    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book II)]
    [December 18, 1995]
    [Page 1901]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 1901]]

    Message to the House of Representatives Returning Without Approval the
    Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and
    Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996
    December 18, 1995

    To the House of Representatives:
        I am returning herewith without my approval H.R. 2099, the
    ``Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and
    Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996.''
        H.R. 2099 would threaten public health and the environment, end
    programs that are helping communities help themselves, close the door on
    college for thousands of young people, and leave veterans seeking
    medical care with fewer treatment options.
        The bill includes no funds for the highly successful National
    Service program. If such funding were eliminated, the bill would cost
    nearly 50,000 young Americans the opportunity to help their community,
    through AmeriCorps, to address vital local needs such as health care,
    crime prevention, and education while earning a monetary award to help
    them pursue additional education or training. I will not sign any
    version of this appropriations bill that does not restore funds for this
    vital program.
        This bill includes a 22 percent cut in requested funding for the
    Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), including a 25 percent cut in
    enforcement that would cripple EPA efforts to enforce laws against
    polluters. Particularly objectionable are the bill's 25 percent cut in
    Superfund, which would continue to expose hundreds of thousands of
    citizens to dangerous chemicals and cuts, which would hamper efforts to
    train workers in hazardous waste cleanup.
        In addition to severe funding cuts for EPA, the bill also includes
    legislative riders that were tacked onto the bill without any hearings
    or adequate public input, including one that would prevent EPA from
    exercising its authority under the Clean Water Act to prevent wetlands
    losses.
        I am concerned about the bill's $762 million reduction to my request
    for funds that would go directly to States and needy cities for clean
    water and drinking water needs, such as assistance to clean up Boston
    Harbor. I also object to cuts the Congress has made in environmental
    technology, the climate change action plan, and other environmental
    programs.
        The bill would reduce funding for the Council for Environmental
    Quality by more than half. Such a reduction would severely hamper the
    Council's ability to provide me with advice on environmental policy and
    carry out its responsibilities under the National Environmental Policy
    Act.
        The bill provides no new funding for the Community Development
    Financial Institutions program, an important initiative for bringing
    credit and growth to communities long left behind.
        While the bill provides spending authority for several important
    initiatives of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD),
    including Community Development Block Grants, homeless assistance and
    the sale of HUD-owned properties, it lacks funding for others. For
    example, the bill provides no funds to support economic development
    initiatives; it has insufficient funds for incremental rental vouchers;
    and it cuts nearly in half my request for tearing down the most severely
    distressed housing projects. Also, the bill contains harmful riders that
    would transfer HUD's Fair Housing activities to the Justice Department
    and eliminate Federal preferences in the section 8, tenant-based
    program.
        The bill provides less than I requested for the medical care of this
    Nation's veterans. It includes significant restrictions on funding for
    the Secretary of Veterans Affairs that appear designed to impede him
    from carrying out his duties as an advocate for veterans. Further, the
    bill does not provide necessary funding for VA hospital construction.
        For these reasons and others my Administration has conveyed to the
    Congress in earlier communications, I cannot accept this bill. This bill
    does not reflect the values that Americans hold dear. I urge the
    Congress to send me an appropriations bill for these important
    priorities that truly serves the American people.

                                                          William J. Clinton

    The White House,

    December 18, 1995.