 percent; we give it
to them and then pay them to take it. The children of this Nation--we
give 9 percent to the school district to take care of disabled
children.
I can tell you who is going to win in this battle here today. It
isn't going to be the disabled children, it is going to be the same
people who have won for the last 8 years, as I presented it. It will be
the mining companies. They will continue to get Federal lands for
nothing. They will continue to get a depletion allowance to mine it.
They will continue not paying Uncle Sam one dime in royalty. If they
come to your house and say, ``You have this tract of land out back
loaded with gold, and we would like to mine it,'' do you know what they
are willing to pay? Eighteen percent royalty. But they come to the U.S.
Government and say, ``You have this tract of land that has gold on
it.'' We say, ``Oh, really? Please take it. Please leave an
environmental disaster to the tune of $76 billion for the taxpayers to
clean up. Please don't pay us any royalty. We do need a few billion
dollars more for disabled children, but not from you.''
One of these days, the people of this country are going to rise up in
righteous indignation when it finally soaks in on the American people
what is going on in this industry and how Congress is aiding and
abetting one of the biggest scams in the history of the world.
Colleagues, when you walk in here to vote today, look at that chart.
You have a choice of removing an unjustified tax loophole that is not
available to anybody else--nobody else. You can remove it from the
biggest mining companies in the world--not the United States, in the
world--and give it to the disabled children of this country, the school
boards which have been waiting for us to fulfill a 23-year promise to
provide 40 percent of the cost of taking care of disabled children. So
far, we have paid the paltry sum of 9 percent.
I yield the floor and save remainder of my time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time?
The Senator from New Mexico has 3 minutes 14 seconds remaining.
Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, many of us have heard people say, ``Kick
them when they're down.'' I guess we all recall when we were in high
school. If you went to a high school football game, the cheerleaders
would say, ``Hit them again. Hit them again, harder, harder.''
Mr. President, the mining industry in the United States led by the
copper industry is in a deplorable economic state. As a matter of fact,
copper is down 30 percent. Already in America, copper mines have been
closed. All mineral resources in the world are down substantially. Oil
production in the United States is down. Stripper wells are going out
of business rapidly. We are more and more dependent upon foreign
sources for our mineral resources, and for our oil.
Frankly, the GAO tells us that the mining industry pays an enormously
high tax. In fact, the study says on average they pay 32 percent of the
income. They already contribute $14 billion to the Federal Government
in revenues.
Mr. President, it is obvious that this amendment will cause more
disrepair in the industry, fewer jobs, laying off people. In fact, we
might call it the ``Unemployed Miner Act.''
Second, in terms of money for disabled young people, let me first say
the budget before us has $2.35 billion in new money for IDEA, for the
disabled young people of our country. We think that is a very, very
significant add-on when the President only put a few million dollars in
his. We think it is the right place to put the money. But we have
already put it in our budget. We don't need to destroy the mining
industry in order to live up to our responsibility under IDEA and to
disabled children. We found the money to do it in our budget.
It seems to me that to pick one tax, one deduction, the depletion
allowance, and from that assume that the mining industry, coal mining
and all the others, are not paying any Federal taxes is an absolute
gross exaggeration, if not an untruth. As far as environmental
degradation, since we have had environmental laws, our mining companies
are not causing environmental degradation. They are bound by every
single environmental law of this land. And a statement that they are
polluting today is also a gross exaggeration, if not truly an untruth.
When time is all yielded, I will move to table and ask for the yeas
and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired.
The Senator from Arkansas has 1 minute 25 seconds.
Mr. BUMPERS. Mr. President, how much time do the opponents have?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The time of the Senator from New Mexico has
expired.
Mr. BUMPERS. Mr. President, I will not belabor this any further.
Everybody knows the argument. It is just a question of whether you are
willing to do right or not. We are mining $2 billion worth just in gold
a year off Federal lands that we have given the mining companies--gave
them. They pay no royalty. They didn't pay anything for it. I forget
who it was who talked about how valuable minerals were. Eighty percent
of the gold mined in this country goes for jewelry. And we are willing
to subsidize that to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars a year
when we have disabled children in school waiting for us to fulfill a
promise? It is just as simple as that.
I yield the remainder of my time and ask for the yeas and nays.
Mr. DOMENICI. I move to table the Bumpers amendment, and ask for the
yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second on the motion of
the Senator from Arkansas?
There is a sufficient second.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second on the motion to
table?
There is a sufficient second.
The yeas and nays were ordered.

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