[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 85 (Thursday, June 29, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1142]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




DEPARTMENTS OF COMMERCE, JUSTICE, AND STATE, THE JUDICIARY, AND RELATED 
                   AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2001

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. JAMES P. MORAN

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 22, 2000

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 4690) making 
     appropriations for the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and 
     State, the Judiciary, and related agencies for the fiscal 
     year ending September 30, 2001, and for other purposes:

  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I rise reluctantly to oppose 
this bill and the shortsighted cuts it makes to the budgets of the 
agencies and employees under the Subcommittee's jurisdiction.
  This bill shortchanges many of the agencies responsible for local law 
enforcement, patent and trademarks, advanced technology programs, 
international peacekeeping, and trade monitoring and compliance. In 
particular, it severely constrains the operations of the Patent and 
Trademark Office, which safeguards our nation's intellectual property 
rights.
  At a time when inventions in the fields of science and technology 
have driven our nation's economy, we should not be cutting back funding 
for this critical mission. Maintaining a sufficient investment in the 
PTO is absolutely vital to the future of our economic growth and 
prosperity.
  The Committee's bill also provides insufficient funding to combat the 
threat of terrorism and withholds $100 million of our assessments for 
participation in the United Nations and other international 
organizations. It cuts the Administration's request for the COPS 
program by half It also fails to provide sufficient funding for the 
Commission on Civil Rights and the Small Business Administration.
  In addition, this bill contains some hidden riders that undermine our 
nation's gun enforcement laws and language undermining the Justice 
Department's current lawsuit to recover funds from the tobacco 
industry.
  The bill includes a provision for the second straight year that would 
place a moratorium on using funds in the bill to pay overtime to 
Justice Department attorneys. The attorneys who work for the Justice 
Department are some of the most dedicated civil servants anywhere on 
earth. They must often leave their homes and families for weeks at a 
time to try cases in distant parts of the country. They are involved in 
stressful cases, often involving serious organized crime or complex 
litigation.
  By denying these lawyers compensation for their overtime hours, we 
are denying them what other attorneys in the Federal government 
rightfully earn. It is clearly a hypocrisy to have the Justice 
Department, the very agency tasked with enforcing our laws, attempt to 
bypass the law to avoid paying overtime compensation to its lawyers who 
carry out the laws of our nation.
  This bill also fails to provide funding for anti-gun violence media 
campaigns that replicate Richmond's ``Project Exile,'' and does not 
appropriate money to expand research into ``smart gun'' technology.
  Mr. Chairman, for all these reasons, I urge my colleagues to reject 
this bill and look for a better approach to funding the agencies in 
this bill.

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