[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992-1993, Book II)]
[October 6, 1992]
[Pages 1763-1764]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



[[Page 1763]]


Statement on Signing the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and 
Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1993
October 6, 1992

    I have signed into law H.R. 5679, the ``Departments of Veterans 
Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies 
Appropriations Act, 1993.''
    The Act provides important funding for the space program, 
environmental protection, and programs for our Nation's veterans.
    The Act provides the funds necessary to maintain a balanced civil 
space program. Space Station Freedom, an essential step in meeting our 
future space objectives, is funded at a level that will keep the project 
on schedule during fiscal year 1993.
    H.R. 5679 also meets important needs of our Nation's veterans. The 
Act provides $14.6 billion for VA Medical Care, an increase of $1 
billion over the FY 1992 enacted level. With this increase, funding for 
VA Medical Care will have grown by 28 percent since FY 1990.
    The Act provides funding for a range of environmental protection 
programs. I am pleased that the Act funds my request for EPA 
construction grants targeted to high-priority, coastal secondary 
treatment facilities, such as Boston Harbor, New York, Los Angeles, and 
San Diego. Expedited construction of these facilities can help clean the 
water on America's coasts.
    Regrettably, the Act provides significantly less funding than I 
requested for EPA to carry out environmental commitments in support of 
the North American Free Trade Agreement. Despite my urging the Congress 
to fund fully these vital environmental initiatives, the Act cuts $47 
million from the request to control border area sewage flows that pose a 
public health threat to citizens in San Diego and Calexico, California, 
and Nogales, Arizona. These cuts will severely constrain the 
Administration's efforts to clean up the U.S.-Mexico border and to 
support our proposed program of U.S.-Mexico environmental cooperation.
    I also regret that, for the fourth year in a row, the Congress has 
chosen to reduce my request to clean up hazardous waste sites. This 
year's $176 million reduction in EPA's Superfund program brings the 
total reduction over 4 years to $643 million. These reductions 
unnecessarily delay the cleanup of these sites.
    I am particularly troubled that the Congress has cut over $1 billion 
in civilian research and development programs within NASA, EPA, and NSF. 
These cuts will have a significant impact on a broad range of important 
research and education efforts, including my request for crosscutting 
initiatives in materials science, biotechnology, global change research, 
high performance computing and communications, and math and science 
education. These investments are important in maintaining our Nation's 
economic competitiveness, and they are critical in the training of our 
next generation of scientists and engineers. These investments also 
contribute to sustaining our commitment to environmental stewardship.
    Although the Act provides funds for priority activities requested by 
the Administration, several housing provisions are flawed. I am greatly 
concerned over the inadequate funding levels for the Administration's 
important housing initiatives that emphasize tenant choice and 
homeownership opportunities. The Congress has provided only $361 million 
out of a requested $1 billion for the HOPE program, a program that would 
enable low-income people to take control of their lives through 
homeownership.
    I am also disappointed that the Congress has reversed some 
previously enacted reforms critical to the financial health of the 
Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage fund. Eliminating the 57-
percent limit on the amount of closing costs a borrower can finance with 
an FHA mortgage will cause an increase in homeowner defaults, weakening 
the FHA fund and hurting homebuyers. The Congress has also in-

[[Page 1764]]

creased the maximum single-family mortgage above $125 thousand--an 
amount that was agreed upon by the Congress and the Administration in 
the National Affordable Housing Act. This increase moves FHA away from 
its traditional role as a financial resource for middle- and lower-
income buyers.
    On the other hand, I am pleased that the Congress agreed to the 
Administration's request that it remove a prohibition on the issuance by 
HUD of a rule that would prevent the provision of housing subsidies to 
vacant public housing units.
    The Act directs the Environmental Protection Agency, the National 
Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the Resolution Trust 
Corporation each to award 8 percent of funding for Federal contracts to 
businesses owned or controlled by minorities or women. A congressional 
grant of Federal money or benefits based solely on the recipient's race 
or gender is presumptively unconstitutional under the equal protection 
standards of the Constitution. Accordingly, I will construe these 
provisions consistently with the demands of the Constitution, and, in 
particular, I direct the heads of the relevant agencies not to award 
monies appropriated by this Act solely on the basis of race or gender.
    Although I am disappointed that this bill contains damaging cuts in 
HOPE tenant ownership, civilian research and development, U.S.-Mexico 
border cleanup, and Superfund, I recognize that the bill does fund 
important veterans programs, space initiatives, and environmental 
programs at acceptable levels. In addition, the total level of spending 
in the bill maintains progress toward the achievement of my proposal to 
freeze domestic discretionary spending. For these reasons, I am signing 
the bill.

                                                             George Bush

The White House,
October 6, 1992.

                    Note: H.R. 5679, approved October 6, was assigned 
                        Public Law No. 102-389.