[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 63 (Friday, May 19, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E908]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES 
                        APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2007

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                               speech of

                            HON. JIM NUSSLE

                                of iowa

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 18, 2006

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 5386) making 
     appropriations for the Department of the Interior, 
     environment, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending 
     September 30, 2007, and for other purposes:

  Mr. NUSSLE. Mr. Chairman, I rise to speak on the appropriations bill 
for the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies. 
This measure is the first appropriations bill to be considered for 
fiscal year 2007, and has reached the floor one day after this House 
passed its budget resolution for the coming year. As such, the 
procedure for bringing up the measure deserves a brief explanation.
  Although the House and Senate have passed their respective budget 
resolutions, a final conference agreement on the budget has not been 
completed. Therefore, to proceed with the consideration of 2007 
appropriations measures, the House has agreed in effect to ratify the 
levels in the House-passed budget resolution (H. Con. Res. 376) as the 
ones to be enforced in the House. This second confirmation of those 
levels was included in the rule for consideration of this bill (H. Res. 
818). With the adoption of the rule, the budgetary levels established 
under the budget resolution will be enforced in the House as if the 
resolution were a conference report. More specifically, the 
appropriations bills will be limited to the budget resolution levels of 
$873 billion; and any emergency spending will be subject to the 
procedures established in the budget resolution House-passed budget 
resolution.
  This bill provides new budget authority [BA] equal to the 
subcommittee allocation, so is in compliance with the Budget Act 
provisions regarding consideration of appropriations measures in excess 
of the suballocation. Further, because this is the first bill 
considered under the budget resolution, it does not cause a breach of 
the budgetary aggregates, which would violate the Budget Act.

  This measure provides for the resource management needs for our 
Nation, clearly a national priority. The bill, which is in compliance 
with H. Con. Res. 376, the concurrent resolution on the budget, 
provides appropriations for most of the Department of the Interior, the 
Environmental Protection Agency, the Forest Service, the Indian Health 
Service, the Smithsonian Institution, and the National Foundation for 
the Arts and Humanities, among others.


              interior, environment, and related agencies

  H.R. 5386 provides $25.9 billion in appropriations for fiscal year 
2007, which is $4 million, or less than one percent, below the fiscal 
year 2006 level. The level is $411 million over the President's 
request. The bill complies with section 302(t) of the Budget Act, which 
prohibits consideration of bills in excess of an Appropriations 
subcommittee's 302(b) allocation of budget authority and outlays 
established in the budget resolution.
  H.R. 5386 does not contain any emergency-designated BA, which is 
exempt from budget limits. The bill reduces a National Park Service 
contract authority account by $30 million--an account not subject to 
annual appropriations--thereby offsetting discretionary spending 
through changes in a mandatory spending program. The contract authority 
allows the National Park Service to enter in to contracts to purchase 
lands under the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965. If this 
provision were stricken (because it constitutes legislating on an 
appropriations bill) the measure as reported would exceed its 
allocation under section 302(b) of the Congressional Budget Act.
  The second change in mandatory programs reduces the Coastal Impact 
Assistance Fund by 3 percent from 2007 to 2010 ($9 million each year) 
and spends the money on the Mineral Management Service's Royalty and 
Offshore Minerals Management Account. The Coastal Impact Assistance 
fund provides infrastructure and environmental remediation grants to 
states with oil and/or gas production on Outer Continental Shelf waters 
adjoining their borders. As a result, transfers to states under the 
Coastal Impact Fund reduced by an equal amount.
  As we enter the appropriations season, I wish Chairman Lewis and our 
colleagues on the Appropriations Committee the best in maintaining 
their admirable pace of bringing bills to the floor.
  In conclusion, I express my support for H.R. 5386.




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