[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 157 (Wednesday, November 14, 2001)]
[House]
[Pages H8144-H8159]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 2500, DEPARTMENTS OF COMMERCE, JUSTICE, AND
STATE, THE JUDICIARY, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2002
Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 286, I call up
the conference report on the bill (H.R. 2500) making appropriations for
the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and
related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2002, and for
other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the conference report
is considered as having been read.
(For conference report and statement, see proceedings of the House of
Friday, November 9, 2001 at page H7986.)
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) and
the gentleman from New York (Mr. Serrano) each will control 30 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf).
Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Today I am pleased to bring to the House floor the conference report
on the fiscal year 2002 Commerce, Justice, State and Judiciary
appropriations. The conference report represents a sound bill, funding
continuing and expanded operations for the Departments and agencies
under the subcommittee's jurisdiction, most importantly, those that
would help make America safer in the wake of the September 11, 2001,
terrorist attack on the United States.
The bill provides resources for critical programs to both prosecute
those responsible and prevent future attacks. We have provided
significant increases for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the
Immigration and Naturalization Service, the State Department, and State
and local law enforcement. These increases will provide the tools and
resources necessary to fight terrorism here in America, make our
borders more secure, and build a multilateral coalition against
terrorism.
Today, I would like to thank the gentleman from New York (Mr.
Serrano), the ranking member of our subcommittee, for his support
throughout this entire process. He has helped us get a strong bill
through the House, and I appreciate it very much.
{time} 1300
I would also like to extend my sympathies to my colleague with
respect to the terrorist attacks on New York City. His community lost
family and friends, and I, along with my colleagues, send our heartfelt
sympathies to all the families who lost so many in these horrendous
attacks and in the plane crash on Monday in New York. Twenty-seven of
my constituents, and many others from the Northern Virginia region,
were also killed in the attack on the Pentagon, and we are indeed
privileged to have the ability to work on a bill that will help our
communities recover from the events of September 11 and will have a
positive impact on the security needs of our great Nation.
I also want to extend my thanks to Chairman Hollings and Senator
Gregg, and to all the members of our subcommittee; the gentleman from
Kentucky (Mr. Rogers), the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Taylor),
the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula), the gentleman from Iowa (Mr.
Latham), the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Miller), and the gentleman
from Louisiana (Mr. Vitter) of the majority, and in addition to the
gentleman from New York (Mr. Serrano), our ranking member, the
gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Mollohan), the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Roybal-Allard), the gentleman from Alabama (Mr.
Cramer), the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Kennedy) of the minority.
Today, I believe we have written a bill that will support the country
as it strives to meet its new challenges and as it works to secure
freedom from fear and terrorism.
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At this point I want to take a few moments to thank our staff for the
hard work in bringing the bill to the floor. Mr. Speaker, this staff of
fine, young professionals has worked tirelessly, day and night, weekend
after weekend to put this bill together. The staff of the Subcommittee
on Commerce, Justice and State epitomizes the top-notch professionals
who are in the legislative branch. They are unsung heroes. Because of
their hard work, we are sending a bill to the President that will
enhance the security of all Americans in the fight against terrorism.
On the majority staff, I am grateful to Leslie Albright, Carrie
Hines, Christine Kojak, Julie Miller, Mike Ringler, and Gail Del Balzo,
the Staff Director.
I also express my appreciation to the minority staff. This bill is
truly in every sense of the word a bipartisan effort, and I cannot say
enough about the hard work the minority staff put into the bill. On the
minority side, there is one person in particular this year we would
like to recognize. Sally Chadbourne has served this committee well for
the better part of the last 10 years, and we will miss her
professionalism and knowledge of the bill. We understand she is moving
to Maine. Has she ever been in Maine in January? But she is moving to
Maine and Maine's gain is our loss.
In addition to Sally Chadbourne, the Minority Clerk, I appreciate the
work of Lucy Hand, Nadine Berg, Rob Nabors and Christine Maloy.
All these staff members have worked very hard over the past several
months, staying on the job to make sure that the Department of Justice
and State, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the FBI have the resources
they need to fight the war on terrorism. They have spent a lot of time
away from their families, and we are grateful for their hard work.
This is a good bill, and I urge all to support it. It provides the
necessary increases to the FBI, the INS, and the State Department as
they battle on the front lines against terrorist organizations that
have attempted to disrupt the fabric of our society.
In summary, Mr. Speaker, the bill provides as follows: A total of
$21.5 billion for the Department of Justice to fight terrorism,
strengthen immigration enforcement, and support State and local law
enforcement. This includes an increase of $66 million to fund an
additional 570 border patrol agents, and $25 million to fund an
additional 38 land border inspectors.
The bill provides language that makes it mandatory, for all
commercial aircraft and vessels arriving and departing the United
States to provide the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the
U.S. Customs Service the passenger manifest lists.
Now, some countries do this, and there are a number of airlines that
already do this, but there are a number from certain regions of the
world that do not do this. This will make it mandatory so that INS can
see who is coming into the country before they come in.
Following this new provision, the bill also provides for a $1
immigration inspection fee increase for air travelers and a new $3
immigration inspection fee on cruise ship passengers. These changes
will enable the INS to continue development of the system it uses to
track entry and exit of airline and cruise ship passengers, and
supports the joint INS/Customs passenger analysis units that identify,
prior to arrival, inadmissible aliens, drug traffickers, and
terrorists.
The bill includes legislative language that would grant posthumously,
citizenship to people who died in the September 11 terrorist attacks
while they were in the process of becoming American citizens. This was
the idea of the gentleman from New York (Mr. Serrano), and we
appreciate his efforts in offering that.
This bill also includes $7.7 billion for the State Department,
including a $795 million increase over the current year for critical
diplomatic readiness and embassy security needs.
We provide additional resources to address the growing problems of
trafficking in persons and have provided funding for United Nations
peacekeeping. There are over 50,000 people, mainly women, some
children, who are brought to this country for sexual trafficking. Now,
with regard to this legislation, and following on the work that the
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) did on the authorization, we are
funding that effort both with the FBI and also the State Department to
deal with this issue in a very aggressive way, whereby women are no
longer subjected to this terrible crime, not only in this country but
around the world.
Following this, the bill also includes language directing the State
Department to allocate funding as necessary to complete funding for a
memorial at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, honoring the Americans killed
in a bombing at the U.S. Marine Barracks in Lebanon on October 23,
1983. In April, we were in Lebanon, and we broke away and went out to
the site where the Marines had been bombed.
Now, I had visited that site with former Congressman and Senator Dan
Coats in early January 1984. We went back to the site, and there was no
monument, nothing in recognition of the Marines who gave their lives.
There was a young woman on the embassy staff who was working on the
construction of a monument at the American embassy.
This report will help provide the funds in cooperation with the
private sector money to build a monument on the site or at the embassy
recognizing those who have given their lives.
I would also say I challenge the Lebanese government, the good
friends we are with that government, to allow and have some sort of
monument or recognition on the site where the Marines were actually
killed, and I will look forward to seeing that memorial someday. This
report will make sure that there is some recognition somewhere in that
country they gave their lives on behalf of this country.
This bill also provides $5.5 billion for the Commerce Department to
protect our environment and enhance trade promotion efforts, a $272
million increase over fiscal year 2001.
We are also providing an increase of $353 million, for a total of
$4.3 billion, for the Judiciary, for the protection of the courts and
our judicial process. This funding level also provides for the initial
stage of the renovation of the Supreme Court, which is very, very
necessary.
Overall, Mr. Speaker, this conference report is a sound and fair
resolution on the many issues that we faced in our conference. We have
come a long way towards devising an acceptable bill.
Before I finish and urge the Members to support this, I would also
like to pay tribute to Geoff Gleason on my staff, who worked for many
years for Congressman Solomon. When Mr. Solomon left the Congress, he
came to my office. He has worked on all these appropriation issues and
I wanted to give a special note of thanks to Geoff for his help in
putting this effort together.
With that, Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support this
conference report that will make a big difference towards a safer and
stronger America.
Mr. Speaker, I submit for the Record documents relating to the
conference report:
First is a letter which describes concerns about changes to the ORBIT
Act.
Following is the tabular material we submit with our bill.
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC, November 1, 2001.
Hon. Robert Byrd,
Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriations, Washington DC.
Hon. C.W. Bill Young,
Chairman, House Committee on Appropriations, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairmen: We are writing with respect to a
provision that was added on the floor of the Senate on
September 13 to the Commerce, Justice, State, and the
Judiciary Appropriations bill. This provision would amend an
important statutory requirement contained in the Open-market
Reorganization for the Betterment of International
Telecommunications Act (``ORBIT Act''), which was enacted in
the previous Congress.
The ORBIT Act requires that, shortly after they are
privatized, Inmarsat and Intelsat must conduct initial public
offerings of their respective securities. This requirement is
intended to dilute substantially the ownership of the newly
privatized entities by their former owners. The last date for
the Inmarsat IPO is December 31, 2001; for Intelsat it is
December 31, 2002. The recent Senate action would change the
Inmarsat date to June 30, 2003.
We are concerned about the precedent this may set for
changes in the ORBIT Act's obligations for Intelsat. The
ORBIT Act recognized that the composition of Intelsat's
ownership presents a significant competitive issue; this
issue remains after privatization
[[Page H8146]]
because the ownership has not changed and will not change
until there is an IPO.
Intelsat privatized in mid-July of this year. By December
31, 2002, Intelsat will have had almost a year and a half to
determine the best timing for an IPO. This is entirely
sufficient in light of the ORBIT Act's desire to improve the
competitive environment in international communications at
the earliest practicable time. Many U.S. companies and
consumers will be adversely affected if Intelsat's present
ownership is not substantially diluted by the ORBIT Act
deadline. While we understand the circumstances surrounding
Inmarsat's current inability to meet the statutory deadline,
Intelsat's statutory deadline has an additional year and we
oppose its extension. Any proposal to extend Intelsat's
statutory deadline must be to subjected to timely hearings
and adequate consideration by the House and Senate
authorizing committees.
Thank you for considering our views with respect to
international satellite policy and the appropriations measure
you have under consideration.
Sincerely,
John Breaux,
U.S. Senator.
Edward Markey,
U.S. Representative.
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Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
(Mr. SERRANO asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the conference
report to accompany H.R. 2500, the Commerce-Justice-State-Judiciary and
Related Agencies Appropriations bill.
At the outset, I want to thank the chairman, the gentleman from
Virginia (Mr. Wolf), for the good working relationship we developed
this year and for his insisting on a bipartisan process on the bill.
Throughout, I and my staff and the subcommittee Democrats have been
kept informed and consulted on our priorities.
I want to acknowledge the contribution of other members of the
subcommittee and their staffers. I also want to thank the bipartisan
staff for the long hours and weekends they put in working to prepare
for the conference. They even found off-site locations to continue
conference talks when the Capitol and office buildings were closed due
to the anthrax testing situation.
They are, as we know, Gail Del Balzo, Mike Ringler, Christine Ryan
Kojak, Leslie Albright, Julie Miller, Carrie Hines, and Geoff Gleason
for the majority; and Rob Nabors, Christine Maloy, Lucy Hand, and
Nadine Berg for the minority.
Now, as Chairman Wolf did, we are going to take a little extra time
here to say a special thanks and to say goodbye in a most dramatic way
to Sally Chadbourne, who is leaving us at the end of the year, which
makes this her last Commerce-Justice-State bill.
Now, Sally has been in the appropriations business longer than I have
been in the House, and she is among the most intelligent, professional,
creative, experienced, and I could go on and on in English or in
Spanish, person I have had the pleasure to work with. She also has a
good sense of humor, which as we all know is very important on our
committee but especially these days, a great advantage when things get
grim.
I thank her for her many contributions and I wish her and Del all the
best in their new life in Maine, and I trust Governor Baldacci will not
let her skills go to waste in the future, and I am glad he is in the
House.
This has been a fair, bipartisan process all year, as is obvious in
the passage votes, 408 to 19 in the House, which must be a record, and
97 to nothing in the Senate, which means three people were missing.
Going into conference, the two bodies brought quite different
priorities to the table, and the negotiation was tough, but it was also
fair and bipartisan, and I am pleased to support the results.
Important national needs are addressed, particularly in the wake of
the events of September 11. In this agreement we strengthen the basic
capacities of our Federal law enforcement and diplomatic agencies on
which they will build with additional resources from the supplemental
budget.
We also provide resources to strengthen our economy and aid in its
recovery, protect the environment, and protect the rights of our
people.
Priorities of Members on both sides of the aisle have largely been
included. If it had been entirely up to me, I would have maintained at
least the House level for the Small Business Administration, and I
would have kept the Senate provision restoring section 245(i) and
dropped the one on the International Criminal Court. But it was not
entirely up to me, and I think most Members will agree that this is a
good outcome and a bipartisan one at that.
Our chairman has described the conference agreement so I will not
take the time to repeat the details. I will simply close by urging the
House to support the conference report so we can get this important
funding in place as soon as possible.
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my Chairman Wolf, and I want to thank
all Members of the House, because as the chairman has mentioned, it was
the city that I represent that was hit so hard on September 11, and so
much of what is in this bill deals with that issue and deals with the
future of how we deal with issues like that.
Just a few minutes before coming on the House floor, I found out that
another 7 to 12 families were affected by the loss of Flight 587, folks
from the South Bronx that were on that flight, small business folks
that are there. And so my city continues to feel this pain and this
anguish and to ask itself what is happening to us and what is happening
to our country.
So in anticipation of all that will be done for New York City, I want
to thank this House and especially this committee, and, secondly, for
the fact that so much in this bill addresses those issues.
Lastly, I want to thank my chairman and all members of the committee
and the Senate for allowing a provision that I had introduced to be
included in this bill. It was something that is very dear to my heart,
and that is that so many of the folks who died on September 11 had
wanted so much to be part of our Nation, that even though they were not
American citizens they had applied for citizenship before September 11.
They never lived to see that citizenship come to be part of their
family, something that I can tell my colleagues is cherished by so many
immigrants who come into the South Bronx and other areas of our
country. Well, there is a provision in this bill that retroactively to
September 10 grants citizenship to those folks who died on September
11. So that if they wanted to live as American citizens, they at least
got the opportunity to have died as American citizens.
Now, let us understand why this was important to me. Those who
attacked New York on that day, those who attacked the Pentagon, those
who created the situation in Pennsylvania with the fallen plane were
attacking Americans. They did not distinguished whether an individual
was a visitor here or an American citizen. As far as they were
concerned, they were attacking our country, they were attacking our
people.
And so this provision, in my opinion, will go a long way to honor the
memory of those who wanted to be Americans and who died before they
could fulfill their dream.
With that in mind, I thank the chairman for his support.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume
before yielding to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Rogers) for
whatever time he may use, because I wanted to also call to the body's
attention to page 88 of the Statement of the Mangers. We have tried a
new process, which is somewhat unique, in grant programs: the Byrne
grants; the Juvenile Justice grants; Safe Schools, the other grant
programs. We carry the following language. We say, ``In addition, up to
10 percent of the funds provided for each program shall be made
available for an independent evaluation of that program.''
By doing this, we, in essence, take 10 percent of that money to
evaluate the merits of the program with regard to future years. This is
a new and different approach, but in order to get a handle on spending
and make sure we are spending in a wise way, this idea, I think, has a
lot of merit. I wanted to bring that to the body's attention.
{time} 1315
Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Rogers).
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I want to take a few minutes to
congratulate the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) and the gentleman
from New York (Mr. Serrano), the ranking member, for a great job on a
difficult bill. I have the pleasure of serving on this subcommittee,
and of course served as chairman for the last 6 years. I know the
difficulty that they faced when they tried to put together these
numbers.
And also, I thank the staff. We sometimes do not thank them enough;
but they spend long hours, weekends included, nighttimes included, that
sometimes we do not notice or the world does not notice. I thank the
staff for a great job on this bill.
Some of the things I particularly like about the bill have been
mentioned already, so I will not be repetitive here. I really
appreciate the chairman including in this bill the requirement that
airlines before they are granted permission to land here must furnish
to our authorities before they take off overseas a list of the
passengers that
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are to be brought here on a particular airplane. That will give our
authorities the chance at least to be sure that we do not fly in on our
own planes terrorists who are bent upon our destruction. I think that
is a very important part of this bill. It will fit very nicely with the
provisions that we will carry in the Subcommittee on Transportation
appropriations bill for the FAA. I appreciate the chance to work
closely with the chairman and the ranking member on that particular
issue.
Mr. Speaker, other things about the bill which I think are handled
extremely well is an increase in the Department of Justice. That is
important. It is increased by $612 million over the current year's
level, and included in that is large increases for the U.S. Attorneys,
the Marshals Service, the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration. The
immigration services is increased dramatically by $841 million, which
will help us patrol better on the borders of the Nation.
Then not to forget where most law enforcement takes place on the
local level, there are nice increases for the State and local law
enforcement efforts throughout the country, as I say, where most of the
law enforcement takes place, if it takes place at all.
I appreciate the heavy increases for funding in the Department of
Justice, as well as the Judiciary. There is an increase of $357 million
above current levels for our court system, the Federal court system
throughout the Nation, including the U.S. Supreme Court.
Then in the State Department, the subcommittee provides extra funding
for embassy security, protecting Americans who are working overseas in
our embassies and consulates, a $462 million increase for the
diplomatic and consular programs. And then they fully fund, in fact
$232 million above what was requested, the worldwide security upgrade
programs at our embassies and consulates. That includes the full $665
million for the capital improvements program.
Mr. Speaker, those are some of the highlights of the bill that struck
me as being very important. There are others, but I will not take the
time of the Members to go into them; but I congratulate again the
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) and the ranking member, the
gentleman from New York (Mr. Serrano). It is a pleasure to work on this
subcommittee with gentlemen of this caliber and character and that work
together so well in a bipartisan fashion for what is best for our
Nation.
I want to add my congratulations and thanks to Sally Chadbourne, who
will be leaving us at the end of the year. She has been on this
subcommittee staff I think almost as long as I have been a Member, and
we will not talk about that time at this point in time. She has been a
very valued member of the staff and works in a bipartisan fashion. As
the gentleman from New York (Mr. Serrano) said, she has a good sense of
humor; but that does not interfere with the serious work that she does
for the subcommittee. I urge unanimous support for this great bill.
Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Washington (Mr. Dicks).
Mr. DICKS. Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate the gentleman from
Virginia (Mr. Wolf) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Serrano) and
the outstanding staff for their great work on this bill. This is
obviously one of the most important appropriations bills that we deal
with. Of course, one issue dear to this Member's heart has been the
conservation spending provisions of both this and the Subcommittee on
the Interior appropriations bill.
Last year we made a commitment, we the appropriators, that we were
going to substantially increase funding for conservation. When we add
up the money, $440 million in this bill, and the $1.320 billion in the
Interior bill, we have kept the commitment that was made last year.
Some people favored CARA, another approach, an entitlement which would
have taken this jurisdiction away from the Committee on Appropriations.
We said no, we wanted to create a trust fund, like the Violent Crime
Trust Fund, for conservation that would still leave the authority
within the committee to decide how the money would be appropriated on
an annual basis. The base that year was $752 million, and we went up to
$1.6 billion; and this year we are at $7.60 billion.
I appreciate the leadership of our committee on the House side. I
know this was not easy dealing with the other body, but we prevailed on
these issues. I think this money will be used, as it is being used in
the Pacific Northwest for the Pacific Coast Salmon Restoration
initiative in a very effective way, both on the Columbia River and on
Puget Sound.
I want to congratulate all the staff, but particularly Sally
Chadbourne, who has been terrific to work with. She and Del are going
up to Maine, and I hope that they will come back from time to time to
give us good advice and counsel. I congratulate her on her outstanding
career in the House of Representatives and let her know how much we
appreciate her good work.
Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from
Maryland (Mrs. Morella).
Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this
time.
I congratulate the gentleman from Virginia (Chairman Wolf) on what a
great job he did with this conference report, with this bill from the
beginning. I also thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Serrano) and
the chairman of the full Committee on Appropriations and the ranking
member for their guidance. I want to applaud the hard work of the
members of the committee under the leadership that they have enjoyed,
and extend my appreciation for a job well done.
Of particular interest to me are the appropriations for several
critically important scientific organizations funded by this
legislation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the
National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration. These institutions
represent some of the best and the brightest the scientific community
has to offer. I was pleased to see the robust funding granted these
organizations.
NIST is the premier institution for standards in this country, and
its work in this area is unparalleled. Its state-of-the-art facilities
boast numerous advanced laboratories, and its scientific discoveries
have remained on the forefront. Not one, but two Nobel prizes have been
awarded to this institution in the last 5 years. Yet on the 100th
anniversary of this oldest national lab of the country, the original
budget proposal was to reduce NIST funding by almost 20 percent. With
the hard work of the committee and lobbying on the part of many Members
of Congress, I am pleased that NIST funding has increased nearly 13
percent. This prestigious institution will use it well. This additional
funding will help ensure the success of many important initiatives,
such as the advanced technology program. This is an important economic
development program. The National Academy of Sciences calls it
effective and successful. Our efforts to save this initiative have led
to robust funding not just for program continuance but also for
additional grants.
The President recently nominated a superb candidate for director of
NIST, Dr. Arden Bement. He is a proven leader who will provide strong,
effective stewardship of NIST. I hope this thoughtful choice for
director signals a renewed commitment to this well-deserving
institution.
Incidentally, on our antiterrorism front, NIST has been there leading
the way.
NOAA has also fared better than the initial proposal. This agency
administers a number of programs that are important to the daily lives
of Americans, such as the National Weather Service. It is also the lead
agency charged with the monitoring and prediction of changes in the
Earth's climate. These research efforts are of vital national and
international importance. I am pleased they are well financed.
Finally, I thank the conferees and the chairman and ranking member
for fully funding the Violence Against Women Act grants that are within
the Department of Justice. The $391 million will strengthen programs
like STOP grants that assist local and State law enforcement, pro-
arrest grants that will remove batterers from the home, civil legal
assistance grants which allow victims and their children to maintain
independence from an abusive home, and for supervised visitation
centers that allow children to
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interact with both parents in a safe environment.
I thank Attorney General Ashcroft for joining Congress in our efforts
to eradicate domestic violence. Funding the Violence Against Women Act
programs in the Department of Justice has been crucial to these
endeavors. I strongly urge my colleagues to support this conference
report, and again I congratulate the chairman and ranking member of
this important subcommittee and of the full Committee on Appropriations
for this effort. Let all Members vote for it unanimously.
Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Maine (Mr. Baldacci).
Mr. BALDACCI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member for yielding me
this time.
I also thank the ranking member for his hard work on this report and
being very sensitive to the membership and allowing for their input in
the legislation. I appreciate his leadership, and I know that all of us
care very deeply about what is happening back in New York and the
constant tragedies that they are confronted with.
I also would like to welcome Sally to Maine. We are looking forward
to her joining the State and the State to be richer for her and her
husband to join us. We look forward to being able to do many great
things from Maine.
As we say, Sally, as Maine goes, so goes the Nation.
Mr. WATTS of Oklahoma. Mr. Speaker, today the House will consider
H.R. 2500 to appropriate funds for the Departments of Commerce, Justice
and State. I rise in strong support of this important piece of
legislation, and I sincerely thank Chairman Wolf for providing the
critical resources which are included in this bill.
H.R. 2500 includes funding for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, or NOAA. This is an agency that is vital to the
detection and prediction of severe weather throughout the United
States.
Norman, Oklahoma, is home to the National Severe Storms Laboratory,
the Storm Prediction Center and other weather-related agencies which
fall under the jurisdiction of NOAA and the Department of Commerce. The
employees of these agencies perform weather research that is crucial to
the prediction of severe storms around the country. They are the
professionals responsible for providing the warning information to the
local meteorologists in the event of inclement weather.
The National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) in Norman, has occupied
the same building since 1972. At that time, the NSSL had approximately
36 federal employees and eight University of Oklahoma (OU) affiliates.
Twenty-eight years later, those numbers have grown to 54 federal
employees, roughly 79 University employees and two National Research
Council post-doctoral candidates.
Over the past five years, I have been privileged to work with
officials at the University of Oklahoma in securing funding for the
planning and development of a new, state-of-the-art weather center
building to be located on the University campus. This bill includes
funding for above-standard costs of this new building in Norman which
will house, under one roof, all of these agencies which are now in
different locations throughout Norman. NOAA is partnering with the
University of Oklahoma in the construction of this new National Weather
Center in Norman. This new facility will integrate NOAA components with
OU's School of Meteorology and all its associated meteorological
research functions. For NOAA, this new facility will provide 100,000
square feet of modernized space for the NSSL, the Storm Prediction
Center, the Norman Weather Forecast Office, and the Training and
Applications branches of the Operational Support Facility.
This new, fully integrated facility will locate University faculty
and students literally ``across the hall'' from federal researchers and
forecasters. The planning done to date by the NOAA-University
partnership suggests that many significant new synergies will arise
from this integrated design. The resulting research and development
efforts promise not only to enhance national environmental security
through improved forecasts and monitoring of potentially hazardous
weather, but also to provide new methods and techniques that will
enhance our national competitiveness in the global market place.
Mr. Speaker, this bill also includes funding for the Department of
Commerce to assist the Continental Gateway Authority, in McClain
County, Oklahoma, for design and development of an International Trade
Processing Center, which will include an automated processing system
that will expedite trade transactions for businesses and government
agencies. I have been honored to have the opportunity to work with
officials from the Continental Gateway Authority on this project since
its inception.
The Continental Gateway Authority was formed to pursue ways to expand
economic development in central Oklahoma. One way is by developing an
International Trade Processing Center that will include an industrial
park, international trade services and intermodal transportation
services. In light of the important role which the Interstate 35 NAFTA
trade corridor will continue to play in national and international
trade, the economic impact of such a facility will be very beneficial
to the State of Oklahoma, as well as the rest of the nation, by
providing this much-needed service.
Mr. Speaker, I would also like to commend Chairman Wolf and the
members of the Committee for their continued work in assisting our
nation's law enforcement officers. This bill provides necessary and
needed resources to many law enforcement agencies around the country.
In particular, I would like to thank the Committee for its work in
providing resources to Oklahoma's law enforcement community.
Oklahoma is one of the nation's leaders in methamphetamine
production. Over the past two years, the Oklahoma State Bureau of
Investigation has cleaned up nearly 1,500 meth labs. The Oklahoma State
Bureau of Investigation, Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous
Drugs Control, and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol are all a part of the
battle against these meth labs. I commend Chairman Wolf for giving
these crime fighting agencies the tools they need to turn the tide
against crime.
Mr. Speaker, once again, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2500, which
will provide the necessary funding to provide advanced warning and
protection to the people of the United States in times of severe
weather, as well as promoting international trade in the central United
States and working to stop the expansion of the methamphetamine
epidemic that is sweeping parts of the nation. I urge my colleagues in
the House to join me in casting their votes in favor of H.R. 2500.
Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I support his rule and will
support the conference report.
However, I do have some concerns about particular parts of the
conference report.
In particular, I have noted that the conference report does not
include any funds for payments under the Radiation Exposure
Compensation Act, or ``RECA.''
The people covered by RECA include uranium miners and miller and some
others who worked to support the nuclear weapons program or who were
exposed to its fallout. They were exposed to radiation. And because of
that exposure they are sick, with cancers and other serious diseases.
Many of them are residents of Colorado and other western States.
When Congress enacted the RECA law, we promised to pay compensation
for their illnesses. but we have not fully kept that promise. We have
been slow in appropriating enough money for this purpose--and, earlier
this year the Justice Department ran out of funds to make RECA
payments. As a result, people who should have been getting checks were
instead getting letters--IOU letters, you could call them. What the
letter said was that payment would await further appropriations. What
they mean was that we in the Congress had not met a solemn obligation.
That shameful situation was temporarily resolved when the first
supplemented appropriations bill provided funds to resume payments. But
those funds will not be adequate to continue payments in the future--
more money will be needed before very long, and unless it is provided
in a timely way, the Justice Department will again have to send out
IOUs instead of check.
We should not let that happen. We should change the law so that in
the future RECA payments will not depend on annual appropriations. They
should be paid automatically, and I am cosponsoring legislation to make
that change. But in the meantime, Congress must appropriate the needed
funds.
I understand why RECA funds were dropped from this conference report.
Clearly, the conferees on this bill expect that funds for RECA payments
or fiscal year 2002 and several years thereafter will be included in
the defense authorization bill, because the version of that bill
adopted in the other body so provides.
I also hope that will be the outcome, since that Senate provision--
even if it does not provide for permanent funding--would be a definite
improvement over the current situation. But the conferees on the
defense authorization bill have not yet completed their work and we do
not yet know whether the RECA funds will be included in the conference
report on that legislation.
So, Mr. Speaker, that is why I am concerned about omitting RECA funds
from this conference report. And that is why the passage of this
conference report will make it all the more important for the House
conferees on the defense authorization bill to accept the Senate's
provisions related to RECA payments.
[[Page H8158]]
I also am concerned about the funds provided for construction at NIST
facilities, including some in my own district, and at the appropriate
time I will seek to engage the bill's managers in a brief colloquy on
that subject.
Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today express my support for the
Commerce-Justice-State Appropriations (CJS) conference report, an
extremely important measure for this nation at this time, but I must
also express my profound disappointment that a provision that was in
both the House and Senate versions of the bill did not make it into the
final the conference report.
The CJS conference report is important for this nation because it
provides a $5.6 billion for the Immigration and Naturalization Service,
$3.5 billion for the FBI, and $185 million for the Advanced Technology
Program, all areas that are important to meet the new challenges we
face as a nation today. Other programs that are funded under this bill
that I strongly support are the Violence Against Women Act and the
Minority Business Development Agency. However, I feel that the
provision that was stricken should have been kept in the bill. The
provision simply stated:
None of the funds made available in this act may be used by
the Department of Justice or the Department of State to file
a motion in this court opposing the civil action against any
Japanese person or corporations for compensation or
reparation in which the plaintiff alleges that as an American
prisoner of during World War II, he or she was used as slave
or forced labor.
On July 18, the House voted by an overwhelming 395 to 33 margin to
include language in the bill that comports with these instructions, and
on September 10, the other body included identical language in their
version of the bill.
Clearly, it was the desire of both Houses of Congress to have this
language included in the final conference report. No one can deny that
our brave veterans who were prisoners of war in Japan and forced into
slave labor deserve to have their day in court. They should not have to
fight their own government to get a fair hearing.
The conferees of this bill stated that the Administration strongly
opposed this provision, and is concerned that the inclusion of such
language in the bill would be detrimental to the ongoing effort that
the inclusion of such language in the bill would be detrimental to the
ongoing effort to enlist multilateral support for the campaign against
terrorism. I am encouraged that the conferees indicated that they agree
that the extraordinary suffering and injury of our former prisoners of
war deserve further recognition, and acknowledge the need to address
this matter.
Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Conference
Agreement on H.R. 2500, the Fiscal Year 2002 Commerce, Justice, State
Appropriations bill.
In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, strengthening law
enforcement at the federal level has never been more important. This
conference agreement includes $2.5 billion for the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI), a nine-percent increase over last year's funding
level. Over $450 million of this total will be used for
counterterrorism investigations, foreign counterintelligence
activities, and other initiatives vital to our national security.
I am also pleased that this agreement provides additional resources
to help keep terrorists from entering our country. The conference
agreement includes $5.6 billion for the Immigration and Naturalization
Service (INS), $841 million more than last year's total. This funding
increase will allow the INS to hire over 200 additional inspectors at
airports to analyze traveler information in advance of plane arrivals
to identify inadmissible aliens, drug traffickers and terrorists. The
agreement also allocates $2.7 billion to help keep our borders safe and
secure. This money will be used, in part, to hire 348 additional land
border inspectors and 570 additional border patrol agents.
The conference agreement to H.R. 2500 also includes $1.1 billion for
the Justice Department's Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS)
Program. I am especially pleased that conferees chose to include
$300,000 from the COPS Technology Program, for an interconnect Module
for Wake County, North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, within Wake County,
almost 20 agencies have law enforcement and emergency management
responsibilities. These agencies are not able to communicate with each
other by radio because of incompatible equipment and varying
bandwidths. In the event of a multi-jurisdictional catastrophe like the
world witnessed on September 11, responding officers from different
departments in Wake County would be unable to communicate with each
other. I am pleased that the Interconnect Module technology will
interface these different radio systems, allowing radio communication
among all law enforcement and emergency management departments in Wake
County and the surrounding areas. Mr. Speaker, in the aftermath of the
terrorist attacks, it is vital that America's emergency responders be
prepared to take quick action in the event of a catastrophe. This
initiative will make a difference to enhance the safety and security of
the people of North Carolina.
Mr. Speaker, while I do believe this is a good agreement, I am
disappointed that conferees elected to omit a Senate provision that
would have permanently extended the Section 245(i) Visa Program. The
Section 245(i) visa Program allows illegal immigrants to apply for
permanent residency while remaining in the country. While the terrorist
attacks have put immigration reform on the backburner, it should not
prevent Congress from answering the call for fairness and justice in
our immigration laws. Immigration has played critical role in America's
history, and immigrants have made significant contributions to our
economy and our society. It is my sincere hope that Congress will
extend the Section 245(i) Visa Program before the end of this year.
Mr. Speaker, our country is facing new challenges different than
those any of us could have just imagined a few short months ago. But we
must face these challenges head-on. The first responsibility of the
federal government is to ensure the safety of our people, and I am
pleased that this conference agreement will help law enforcement
agencies across the country better protect our citizens and keep our
people safe.
Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise to commend the Chairman and
Ranking Member for their hard work on this appropriations bill.
I would, however, like to quickly discuss a program that the
conference agreement did not fund.
I am disappointed that funding for the disposal of obsolete ships
from the National Defense Reserve Fleet by MARAD was not included in
the final product, even though it was included in the House bill.
MARAD is required by law to dispose of obsolete merchant-type vessels
in the National Defense Reserve Fleet by the end of 2006. Currently,
there exists a backlog of 115 ships awaiting disposal and more ships
will be added to the list of disposal candidates.
According to the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector
General, the number of ships awaiting disposal is growing, and these
ships pose an immediate environmental threat in Virginia, Texas and
California.
In an effort to increase the efficiency of the program and to save
taxpayer money, MARAD employed a General Agent in 2001 to facilitate
the timely disposal of vessels.
The General Agent, utilizing approved commercial prime/subcontracting
procedures, was tasked with acquiring all services necessary to
dismantle and dispose of the ships in a manner which is safe for
workers and the environment and that represents best value.
I understand that the conferees have directed MARAD to develop plans
to reduce the inventory of obsolete vessels on a cost recovery basis. I
want to encourage MARAD to continue with the General Agent model. In
addition, I want to encourage MARAD to use whatever discretionary funds
it might have available to continue with the ship disposal program
under the existing contracts.
MARAD through its General Agent will have succeeded in scrapping six
ships with the first $10 million of appropriated funds. The scrapping
has been done in accordance with EPA hazardous material disposal
standards; has proceeded ahead of schedule; and has been on budget.
The Navy ship disposal program, in contrast, spent $13.1 million
scrapping four ships within the NDRF, resulting in a substantially
higher per ship disposal cost when compared with the MARAD program.
I ask my colleagues on this subcommittee to support adding the $10
million that had been approved by the House to any supplemental
appropriations bill that might be considered before the end of this
Congress.
Mr. Speaker, I again want to thank the Chairman and Ranking Member of
this subcommittee for their hard work and appreciate any assistance
they might be able to provide to deal with this important issue.
Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, for the past year I have worked with
my distinguished colleague from Ohio, Representative Steven LaTourette
in support of a very exciting education initiative at the Great Lakes
Science Center (GSLC) in Cleveland, Ohio.
Last year, we placed report language in the FY 2001 Commerce Justice
State appropriations bill encouraging NOAA and the Federal Maritime
Administration of USDOT to work with the Great Lakes Science Center in
support of an initiative to develop an Underwater Simulator capturing
the environment of the Great Lakes. The GLSC is only five years old and
has already served 3 million visitors including well over 600,000
through educational programs. It has hosted the world's annual
conference of science museums. Its educational programs of school
tours, summer programs, and ``hands-on'' science exhibits have been a
source of inspiration and learning to children and adults throughout
our region. The proposed Underwater Simulator would not only recreate
an underwater experience modeled on the Great Lakes, but would contain
[[Page H8159]]
inter-active programs capable of teaching mapping, navigation and
scientific exploration. This would be an extremely exciting experience,
capable of accommodating 15-20 visitors at one time. The State of Ohio
has already supplied initial funding for the development of the
Simulator and the Science is also prepared to share costs.
Mr. Speaker, I regret to say that despite the active efforts of our
offices, the modest cost involved each agency would be asked to
contribute and last year's report language, both NOAA and the Maritime
Administration demonstrated no serious interest in assisting this
project. Mr. President, I am serving notice to both agencies that I
will continue to work with my colleagues in an effort that these two
agencies work with us to develop this Simulator project.
This is a project of great potential significance for the entire
Great Lakes region and to the entire nation. NOAA and MARAD should both
understand that we intend to aggressively continue our efforts in FY
2002.
{time} 1330
Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Hastings of Washington). Without
objection, the previous question is ordered on the conference report.
There was no objection.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the conference report.
Pursuant to clause 10 of rule XX, the yeas and nays are ordered.
Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, following
this vote, the Chair will put the question on two motions to suspend
the rules on which further proceedings were postponed yesterday.
Votes will be taken in the following order:
House Concurrent Resolution 211, by the yeas and nays;
House Concurrent Resolution 257, by the yeas and nays.
Proceedings on the remaining suspensions debated yesterday will
resume tomorrow.
The Chair will reduce to 5 minutes the time for any electronic vote
after the first such vote in this series.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 411,
nays 15, not voting 6, as follows:
[Roll No. 438]
YEAS--411
Abercrombie
Ackerman
Aderholt
Akin
Allen
Andrews
Armey
Baca
Bachus
Baird
Baker
Baldacci
Baldwin
Ballenger
Barcia
Barr
Barrett
Bartlett
Barton
Bass
Becerra
Bentsen
Bereuter
Berkley
Berman
Berry
Biggert
Bilirakis
Bishop
Blagojevich
Blumenauer
Blunt
Boehlert
Boehner
Bonilla
Bonior
Bono
Borski
Boswell
Boucher
Boyd
Brady (PA)
Brady (TX)
Brown (FL)
Brown (OH)
Brown (SC)
Bryant
Burr
Burton
Buyer
Callahan
Calvert
Camp
Cannon
Cantor
Capito
Capps
Capuano
Cardin
Carson (IN)
Carson (OK)
Castle
Chabot
Chambliss
Clay
Clayton
Clement
Clyburn
Coble
Collins
Combest
Condit
Conyers
Cooksey
Costello
Cox
Coyne
Cramer
Crane
Crenshaw
Crowley
Culberson
Cummings
Cunningham
Davis (CA)
Davis (FL)
Davis (IL)
Davis, Jo Ann
Davis, Tom
Deal
DeFazio
DeGette
Delahunt
DeLauro
DeLay
DeMint
Deutsch
Diaz-Balart
Dicks
Dingell
Doggett
Dooley
Doolittle
Doyle
Dreier
Dunn
Edwards
Ehlers
Ehrlich
Emerson
Engel
English
Eshoo
Etheridge
Evans
Everett
Farr
Fattah
Ferguson
Filner
Fletcher
Foley
Forbes
Ford
Fossella
Frank
Frelinghuysen
Frost
Gallegly
Ganske
Gekas
Gephardt
Gibbons
Gilchrest
Gillmor
Gilman
Gonzalez
Goode
Goodlatte
Gordon
Goss
Graham
Granger
Graves
Green (TX)
Green (WI)
Greenwood
Grucci
Gutierrez
Gutknecht
Hall (OH)
Hall (TX)
Hansen
Harman
Hart
Hastings (WA)
Hayes
Hayworth
Herger
Hill
Hilleary
Hilliard
Hinchey
Hinojosa
Hobson
Hoeffel
Hoekstra
Holden
Holt
Honda
Hooley
Horn
Houghton
Hoyer
Hulshof
Hunter
Hyde
Inslee
Isakson
Israel
Issa
Istook
Jackson (IL)
Jackson-Lee (TX)
Jefferson
Jenkins
John
Johnson (CT)
Johnson (IL)
Johnson, E. B.
Johnson, Sam
Jones (OH)
Kanjorski
Kaptur
Keller
Kelly
Kennedy (MN)
Kennedy (RI)
Kildee
Kilpatrick
Kind (WI)
King (NY)
Kingston
Kirk
Kleczka
Knollenberg
Kolbe
Kucinich
LaFalce
LaHood
Lampson
Langevin
Lantos
Largent
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Latham
LaTourette
Leach
Lee
Levin
Lewis (CA)
Lewis (GA)
Lewis (KY)
Linder
Lipinski
LoBiondo
Lofgren
Lowey
Lucas (KY)
Lucas (OK)
Luther
Lynch
Maloney (CT)
Maloney (NY)
Manzullo
Markey
Mascara
Matheson
Matsui
McCarthy (MO)
McCarthy (NY)
McCollum
McCrery
McDermott
McGovern
McHugh
McInnis
McIntyre
McKeon
McKinney
McNulty
Meehan
Meek (FL)
Menendez
Mica
Millender-McDonald
Miller, Dan
Miller, Gary
Miller, George
Miller, Jeff
Mollohan
Moore
Moran (KS)
Moran (VA)
Morella
Murtha
Myrick
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
Nethercutt
Ney
Northup
Norwood
Nussle
Oberstar
Obey
Olver
Ortiz
Osborne
Ose
Otter
Owens
Oxley
Pallone
Pascrell
Pastor
Payne
Pelosi
Pence
Peterson (MN)
Peterson (PA)
Phelps
Pickering
Pitts
Platts
Pombo
Pomeroy
Portman
Price (NC)
Pryce (OH)
Putnam
Quinn
Rahall
Ramstad
Rangel
Regula
Rehberg
Reyes
Reynolds
Riley
Rivers
Rodriguez
Roemer
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Ros-Lehtinen
Ross
Rothman
Roukema
Roybal-Allard
Rush
Ryun (KS)
Sabo
Sanchez
Sanders
Sandlin
Sawyer
Saxton
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schrock
Scott
Serrano
Shadegg
Shaw
Shays
Sherman
Sherwood
Shimkus
Shows
Shuster
Simmons
Simpson
Skeen
Skelton
Slaughter
Smith (MI)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Smith (WA)
Snyder
Solis
Souder
Spratt
Stark
Stearns
Stenholm
Strickland
Stump
Stupak
Sununu
Sweeney
Tanner
Tauscher
Tauzin
Taylor (MS)
Taylor (NC)
Terry
Thomas
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Thornberry
Thune
Thurman
Tiahrt
Tiberi
Tierney
Toomey
Towns
Traficant
Turner
Udall (CO)
Udall (NM)
Upton
Velazquez
Visclosky
Vitter
Walden
Walsh
Wamp
Waters
Watkins (OK)
Watson (CA)
Watt (NC)
Watts (OK)
Waxman
Weiner
Weldon (FL)
Weller
Wexler
Whitfield
Wicker
Wilson
Wolf
Woolsey
Wu
Wynn
Young (AK)
Young (FL)
NAYS--15
Duncan
Flake
Hefley
Hostettler
Jones (NC)
Kerns
Paul
Petri
Rohrabacher
Royce
Ryan (WI)
Schaffer
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Tancredo
NOT VOTING--6
Cubin
Hastings (FL)
Meeks (NY)
Mink
Radanovich
Weldon (PA)
{time} 1353
So the conference report was agreed to.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________