[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 13428]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 13428]]

DEPARTMENTS OF COMMERCE, JUSTICE, AND STATE, THE JUDICIARY, AND RELATED 
                   AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2001

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. DENNIS MOORE

                               of kansas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 22, 2000

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 4690) making 
     appropriations for the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and 
     State, the Judiciary, and related agencies for the fiscal 
     year ending September 30, 2001, and for other purposes:

  Mr. MOORE. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 4690, the 
FY 2001 Commerce-Justice-State-Judiciary appropriations bill. This bill 
is more than $2 billion below current funding levels, achieving these 
reductions by making unacceptable cuts in several key areas.
  Among these cuts is the $201 million reduction in the President's gun 
enforcement initiative request. This initiative would provide funding 
to hire federal, state, and local prosecutors for gun crimes. As a 
former district attorney, I know that the unfortunate reality is that 
our judicial system is seriously lacking the resources it needs to see 
that each gun crime receives strong legal inquiry. There are existing 
laws that can be enforced in order to lessen the prevalence of gun 
violence in our communities. Without the proper tools, adequate 
manpower, and financial resources, however, these laws will be less 
likely to serve their intended purpose.
  Mr. Chairman, this bill also cuts other critical law enforcement 
programs, such as the administration's Community Oriented Policing 
Service (COPS) program. H.R. 4690 provides only $595 million, 55 
percent less than the $740 million requested for the COPS program. 
These deep cuts come at the expense of several important initiatives 
within the overall COPS program. This bill does not provide funding for 
a COPS community prosecutors program for which $200 million was 
requested. It does not fund a new crime prevention program for which 
$135 million was requested. Finally this bill underfunds, by 37 
percent, the request for public safety and community policing grants.
  This FY 2001 Commerce-Justice-State appropriations bill also fails to 
fund the $21 billion authorization to ensure proper monitoring and 
compliance with international trade agreements. These monies were 
authorized as part of a bipartisan agreement that this House passed 
along with PNTR with China just a few weeks ago. While approval of PNTR 
was in our national interest, this bipartisan proposal was offered to 
address congressional concerns about Chinese compliance with their WTO 
obligations, human rights practices in China, and Taiwan's entry into 
the WTO. I am disappointed that the leadership reneged on its 
commitment to provide funding for this important monitoring and 
compliance agreement.
  Mr. Chairman, because of these and other funding shortfalls, and 
because the bill contains objectionable riders, such as preventing the 
use of funds to move forward on implementing the Kyoto Protocol, I will 
be voting ``no'' on H.R. 4690 and urge my colleagues to do so as well.

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