[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 150 (Friday, October 29, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S13542]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           PRESIDENTIAL VETO

  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I rise today to speak about President 
Clinton's veto of the Commerce, State, Justice appropriations bill for 
fiscal year 2000. I am very concerned about this veto. It was a very 
difficult bill. There is no question about it, given the budget caps 
that both Congress and this administration adopted and agreed they 
would adhere to.
  Still, the bill provides the resources needed to continue our strong 
efforts to fight crime, enhance drug and border enforcement, respond to 
the threat of terrorism, and help women and children who are victims of 
family violence. A key component of our crime-fighting effort is 
stopping drugs at our borders. Thanks to Senator Judd Gregg and Senator 
Fritz Hollings, this bill provides for 1,000 new Border Patrol agents 
to guard our borders.
  The President's decision to veto the bill makes clear that funding 
for these critical matters is not a priority to the President. Despite 
our budget constraints and our need to preserve Social Security, this 
bill provides nearly $3 billion more than last year's bill. This bill 
is not a cut; it is an increase.
  The President said he vetoed the bill because it didn't fully fund 
his COPS Program. The reality is that Congress provided funding for 
100,000 police for our cities all over America 2 years ago. In fact, we 
have provided funding for 115,000 police. The President says he wants 
30,000 to 50,000 more, but the irony is he hasn't even met the first 
goal. We still don't have more than 60,000 police on the streets. Yet 
he is vetoing the bill when the funding is there. The full funding was 
given by Congress with the excuse that he wants 30,000 to 50,000 more 
when he has 40,000 that are fully funded that he has not been able to 
fill.
  I am concerned because this is not the only law enforcement 
initiative in which the President has failed. This administration was 
under direction from Congress to hire 1,000 new border guards in 1999. 
It failed when only 200 to 400 were actually hired. Yet every penny of 
the money that went to the 1,000 has been spent. Yet this year in the 
budget that the President has just vetoed, the President didn't ask for 
one new Border Patrol agent.
  I ask, what is the role of the Federal Government? Is it to put 
police on the streets of our cities or is it to guard the sovereignty 
of our Nation, the borders of our Nation? I think the President of the 
United States is not fulfilling his responsibility when Congress comes 
forward and says we are going to guard the borders of our country; we 
are going to provide for police on streets as requested, and he vetoes 
the bill and asks for no new Border Patrol agents.
  Our border is a sieve. The distinguished chair and I both represent 
States on the Southwest border. There is no other way to describe it 
when an estimated $10 billion in marijuana, heroin, cocaine, and other 
drugs crossed our border last year, according to the Office of National 
Drug Control Policy. These drugs find their way to cities and school 
yards all over America. This is not just the Southwest. It is not just 
Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and California. These illegal drugs go all 
over the country. They end up in the school yards, preying on our 
children. We are a gateway, but we are not the stopping point. They are 
coming in record numbers. In 1998, there were over 6,000 drug seizures 
along the Southwest border. The total value was $1.28 billion. Our drug 
czar, General McCaffrey, has argued we should have 20,000 Border Patrol 
forces to stop the flow of drugs across our border.
  A University of Texas study last year indicates 16,133 agents are 
needed to do the job. We have about 8,000--less than half of that 
needed to do the job, which is the responsibility of the Federal 
Government and which Congress is trying to provide, with no cooperation 
from this administration. Only 200 to 400 are likely to be hired this 
year, according to the administration's own records.
  I think the President of the United States needs to stop the 
rhetoric. He needs to stop playing games with important appropriations 
bills and do something that is going to stop illegal immigration and 
illegal drugs coming through our borders and spreading all over our 
country. The President needs to fulfill the commitments he has already 
made and that we have funded to get 1,000 police officers on the 
streets and 1,000 more Border Patrol agents each year, for 5 years, as 
Congress has directed the administration to do.
  Vetoing this bill does not help crime-fighting efforts. Signing the 
bill, keeping his promises for police and Border Patrol does.
  I am very concerned the President of the United States has not taken 
seriously enough the need to control our borders, from illegal 
immigration to illegal drugs. Vetoing the Commerce-State-Justice bill 
shows that he is not taking this seriously, as Congress most certainly 
is. I urge the President to understand how important this issue is and 
to start doing what Congress has directed and what his own drug czar is 
recommending; that is, start working toward 20,000 Border Patrol agents 
who keep the sovereign borders of our country safe and secure.

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