[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.
____________________