[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 127 (Wednesday, October 2, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9819-S9820]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  APPROPRIATIONS BILLS: AT AN IMPASSE

  Mr. BYRD. I thank the Chair. I also extend my thanks to the 
distinguished Democratic whip for his help in arranging for me to speak 
at this moment.
  Mr. President, today is October 2. In 2 days, the continuing 
resolution that Congress approved last week will expire. While the days 
flip by on the calendar, the work on appropriations bills remains at an 
impasse, a standstill.
  As a result of White House efforts to slow down the appropriations 
process--and those efforts have been successful--not 1 of the 13 
appropriations bills has been sent to the President as of October 1, 
the beginning of the new fiscal year. This is the worst record for 
progress in the appropriations process since 1987.
  In 1987, my wife and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary. Here 
it is 15 years later, so we are now 65 years along on our journey, but 
how much further along are we in the appropriations process? Let me say 
again, this is the worst record for progress in the appropriations 
process since 1987.
  I would be very unhappy to say this with respect to my wife's and my 
journey of wedding anniversaries. Fifteen of them have passed since we 
had our worst year in 1987 in the appropriations process. So today, 15 
years later, we are as bad as we were then.
  As a result of White House intransigence on total discretionary 
spending for this fiscal year, the other body, the House of 
Representatives, has not taken up a single appropriations bill on the 
House floor for 10 weeks--10 weeks. God created the Earth and all of 
the universe and created man in 1 week--6 days and rested on the 7th. 
Here we are, the House has not taken up an appropriations bill on the 
floor for 10 weeks--10 weeks. Rather than working with the House 
Appropriations Committee and moderates in their own party on a level of 
spending that could be approved on the House floor, the House 
Republican leadership, at the request of the White House, simply shut 
the appropriations process down. That is it.
  As a result, one of the most fundamental duties of the President and 
the Congress--namely, to make careful and responsible choices about how 
to spend the taxpayers' hard-earned dollars--has been put on automatic 
pilot.
  While the days slip away, the 4 million veterans in this country who 
rely on the Veterans Administration for their health care will have to 
worry as to whether or not that care is going to be available for them.
  While the days slip away, the 11,420 FBI agents who are supposed to 
be combating the war on terrorism will have to wonder whether they have 
the necessary resources to continue to fight that war. Why? Because of 
this administration's do-nothing policy when it comes to the 
appropriations process. Slow down the process. Stall.
  While the days slip away, the Government's effort to root out 
corporate fraud would be put on hold.
  While the days slip away, the President appears to be satisfied to 
forget his ``no child left behind'' promise and turn the commitment to 
educating America's children into another unfunded mandate, another 
unfulfilled promise.
  The President is quick to champion homeland security on the political 
speech tour. Yes, he will stand out there with a backdrop of marines, a 
backdrop of soldiers, a backdrop of sailors, a backdrop of the National 
Guard, and he will say: Congress, pass my homeland security bill.
  The President is quick to champion homeland security on the hustings 
when he is making fundraising trips, raising big dollars for the 
campaign. He is quick to champion homeland security, but his budget 
priorities reflect an entirely different agenda. The administration's 
adamant refusal to move off the dime in these appropriations 
discussions could jeopardize homeland security--and already has 
jeopardized homeland security.
  No matter when or how or whether any new Department of Homeland 
Security is created, by jeopardizing the appropriations bills, the 
White House jeopardizes critical funds for the new Transportation 
Security Administration. Many of the requirements of the Transportation 
Security Act require large expenditures in the first quarter of fiscal 
year 2003. Are they going to flow?
  Local airports are required to purchase explosive detection equipment 
to keep bombs from being placed on airliners. To do that, the airports 
need help. But the administration's refusal to be more flexible in its 
appropriations approach means that help is not on the way.
  Federal funds are also needed to hire new Federal screeners to make 
our Nation's seaports more secure. Is help on the way?
  Help is not on the way.
  The Immigration and Naturalization Service is at a critical juncture 
in developing a comprehensive entry and exit system to protect our 
Nation's borders. The Senate bill provides $362 million for this 
initiative. Is help on the way? No. The administration's inflexibility 
means that help is not on the way.
  The Customs Service is scheduled to hire more than 620 agents and 
inspectors to serve at the Nation's high-risk land and seaports of 
entry. Homeland security? The Senate provides the funding for the 
Customs Service. But is help on the way? No. The administration is 
being inflexible. Help is not on the way.
  Thousands of FEMA fire grants, grants for interoperable 
communications equipment, grants to upgrade emergency operations 
centers, grants to upgrade search and rescue teams, grants for 
emergency responder training, and grants to improve State and local 
planning would be funded under the Senate's appropriations bill. Is 
help on the way? No. The administration is inflexible.
  These are the special interests, I suppose, that the President was 
talking about, these firemen, policemen, and emergency health personnel 
who appeared before the Senate Appropriations Committee last spring in 
support of more money for homeland security.
  So here are these special interests--the firemen, the policemen, the 
emergency help personnel, the people from the hospitals, and the nurses 
who came before our Senate Appropriations Committee and pleaded for 
more money for homeland security. Are these the special interests the 
President is talking about?
  Help is not on the way.
  Talk is cheap. Homeland security is not cheap. By forcing the 
Government to operate on autopilot, the administration wants the Nation 
to fight terrorism at home with one hand tied behind our backs. The 
President needs to come out of the White House war room long enough to 
focus on the situation at home. There is no need to go to Iraq, no need 
to go to the Middle East. The war on terrorism is being waged at home.
  Is help on the way? No.
  By December 31, 2.3 million unemployed Americans will be cut off from 
employment assistance. As the days slip away, our Nation's farmers and 
ranchers are left with no assistance in the face of the worst drought 
since the Dust Bowl days of the 1930s. I remember those Dust Bowl days 
of the 1930s.

[[Page S9820]]

I was beginning my last 4 years in high school in the 1930s. That is 
when mechanically sliced bread first came along. ``The greatest thing 
since sliced bread,'' we hear. That goes back to the 1930s.
  The promise made to America's senior citizens for an effective 
prescription drug benefit is left for another day. Help is not on the 
way.
  A weakened economy and rising health care costs are the main reasons 
for the growth in the number of the uninsured. When people lose their 
jobs, they often lose their health coverage.
  The number of unemployed men and women has increased by about 2 
million since January 2001, so it should come as no surprise that the 
number of uninsured is also going up, up, up. Health insurance premiums 
also increased by 12.7 percent during the past year, making coverage 
less affordable for employers and workers.
  According to the Census Bureau, the number of people with employment-
based health coverage dropped in 2001 for the first time since 1993. 
What is the response to this situation from the Bush administration? 
What is the response?
  What? I can't hear you. A deafening silence.
  In 2001, the 30 top earning corporate executives took home $3.1 
billion, an average of $104 million. We are talking about the 30 top 
earning corporate executives. What did they do to earn their money?
  They bilked shareholders. The 30 top-earning corporate executives 
took home $3.123 billion, an average of $104 million.
  Why be a U.S. Senator? Why be a Senator? Why be anything else? Become 
a corporate executive. Not all of them are like that, but there are 
some bad apples there.
  Compared to the national median income in 2001, these 30 corporate 
executives earned the equivalent of 73,955 households. I would never 
believe it, but these 30 corporate executives earned the equivalent of 
73,955 households.
  What is the response to this inequity from the Bush administration? 
What? A deafening silence. Have I lost my hearing? What has happened? 
Here I am, 85 years old, and I have no ear plugs in all these years. 
What? A deafening silence. Deafening.
  Unfortunately for the American people, it is not a record on which to 
look back with pride. It is a record that rejects compromise in favor 
of obstinance. It is a record that rejects progress in favor of 
partisanship. It is a record that puts politics ahead of the American 
people.
  As for the appropriations bills, the ranking member of the full 
committee, the senior Senator from Alaska, Mr. Stevens, and I have 
urged the administration and the House Republican leadership to move 
closer to the Senate levels in these bills. The 13 bills approved by 
the Senate Appropriations Committee total $768.1 billion. These bills 
are consistent with the committee allocation approved by a vote of 29-0 
in June. The bills are consistent with the $768.1 billion allocation 
that was approved by the Senate Budget Committee when it reported its 
budget resolution last March. The bills are consistent with the $768.1 
billion allocation that was supported by 59 Members of the Senate when 
the allocation was voted on during floor debate on the Defense 
Authorization bill on June 20.
  The Senate bills do not promote an explosive growth in spending. The 
big growth in the bills is for the 13-percent hike proposed by the 
President for Defense and the 25-percent increase proposed by the 
President for homeland defense. The fight with the President is over 
the Senate's desire to provide a 2.6 percent increase for domestic 
programs, barely enough to cover inflation.
  Clearly, a bipartisan effort in the Senate has produced good pieces 
of legislation. But progress on these bills is at an impasse because 
the House leadership, under direction from the administration, will not 
move beyond its arbitrary funding level of $759 billion. Just $9 
billion between us, $9 billion. Yet the administration will not move. 
On the other hand, someone asked Larry Lindsey, the President's top 
economic adviser, at the White House the other day: How much will the 
war cost? Maybe $100 billion, maybe $200 billion. That is nothing.

  That was his response. That is nothing.
  Yet we have come to a standstill because of $9 billion that the 
Appropriations Committee in the House and the Appropriations Committee 
in the Senate believe is needed for domestic programs that benefit the 
Nation's families, children, and veterans.
  By its calculated machinations, the administration is turning its 
back to the needs of the American people at the exact moment where 
those needs are reaching the breaking point.
  This should not be about political winners or losers. This year, of 
all years, we should not play political games with the appropriations 
bills. But it seems as if the administration is more than willing to 
roll the dice with these important bills. And I fear that their gamble 
will come up snake eyes.
  Time and again, the President called on Congress to pass the Defense 
appropriations bill before the break for the election. I agree with the 
President. We should pass that bill. The Senate's bipartisan Defense 
package is $1.2 billion above the House-passed level. The Senate, which 
some claim is uninterested in defense and in the security of the 
Nation, provided significantly more resources for our soldiers, 
sailors, and airmen than the House. This Senate has answered the call 
and responded to the needs of the military. Congress should not pinch 
pennies at this time for the men and women in our Armed Forces, and I 
continue to urge the House to move closer to the Senate level.
  We are making progress on the Defense package, and I hope that we can 
conference those bills soon. But, in order to do that, we need the 
House Republican leadership and the administration to be more flexible 
in their approach. Taking such a hard line on these appropriations 
bills threatens the security of the country forces Congress to gut 
vital domestic initiatives.
  The atmosphere of the White House is a heady one. It can cause even 
the most level-headed occupant to focus on what is important inside the 
Washington beltway and to forget what is important in the rest of the 
Nation. I, for one, do not forget what is important to America. I 
recognize, as do many Members of this body, the importance of these 
appropriations bills to the future progress and security of this 
Nation. I recognize the importance of these appropriations bills to the 
farmers, to the teachers and their students, and to the veterans. I 
recognize the importance of these bills to future breakthroughs in 
medical research and cancer treatments. I recognize the importance of 
these bills to our Nation's energy independence and to our 
transportation network. Without these bills, promises will remain 
unfulfilled, problems will remain unattended, and progress will be 
stalled.
  Tomorrow, the House is expected to debate a second continuing 
resolution that would simply extend the first continuing resolution 
through Friday, October 11, and I will recommend that the Senate 
approve that resolution without controversy. But we should not continue 
to place the Government on autopilot. We should complete work on our 
appropriations bills.
  I urge the administration and the House Republican leadership to join 
this Senate in passing 13 responsible pieces of legislation that 
respond to the needs of the Nation, at home and abroad. I urge that 
arbitrary budget figures be left at the door and we complete our work 
before adjourning this session of Congress.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senator from 
Wyoming is recognized.

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