[House Report 104-30]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]




104th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 1st Session                                                     104-30
_______________________________________________________________________


 
      RESCINDING CERTAIN BUDGET AUTHORITY, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

                                _______


 February 10, 1995.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

_______________________________________________________________________


  Mr. Livingston, from the Committee on Appropriations, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 845]
    The Committee on Appropriations to whom was referred H.R. 
845, rescinding certain budget authority, and for other 
purposes, report the same to the House without amendment and 
with the recommendation that the bill be passed.

                            Recommendations

    Overall, the bill as recommended by the Committee rescinds 
$1,402,140,000 of previously appropriated budget authority.

                              Bill Summary

    The Committee has reported this bill that rescinds 
$1,402,140,000 in budget authority. This budget authority more 
than offsets the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations and 
Rescissions for the Department of Defense To Preserve and 
Enhance the Military Readiness Act that the Committee has also 
reported. The Committee is taking this action even though the 
Department of Defense requirements are emergency requirements 
and, as such, do not require offsetting. In order to continue 
to make important progress in getting the country's fiscal 
house in order we are recommending this companion rescission 
bill along with the Department of Defense bill, and we 
recommend that this bill move forward to floor consideration 
with the Department of Defense bill so that this linkage can be 
maintained.
    The rescissions included in the bill fall into several 
categories. The first is low priority defense and international 
affairs activities that should be rescinded in order to provide 
for the higher priority activities in the companion Department 
of Defense bill. Because the unbudgeted defense activities 
relate in part to peacekeeping actions undertaken around the 
world, the Committee feels that identifying other lower 
priority international activities is an appropriate source to 
provide defense offsets. Another category is unobligated 
balances that are not going to be needed during this fiscal 
year. Some of these balances are the result of a lack of 
authorization. A third category is lower priority programs. The 
President has included some of these in his fiscal year 1996 
budget request. The final category is investment initiatives. 
While initiatives are important, offsetting emergency 
requirements means that the amount of the initiative increase 
has to be scaled back. It is in these categories that the 
Committee developed this bill.

                               CHAPTER I

DEPARTMENTS OF COMMERCE, JUSTICE, AND STATE, THE JUDICIARY, AND RELATED 
                                AGENCIES

                         DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

                 Immigration and Naturalization Service

                       immigration emergency fund

    The Committee recommends a rescission of $70,000,000 of the 
$75,000,000 appropriated in Public Law 103-317 for the 
Immigration Emergency Fund. At the time that bill was under 
consideration, the possibility of an immigration emergency due 
to events in Haiti and Cuba seemed large. As a result, the 
Committee provided a large appropriation of $75,000,000, 
compared to an appropriation of $6,000,000 in fiscal year 1994 
and no appropriation in fiscal year 1993.
    These funds now do not appear to be required and could be 
put to better use as an offset to the incremental costs 
incurred by the Defense Department in its operation in Haiti. 
After this rescission, $5,000,000 will remain in the account, 
which, together with unobligated balances from previous years, 
should be more than adequate for any unforeseen circumstances 
at this time. According to the Justice Department, no funds 
have been spent out of this account in the last 5 years.
                         DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

             National Institute of Standards and Technology

                     industrial technology services

    The Committee recommends a rescission of $107,000,000 from 
the amounts provided for fiscal year 1995 for the Advanced 
Technology Program (ATP) under the National Institute of 
Standards and Technology, Industrial Technology Services 
appropriation account. The ATP was funded at $431,000,000 for 
fiscal year 1995 and $199,489,000 for fiscal year 1994. The 
purpose of the ATP is to provide assistance to U.S. businesses 
and joint research and development ventures to help accelerate 
the commercialization of high-risk technologies. The Committee 
is concerned about the rapid growth in ATP funding over the 
past 2 years (a 535 percent increase in funding since fiscal 
year 1993), and the ability of the Commerce Department to have 
in place the necessary processes and administrative structure 
to manage the volume of grant awards and evaluate the program's 
success. The following table depicts ATP program growth since 
its inception:

                                           ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM                                          
                                            [In millions of dollars]                                            
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                             Fiscal year--                      
                                                     -----------------------------------------------------------
                                                        1990      1991      1992      1993      1994      1995  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Appropriated amount.................................      10.0      35.9      47.4      67.9     199.5     431.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As noted in the above table, this program has increased 
from $67,880,000 in fiscal year 1993, to $199,489,000 in fiscal 
year 1994, and to $431,000,000 in fiscal year 1995--an increase 
of 535 percent over 2 years.
    This rescission of $107,000,000 does not eliminate the 
Advanced Technology Program in its entirety. Rather, this 
reduction will slow the rate of program growth to a still 
significant increase providing a revised fiscal year 1995 level 
of $324,000,000--$125,000,000 more than amounts available for 
fiscal year 1994. This amount will cover continuations of 
grants awarded in previous years, as well as commitments 
already made in fiscal year 1995 under new competitions. This 
reduced funding level will allow for a more thorough evaluation 
of whether the program can successfully accomplish its stated 
goals of expanding the commercialization of new technologies 
and stimulating U.S. economic growth. Given the funding 
increases required in other critical areas of the Federal 
budget, including the supplemental funding required by the 
Department of Defense and addressed in accompanying 
legislation, an increase of the magnitude as originally enacted 
for ATP simply cannot be sustained. Many of the considerations 
expressed in the report accompanying the companion legislation 
providing supplemental funding for the Department of Defense, 
regarding the rescission of funding under the Technology 
Reinvestment Program (TRP), are also relevant to the ATP 
program.

                               CHAPTER II

                      ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT

                          DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

                    Atomic Energy Defense Activities

         Defense Environmental Restoration and Waste Management

    The Committee recommends a rescission of $100,000,000 from 
funds appropriated for fiscal year 1995 and unobligated 
balances carried forward into fiscal year 1995. These 
reductions should be taken against those program activities 
which are not direct cleanup activities performed at Department 
of Energy sites.

                              CHAPTER III

       FOREIGN OPERATIONS, EXPORT FINANCING, AND RELATED AGENCIES

                    MULTILATERAL ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE

                  funds appropriated to the president

                  International Financial Institutions

              contribution to the african development fund

                        african development fund

    The Committee takes note of the fact that the funds 
$62,014,000 proposed for rescission are an advance payment for 
the seventh replenishment of the African Development Fund. 
According to a communication from an Assistant Secretary of the 
Treasury, dated February 2, 1995, it is unclear when the 
negotiations for the seventh replenishment will conclude, in 
large part because of the resistance of African members of the 
Fund to donor proposals to improve the Fund's credit policy and 
improve the quality of its loan portfolio.
    Until these issues are resolved, the funds proposed for 
rescission are excess. They cannot be obligated by the 
Executive branch at this time.
    As the Committee has provided more than $2,000,000,000 in 
other international accounts for the nations of sub-Saharan 
Africa in 1995, and rescissions are needed to offset the costs 
of United States support for United Nations peacekeeping forces 
in Somalia, the Committee recommends that these excess funds be 
rescinded.
                     BILATERAL ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE

                  funds appropriated to the president

                  Agency for International Development

  Assistance for the New Independent States of the Former Soviet Union

                  russian officer resettlement program

    The Committee has proposed a rescission of $110,000,000 for 
this program.
    The Committee believes that the Russian Officer 
Resettlement program represents an expensive and unnecessary 
commitment of U.S. funds in support of demobilized Russian 
military officers, particularly at a time when the U.S. 
military is suffering significant shortfalls in adequate 
housing for active duty American military personnel and their 
dependents and the overall readiness of our Nation's military 
(which this rescission bill is intended to help redress) is in 
question.
    In April 1993 at the Vancouver Summit with President 
Yeltsin, President Clinton committed to support the 
construction of 450 housing units for Russian officers being 
demobilized from Baltic countries and elsewhere. The program 
was further enhanced by the President at the Tokyo G-7 meeting 
in July 1993 when he announced a follow-on commitment of 
$160,000,000 to provide an additional 5,000 house units for 
demobilized officers returning to Russia.
    The Committee notes the following serious deficiencies in 
the program. First, since the fall of the Berlin Wall, nearly a 
half million Russian troops have returned to Russia from the 
former East Germany and the Baltic States. The current 
Administration program will (when completed) provide housing 
for only 1 percent of those returning Russian military 
personnel, hardly a significant contribution to the overall 
military resettlement situation in Russia. The Committee also 
notes that although funds for this program have been available 
since fiscal year 1994, a senior AID official recently stated 
that, as of December 31, 1994, only $9,000,000 had been spent.
    Second, the Committee notes that a key justification for 
the program at the time of its inception was that insufficient 
housing existed in Russia to accommodate returning military 
personnel. The Committee notes that presently AID plans to 
provide half of the 5,000 units through use of a voucher 
program in which Russian officers will use U.S. funds to 
purchase existing, unoccupied housing in Russia.
    Finally, the Agency for International Development 
administers this program as the central element of its Housing 
Sector Reform program which is designed to develop a market 
oriented housing sector in the NIS. The Committee seriously 
questions whether a program which utilizes U.S. Government 
funds to build or purchase housing in Russia contributes in any 
way to the private sector reform objectives of the Housing 
Sector Reform program, a worthy AID initiative which the 
Committee supports.

                               CHAPTER IV

            DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR AND RELATED AGENCIES

                          DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

                         Clean Coal Technology

    The Committee recommends a rescission of $200,000,000 of 
the $2,750,000,000 that has been appropriated for the Clean 
Coal Technology program. The rescission includes $50,000,000 in 
funding which is available for obligation in fiscal year 1996 
and $150,000,000 which is available for obligation in fiscal 
year 1997. The Committee recommends this rescission with the 
anticipation that not all of the current clean coal projects 
will be deemed to be economically feasible and that some 
projects will be abandoned prior to completion. The Committee 
expects the Department of Energy to honor its contractual 
commitments to those projects which are in process and are 
economically viable. This rescission is not directed against 
any particular projects or any particular ``rounds'' of the 
clean coal program. Excess funds available from individual 
projects should be realigned as needed to ensure successful 
completion of ongoing clean coal projects.
                               CHAPTER V

DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, EDUCATION, AND RELATED 
                                AGENCIES

                          DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

                 Employment and Training Administration

                    Training and Employment Services

    The Committee recommends a rescission of $200,000,000 
appropriated in Public Law 103-333 for the Youth Job Training 
program authorized by title II, part C of the Job Training 
Partnership Act. The FY 1995 appropriation for this program was 
$598,682,000; the funds are not available for obligation until 
July 1, 1995. The rescission recommended by the Committee 
represents about a one-third reduction in the program.
    There appears to be little evidence that this program is 
successfully preparing people for the future job market. The 
Department recently published a comprehensive review of the 
economic impacts of employment and training programs entitled 
What's Working and What's Not. This review contained several 
discouraging conclusions concerning this program. It was noted 
that short-term skills training has ``been found to be 
unsuccessful in raising youth employment or earnings'' and that 
``it does not appear that JTPA youth training has significant 
positive impacts.'' It also noted that subsidized work 
experience for disadvantaged youth ``has generally not had 
long-term positive effects on employment or earnings.'' The 
Committee further notes that the President has proposed to 
reduce this program by $310,000,000 (minus 52 percent) in his 
FY 1996 budget.

                        DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

                      School Improvement Programs

    The Committee recommends a rescission in this account of 
$100,000,000 for FY 1995 as requested by the administration. 
This will eliminate funding for a new education infrastructure 
grant program that was initially funded in the FY 1995 
appropriations bill.
    The education infrastructure program is designed to provide 
funds for the repair, renovation, and construction of local 
public elementary and secondary school buildings. The President 
requested no funding for this program in his budget for FY 
1995. The Committee believes that this activity is not a 
primary function of the Federal Government. Local school 
construction should be paid for by local taxpayers.

                               CHAPTER VI

           DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND RELATED AGENCIES

                      DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

                    FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION

                     Local Rail Freight Assistance

    The bill rescinds $13,126,000 in unobligated balances from 
the Local Rail Freight Assistance program. The President's 
budget requests a rescission of FY 1995 funds and no funds for 
this program in FY 1996.

               Pennsylvania Station Redevelopment Project

    The bill rescinds $40,000,000 for the Pennsylvania Station 
Redevelopment Project. An appropriation of $40,000,000 was made 
available in Public Law 103-331 contingent on authorization. No 
enabling legislation has been enacted for FY 1995.
                              CHAPTER VII

DEPARTMENTS OF VETERANS AFFAIRS AND HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, AND 
                          INDEPENDENT AGENCIES

                          INDEPENDENT AGENCIES

             National Aeronautics and Space Administration

                    national aeronautical facilities

    The Committee is recommending a rescission of $400,000,000 
which was appropriated in FY 1995 for construction of wind 
tunnels. The FY 1995 appropriation of $400,000,000 for the 
construction of two new aeronautical wind tunnel facilities was 
contingent upon the budget request for FY 1996 including an 
additional $400,000,000 and receipt of a report by March 1, 
1995, detailing a comprehensive plan and strategy for 
aeronautical wind tunnels. While the President's budget 
received on February 6, 1995, does include proposed 
supplemental language which would extend the availability of 
this funding beyond July 15, 1995, it does not contain a 
request for additional funding as required by Public Law 103-
327. Accordingly, the Committee has no assurance that these 
funds will be augmented as required and therefore recommends 
the rescission.

               CHANGES IN THE APPLICATION OF EXISTING LAW

    Pursuant to clause 3 of rule XXI of the House of 
Representatives, the following statements are submitted 
describing the effect of provisions in the accompanying bill 
which directly or indirectly change the application of existing 
law.
    Language is included under the Department of Energy, Clean 
Coal Technology, which provides for realigning funding among 
clean coal projects without regard to the separate requests for 
proposal under which projects were originally selected.
                              RESCISSIONS

    Pursuant to clause 1(b) of rule X of the House of 
Representatives, the following table is submitted describing 
the rescissions recommended in the accompanying bill:

                   RESCISSIONS RECOMMENDED IN THE BILL                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                         Recommended in 
             Department or activity(\1\)                 the bill(\2\)  
------------------------------------------------------------------------
               FY 1995 RESCISSIONS BILL                                 
                                                                        
                      CHAPTER I                                         
                                                                        
                DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE                                   
                                                                        
        Immigration and Naturalization Service                          
                                                                        
Immigration Emergency Fund...........................       -$70,000,000
                                                                        
                DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE                                  
                                                                        
    National Institute of Standards and Technology                      
                                                                        
Industrial technology services.......................       -107,000,000
                                                      ------------------
      Total, Chapter I: Rescissions..................       -177,000,000
                                                      ==================
                      CHAPTER II                                        
                                                                        
                 DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY                                   
                                                                        
Atomic Energy Defense Activities:                                       
    Defense Environmental Restoration and Waste                         
     Management: Operating expenses..................       -100,000,000
                                                      ------------------
      Total, Chapter II: Rescissions.................       -100,000,000
                                                      ==================
                     CHAPTER III                                        
                                                                        
           MULTILATERAL ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE                             
                                                                        
         International Financial Institutions                           
                                                                        
Contribution to the African Development Bank: Paid-in                   
 capital.............................................        -62,014,000
                                                                        
            BILATERAL ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE                               
                                                                        
         Agency for International Development                           
                                                                        
Assistance for the New Independent States of the                        
 Soviet Union........................................       -110,000,000
                                                      ------------------
      Total, Chapter III: Rescissions................       -172,014,000
                                                      ==================
                      CHAPTER IV                                        
                                                                        
                   RELATED AGENCIES                                     
                                                                        
                 DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY                                   
                                                                        
Clean coal technology................................       -200,000,000
                                                      ------------------
      Total, Chapter IV: Rescissions.................       -200,000,000
                                                      ==================
                      CHAPTER V                                         
                                                                        
                 DEPARTMENT OF LABOR                                    
                                                                        
        Employment and Training Administration                          
                                                                        
Training and employment services.....................       -200,000,000
                                                                        
               DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION                                  
                                                                        
School improvement programs..........................       -100,000,000
                                                      ------------------
      Total, Chapter V: Rescissions..................       -300,000,000
                                                      ==================
                      CHAPTER VI                                        
                                                                        
             DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION                               
                                                                        
           Federal Railroad Administration                              
                                                                        
Local rail freight assistance........................        -13,126,000
Grants to the National Railroad Passenger                               
 Corporation: Pennsylvania station redevelopment                        
 project.............................................        -40,000,000
                                                      ------------------
      Total, Federal Railroad Administration.........        -53,126,000
                                                      ------------------
      Total, Chapter VI: Rescissions.................        -53,126,000
                                                      ==================
                     CHAPTER VII                                        
                                                                        
                 INDEPENDENT AGENCIES                                   
                                                                        
    National Aeronautics and Space Administration                       
                                                                        
National aeronautics facilities......................       -400,000,000
                                                      ------------------
      Total, Chapter VII: Rescissions................       -400,000,000
                                                      ==================
      Grand total: Rescissions.......................     -1,402,140,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------

                   COMPARISON WITH BUDGET RESOLUTION

    Section 308(a)(1)(A) of the Congressional Budget and 
Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (Public Law 93-344), as 
amended, requires that the report accompanying a bill providing 
new budget authority contain a statement detailing how that 
authority compares with the reports submitted under section 602 
of the Act for the most recently agreed to concurrent 
resolution on the budget for the fiscal year. All funds 
provided in this bill are either offset here-in or are within 
the remaining budget authority limits of the Committee's 
allocations.
    The bill provides no new spending authority as described in 
section 401(c)(2) of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment 
Control Act of 1974 (Public Law 93-344), as amended.

                      FIVE-YEAR OUTLAY PROJECTIONS

    In compliance with section 308(a)(1)(C) of the 
Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 
(Public Law 93-344), as amended, the following table contains 
5-year projections associated with the budget authority 
provided in the accompanying bill:
                             [In thousands]

Budget Authority........................................     -$1,402,140
Outlays:
    Fiscal Year 1995....................................        -112,138
    Fiscal Year 1996....................................        -385,529
    Fiscal Year 1997....................................        -131,383
    Fiscal Year 1998....................................         -50,753
    Fiscal Year 1999 and future years...................         -26,063
               ASSISTANCE TO STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

    In accordance with section 308(a)(1)(C) of the 
Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 
(Public Law 93-344), as amended, the financial assistance to 
State and local governments is as follows:
                             [In thousands]

New budget authority....................................       -$267,726
Fiscal year 1995 outlays resulting therefrom............         -19,970
                     INFLATIONARY IMPACT STATEMENT

    Pursuant to clause 2(l)(4) of rule XI of the House of 
Representatives, the Committee estimates that enactment of this 
bill would have no overall inflationary impact on prices and 
costs in the operation of the national economy.