[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Pages 19073-19075]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  LEGISLATIVE BRANCH APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2006--CONFERENCE 
                                 REPORT

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
proceed to the consideration of the conference report to accompany H.R. 
2985, which the clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Committee of Conference on the disagreeing votes of the 
     two Houses on the amendment of the Senate to the bill (H.R. 
     2985), making appropriations for the Legislative Branch for 
     the fiscal year ending September 30, 2006, and for other 
     purposes, having met, have agreed that the House recede from 
     its disagreement to certain amendments of the Senate, and the 
     House agree to the same with an amendment and the Senate 
     agree to the same; that the House recede from its 
     disagreement to the amendment of the Senate numbered 5, and 
     agree to the same. Signed by a majority of the conferees on 
     the part of both Houses.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senate will proceed to the consideration 
of the conference report.
  (The conference report is printed in the proceedings of the House in 
the Record of July 28, 2005.)
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time on the pending conference 
report?
  The Senator from Idaho.
  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, I note the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, I understand we now have the legislative 
conference report before the Senate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is correct.
  Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, I am pleased to present to the Senate the 
legislative branch fiscal year 2006 appropriations conference report. 
This is my first year as chairman of this subcommittee and I am 
delighted we'll be able to send the bill to the President prior to the 
beginning of the fiscal year. I very much appreciate the support of my 
ranking member, Senator Durbin, as well as the full committee chairman, 
Senator Cochran, and ranking member, Senator Byrd.
  In general, I believe this is a fair agreement. It provides $3.8 
billion for the Congress and its support agencies. Funding in the 
conference agreement is $198 million above the fiscal year 2005 enacted 
level and a reduction of $225 million below the request. While there 
are very few programmatic increases in the bill, funding is sufficient 
to maintain current operations in all agencies. Significant increases 
above the fiscal year 2005 budget are recommended in only a few areas, 
such as funding to complete the Capitol Visitor Center.
  Highlights of the bill include funding of $250 million for the 
Capitol Police, which will enable the Capitol Police to maintain its 
current staffing level of 1,592 police officers and ensure appropriate 
levels of security for the Capitol complex. The Capitol Police salaries 
funding has increased by almost 100 percent since fiscal year 2002, and 
the number of officers has increased by about one-third. This indicates 
our support for Capitol Police and all the good work they do to protect 
this great institution.
  The recommendation also includes $428 million for the Architect of 
the Capitol, including $42 million for Capitol Visitor Center 
construction and $2.3 million for initial operational costs of the CVC. 
The Architect believes this amount will be sufficient to complete the 
CVC construction. Also within the AOC budget is storage modules for the 
Library of Congress at Ft. Meade, totaling $40.7 million. While this is 
an expensive project, it is critically needed to take care of 
burgeoning storage requirements at the library.
  For the Library of Congress, funding would total $560 million, 
including funding for the Library's highest priorities such as the new 
National Audio-Visual Conservation Center and Congressional Research 
Service enhancements.
  Funding for the GPO would total $123 million, including $2 million to 
retrain staff for the new digital environment; the Government 
Accountability Office would receive $482 million, and the Open World 
Leadership Program would be funded at the budget request level of $14 
million.
  I do have some concerns about this conference agreement which I would 
like to bring to my colleagues attention. First, I am deeply 
disappointed that the House insisted on the elimination of the Capitol 
Police mounted unit. I believe, as my predecessor Ben Nighthorse 
Campbell did, that there are some significant benefits to the Capitol 
Police having a mounted unit, and the costs are relatively small--about 
$150,000 a year. The officers who are part of this unit have received 
extensive training, the horses and attendant equipment have been 
purchased. This investment will be down the drain just 1 year after the 
unit became operational.
  We reluctantly went along with the House only because this bill needs 
to get done. But I believe it is a short-sighted decision that we will 
all regret.
  Another regret I have with this conference agreement is the 
elimination of Senate language authorizing the Architect of the Capitol 
to hire an executive

[[Page 19074]]

director for the Capitol Visitor Center. The CVC project is something I 
have been following closely, with monthly hearings in our subcommittee. 
In addition to concerns regarding the management of this mammoth 
construction project, I am very concerned that the Architect hasn't 
been given direction and authority to make operational decisions 
including the hiring of an executive director. GAO has reported it is 
critical AOC develop a strategic plan for moving from construction to 
operations. Without an executive director such decisions will surely 
languish.
  Despite these concerns, I believe it is a fair and balanced 
conference agreement and I urge my colleagues to support it.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, it is my honor to serve as the ranking 
member on this appropriations subcommittee with the Senator from 
Colorado as my chairman. I have had the distinction of being on this 
committee for several years with several different chairs. Senator Bob 
Bennett of Utah, who was the dedicated leader of this subcommittee for 
many years, became quite expert on all of the areas that it covered, 
and I learned a lot from him. In fact, many of his suggestions are 
still being followed; for example, the integration of security forces 
on Capitol Hill between the Library of Congress and the U.S. Capitol 
Building.
  I also salute particularly my colleague from Colorado. He has done a 
great job. Our friendship has grown through this relationship. His 
dedication is exemplary. When it came to the Capitol Visitor Center, 
this was a mammoth project which he inherited from decisions made years 
ago. He has shown personal attention to it, given of his time over and 
over to make sure that we end up with a Capitol Visitor Center that is 
a source of great pride to everyone on Capitol Hill and is not an 
embarrassment to the taxpayers of this country.
  It calls for a fantastic amount of oversight on his part and the part 
of the committee staff. Senator Wayne Allard has done that. I joined 
him partially in his efforts, but he has really led the way. He has 
been diligent in holding monthly meetings on the Capitol Visitor 
Center, and I think they have been a great benefit for the public 
understanding of what is happening underground, as well as holding all 
of those accountable who were involved in the process. I thank him so 
much.
  Our Senate bill that we brought into conference was a good and fair 
bill. I thought it addressed all of the demands of maintaining this 
great Capitol Building and all of the buildings nearby in a very 
professional way.
  There is one aspect of this bill which troubles me, and that is the 
fact that there is some negative language in the conference committee 
report relative to our Capitol Police. What frustrates me about this is 
it was not done in the normal fashion. We did not have time to weigh 
the wording of this conference report. I think we should have been a 
little more circumspect in the language used. My reason for saying it 
is this: The men and women on the Capitol Police Force understand, as 
all of us who work here understand, we go to work every single day in 
what has to be described as one of the leading international targets 
for terrorism. The U.S. Capitol Building is a great symbol of freedom 
and democracy, and as a result is a great target for those who hate the 
United States and want to engage in terrorism. What keeps this building 
and those working here functioning is the men and women of the Capitol 
Police Force who night and day, around the clock, risk their lives for 
the visitors and staff who work here. These are fine people. They work 
extraordinarily long hours at great personal and family sacrifice. They 
ask little from us, other than the recognition that they are doing a 
good job. This conference committee report does not give them the 
recognition they are due.
  Let me add another element. The Capitol Hill Police chief is Terry 
Gainer, a man I have known from Illinois for years. He was 
superintendent of the Illinois State Police. It is a large and 
professional organization that he handled extremely well as 
superintendent. When he was an applicant for this job at the Capitol 
Police Force, I thought you could not find a finer law enforcement 
official to professionalize this police force right at the moment when 
it needed to happen. He came to Capitol Hill, and he achieved that 
goal. I don't say that just because we are personal friends. I have 
spoken to many members of the Capitol Hill Police Force who do not know 
my relationship with him, and I ask them, What do you think of the 
Capitol Hill Police? And they say it is a truly professional law 
enforcement organization.
  It is true that mistakes are made in a large organization that is 
growing so fast with so many extraordinary external demands, but 
everyone who is honest has to concede that Chief Gainer and his 
professional staff have done an excellent job of putting together an 
extraordinary police force that protects this building and the people 
who visit and work here every single day.
  I add my words to those that have been spoken and probably will be by 
others, we owe a great debt of gratitude to the chief. I thank him 
personally for coming here and taking on such an awesome responsibility 
not long after September 11 and really bringing peace of mind to those 
who get up and come to work in this building every single day.
  If I can say a word or two about the mounted police, Chairman Ben 
Nighthorse Campbell, who was a predecessor to Chairman Allard from the 
same State of Colorado, has a passion for the mounted police. He loved 
horses and believed they were an important symbol in terms of the 
police force on Capitol Hill. Although we only have five horses--it is 
hardly a cavalry--the fact is, I think they achieved the goal that 
Senator Campbell set out for us to reach. They have become friends of 
visitors to Capitol Hill. I watch as the throngs of tourists gather 
around our mounted police, petting the horses, feeling as if they are 
part of an experience, a good and positive experience.
  Almost from the start there have been people who have not given this 
mounted police force a fair chance. I hope we reconsider this someday. 
I understand the House Members were adamant that the mounted police be 
removed from the Capitol Hill Police Force. I hope we can reconsider. I 
honestly believe they could be critically important at important 
historic moments.
  When we evacuated this building on September 11 and sent thousands of 
people out in front of this building, there was clearly a need for some 
crowd control and some crowd direction. These mounted police would have 
been invaluable at that moment. Because of this appropriations bill, 
they will not have the chance to serve in that capacity in the future 
unless we make a change.
  I will close and yield to the chairman again and particularly thank 
the staff on both sides of the aisle: Carrie Apostolou, Fred Pagan, 
Christen Taylor, as well as Terry Sauvain, Drew Willison, Nancy 
Olkewicz of the minority staff, and Sally Brown-Shaklee and Pat Souders 
of my personal staff for the extraordinary work they put into this 
bill.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. ALLARD. I thank the Senator from Illinois. I have cherished our 
relationship in being able to work with the Senator from Illinois on 
this bill.
  I agree we have a lot of dedicated police officers out there and the 
Members of Congress need to appreciate all they are doing to maintain 
our safety, not only for us but for the visiting public.
  Finally, I thank our full committee chairman, Senator Cochran, as 
well as the staff who were involved: Carrie Apostolou, Lance Landry, 
Christen Taylor, Fred Pagan, and from Senator Durbin's staff, Nancy 
Olkewicz and Drew Willison.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. COCHRAN. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.

[[Page 19075]]

  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Isakson). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

                          ____________________