[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 76 (Tuesday, May 25, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5951-S5952]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS

  The following petitions and memorials were laid before the Senate and 
were referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:

       POM-134. A concurrent resolution adopted by the Legislature 
     of the State of Arizona relative to Medicare reimbursement 
     rates; to the Committee on Finance.

                    Senate Concurrent Memorial 1001

       Whereas, access to affordable health care services has been 
     greatly reduced for Medicare health maintenance organization 
     recipients in thirty states due to cutbacks in Medicare 
     reimbursement by the federal government; and
       Whereas, because of recent changes by the federal 
     government, the Medicare reimbursement rates in rural areas 
     are lower than those in urban areas. This results in HMOs 
     reimbursing physicians at the lower rates, which in turn 
     causes the physician networks to disintegrate and many HMOs 
     to stop offering service in those areas; and
       Whereas, although health insurance will remain available to 
     seniors in rural areas through traditional Medicare coverage, 
     the cutbacks will significantly restrict their options for 
     health care coverage, the number of services covered and the 
     affordability of those services in general; and
       Whereas, two major HMOs have withdrawn service altogether 
     in six rural Arizona counties, leaving nearly ten thousand 
     elderly individuals with only one or two HMOs from which to 
     choose; and
       Whereas, individuals who previously were covered under HMOs 
     received greater benefits not covered by Medicare, including 
     additional services and lower copayments that offered seniors 
     thorough and comprehensive services at more affordable rates. 
     Now that many will be left with the more expensive Medicare 
     system as their primary health insurance option, low-income 
     and disabled seniors may be forced to pay more out-of-pocket 
     costs for their health care services or may forego receiving 
     these services because they are unable to afford the higher 
     payments; and
       Whereas, the financial and health problems that many rural 
     seniors around the country are likely to face as a result of 
     the Medicare reimbursement cuts are directly attributable to 
     the Medicare reimbursement rates differential between rural 
     and urban areas.
       Wherefore your memorialist, the Senate of the State of 
     Arizona, the House of Representatives concurring, prays:
       1. That the Congress of the United States take steps to 
     address the problem of the Medicare reimbursement rates 
     differential between urban and rural areas and attempt to 
     establish a reimbursement system that will result in more 
     equitable health care coverage for seniors in rural areas of 
     the country.
       2. That the Secretary of State of the State of Arizona 
     transmit a copy of this Memorial to the President of the 
     United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House 
     of Representatives and to each Member of Congress from the 
     State of Arizona.
                                  ____

       POM-135. A concurrent resolution adopted by the Legislature 
     of the State of Arizona relative to the 2000 census; to the 
     Committee on Governmental Affairs.

                     House Concurrent Memorial 2003

       Whereas, the Constitution of the United States requires an 
     enumeration of the population every ten years and entrusts 
     the Congress with overseeing all aspects of each decennial 
     census, and
       Whereas, the sole constitutional purpose of the decennial 
     census is to apportion the seats in Congress among the 
     several states; and
       Whereas, an accurate and legal decennial census is 
     necessary to properly apportion the United States House seats 
     among the fifty states and to create legislative districts 
     within the states; and
       Whereas, an accurate and legal decennial census is 
     necessary to enable states to comply with the constitutional 
     mandate of drawing state legislative districts within the 
     states; and
       Whereas, to ensure an accurate count and to minimize the 
     potential for political manipulation, article I, section 2 of 
     the United States Constitution mandates an ``actual 
     enumeration'' of the population, which requires a physical 
     head count of the population and prohibits statistical 
     guessing or estimates of the population; and
       Whereas, consistent with this constitutional mandate, title 
     13, section 195 of the United States Code expressly prohibits 
     the use of statistical sampling to enumerate the United 
     States population for the purpose of reapportioning the 
     United States House; and
       Whereas, legislative redistricting that is conducted by the 
     states is a critical subfunction of the constitutional 
     requirement to apportion representatives among the states; 
     and
       Whereas, in Department of Commerce, et al. v. United States 
     Representatives, et al., No. 98-404, and in Clinton, 
     President of the United States, et al. v. Glavin, et al., No. 
     98-564, the United States Supreme Court ruled on January 25, 
     1999 that the Census Act prohibits the Census Bureau's 
     proposed uses of statistical sampling in calculating the 
     population for purposes of apportionment; and
       Whereas, in reaching its findings, the United States 
     Supreme Court found that the use of statistical procedures to 
     adjust census numbers would create a dilution of voting 
     rights for citizens in legislative redistricting, thus 
     violating the legal guarantees of ``one person, one vote''; 
     and
       Whereas, consistent with this ruling and the constitutional 
     and legal relationship between legislative redistricting by 
     the states and the apportionment of the United States House, 
     the use of adjusted census data woud raise serious questions 
     of vote dilution and would violate ``one person, one vote''; 
     legal protections, and would expose the State of Arizona to 
     protracted litigation over legislative redistricting plans at 
     great cost to the taxpayers of this state and would likely 
     result in a court ruling that invalidates any legislative 
     redistricting plan that uses census numbers that have been 
     determined in whole or in part by the use of random sampling 
     techniques or other statistical methodologies that add or 
     subtract persons to or from the census counts based solely on 
     statistical inference; and
       Whereas, consistent with these principles, no person 
     enumerated in the census should ever be deleted from the 
     census enumeration; and
       Whereas, consistent with this ruling, every reasonable and 
     practicable effort should be

[[Page S5952]]

     made to obtain the fullest and most accurate possible count 
     of the population, including appropriate funding for state 
     and local census outreach and education programs as well as 
     provisions for post-census local review; and
       Whereas, the members of the Forty-fourth Legislative oppose 
     census numbers for state legislative redistricting that have 
     been determined in whole or in part by the use of random 
     sampling techniques of other statistical methodologies that 
     and or subtract persons to the census counts based solely on 
     statistical inference.
       Wherefore your memorialist, the House of Representatives of 
     the State of Arizona, the Senate concurring, prays:
       1. That the United States Bureau of the Census conduct the 
     2000 census consistent with the United States Supreme Court's 
     ruling and establish constitutional and legal mandates, which 
     require a physical head count of the population and bar the 
     use of statistical sampling to create or in any way adjust 
     the count.
       2. That Public Law 94-171 data not be used for state 
     legislative redistricting if it is based on census numbers 
     that have been determined in whole or in part by the use of 
     statistical inferences derived by means of random sampling 
     techniques or other statistical methodologies that add or 
     subtract persons to or from the census counts.
       3. That it receive Public Law 94-171 data for legislative 
     redistricting that is identifical to the census tabulation 
     data used to apportion the seats in the United States House 
     consistent with the United States Supreme Court ruling and 
     constitutional mandates that require a physical head count of 
     the population and bar the use of statistical sampling to 
     create or in any way adjust the count.
       4. That the Congress of the United States, as the branch of 
     government assigned with the responsibility of overseeing the 
     decennial census, take any steps necessary to ensure that the 
     2000 census is conducted fairly and legally.
       5. That the Secretary of the State of Arizona transmit a 
     copy of this Memorial to the Speaker of the United States 
     House of Representatives, the President of the United States 
     Senate, the Director of the United States Bureau of the 
     Census and each Member of Congress from the State of Arizona.
                                  ____

       POM-136. A joint resolution adopted by the Legislature of 
     the State of Arizona relative to the Endangered Species Act 
     of 1973; to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.

                      House Joint Resolution 2001

       Whereas, the endangered species act of 1973 (P.L. 93-205; 
     87 Stat. 884; 16 United States Code sections 1531 et seq.), 
     as amended, was enacted for the purpose of the conservation 
     and recovery of endangered and threatened species by 
     protecting and conserving habitat and related ecosystems; and
       Whereas, in pursuing that policy, the endangered species 
     act provides for no consideration or accommodation of human 
     activities, requirements or interests; and
       Whereas, the United States fish and wildlife service of the 
     department of the interior has shown little regard or 
     willingness to make administrative adjustments to accommodate 
     human activities, requirements or interests in administering 
     and enforcing the endangered species act; and
       Whereas, much of the enforcement pursuant to the endangered 
     species act is based on dubious scientific research and 
     outcome-oriented analysis; and
       Whereas, the Arizona game and fish department is charged 
     with managing the fish and wildlife resources of this state 
     in the best interests of the present and future generations 
     of Arizonans; and
       Whereas, the Arizona game and fish department has 
     recommended against the listing of several species of animals 
     as threatened or endangered based on sound biological 
     information, only to have their recommendation ignored by the 
     United States fish and wildlife service and the secretary of 
     the interior; and
       Whereas, the endangered species act allows the courts no 
     discretion in imposing the requirements of the act over all 
     human activity that may remotely affect the species; and
       Whereas, the result of the implementation and enforcement 
     of the endangered species act is to threaten and endanger the 
     economy and way of life throughout the west; and
       Whereas, the industries that depend on harvesting, 
     extracting or otherwise using natural resources are 
     particularly endangered; and
       Whereas, harvesting trees for timber and pulp wood is 
     threatened throughout the western states and has been all but 
     eliminated in Arizona, except on Indian reservations, thereby 
     eliminating much needed rural employment and causing a 
     dangerous buildup of wildfire fuel; and
       Whereas, livestock ranching is endangered by massive 
     reductions in federal grazing allotments leaving ranches and 
     ranch families near bankruptcy with no option but that of 
     selling their private land for development thereby losing the 
     traditional responsible stewardship for the land and other 
     resources; and
       Whereas, the mining industry is endangered to the brink of 
     extinction and the loss of quality employment for thousands 
     of mine workers and the collapse of an important component of 
     the economy of the state of Arizona and other western states; 
     and
       Whereas, certain single issue special interest groups are 
     able to abuse the endangered species act to achieve their 
     narrow personal agenda by litigating against productive 
     economic activities, as well as hunting, fishing and other 
     recreational activities, all to the detriment of our 
     heritage, our culture and our society; therefore be it
       Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
       1. That the policy of the State of Arizona, its governor 
     and the legislature is to preserve and protect our way of 
     life, our heritage and our culture, including the economic 
     base of the rural areas of this state.
       2. That the endangered species act must be modified to: (a) 
     Recognize, protect and conserve human interests at the same 
     time and on the same priority level as environmental 
     interests. (b) Provide for a more flexible and accommodating 
     administration and enforcement system, based on sound 
     scientific analysis and research, so that the United States 
     fish and wildlife service and other federal agencies work 
     with, rather than impose on, the people of this state. (c) 
     Allow the courts flexibility to issue rulings that protect 
     human interests as well as environmental interests.
       3. That the Secretary of State transmit copies of this 
     Resolution to the President of the United States, the 
     Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior, 
     the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the 
     United States House of Representatives and to each member of 
     the Arizona Congressional delegation.
                                  ____

       POM-137. A concurrent resolution adopted by the Legislature 
     of the State of West Virginia relative to the Appalachian 
     Development Highway System; to the Committee on Environment 
     and Public Works.

                   House Concurrent Resolution No. 14

       Whereas, The construction of the Coalfields Expressway in 
     Southern West Virginia is due to begin in 1999; and
       Whereas, The Coalfields Expressway needs approximately 1.5 
     billion dollars for completion; and
       Whereas, Motorists in West Virginia pay into the Highway 
     Trust Fund at the rate of 18.4 cents tax for each gallon of 
     gasoline purchased and 24.4 cents tax on each gallon of 
     diesel fuel purchased; and
       Whereas, The Appalachian Development Highway system was 
     conceived by the United States Congress with the intention of 
     aiding the economy of the entire Appalachian Region and is 
     now funded directly though the Highway Trust Fund; and
       Whereas, A recent study on the Appalachian Development 
     Highway System has concluded that upon completion, this 
     system would provide 42,000 new jobs, 84,000 new residents, 
     2.9 billion dollars in new wages and 6.9 billion dollars in 
     value-added business in the region served by the system; and
       Whereas, The Coalfields Expressway, when completed, would 
     traverse the counties of Raleigh, Wyoming and McDowell, and 
     would greatly benefit these counties in the form of increased 
     employment opportunities and economic growth; and
       Whereas, Two of these three counties, Wyoming and McDowell, 
     consistently place near the top of state and national 
     unemployment lists; and
       Whereas, The Coalfields Expressway is not a part of the 
     Appalachian Development Highway System, instead receiving 
     funding through special appropriations from the United States 
     Congress at irregular intervals; and
       Whereas, The funding received by the Coalfields Expressway 
     has thus far consisted of a single appropriation of 50 
     million dollars in 1991 and a single appropriation of 22.7 
     million dollars in 1998; and
       Whereas, Incorporation of the Coalfields Expressway into 
     the Appalachian Development Highway System would allow for 
     additional funding to complete the Coalfields Expressway from 
     the Highway Trust Fund; therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:
       That the members of the West Virginia delegation to the 
     United States Congress are hereby requested to make all 
     possible efforts to support and assist the incorporation of 
     the Coalfields Expressway into the Appalachian Development 
     Highway System; and, be it
       Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates 
     is hereby directed to forward a copy of this resolution to 
     all members of the West Virignia delegation to the United 
     States Congress, to the Clerk of the United States House of 
     Representatives, to the Clerk of the United States Senate and 
     to the Executive Director of the Coalfields Expressway.

                          ____________________