[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 16]
[House]
[Page 22995]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



               THE BUDGET PROCESS AND LIVABLE COMMUNITIES

  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, for those who are concerned about making 
our communities more livable, New Year's Eve is approaching; not the 
one that ushers in the new millenium, but one which for a number of us 
may be even more problematic. I am talking about the Federal fiscal new 
year that ends in just 2 days. As the end draws near and as we begin 
the final stages of this year's budget process, there are still many 
decisions to be made and much work to be done.
  Currently our friends on the Committee on Appropriations are trying 
desperately to avert the disaster of last year's omnibus spending bill. 
We all recall the millions upon millions of dollars given away in the 
dead of night to special interests and pet projects as we in Congress 
were given a 2,714-page bill at 4 o'clock in the afternoon to vote on 
at 7 that evening. This pathetic process made Congress look foolish 
while sadly skewing our funding priorities. It was a lose-lose 
proposition.
  The truth is that apparently we did not learn from last year's 
mistakes, and as this year's budget end game approaches, we are finding 
that we are in a similar situation. The budget gimmicks, the phony 
emergency spending, the effort to redefine the Federal fiscal year, 
adding an extra month, delaying this funding, advanced funding, the 
list is long as the Committee on Appropriations struggles to keep faith 
with the unrealistic spending caps that we all know were broken last 
year and which are being broken as we speak.
  It is not the fault of the Committee on Appropriations, who, if left 
to their own devices, could craft a much better product. But as we 
travel down this familiar and unfortunate route, we are finding that 
what is broken is also the public trust in how the Federal Government 
uses their money.
  But it does not have to be the case. We can change by shifting our 
priorities from partisan jockeying to funding initiatives that will 
truly make a difference in the daily lives of our constituents. We need 
to call upon our friends in the leadership, the Committee on 
Appropriations, and the administration to secure funding for things 
that will make our communities more livable.
  A good place to start is in the administration's own budget, in a 
list of livable communities initiatives. They are not big ticket items, 
but they would offer dramatic impacts.
  Some of those livability initiatives include the lands legacy 
package, to expand Federal efforts to save America's natural treasures, 
and provide significant new resources to States and communities to 
protect local green spaces.
  The Better America Bonds is a proposed new funding tool that would 
generate $9.5 billion in bond authority for investments by State, 
local, and tribal governments in green spaces, urban parks, water 
quality, and brownfield cleanup. Tax credits, totaling more than $700 
million over 5 years, are proposed to finance the bonds.
  There is the Community Transportation Choices, the TCSP program, 
already authorized by Congress under the T-21 legislation, which 
earlier this year generated over 500 creative proposals to help 
communities deal with the transportation challenges that they face. 
Thirty-two grants totaling $13 million were given, but now the entire 
program has been earmarked. Instead of giving communities direct aid, 
rewarding those that submit the most creative and effective proposals, 
only five of the proposed earmarks even bothered to submit a proposal 
altogether.
  As we travel America, there are very few people who are concerned 
about the partisan squabbling over our budget. Most of America is 
concerned by the tragedy that was represented by the massive flooding 
and storm loss, the loss of life and property by Hurricane Floyd. They 
are focused on problems of everyday life: pollution, congestion, 
unplanned growth, and safety of their children. Congress needs to 
implement these livability proposals in the budget process now to 
address what Americans have spoken for.
  The local newspapers from coast-to-coast are filled with references 
to people trying to make their communities more livable. Funding these 
initiatives is necessary to minimize problems in the future, while 
improving the quality of life for generations to come.
  We owe it to our constituents to fund these initiatives, and I 
encourage the Committee on Appropriations to include them in our budget 
to help make our families safe, healthy, and economically secure in 
more livable communities.

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