[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 19]
[Senate]
[Pages 26974-26976]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



           REPORT ON CONFERENCE FOR LABOR-HHS APPROPRIATIONS

  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, a few moments ago, a conference on the 
appropriations bill for Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education 
was completed. It was a rather unusual procedure because the conference 
report was incorporated into the conference of the District of Columbia 
appropriations bill. That arose in light of the fact the House of 
Representatives had not passed a bill on Labor, Health and Human 
Services, and Education--an appropriations bill for those three 
departments, but the Senate did.
  The procedure was adopted to have an informal conference with Senator 
Harkin, ranking member of the subcommittee, and myself representing the 
Senate, and Congressman John Porter, chairman of the House subcommittee 
representing the House. I

[[Page 26975]]

had talked to the ranking Democrat, Congressman Obey, and had invited 
him to participate. He did come to one of the meetings but said he did 
not intend to participate because of his objection to the nature of the 
proceedings, in light of the fact that the House had not passed an 
appropriations bill.
  This is not the ideal, proceeding in the manner I have described, but 
it is the best that could be done under the circumstances. There is a 
real effort to complete the 13 appropriations bills and submit them to 
the President before the close of business tomorrow so it all would be 
on the President's desk before the current continuing resolution 
expired. It may be that the President will veto the District of 
Columbia bill and the inclusion of the appropriations bill on Labor, 
Health and Human Services. If that is to follow, then we will be 
proceeding to try to reach an accommodation as to what the bill ought 
to be.
  My suggestion is the bill, which has been submitted, is a good bill, 
not a perfect bill--I haven't seen one of those in the time I have been 
in the Senate--but, I submit, a good bill.
  It contains a program level of $93.7 billion, which is about $2 
billion less than the program level passed by the Senate. This bill was 
crafted by Senator Harkin and myself on a bipartisan basis, crafted in 
a way to obtain the signature of the President of the United States. We 
have directed very substantial funding to the three departments where 
the total bill is $6 billion over fiscal year 1999 and an increase of 
some $600 million over what the President requested.
  Education is a priority in America of the highest magnitude. This 
bill contains a program level of $35 billion for the Department of 
Education, constituting an increase of $2 billion over fiscal year 1999 
and some $300 million over the administration's request.
  I ask unanimous consent that a brief summary be printed in the 
Congressional Record at the conclusion of my remarks, and for the 
purposes of this oral statement, I will summarize the highlights.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  (See Exhibit 1.)
  Mr. SPECTER. With respect to the very important issue of Head Start, 
the bill contains $5.2 billion, which is an increase of $608.5 million 
over the fiscal year 1999 level, and it matches the very substantial 
request for an increase requested by the President.
  Special education, another very important item, contains $6.035 
billion, an increase of some $912.5 million over last year.
  On the program GEAR UP, which is to support early college preparation 
for low-income elementary and secondary schoolchildren, there is an 
increase of some $60 million, a 50-percent increase over last year's 
funding level of $120 million. I mention GEAR UP specifically because 
we have not met the President's request, which was a doubling to $240 
million from $120 million, but accommodating as far as we could some 
50-percent increase, or some $60 million.
  There is a contentious issue on class size, and the President has 
requested some $1.4 billion with the money to be directed to class size 
reduction. We have appropriated $1.2 billion, which is the same as last 
year's appropriation, a very substantial sum of money, and we have done 
it in a way which is somewhat different from the President's request. 
This class size reduction is the priority specified in our bill. But we 
do allow the local school districts, if they decide, in their wisdom, 
they want to use the money for something else, such as professional 
development or any other need of the school district, to direct the 
funds in that manner.
  The President would like to have it limited only to classroom size 
reduction. This is a matter I have personally discussed with President 
Clinton, and it seems to me that, public policy-wise, the provisions of 
this bill are the preferable ones. I say that because we give priority 
to what the President wanted--that is, classroom reduction size--but if 
the local school district makes a determination that their local needs 
are different, they ought to have the latitude to make that change. 
That does not provide a straitjacket coming out of Washington, DC, but 
states the preference and allows the latitude for the local district to 
make the change.
  This bill contains a program for fighting school violence, with some 
$733.8 million being reallocated from existing programs to focus on the 
cause of youth violence. I convened three extensive roundtable 
discussions, or seminars, in effect, with experts from a variety of 
agencies within the Department of Education, the Department of Health 
and Human Services, the Department of Labor, and also the Department of 
Justice, to analyze the problems of school violence. We came up with a 
variety of programs from existing funds to be directed in this manner.
  The bill also contains very substantial increased funding for the 
National Institutes of Health. Congressman Porter, Senator Harkin, and 
I think the Congress generally has acknowledged that the National 
Institutes of Health are the crown jewels of the Federal Government. 
Sometimes I say they are the only jewels of the Federal Government. But 
enormous increases have been made in medical research to combat 
Parkinson's disease, with the experts now telling us we may be within 5 
years of conquering Parkinson's. There have been enormous advances on 
Alzheimer's, breast cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer, heart 
ailments, and the whole range of medical problems.
  Stem cells have become a focal point of medical research. Almost a 
year ago, they burst upon the scene and provide a real opportunity--a 
veritable fountain of youth--with these cells being replaced in the 
human body to conquer these medical maladies. In essence, the bill is a 
very comprehensive effort to deal with the funding needs of these three 
major departments.
  Another aspect of the conference today was an effort to have offsets 
in order to obtain the goal that we not touch Social Security, and we 
have done that with an across-the-board cut of 0.95 percent in budget 
authority and 0.57 percent in outlays. That is a little less than a 1-
percent cut across the board in budget authority and a little more than 
a half-percent cut in outlays.
  Frankly, I do not like an across-the-board cut. But among all of the 
alternatives we were considering to avoid touching Social Security, 
this was the least undesirable of the alternatives. And while there 
will be cuts below what I would like to see, the increases, by and 
large, are sufficient so that there will be a net increase nonetheless.
  For example, in the Head Start program, we increase funding by some 
$608 million. The 1-percent cut will reduce that figure by $38.7 
million, to about a $569 million increase. On special education, for 
example, we had a $912 million increase. A 1-percent across-the-board 
cut will reduce that by $23 million, so there still will be a net 
increase of some $889 million.
  We have structured this bill with some advances, but we have made a 
determination not to come in with advances higher than what the 
President had proposed. It is my hope that President Clinton will sign 
this bill. From all of the collateral considerations, it appears 
unlikely he will sign the bill.
  I have personally contacted Mr. Jack Lew, Director of the Office of 
Management and Budget, in an effort to negotiate with the White House 
in advance of this conference report. But there have been objections 
raised by some on the Democratic side in the House to having those 
discussions move forward because the House, in fact, did not pass a 
bill on Labor, Health, and Human Services.
  If this is another step in the legislative process, so be it, with 
the bill heading toward the President's desk. If he signs it, great; if 
he vetoes it, we are prepared to go to work and try to move through 
what ought to be done. If someone has a better idea on offsets, we are 
prepared to listen. The objective of not touching Social Security, I 
think, is a consensus objective. The objective of not raising taxes, 
again, is a consensus objective. We have provided,

[[Page 26976]]

I think appropriately--some would say generously--for important 
education and health programs, worker safety programs, and we will be 
prepared to move forward to see to it that these very important 
functions are carried out and to seek agreement between the 
legislature--the Congress--and the administration.
  One final note: In my discussions with the President when we talked 
about his interest in having classroom size done to his specifications, 
I think it is fair to note that the Constitution gives the principal 
authority on the appropriations process to the Congress. Of course, the 
President has to sign the bill. But constitutionally, the Congress has 
the principal line of responsibility. The President would like to have 
this appropriations bill serve as an authorization vehicle. The 
authorizers are not happy about that with the process in the Congress 
for a separate committee to do the authorization and the separate 
committee to do the appropriations. We have undertaken the 
authorization but have exercised our congressional preference in 
setting public policy to establish the President's program for 
classroom size as the priority, but giving the latitude to the school 
districts to do it differently. We think that is consistent with the 
constitutional responsibility we have.
  We think some deference ought to be paid to our determination of 
public policy. But again we are prepared to work with the President to 
reach a bill which will be acceptable to both the Congress and the 
President.
  I thank the Chair.

                               Exhibit 1

    Fiscal Year 2000 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Conference 
                               Agreement

       Budget Summary and Bill Totals--The bill contains a program 
     level of $93.7 billion, an increase of $6 billion over the FY 
     '99 program level of $87.7 billion, and in increase of $600 
     million over the President.


                            bill highlights

       School Violence Initiative totals $733.8 million. These 
     funds were reallocated from existing programs to focus on the 
     causes of youth violence and to better identify, treat and 
     prevent youth violence.
       Department of Health and Human Services--The bill contains 
     a program level of $39.8 billion for the Department of HHS, 
     an increase of $1.6 billion over the FY '99 appropriation and 
     a decrease of $900 million above the budget request.
       National Institutes of Health--$17.9 billion, an increase 
     of $2.3 billion over the FY '99 appropriation, and $2 billion 
     over the budget request.
       NIH Matching Fund--$20,000,000 is available in the Public 
     Health and Social Services Fund for a matching fund program 
     at NIH that would establish partnerships with the 
     pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry to accelerate new 
     antibiotic development.
       Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services--$2.5 billion, 
     up $62 million over FY '99.
       Head Start--$5.2 billion, an increase of $608.5 million 
     over FY '99 and the same as the budget request.
       Consolidated Health Centers--$1 billion, an increase of $99 
     million to increase health services for low income 
     individuals.
       AIDS--$4.4 billion for prevention and treatment activities, 
     including $2 billion for research at the NIH; $1.6 billion 
     for Ryan White programs and $85 million to address global and 
     minority AIDS.
       Ricky Ray--$50 million to compensate hemophilia victims and 
     their families.
       Home Delivered Meals--$147 million, an increase of $35 
     million over FY '99. This increase will provide an additional 
     27 million meals to elderly individuals in their homes.
       Low Income Home Energy Assistance--$1.4 billion for heating 
     and cooling assistance as an advance for FY 2001.
       Department of Education--The bill contains a program level 
     of $35.0 billion for the Department of Education, an increase 
     of $2 billion over the FY '99 program level and $300 million 
     over the Administration's request.
       Pell Grants--The bill increases the maximum Pell Grant to 
     $3,300, increased $175 over last year.
       Campus-based aid--$934 million is included for the Work 
     Study program which provides part-time employment to needy 
     college students, an increase of $64 million over last year. 
     Also increased by $10 million is the Supplemental Educational 
     Opportunity Grant program for a total of $631 million in FY 
     2000.
       Special Education--$6.036 billion is included, an increase 
     of $912.5 million over last year.
       Class size/Teacher Assistance Initiative--$1.2 billion, the 
     same as last year for a class size/teacher assistance 
     initiative. Local education agencies would have the choice of 
     using funds first for class size reduction, and if they 
     determine that they do not wish to use funds for reducing 
     class size, funds may be used for professional development or 
     any other need of the school district.
       21st Century Learning Centers--$300 million is recommended 
     to help local education agencies with after school programs, 
     an increase of $100 million over last year's initial funding 
     level.
       Impact Aid--$910.5 million to assist school districts that 
     are adversely affected by Federal installations. This amount 
     is an increase of $46.5 million over FY '99, and a $174.5 
     million increase over the Administration's request.
       GEAR UP--$180 million to support early college preparation 
     for low-income elementary and secondary children, an increase 
     of $60 million over last year's funding level. The President 
     requested $240 million.
       Department of Labor--The bill contains a program level of 
     $11.2 billion for the Department of Labor, an increase of 
     $300 million over the FY'99 program level, and $400 million 
     below the Administration's request.
       Dislocated Worker Assistance--$1.6 billion, an increase of 
     $195 million over FY'99.
       Job Corps--$1.3 billion, an increase of $49 million.
       Related Agencies--The bill contains a program level of $7.7 
     billion, an increase of $164.2 million over FY'99 and $200 
     million below the budget request.
       Corporation of Public Broadcasting--$350 million, an 
     increase of $10 million over the FY'99 appropriation, and the 
     same amount recommended by the Administration.
       National Labor Relations Board--$199.5 million, an increase 
     of $15 million over the FY'99 appropriations, and $11 below 
     the budget request.
       With an 1%-across-the-board decrease in spending from the 
     Conference Agreement, many programs will still be increased 
     from last year's level and above the President's request. For 
     example:
       Head Start will be increased by $468 million over the FY99 
     level--to $5,228 billion, allowing over 33,000 additional 
     children to be served.
       Home-delivered meals to seniors will be increased $33 
     million over last year's level, funding 25.5 million more 
     meals than in FY99.
       NIH will be increased to $17.7 billion--$2.1 billion over 
     last year's level, and $1.8 billion over the President's 
     budget request.
       Ryan White AIDS program will be increased to $1.5 billion--
     $123.6 million over the FY99 level and $24 million over the 
     President's budget request.
       The Community Services Block Grant will be increased to 
     $504.9 million--$4.9 million above the President's request, 
     providing more services to low-income families.
       The Maternal and Child Health Block Grant will be increased 
     to $702.9 million--$8.1 million more than the FY99 level and 
     $7.9 million more than the President's budget request.
       Job Corps will be funded at $1.35 billion, an increase of 
     $5.1 million over the President's request and $43 million 
     over the FY99 level.
       The conference agreement provides $5.735 billion for 
     Special Education State grants, an increase of $679.8 million 
     over the President's request and $628.2 million over the FY 
     1999 level.
       Education technology programs will be funded at $733.2 
     million, an increase of $35.1 million, or 5%, over the FY 
     1999 level.
       The Impact Act program will be funded at $901.4 million, an 
     increase of $165.4 million over the President's request and 
     $37.4 million over the FY 1999 level.
       The maximum award for the Pell Grant program will be 
     increased to a record high of $3,275, an increase of $25 over 
     the President's request and $150 over the FY 1999 
     appropriation.

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