    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book II)]
    [November 20, 1995]
    [Pages 1775-1776]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Statement on Signing the Treasury, Postal Service, and General
    Government Appropriations Act, 1996
    November 20, 1995

        Last night I signed into law H.R. 2020, the ``Treasury, Postal
    Service, and General Government Appropriations Act, 1996.''
        The Act provides a total of $11.3 billion in discretionary budget
    authority for various programs in the Department of the Treasury, the
    U.S. Postal Service, the General Services Administration, the Office of
    Personnel Management, the Executive Office of the President, and several
    smaller agencies. With this legislation enacted into law, over 140,000
    furloughed employees were able to go back to work.
        I am pleased that a provision contained in an earlier version of the
    bill, which would have limited the political advocacy rights of non-
    profit organizations that receive Federal funding, was removed from the
    bill. This unacceptable provision would have presented a broad attack on
    the exercise of fundamental rights protected by the First Amendment.
        Regrettably, the Congress has not funded the Internal Revenue
    Service at a sufficient level to ensure the kind of service that the
    taxpayers deserve. I am disappointed that the Congress eliminated the FY
    1995 funding of $405 million for the compliance initiative as it creates
    serious risks to the levels of tax compliance. At the very least, this
    action is expected to result in the loss of additional revenue over the
    next five years. Major compliance cuts send the wrong signal and reward
    tax cheats. The Internal Revenue Service's FY 1996 funding level is not
    consistent with the efforts of the Administration and the Congress to
    balance the Federal budget.

    [[Page 1776]]

        Again, I urge the Congress to meet its responsibilities by sending
    me the remaining regular FY 1996 appropriations bills in acceptable
    form.

                                                          William J. Clinton

    The White House,

    November 20, 1995.

    Note: H.R. 2020, approved November 19, was assigned Public Law No. 104-
    52.