[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 101 (Thursday, July 19, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7934-S7937]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
LEGISLATIVE BRANCH APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2002
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the clerk will
report the bill by title.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (S. 1172) making appropriations for the Legislative
Branch for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2002, and for
other purposes.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, pursuant to the unanimous consent request
which was just allowed regarding procedures for the remainder of the
evening, I will give a brief summary of this bill.
I am pleased to present to the Senate the fiscal year 2002
legislative branch appropriations bill, as reported by the full
committee.
I thank Chairman Byrd for his support and the high priority he has
placed on this bill. He has provided an allocation which has ensured we
could meet the highest priorities in the bill. In addition, I wish to
thank the ranking member of the full Committee Senator Stevens who has
been actively involved in and very supportive of this bill.
I am grateful to my ranking member, Senator Bennett, for his
important role in this process and his excellent stewardship of this
subcommittee for the past 4\1/2\ years.
The fact is that this bill bears the imprint of Senator Bennett and
his hard work in keeping an eye on this particular appropriations bill.
I was happy to join him in bringing this bill to the floor. I couldn't
have done it without him. I appreciate all of his assistance.
The bill before you today totals $1.94 billion in budget authority
and $2.03 billion in outlays. This is $103 million--5.6 percent--over
the fiscal year 2001 enacted level and $104 million or 5 percent below
the request level.
The bill includes $1.1 billion in title I, Congressional Operations,
which is $88 million below the request and $123 million above the
enacted level.
[[Page S7935]]
For title II, other agencies, a total of $848 million is included,
$15 million below the request and $20 million below the enacted level.
The support agencies under this subcommittee perform critical
functions enabling Congress to operate effectively. We have sought to
provide adequate funding levels for these agencies--particularly the
Library of Congress, the General Accounting Office, the Capitol Police,
and the Congressional Budget Office.
For the Library of Congress and the Congressional Research Service,
the bill includes $443 million. While this is $66 million below the
enacted level, the decrease is attributable to last year's one-time
appropriation for the digital preservation project.
The recommendation for the Library will enable the Congressional
Research Service to hire staff in some critical areas--particularly
technology policy.
In addition, a significant increase is provided for the National
Digital Library within the Library of Congress, including information
technology infrastructure and support to protect the investment that
has been made in digital information.
Also in the Library's budget is additional funding to reduce the Law
Library arrearage, funding for the newly- authorized Veterans Oral
History Project, and funds to support the preservation of and access to
the American Folklife Center's collection.
For the General Accounting Office, a total of $419 million is
included. This level will enable GAO to reach their full authorized
staffing level. The total number of employees funded in this
recommendation is 3,275 which would put GAO at their fiscal year 1999
level and is well below their fiscal year 1995 staffing level of 4,342
FTE.
A total of $125 million is provided for the Capitol Police. This is
an increase of $19 million over the enacted level. This will provide
for 79 additional officers above the current level, which conforms with
security recommendations, as well as related recruitment and training
efforts.
It will also provide comparability for the Capitol Police in the pay
scales of the Park Police and the Secret Service-Uniformed Division so
the Capitol Police are able to retain their officers.
The Architect of the Capitol's budget totals $177 million,
approximately $8 million above the enacted level, primarily for
additional worker-safety and financial management-related activities.
We have sought to trim budget requests wherever appropriate and where
we have identified problem areas. The most significant difference from
the budget request is a reduction of $67 million from the Architect of
the Capitol--$42 million of which is attributable to postponement of
the Capitol Dome project pursuant to the request of the Architect.
We have appropriated money for the painting of the Dome to preserve
it. We believe that we can get into this important building project in
another year or so.
We have also recommended some very strong report language within the
Architect's budget, directing them to improve their management with
particular attention to worker safety, financial management, and
strategic planning. I am very troubled by the Architect's operation and
intend to work to make much-needed changes. I hope this language sends
a strong message to the Architect that we expect major overhauls of
this agency--especially in the areas of worker safety and financial
management.
We have made it clear to the Architect of the Capitol that the rate
of worker injury is absolutely unacceptable in the Architect of the
Capitol, which is four times the average rate of the Federal
Government. This must end, and we will work to make it end.
Also included is approximately $6 million for the Botanic Garden,
which is to open in November 2001.
For the Government Printing Office, a total of $110 million is
included, of which $81 million is for Congressional printing and
binding. The amount recommended will provide for normal pay and
inflation-related increases.
For the Senate a total of $603.7 million is included. This represents
an increase of $81.7 million above the current level and $14 million
below the request.
Of the increase, $24 million is needed to meet the Senate funding
resolution, another $24 million is associated with information
technology-related activities such as the digital upgrade and studio
digitization of the Senate recording studio, and the balance is
attributable primarily to anticipated increases for agency
contributions and cost-of-living adjustments.
This is a straight-forward recommendation and I urge my colleagues to
support it.
With respect to the manager's amendment, it includes a provision on
behalf of Senator Bingaman, adding $1 million to GAO's budget for a
technology assessment pilot project, offset by a $1 million reduction
in the Architect of the Capitol's budget. It also includes authority
for the Architect to lease a particular property for the Capitol
Police, for a vehicle maintenance facility, and technical corrections.
I thank two staffers who worked tirelessly on this bill. I thank
Carolyn Apostolou with the Appropriations Committee. I thank her very
much for the continuity which she has shown working first for Senator
Bennett, and now for myself; and Pat Souters on my personal staff. I
thank Chip Yost for his contribution to this as well.
I yield the floor to my colleague, Senator Bennett.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Utah.
Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, the Senator from Illinois has been very
generous in his comments. I thank him for his generosity. He is being a
bit modest because he took over the subcommittee with great vigor and
has moved ahead on those portions of this bill in which he has a
particular interest. That was demonstrated in both the report language
and the priorities of the bill.
I congratulate him for the way he handled his stewardship of this
particular assignment.
This is not the most glamorous subcommittee on the Appropriations
Committee. But in some cases, it may be the most fun because we get to
deal with people who interact with the Senate all of the time.
The Senator from Illinois has my thanks and congratulations on the
work he has done. I will not review the specifics of the bill that he
has gone over. I will point out that I think the increases he has cited
are appropriate.
This bill has my full support. One of the items that is in the bill
that the press has expressed great interest about is the million
dollars that we put in for the Visitors Center. The million dollars is
obviously not adequate to begin the Visitors Center. But since the
House didn't put in anything, this becomes a placeholder for us to
discuss an appropriation for the Visitors Center when we get to
conference. I think the Congress needs the Visitors Center. The current
schedule calls for it to be done prior to the inauguration of the next
President, whether it be a reelection or a new election in January of
2005. That is the tight time schedule, and it will not yield. We will
have an inauguration in the Capitol in January of 2005, whether the
Visitors Center is done or not.
We had conversations with the Architect of the Capitol about that
during his hearing. We need to get on with that as quickly as we can.
I look forward to working with Senator Durbin as he leads us in the
effort to see to it that we get the proper funding and the proper
direction to see that the Visitors Center comes to pass in a timely
fashion.
I am grateful to Senator Durbin for addressing the requirement of GAO
to make an updated evaluation of the feasibility of consolidating all
of the Capitol Hill Police forces. They are the Capitol Police that
protects us. They are the Library police. They are the Government
Printing Office police. Then there is the Supreme Court Police Force.
The question is, what kind of efficiency could be gained by having
all of them coordinated to produce some cost savings? That is a
question that I have been addressing for some time. I appreciate
Senator Durbin's willingness to support the GAO study to look in that
direction.
All in all, it has been a pleasure to work with Senator Durbin and a
delight to help put this bill together with him.
I thank the staff that have toiled late into many nights to put this
before us today.
[[Page S7936]]
I urge the Senate to adopt it. I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Pennsylvania.
Amendment No. 1027
Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
The Senator from Pennsylvania [Mr. Specter] proposes an
amendment numbered 1027.
Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of
the amendment be dispensed with.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment is as follows:
(Purpose: To provide additional funding for Members of the Senate which
may be used by a Member for mailings to provide notice of town
meetings)
At the appropriate place, insert the following:
mailings for town meetings
For mailings of postal patron postcards by Members for the
purpose of providing notice of a town meeting by a Member in
a county (or equivalent unit of local government) with a
population of less than 50,000 that the Member will
personally attend to be allotted as requested, $3,000,000,
subject to authorization: Provided That any amount allocated
to a Member for such mailing under this paragraph shall not
exceed 50 percent of the cost of the mailing and the
remaining costs shall be paid by the Member from other funds
available to the Member.''.
On page 33, line 6, strike ``$419,843,000'' and insert
``$416,843,000''.
Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, only 5 minutes has been allotted for my
presentation. I have asked for that limited time only realizing the
lateness of the hour.
This amendment would establish a relatively small fund of $3 million
to pay for notices sent to residents of small counties when a Senator
comes to that county to have a town meeting.
Town meetings are in the greatest tradition of American democracy.
But they have fallen into disuse in the Senate for a number of reasons.
One reason is that it is very tough for Senators to go out and face
constituents and listen to a variety of complaints and defend a
Senator's voting record. It is more comfortable to stay inside the
beltway.
But there is another reason; that is, the mail accounts are
inadequate to provide for all of the funds necessary.
For my State alone, it would cost about three-quarters of a million
dollars. My total budget is a little over $2 million for all of my
office expenses. This is an effort to start on what I think could be a
very important project.
It provides only for notices in small counties under 50,000
population. It is possible in Pennsylvania, illustratively, to cover
the big cities and the suburban counties for television and newspapers.
But if you take the northern tier of Pennsylvania, or the southern
tier, or some of the counties, you simply can't get there unless you go
there.
If a Senator is to go there, the only way you could tell people that
you are coming is if you send them a simple postal paper notice--not
even a name or address--just to every resident.
I had anticipated that perhaps a lively debate on this subject might
have taken an hour or two.
But when I saw that the legislative appropriations bill was going to
be listed this evening at about 9:30, I added three magic words to this
amendment, and they are, ``subject to authorization.'' I know the
Senator from Illinois is opposed to the amendment; the Senator from
Utah is in favor of the amendment. We will present this matter, on
another occasion, to the Rules Committee. But it is my understanding
that pursuant to practice, if it passes the Senate, it is not subject
to conference. I do not want to have an amendment accepted and then
dropped in conference. That frequently happens.
Mr. President, how much time remains of my 5 minutes?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator retains 2 minutes 10 seconds.
Mr. SPECTER. I reserve the remainder of my time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time?
The Senator from Illinois.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, the Chair has advised me, through staff, I
have 32 seconds remaining of my initial 5 minutes. I ask unanimous
consent for an additional 60 seconds, for a total of 92 seconds to
reply to the Senator from Pennsylvania.
Mr. SPECTER. I am not going to object to that.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I will accept this amendment this evening,
but as I made it clear to the Senator from Pennsylvania, I do not
believe this is necessary. We appropriated about $8 million a year for
Senate mailing, and the Senators did not use it. They returned $4
million.
The Senator from Pennsylvania has suggested that we need an
additional $3 million when we are returning $4 million. I do not quite
understand it.
I think there is adequate money to send out town meeting notices for
any Senator who wishes to do so. Many Senators, including some who are
in this Chamber, who will go unnamed, did not even use their mailing
account last year. They left almost $100,000 in the account. And they
are suggesting we need to put more money on the table for mailing.
I believe in townhall meetings. I had over 400 as a Congressman, and
I support them as a Senator.
I am going to, of course, allow this amendment to go forward without
objection. I will tell you, as a member of the Rules Committee, the
Senator from Pennsylvania has a job to do to convince me to support it
there.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Pennsylvania.
Mr. SPECTER. I am prepared to undertake that job. And if the Senator
from Illinois does not understand why I am offering this amendment, let
me explain it to him.
It would cost, to circulate in Pennsylvania, $735,000, which will be
about a third of my budget. We have a grave crisis in America where
people think that Members of Congress are up for sale.
Campaign finance reform has been a heated subject in this Chamber and
in the House Chamber. It is necessary to have fundraisers, and you
cannot deny that the people who come to fundraisers have access. But I
find that the best answer to that is to tell my constituents that I go
to all the counties in Pennsylvania--67 counties. It is onerous. It is
very worthwhile in many respects.
It is very refreshing to get outside the beltway, to find out what
people are thinking about in upstate Pennsylvania; and to say that
people will get a notice that Arlen Specter is coming to town, and you
can come there, you do not have to buy a ticket. You can listen to a
short speech, about 5 minutes on an hour, and the balance of the hour
is for questions and answers. That way you have participatory
democracy.
So it is a partial answer to the problem of fundraisers which we
hold. I think it would be great if this sort of financing would
encourage Senators to go out and do town meetings, and I intend to
pursue this in the Rules Committee. This is just a start. Let's see how
it works. My instinct is that most of the $3 million will not be used.
And while it is first-come-first-serve, you cannot spend a lot of money
for the postal patron postcards going to people in counties with
a population of under 50,000.
I thank the managers for accepting this amendment. I think it can
prove very beneficial to the Senators and, more importantly, to
America.
Mr. President, how much time remains?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Twenty seconds.
Mr. SPECTER. If that is all the debate, I yield back the remainder of
my time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there further debate on the amendment?
If not, the question is on agreeing to amendment No. 1027.
The amendment (No. 1027) was agreed to.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois.
Amendment No. 1026
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I call up the managers' amendment which is
at the desk.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the amendment.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
The Senator from Illinois [Mr. Durbin], for himself and Mr.
Bennett, proposes an amendment numbered 1026.
Mr. DURBIN. I ask unanimous consent reading of the amendment be
dispensed with.
[[Page S7937]]
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment is as follows:
(Purpose: To authorize the Architect of the Capitol to secure certain
property, to fund a technology assessment pilot project, and for other
purposes)
On page 8, insert between lines 9 and 10 the following:
(e) Effective Date.--This section shall apply to fiscal
year 2002 and each fiscal year thereafter.
On page 9, lines 13 and 14, strike ``as increased by
section 2 of Public Law 106-57'' and insert ``as adjusted by
law and in effect on September 30, 2001''.
On page 15, insert between lines 9 and 10 the following:
(d) This section shall apply to fiscal year 2002 and each
fiscal year thereafter.
On page 16, add after line 21 the following:
(f) This section shall apply to fiscal year 2002 and each
fiscal year thereafter.
On page 17, line 21, strike ``$55,000,000'' and insert
``$54,000,000''.
On page 17, line 25, insert ``after the date'' after
``days''.
On page 17, line 25, insert before the period the
following: ``: Provided further, That notwithstanding any
other provision of law and subject to the availability of
appropriations, the Architect of the Capitol is authorized to
secure, through multi-year rental, lease, or other
appropriate agreement, the property located at 67 K Street,
S.W., Washington, D.C., for use of Legislative Branch
agencies, and to incur any necessary incidental expenses
including maintenance, alterations, and repairs in connection
therewith: Provided further, That in connection with the
property referred to under the preceding proviso, the
Architect of the Capitol is authorized to expend funds
appropriated to the Architect of the Capitol for the purpose
of the operations and support of Legislative Branch agencies,
including the United States Capitol Police, as may be
required for that purpose''.
On page 33, line 6, strike ``$419,843,000'' and insert
``$420,843,000''.
On page 34, line 4, insert before the period the following:
``Provided further, That $1,000,000 from funds made available
under this heading shall be available for a pilot program in
technology assessment: Provided further, That not later than
June 15, 2002, a report on the pilot program referred to
under the preceding proviso shall be submitted to Congress''.
On page 38, line 15, strike ``to read''.
On page 39, line 2, insert ``pay'' before ``periods''.
Mr. DURBIN. Unless the Senator from Utah wants to speak to it, I urge
adoption of the amendment.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to amendment No.
1026.
The amendment (No. 1026) was agreed to.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays on the bill.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There appears to be.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
information technology
Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I want to express my concerns to the
chairman and ranking member of the Legislative Branch appropriations
subcommittee about the information technology capabilities of the
Senate.
I am particularly concerned that the e-mail and networking systems of
the Senate do not allow Senators and their staffs to take advantage of
the latest in technology innovations. For example, the cc:mail e-mail
system employed by the offices of every Senator is no longer even
supported by the company that developed it. It is an antiquated system
that makes remote access slow and cumbersome, and does not allow for
the use of wireless e-mail.
At this time, the Sergeant of Arms is looking at a January 2002
rollout of a modernized system that will bring the Senate into the 21st
Century. This bill contains substantial increases in spending for the
IT Support Services Division of the Sergeant of Arms. It is my
understanding that some of this increase will be used for other
purposes. Therefore, I ask the chairman and ranking member what portion
of these increases will be used for the upgrade of the e-mail system?
Mr. DURBIN. The bill includes $1.8 million for the maintenance and
support of the new e-mail system that is to be implemented beginning in
January 2002. In addition, there is $6 million available in the current
fiscal year that will be used for the rollout of the new system,
including the necessary hardware and software.
Mr. BENNETT. The Senator from Illinois is correct, and I support the
funding for the replacement of the cc:mail system.
Mr. NICKLES. I thank the Chairman and Ranking Member for their
commitment to the upgrade. After two years of delays, I urge them to
monitor the Sergeant of Arms to see that the system is upgraded as
expeditiously as possible.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on the engrossment and third
reading of the bill.
The bill was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading and was read
the third time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The bill having been read the third time, the
question is, Shall it pass? The yeas and nays have been ordered. The
clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. REID. I announce that the Senator from Delaware (Mr. Biden) is
necessarily absent.
Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Frist)
and the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Helms) are necessarily absent.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber
desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 88, nays 9, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 241 Leg.]
YEAS--88
Akaka
Allard
Allen
Baucus
Bennett
Bingaman
Bond
Boxer
Breaux
Bunning
Burns
Byrd
Campbell
Cantwell
Carnahan
Carper
Chafee
Clinton
Cochran
Collins
Conrad
Corzine
Craig
Crapo
Daschle
Dayton
DeWine
Dodd
Domenici
Dorgan
Durbin
Edwards
Enzi
Feingold
Feinstein
Fitzgerald
Graham
Grassley
Gregg
Hagel
Harkin
Hatch
Hollings
Hutchinson
Hutchison
Inouye
Jeffords
Johnson
Kennedy
Kerry
Kohl
Kyl
Landrieu
Leahy
Levin
Lieberman
Lincoln
Lott
Lugar
McCain
McConnell
Mikulski
Miller
Murkowski
Murray
Nelson (FL)
Nelson (NE)
Nickles
Reed
Reid
Roberts
Rockefeller
Santorum
Sarbanes
Schumer
Sessions
Shelby
Smith (OR)
Snowe
Specter
Stabenow
Stevens
Thompson
Thurmond
Torricelli
Warner
Wellstone
Wyden
NAYS--9
Bayh
Brownback
Cleland
Ensign
Gramm
Inhofe
Smith (NH)
Thomas
Voinovich
NOT VOTING--3
Biden
Frist
Helms
The bill (S. 1172), as amended, was passed.
(The bill will be printed in a future editon of the Record.)
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote and I move to
lay that motion on the table.
____________________