[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 115 (Thursday, September 3, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9912-S9914]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        TREASURY AND GENERAL GOVERNMENT APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 1999

  Mr. CAMPBELL. Mr. President, on behalf of the majority leader, I now 
ask unanimous consent the Senate resume consideration of S. 2312, the 
Treasury and general Government appropriations bill.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk 
will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 2312) making appropriations for the Treasury 
     Department, the United States Postal Service, the Executive 
     Office of the President, and certain Independent Agencies, 
     for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1999, and for other 
     purposes.

  The Senate resumed consideration of the bill.
  Pending:

       McConnell amendment No. 3379, to provide for appointment 
     and term length for the staff director and general counsel of 
     the Federal Election Commission.
       Glenn amendment No. 3380, to provide additional funding for 
     enforcement activities of the Federal Election Commission
       Graham/Mack amendment No. 3381, to provide funding for the 
     Central Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.
       Campbell (for Grassley) amendment No. 3386, to protect 
     Federal law enforcement officers who intervene in certain 
     situations to protect life or prevent bodily injury.
       Harkin amendment No. 3387, to provide additional funding to 
     reduce methamphetamine usage in High Intensity Drug 
     Trafficking Areas.
       Kohl (for Kerrey) amendment No. 3389, to express the sense 
     of the Senate regarding payroll tax relief.


                    Amendment No. 3379, As Modified

  Mr. CAMPBELL. Mr. President, on behalf of Senator McConnell, I ask 
unanimous consent that it be in order for me to send a modification to 
the desk for amendment No. 3379.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? Without objection, it is 
so ordered. The amendment is so modified.
  The amendment, as modified, is as follows:

       At the end of title V, add the following section:

     SEC.   . PROVISIONS FOR STAFF DIRECTOR AND GENERAL COUNSEL OF 
                   THE FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION.

       (a) Appointment and Term of Service.--
       (1) In general.--Section 306c(f) of the Federal Election 
     Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 437c(f) is amended by striking 
     paragraph 1 and inserting the following:
       ``1 (A) The Commission shall have a staff director and a 
     general counsel who shall be appointed by an affirmative vote 
     of not less than 4 members of the Commission. Subject to 
     exception in subparagraph (D), the staff director and general 
     counsel shall, beginning January 1, 1999, serve for terms of 
     6 years and such terms may be renewed by an affirmative vote 
     of not less than 3 members of the Commission.
       ``(B) The staff director and general counsel may serve 
     after the expiration of his or her term until his or her 
     successor has been appointed.
       ``(C) An individual appointed to fill a vacancy occurring 
     other than by the expiration of a term of office shall be 
     appointed only for the unexpired term of the staff director 
     or general counsel he or she succeeds.
       ``(D) The term of any individual appointed prior to and 
     serving on the date of enactment of this act as general 
     counsel shall be until January 1, 2008 and shall not be 
     subject to renewal under subsection (A) until such date.''
       (b) Rule of Construction Regarding Authority of Acting 
     Staff Director or General Counsel.--Section 306(f) of such 
     Act (2 U.S.C. 437c(f)) is amended by adding at the end the 
     following:
       ``(5) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit 
     any individual serving as an acting staff director of the 
     Commission from performing any functions of the staff 
     director of the Commission or any individual serving as an 
     acting general counsel of the Commission from performing any 
     functions of the general counsel of the Commission.''.

  Mr. CAMPBELL. Mr. President, I know of no further debate on the 
pending McConnell amendment, and I ask unanimous consent that the yeas 
and nays be vitiated, and for the Chair to put the question.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to vitiating the yeas and 
nays?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the McConnell 
amendment.
  Mr. LEVIN addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, we have negotiated this modification in the 
McConnell amendment so that it is no longer targeted at the sitting 
general counsel of the Federal Elections Commission. That was my 
objection to it, my very strong objection to it. This amendment has 
been modified now so it has no effect on the current general counsel 
until the year 2008. He is eligible to retire at that date in any 
event.
  And even then, the amendment has now been changed so that three of 
the six members of the Federal Elections Commission can renew the 
appointment of the general counsel or staff director. It would not take 
four of the six to renew the appointment of a general counsel or staff 
director.
  So in effect we have grandfathered the current general counsel. And 
with respect to future general counsels and staff directors, we have 
provided that once they are appointed, which of course will take a 
majority vote of the Commission, they shall serve for 6 year terms and 
their terms can be renewed by a vote of three of the six members of the 
Federal Elections Commission. This is a very significant change that 
makes this perfectly acceptable to me.

  I want to thank Senator McConnell for working with us on this. With 
that, I support the amendment.
  After this is concluded, I understand that we will then be offering 
and there will be general support for an amendment of Senator Glenn, if 
I understand what we worked out here correctly.
  Mr. McCONNELL. I say to my friend from Michigan, as he well knows, 
his side of the aisle was in the position to scuttle the whole 
Treasury-Postal bill over this issue. Under those circumstances, this 
agreement was reached.
  I gather the Glenn amendment will be adopted on a voice vote, which 
is acceptable to me.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the McConnell 
amendment, as modified.
  The amendment (No. 3379), as modified, was agreed to.
  Mr. CAMPBELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent all previous 
yeas and nays ordered on other amendments be vitiated.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. CAMPBELL. It is my understanding that the other amendments

[[Page S9913]]

will be resolved in various fashions. Therefore, I ask unanimous 
consent the vote in relation to the final passage of H.R. 4104 occur at 
2 p.m. today.
  Mr. LEVIN. Reserving the right to object--and I will not --I 
understand, that the manager, then, will be supporting the Glenn 
amendment when I offer it after this unanimous consent is agreed to.
  Mr. CAMPBELL. That is correct.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the unanimous consent 
agreement is agreed to.
  Mr. LEVIN. I have been informed that the Glenn amendment, which adds, 
I believe, $2.8 million to the FEC budget, is part of what has already 
been incorporated in a unanimous consent agreement and it will not need 
to be separately offered. Am I correct?
  Mr. CAMPBELL. The Senator is correct.
  Mr. LEVIN. I thank my friend from Colorado.


                     Amendments Nos. 3386 and 3380

  Mr. CAMPBELL. The amendment No. 3386 offered by Senator Grassley and 
amendment No. 3380 offered by Senator Glenn are acceptable to the 
managers. I therefore ask unanimous consent that all time be yielded 
back and ask for their immediate adoption and that the motion to 
reconsider be laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendments (Nos. 3386 and 3380) were agreed to.


            Amendments Nos. 3387, 3381, and 3389, withdrawn

  Mr. CAMPBELL. On behalf of Senators Graham of Florida, Harkin, and 
Kerrey of Nebraska, I ask unanimous consent that the amendments Nos. 
3387, 3381, and 3389 be withdrawn.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendments (Nos. 3387, 3381, and 3389) were withdrawn.


                    Amendment No. 3356, As Modified

  Mr. CAMPBELL. I send to the desk a modification to amendment No. 
3356, previously adopted, and ask it be so modified.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection the amendment is so 
modified.
  The amendment (No. 3356), as modified, is as follows:

       On page 47, strike lines 11 and 12.
       On page 46, line 18, strike ``$5,665,585,000, of which: (1) 
     $552,757,000'' and insert ``$5,651,480,000, of which: (1) 
     $538,652,000''.
       On page 56, line 20, strike ``$5,665,585,000'' and insert 
     ``$5,651,480,000''.
       On page 62, between lines 19 and 20, insert the following:

     SEC. 4  . DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION HEADQUARTERS.

       (a) In General.--The Administrator of General Services 
     shall--
       (1) enter into an operating lease to acquire space for the 
     Department of Transportation headquarters; and
       (2) commence procurement of the lease not later than 
     November 1, 1998;

     provided that the annual rent payment does not exceed 
     $55,000,000.
       (b) Terms.--The authority granted in subsection (a) is 
     effective only to the extent that the lease acquisition meets 
     the guidelines for operating leases set forth in the joint 
     statement of the managers for the conference report to the 
     Balanced Budget Agreement of 1997, as determined by the 
     Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

     SEC. 4  . SECURITY OF CAPITOL COMPLEX.

       There is appropriated to the Architect of the Capitol for 
     costs associated with the security of the Capitol complex 
     $14,105,000.

  Mr. CAMPBELL. Mr. President, I would like to take a moment to speak 
about one aspect of the Statement of Administration Policy on this 
bill. Specifically, the section referring to the Customs Automation 
Enhancement Account.
  The SAP makes it appear that the Committee neither funded nor 
considered the Administration's request for this program. In fact, we 
fully funded the request, which was $8 million. When the budget was 
submitted, it included authorizing legislation on a Merchandise 
Processing Fee, which would net $56 million for this program. This is 
not within the jurisdiction of the Appropriations Committee and if the 
authorizers were not going to act in sufficient time, the 
Administration should have sent up a budget amendment to cover the cost 
of the program so that it could be considered by the Committee. That 
did not happen, this committee never received a formal request to 
increase the funding for this program. If we had, we would have given 
it consideration. I just wanted to let my colleagues know that we fully 
funded this program and would have considered the request to increase 
it, but we never received anything upon which to act.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I want to thank the Chairman and Ranking 
Member of the Treasury appropriations subcommittee for accepting the 
amendment which includes $1,500,000 additional funding for the 
Southwest Border High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area to combat the 
methamphetamine problem. I know the Senators are aware of the growing 
national problem of methamphetamines. New Mexico is no exception and 
has been experiencing a growing problem with methamphetamine 
production, transshipment, and cleanup of seized methamphetamine labs. 
It is fast becoming the drug of choice because it is easy to 
manufacture, it is highly addictive, and it is cheap to buy on the 
street. The costs associated with combating the methamphetamine problem 
is straining New Mexico's ability to combat other illegal drugs. New 
Mexico's proximity to the US/Mexico border exasperates the problem 
because of increased international travel.
  Mr. CAMPBELL. I agree with the Senator from New Mexico that 
methamphetamines are an increasingly difficult problem to control. This 
funding will significantly help in controlling the problem there.
  Mr. KOHL. Methamphetamine is a growing problem across the nation, and 
it is my understanding that New Mexico, because of its proximity to 
Mexico, is experiencing its own share.
  Mr. BINGAMAN. Is my understanding correct that the entire $1,500,000 
in this amendment will go directly to the New Mexico HIDTA?
  Mr. CAMPBELL. Yes, Senator, per your request $1,500,000 will be 
directed to the New Mexico HIDTA for fiscal year 1999 in order to 
combat the methamphetamine problem in your state.
  Mr. BINGAMAN. I thank the Senators for their willingness to recognize 
this problem and to assist New Mexico.


               public access to government research data

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I would like to take a moment during this 
body's consideration of the Treasury, General Government Appropriations 
Act for fiscal year 1999 to recognize Senator Shelby for his diligent 
efforts this year to ensure that the public has access to federally 
funded research data. Sunshine in government is a principle that enjoys 
broad support from both sides of the aisle as evident from the 
bipartisan support of the Freedom of Information Act and the 1986 
Community Right to Know Law. While we all agree that this principle is 
important, the Senator from Alabama has correctly identified a major 
inconsistency--the public's lack of access to federally funded research 
data. Currently, there is no systematic government-wide process for the 
public to access research data supported by federal funds. Equally 
disturbing is the fact that this research data is often used to support 
major rulemakings. Because of Senator Shelby's interest in this issue, 
the Treasury, General Government Appropriations bill for FY 99 contains 
a requirement that the Director of OMB evaluate current government-wide 
procedures for making research data available to the public and report 
back to the Committee on the need for changes to existing procedures. 
My own view is that reform in this area is long overdue and I would 
like to commend Senator Shelby for his leadership to help rectify this 
matter and pledge to work with him and Chairman Campbell in Conference 
on final language to correct this problem as soon as possible.
  Mr. FAIRCLOTH. If our esteemed Majority Leader would yield for a 
moment, I also would like to commend Senator Shelby and Chairman 
Campbell for their work in this area. Recent Congressional debates over 
federal regulatory programs, such as the revised particulate matter 
standard, and the criteria for listing new species under the Endangered 
Species Act, show the importance of providing the public with full 
access to federal research data to validate research results and gain 
the proper public support. The importance of this issue is also 
reflected in a recent court decision on environmental tobacco smoke 
that concluded that the Environmental Protection Agency had been 
selective in

[[Page S9914]]

including research data in its overall assessment of health risks. 
Public access to research data would help ensure that federal rules are 
based on the best science possible. I too would like to commend Senator 
Shelby and Senator Campbell, Chairman of the Treasury and General 
Government Appropriations Subcommittee, for their efforts to correct 
this problem.
  Mr. CAMPBELL. I thank my colleague from North Carolina. The public's 
lack of access to federal research data is an issue of growing concern 
to Members of the Treasury and General Government Appropriations 
Subcommittee. The lack of public access to research data feeds general 
public mistrust of government and undermines support for major 
regulatory programs. The Senator from Alabama has taken the lead on 
this important issue and I look forward to working with him and all my 
colleagues who have expressed support for enhanced public access to 
research data in Conference.
  Mr. SHELBY. I thank the Majority Leader and my colleague from North 
Carolina and the Senator from Colorado, the Chairman of the Treasury 
and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee, for their support. 
The Administration's resistance to providing the public access to 
federal research data not otherwise protected from disclosure under 
current law indeed contradicts the spirit of current law. The Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 requests the Director of OMB to ``foster greater 
sharing, dissemination, and access to public information.'' OMB 
Circular 110, Subpart C, is even more specific, stating that unless 
specifically waived, Federal agencies ``have the right to . . . obtain, 
reproduce, publish or otherwise use the data first produced under an 
award''. Unfortunately, these policy directives are not being 
implemented on a systematic basis. Given the prevalent use of 
government funded research data in developing regulations and federal 
policy, it is important that such data be made available to other 
interested Federal agencies and to the public on a routine basis for 
independent scientific evaluation and confirmation. I thank my 
colleagues for their support on this issue and I look forward to 
working with them to improve the language in Conference.
  Mr. CAMPBELL. I thank my colleague from Alabama for raising this 
important issue and I look forward to working with you, Senator 
Faircloth and the Majority Leader in Conference to develop an effective 
solution.
  Mr. SHELBY. I thank the Chairman for his support on this issue.
  Mr. FAIRCLOTH. Mr. President, I rise today in support of the Gang 
Resistance Education and Training (GREAT) Program as part of the 
Treasury Appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 1999. I am pleased to see 
that this legislation increases national funding from $10 million to 
$13 million for 1999. Gangs are a serious problem in this country. We 
must be proactive in finding ways to stop gang violence.
  A recent article in the Washington Post noted that nearly twice as 
many teenagers reported gangs in their schools in 1995 as they did in 
1989. School administrators from North Carolina have found that gangs 
and violence go together. I believe that when we couple gangs and 
violence with drug use and weapons, we have a formula for disaster.
  Fortunately, programs like the GREAT program educate children about 
the perils of gangs and offer alternative ways to resolve conflicts 
rather than through violence. I would like to thank the Chairman of the 
Subcommittee on Treasury and General Government, Ben Nighthorse 
Campbell, for the inclusion of North Carolina counties in the GREAT 
program: Bladen, Cumberland, Mecklenburg, New Hanover, and Wake. I hope 
that more communities in North Carolina and this country will follow 
their lead.
  Experts may say that small involvement in the GREAT program means 
that there is little gang activity in the state. I believe that we 
should not wait until there is evidence of a gang before we bring GREAT 
into a school district. We must be proactive in educating our young 
people about the dangers of gangs. If we wait until there is a problem, 
then we may face a deadly situation like those faced this year by 
several of our nation's schools. We must act before it is too late. 
GREAT is a sound program which I am pleased to support.


                    amendment no. 3379, as modified

  Mr. GLENN. Mr. President, I would like to second the comments of my 
colleague from Michigan and add that I also have no objection to the 
McConnell amendment as it has been changed and offered today.
  The amendment as it is now constructed will call for a periodic vote 
of the Commission to re-confirm the General Counsel, but it will not 
allow a partisan minority of the Commission to act unilaterally, and it 
will not leave the position of General Counsel open until a successor 
is appointed, thereby paralyzing the enforcement efforts of the agency.
  I am also pleased that this amendment allows the current General 
Counsel to serve a term of eight years from enactment. I am confident 
that the amendment in its current form will be enacted into law and 
signed by the President.
  Finally, today we add crucial money to the FEC budget in order to 
help the agency to investigate and prove violations of the existing 
law. The additional 2.8 million dollars in enforcement funds bring our 
Senate appropriation for the FEC up to the same level offered in the 
House. These funds are an important step in allowing the agency the 
resources it needs to investigate and enforce our remaining campaign 
finance laws.
  Mr. CAMPBELL. I ask unanimous consent when the Senate completes all 
debate on S. 2312, the Fiscal Year 1999 Treasury and General Government 
Appropriations Act, the Chair lay before the Senate Calendar No. 478, 
the House companion measure, H.R. 4104; that all after the enacting 
clause be stricken and the text of S. 2312, as amended, be inserted in 
lieu thereof; and that the House bill, as amended, be read for the 
third time and the Senate immediately move to final passage of H.R. 
4104; that the Senate insist on its amendment and request a conference 
with the House on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses thereon, and 
the Chair appoint the following conferees on the part of the Senate: 
Mr. Campbell, Mr. Shelby, Mr. Faircloth, Mr. Stevens, Mr. Kohl, Ms. 
Mikulski, and Mr. Byrd, and that the foregoing occur without any 
intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. CAMPBELL. With that, Mr. President, I have no further comment.
  I yield the floor and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Hagel). The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. As a Senator from the State of Nebraska, I ask 
unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________