[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 85 (Thursday, June 29, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1144]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              LEGISLATIVE BRANCH 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. 4516) making 
     appropriations for the Legislative Branch for the fiscal year 
     ending September 30, 2001, and for other purposes:

  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to 
this bill and the shortsighted cuts it makes to the budgets of the 
agencies and employees under the Subcommittee's jurisdiction.
  There is a lot of smoke and mirrors in this bill. Even with the 
funding restored by the Manager's amendment, this bill is deficient in 
many critical areas. The bill's total appropriation is still $9.8 
million less than the current year's appropriation.
  It would still leave the Congressional Research Service, an office 
that every Member of Congress relies upon to serve our constituents, 
underfunded and ill-equipped to fulfill its mission.
  I spoke in strong opposition to this bill when we considered it in 
the Appropriations Committee because it would have gutted the agencies 
funded in this bill and resulted in up to 1,700 employees being laid 
off.
  This would mean RIFs and lay-offs of the hardworking men and women 
who work for the Capitol Police, the Library of Congress, GAO, GPO and 
the other agencies in this bill. To many of you, these are faceless 
individuals whose work may not be directly felt.
  However, to me, not only are many of these individuals my 
constituents, but they are also devoted Federal employees who have 
foregone higher paying jobs in the private sector because they believe 
in public service. They have families and mortgages and do good work. 
They have been subjected to possible RIFs because this Congress wants 
to provide a tax cut rather than maintain the current funding and cost-
of-living adjustment for these agencies.
  On another matter, the proposed amendment to establish a lockbox on 
this bill is a budgetary gimmick. It has the gloss of sounding fiscally 
responsible, but it actually ties the hands of this Committee and 
forces irresponsible cuts in order to provide a large tax cut.
  Mr. Chairman, 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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