[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 3 (Thursday, January 9, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S104-S106]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
MAKING FURTHER CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2003
Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to H.J. Res. 1, the short-term continuing resolution which is
at the desk; further, that the resolution be read the third time and
passed, and that the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, reserving the right to object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic leader.
Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, there are a number of our colleagues--and
I would say I am certainly one of them--who would vote no if we were to
have a rollcall vote on this continuing resolution today. I have
attempted to accommodate colleagues who are not able to be here as a
result of their illness, and it is only as a result of illness we will
forego the need for a rollcall vote. But I think this moment requires
at least an explanation.
We are now into the 6th month of the effort underway in Congress to
address appropriations. We have continued to extend the continuing
resolutions at levels far below what is viewed as adequate for
education, homeland security, health, research, and for the priorities
that many of us hold to be the most important. So I must say I am
deeply troubled by this continuing extension of the continuing
resolution without addressing the need for adequacy in education and
homeland security, in particular.
Basically, what this reflects is a dramatic cut, a deep cut in the
funding for education, a deep cut in the funding for homeland security,
a deep cut in transportation and research--cuts virtually across the
board. I hope this will be the last continuing resolution that we will
adopt in this manner.
I know that the chairs and ranking members of the Appropriations
Committee are working now to resolve the other matters relating to
these priorities and will bring an appropriations bill to the floor
perhaps within the next few days.
It is with that understanding that we will not object to this CR,
that we will not ask for a rollcall vote, but that we will voice, as
strongly as we can, our opposition to these cuts and our determination
to find a way to address them successfully as we consider the
appropriations bills perhaps as early as next week. I do not object.
Mr. STEVENS. Reserving the right to object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska.
Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I congratulate our leaders for this
understanding. We are standing by ready to commence work on the 11
bills that are the fiscal year 2003 appropriations bills. We have had
great bipartisan work on our committee with the staff and the Members.
I believe the Democratic leader is absolutely correct; we are prepared
to work with anyone in the Senate to try to work out any details that
might have to be considered. We look forward to working with Senator
Daschle in every way possible so we can move these bills as quickly as
possible.
I speak as one who has just come back from my home in Alaska. We have
the highest unemployment I have seen. Many of these bills contain money
that would bring construction items and jobs to my State during this
year. If we delay any further, we miss the construction season. These
bills are vital
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to restart our economic engine. I am pleased to have this report that
we are able to move forward on this continuing resolution. I can pledge
the four leaders of the Appropriations Committees--of the House and
Senate--on a bipartisan basis have agreed to work together to get these
bills finished as rapidly as possible with the help of the leaders. I
thank the leaders.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic leader.
Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, Senators should not be under any
illusion: CR will starve vital functions of government. You don't have
to take my word for it. According to Representative Bill Young the
Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, a long-term
CR at these levels ``would have disastrous impacts on the war on
terror, homeland security, and other important government
responsibilities.''
Chairman Young wrote that sentence in a memo he sent to Speaker
Hastert. The memo went even further, detailing the impact of a CR on a
host of important domestic programs. Here is a sampling of what
Chairman Young said will be cut:
No. 1, FBI: The funding to hire additional agents to fight terrorism
and to continue information technology upgrades would be denied;
No. 2, bioterrorism: There would be no funding for the President's
$800 million initiative to increase funding for new basic bioterror
research, to develop and test a new improved anthrax vaccine, and to
assist universities and research institutions;
No. 3, first responders: There will be no funding for the President's
$3.5 billion initiative to provide assistance to local law enforcement,
fire departments, and emergency response teams;
No. 4, SEC/corporate responsibility: There will be insufficient
funding to support current staffing requirements let alone significant
staff increases needed to monitor corporate behavior;
No. 5, veterans medical care: A long-term CR would leave the veterans
medical health care system at least $2.5 billion short of expected
requirements;
No. 6, firefighting: The $1.5 billion taken from other Interior
Department programs to pay for firefighting costs will not be replaced;
No. 7, Pell grants: A freeze in this program will result in a
shortfall of over $900 million;
No. 8, Medicare claims: There will be no funding for the President's
$143 million proposal to ensure that the growing number of claims are
processed in a timely manner;
No. 9, special supplemental feeding program for WIC: Funding would be
reduced by $114 million below current levels, meaning less will be
available for families that depend on this program;
No. 10, Social Security claims: There will be no funding increase to
process and pay benefits to millions of Social Security recipients.
In addition to the program cuts listed by Chairman Young, the House
CR omits assistance for thousands of farmers all over this country who
are confronting the worst drought in more than 50 years.
This is the wrong way to do business. We should be completing our
work on the bipartisan appropriations bills, not cutting education,
veterans affairs, homeland security and other important priorities.
Each of these bills properly fund key priorities. And, most
importantly, each enjoyed the unanimous support of the Democrats and
the Republicans on the Committee.
Mr. President, the chairman of the Appropriations Committee in the
House wrote a memo that has been widely read. It is an excellent memo
that reviews the impact of these cuts. It was sent to the Speaker last
October. I ask unanimous consent that the memo be printed in the
Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
memorandum
To: Speaker Hastert
From: Chairman C.W. Bill Young
Re: Impacts of a Long-term Continuing Resolution
Date: October 3, 2002
Pursuant to my October 1st correspondence regarding the
state of the appropriations process, I want to provide you
with further analysis of the potential impacts of a long-term
continuing resolution (CR). These projections assume a
current-rate CR excluding one time expenditures that extends
through February or March.
A long-term continuing resolution (CR) that funds
government operations at FY02 levels would have disastrous
impacts on the war on terror, homeland security, and other
important government responsibilities. It would also be
fiscally irresponsible. It would fund low-priority programs
the President has proposed to eliminate.
Homeland Security--The President has proposed a nearly $40
billion increase for homeland security in his FY03 budget.
None of these funds would be provided under a long-term CR.
Assuming Congress completes work on creating a Department of
Homeland Security, a long-term CR would leave this new agency
with very little resources to carry out its new mission.
Projects--A long-term CR ensures that no Member of Congress
would receive a single project. The Committee has received
tens of thousands of requests for billions of dollars from
almost every Member of Congress.
War Supplemental--It is likely that the first item Congress
will consider when we reconvene after the election is a major
supplemental to fund possible military operations in Iraq.
It would be highly problematic to expect the Congress to
complete work on 11 spending bills while working on an
urgent war supplement.
Homeland Security Impacts of Long-Term CR
FBI--We would not have sufficient funding to hire
additional agents to fight terrorism and to continue IT
upgrades that will help the FBI ``connect the dots'' through
data mining proposals and other information infrastructure
enhancements.
TSA--Efforts to improve aviation, maritime and land
security would be seriously curtailed. Port, cargo, and
trucking security would seriously deteriorate. If emergency
funds are excluded from the CR calculations (which is
historically the case), TSA would be under an annual rate of
$1.5 billion for the life of a long-term CR. This would be
only 28 percent of their FY03 budget request ($5.3 billion).
At this level, it is unlikely TSA could maintain their
current workforce of 32,000 screeners as well as air
marshals. TSA would likely face personnel RIF's. Most
airports would not be able to meet the deadlines for security
improvements established by Congress last December.
Coast Guard--The Coast Guard is requesting a large ($500
million) budget increase in FY03, and much of this is to hire
additional security personnel, such as Maritime Safety and
Security Teams to patrol harbors and respond to suspicious
activity. It also includes funds to expand the sea marshal
programs, which escorts DoD and high-risk commercial ships
into pert. Under the FY02 level, these safety expenses would
be deferred, or would require diversion of fund from other
critical missions such as drug interdiction or search and
rescue. Coast Guard ``deepwater'' program is slated to expand
from $500 million in FY02 to $725 million in FY03. The
contract was just signed this past June. Under a long-term
CR, the effort will have to be scaled back due to lack of
funding. This will impact shipyards, design companies,
aircraft manufacturers, and integration companies, all around
the country.
Bioterrorism--President has proposed a nearly $800 million
increase for new, basic bioterror research, $250 million to
develop and test a new improved anthrax vaccine, and $150
million to assist universities and research institutions in
upgrading research facilities to conduct secure,
comprehensive research on biological agents. None of these
important initiatives to combat, study and prevent bio-
terroism would be funded under a long-term CR.
Border Patrol/INS--Efforts to deploy an additional Border
Patrol agents and immigration inspectors at land port-of-
entry along both the northern and southern borders would be
stalled. Likewise, construction projects that are necessary
to house these additional Border Patrol agents would be
delayed. No funding would be available to continue planning
and implementation of the INS' Entry Exit system, a program
designed to facilitate more secure and controlled access to
this country by non-U.S. citizens.
First Responders--The President has proposed a new
initiative to provide $3.5 billion in assistance to local law
enforcement, fire departments and emergency response teams
across the Nation. No funds would be provided for this
program, one of the highest domestic security priorities for
the President and his Homeland Security advisor. Tom Ridge.
Hospital preparedness--We would not have sufficient funds
to assist hopitals in making the necessary infrastructure
improvements and expansions so that they are prepared to
respond to bio-terrorism emergencies.
Diplomatic security--We would not have the funds to hire
additional State Department security staff for deployment
overseas, or to carry out needed technical and physical
security upgrades.
Office of Homeland Security--The Office of Homeland
Security was funded through the $20 billion supplemental.
Under a clean CR, this office would not be funded.
Programmatic Impacts of Long-Term CR
SEC/Corporate Responsibility--We would not be able to fund
current staffing requirements, let alone support significant
staff increases needed to fight corporate fraud and protect
investors.
Veterans--The veterans medical care system will likely be
at least $2.5 billion short
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of expected requirements. Veterans would be deprived of
significant increases in medical care proposed by the
President and the House budget resolution.
NIH--We would not be able to scale-up significantly Federal
support for bio-preparedness research and development as
proposed by the President. Anthrax vaccine research and
development also would be slowed. It would forgo the nearly
$4 billion proposed for the National Institutes of Health
which is consistent with Congress commitment to double
funding for NIH over a set period of time.
Foreign Operations--Afghanistan reconstruction, including
the famous Presidential ring road, would staff, increasing
chances that unrest and killings would resume there as the
Iraq matter comes to a head. It will severely cut the U.S.
contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis
and Malaria and reduce by 30 percent funds for Plan Colombia.
Firefighting--interior has already spent $1.5 billion on
firefighting above what provided in FY02. This has come at
the expense of other programs including Member projects.
These bills would not be paid under a long-term CR.
Pay--All agencies would have to absorb Federal employee pay
increases due in January. This will make it much more
difficult for agencies to operate under a current rate and
result in widespread layoffs and furloughs.
Pell Grants--A freeze in the Pell program will result in
the accumulation of a significant shortfall. There will be a
shortfall of over $900 million, even when factoring in the $1
billion supplemental appropriation provided to the program in
fiscal year 2002.
DEA--We would be unable to hire new agents in response to
FBI restructuring, which shifted 400 FBI drug agents to
counter-terrorism. We have proposed to hire hundreds of new
agents to fight the war on drugs. Not a single new agent
would be hired under a long term CR leaving a significant gap
in the federal government's drug enforcement capabilities.
GSA Construction--No new starts for any GSA line-item
construction ($630 million); would delay $300 million for 11
courthouse construction projects, $30 million for 6 border
station construction projects, and $300 million for 5 other
construction projects, including funds for consolidating
Food and Drug Administration facilities, a major Census
building, and the US mission to the UN in New York.
Projects would become more expensive due to inflation.
Campaign finance Reform--No funding for implementation of
the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act making it difficult for
the Federal Elections Commission to implement the reforms
signed into law by the President.
Federal Prisons--Insufficient activation funds to four
Federal prisons that are scheduled to open in FY 2003,
exacerbating the already overcrowded conditions in the
Federal prison system.
Medicare claims--We would not be able to provide additional
funding, as proposed by the President, to handle the
increased Medicare claims volume in a timely manner. The
President proposed a $143 million increase to adequately
process the growing number of claims. A long term CR would
significantly slow down the claims process and unnecessarily
inconvenience Senior Citizens who depend on Medicare.
Yucca Mountain--A CR at the FY 2002 enacted level of $375M
would significantly cut DOE's nuclear waste repository
program by over $200 million. This would cause real delays in
the scheduled opening of the facility.
The Special Supplemental Feeding Program for Women,
Infants, and Children (WIC) would be reduced $114 million
from current levels. This would result in less assistance
being available for families who depend on this important
program, especially in uncertain economic times.
The Food and Drug Administration would be reduced by $138
million which would result in immediate furloughs and RIFs
among newly hired employees responsible for enhanced
availability of drugs and vaccines, and for increased food
safety activities (primarily surveillance of imported food
products, an identified vulnerability).
Social Security--The President also asked for a significant
increase in funds to process and pay benefits to the millions
of Social Security recipients.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to the unanimous consent
request of the majority leader?
Without objection, it is so ordered.
The joint resolution (H.J. Res. 1) was read the third time and
passed.
____________________