[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 151 (Wednesday, October 21, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12915-S12916]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
AMENDING SENATE RESOLUTION 209 TO PROVIDE BUDGET LEVELS IN THE SENATE
Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 312 submitted earlier
today by Senator Domenici.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The clerk will report.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
A resolution (S. Res. 312) to amend Senate Resolution 209
in order to provide budget levels in the Senate for purposes
of Fiscal Year 1999 and include the appropriate budgetary
levels for fiscal years 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to the immediate
consideration of the resolution?
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the
resolution.
Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, for the information of the Senate, this
resolution on behalf of Senator Lautenberg and myself is the so-called
deeming budget resolution. We have cleared this with our colleagues on
both sides of the aisle.
Last year this Congress reached an historic agreement with the
President. We enacted the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. I think those
pundits who like to suggest that this Congress has not done anything
seem to conveniently forget that the balanced budget agreement was done
in this Congress.
Nevertheless, that agreement and the implementing legislation--the
Budget Enforcement Act of 1997--put in place for 5 years spending
limits on appropriated accounts and extended various other fiscal
enforcement tools. I have often thought of this legislation as a first
step in creating a biennial budgeting and appropriations process. We
have operated in the second session of this Congress under those
spending caps and applied the discipline of that act to help us secure
the first balanced budget in decades.
The levels set forth in this Senate resolution reflect the bipartisan
balanced budget agreement--updated for the most recent fiscal and
economic information provided to us by the Congressional Budget Office
and for legislation enacted since the last budget resolution was agreed
to.
This is similar to the action which the Senate took on April 2 of
this year when we passed S. Res. 209 which provided a section 302
allocation to the Committee on Appropriations in advance of completing
action on a budget resolution.
What we have done today is simply provide committee spending
allocations and establish overall aggregate levels of spending and
revenues so that we can continue the fiscal discipline inherent in our
budget rules--this means we will be able to enforce our section 302 and
311 points of order and our pay-as-you-go rule.
I feel this discipline has been critical to our ability to uphold the
bipartisan balanced budget agreement and led us to a period of budget
surpluses. Thus we should not let the fact that we were unable to
complete conference prevent us from going forward with the budget rules
which have served us so well in the past.
I am hopeful that early in the next Congress we might consummate the
2 year budgeting and appropriations process in statute along with other
changes to the Budget Act necessitated by the changed environment of
projected budget surpluses.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the allocations of budget
authority and outlays under section 302 of the Budget Act for Senate
authorizing committees be printed in the Record. The Senate
appropriations already received its allocation on April 2 of this year
when the Senate adopted S. Res. 209.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
SENATE COMMITTEE BUDGET AUTHORITY AND OUTLAY ALLOCATIONS PURSUANT TO SECTION 302 OF THE CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET ACT
BUDGET YEAR TOTAL 1999
[In millions of dollars]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Direct spending jurisdiction Entitlements funded in annual
---------------------------------- appropriations act
Committee ---------------------------------
Budget Outlays Budget
authority authority Outlays
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry........ 9,027 6,319 17,273 9,183
Armed Services.............................. 48,287 48,160 0 0
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs......... 6,538 3,182 0 0
Commerce, Science, and Transportation....... 8,124 5,753 682 678
Energy and Natural Resources................ 2,201 2,238 40 39
Environment and Public Works................ 31,232 1,349 0 0
Finance..................................... 694,465 688,023 146,033 146,926
Foreign Relations........................... 10,908 12,141 0 0
Governmental Affairs........................ 58,299 57,062 0 0
Judiciary................................... 4,953 4,590 231 232
Labor and Human Resources................... 7,989 7,514 1,328 1,328
Rules and Administration.................... 93 56 0 0
Veterans' Affairs........................... 1,194 1,418 22,629 22,536
Indian Affairs.............................. 492 477 0 0
Small Business.............................. 0 -220 0 0
Unassigned to Committee..................... -303,087 -294,967 0 0
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Total................................. 1,417,136 1,402,185 188,216 180,922
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SENATE COMMITTEE BUDGET AUTHORITY AND OUTLAY ALLOCATIONS PURSUANT TO SECTION 302 OF THE CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET ACT
5-YEAR TOTAL: 1999-2003
[In millions of dollars]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Direct spending jurisdiction Entitlements funded in annual
---------------------------------- appropriations act
Committee ---------------------------------
Budget Outlays Budget
authority authority Outlays
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry........ 37,593 24,604 86,417 51,226
Armed Services.............................. 258,666 258,183 39,022 1,700
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs......... 39,022 1,700 0 0
Commerce, Science, and Transportation....... 64,657 52,828 3,680 3,660
Energy and Natural Resources................ 10,564 10,487 200 242
Environment and Public Works................ 162,510 6,871 0 0
Finance..................................... 3,660,491 3,651,115 827,934 829,129
Foreign Relations........................... 48,981 54,569 0 0
Governmental Affairs........................ 312,943 306,281 0 0
[[Page S12916]]
Judiciary................................... 25,025 23,765 1,155 1,160
Labor and Human Resources................... 46,608 43,850 6,926 6,926
Rules and Administration.................... 455 422 0 0
Veterans' Affairs........................... 5,381 7,028 119,335 119,073
Indian Affairs.............................. 2,486 2,418 0 0
Small Business.............................. 0 -989 0 0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I support this resolution, which is
essentially a technical change that will facilitate enforcement of the
Budget Act in the Senate.
This resolution would update the following figures for purposes of
enforcing points of order in the Senate only. First, aggregates for
revenues, budget authority, outlays, and Social Security revenues and
outlays. Second, Section 302(a) allocations for Senate committees.
The resolution does not include functional totals or reconciliation
instructions. It would not endorse the spending priorities included in
the Senate-passed resolution, or any other spending priorities, for
that matter. Also, it would not apply to the House of Representatives.
It therefore it not a budget resolution in any sense.
The allocations and aggregates in this resolution are based on CBO's
August baseline estimates, updated for enacted legislation and some
technical corrections. The resolution is based on legislation enacted
as of today. However, it includes a provision allowing the Chairman to
revise the aggregates and allocations once more based only on
legislation enacted through the end of the session. This means that
each committee, and the Senate paygo ledger, will start the year with a
clean slate.
Mr. President, since Congress has not adopted a budget resolution for
FY99, the Senate is now operating under the budget resolution approved
last year for FY98 and beyond. This has the effect of limiting the
availability of points of order to enforce the basic rules of the
Balanced Budget Agreement.
For example, when the Senate considers legislation proposing revenue
reductions or new mandatory spending, the Senate's ``pay-as-you-go''
rules require that all costs be offset in the first, the first five,
and the second five years of the budget resolution in effect at the
time. Since we are now operating under last year's resolution, there is
now no point of order available based on the failure of such
legislation, for example, to offset all costs in the first year after
enactment. This resolution would address this problem.
So, Mr. President, I support this resolution. It is not a budget
resolution. It does not propose a set of spending priorities. It is
simply a technical change that will help us enforce the basic structure
of the Budget Enforcement Act.
Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution
be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that
any statements relating to the resolution appear at this point in the
Record.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The resolution (S. Res. 312) was agreed to, as follows:
S. Res. 312
Resolved, That Senate Resolution 209, agreed to April 2,
1999 (105th Congress), is amended by striking all after the
resolving clause and inserting the following:
SECTION 1. SENATE BUDGET LEVELS.
(a) In General.--For the purpose of enforcing the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and section 202 of House
Concurrent Resolution 67 (104th Congress), the following
levels, amounts, and allocations shall apply in the Senate in
the same manner as a concurrent resolution on the budget for
fiscal year 1999 and including the appropriate budgetary
levels for fiscal years 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003:
(1) Federal revenues.--The recommended levels of Federal
revenues are as follows:
Fiscal year 1999: $1,358,919,000,000.
Fiscal year 2000: $1,388,039,000,000.
Fiscal year 2001: $1,424,774,000,000.
Fiscal year 2002: $1,480,891,000,000.
Fiscal year 2003: $1,534,362,000,000.
(2) New budget authority.--The appropriate levels of new
budget authority are as follows:
Fiscal year 1999: $1,417,136,000,000.
Fiscal year 2000: $1,453,654,000,000.
Fiscal year 2001: $1,489,637,000,000.
Fiscal year 2002: $1,517,259,000,000.
Fiscal year 2003: $1,577,949,000,000.
(3) Budget outlays.--The appropriate levels of total budget
outlays are as follows:
Fiscal year 1999: $1,402,185,000,000.
Fiscal year 2000: $1,438,029,000,000.
Fiscal year 2001: $1,473,660,000,000.
Fiscal year 2002: $1,484,272,000,000.
Fiscal year 2003: $1,548,914,000,000.
(4) Social security revenues.--The amounts of revenues of
the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and
the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund are as follows:
Fiscal year 1999: $441,749,000,000.
Fiscal year 2000: $460,115,000,000.
Fiscal year 2001: $477,722,000,000.
Fiscal year 2002: $497,290,000,000.
Fiscal year 2003: $518,752,000,000.
(5) Social security outlays.--The amounts of outlays of the
Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the
Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund are as follows:
Fiscal year 1999: $321,261,000,000.
Fiscal year 2000: $330,916,000,000.
Fiscal year 2001: $344,041,000,000.
Fiscal year 2002: $355,614,000,000.
Fiscal year 2003: $368,890,000,000.
(b) Revisions.--
(1) In general.--The Chairman of the Senate Committee on
the Budget may file 1 set of revisions to the levels,
amounts, and allocations provided by this resolution and
those revisions shall only reflect legislation enacted in the
105th Congress and not assumed in this resolution.
(2) Congressional pay-go scorecard.--Upon making revisions
pursuant to paragraph (1) and for the purpose of enforcing
section 202 of House Concurrent Resolution 67 (104th
Congress), the Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Budget
shall reduce any balances of direct spending and receipts for
any fiscal year to zero.
(c) Effective Date and Expiration.--This resolution shall--
(1) take effect on the date that the Congress adjourns sine
die or the date the 105th Congress expires, whichever date is
earlier; and
(2) expire on the effective date of a concurrent resolution
on the budget for fiscal year 1999 agreed to pursuant to
section 301 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
SEC. 2. COMMITTEE ALLOCATIONS.
Upon the adoption of this resolution, the Chairman of the
Committee on the Budget shall file allocations consistent
with this resolution pursuant to section 302(a) of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
____________________