    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book II)]
    [July 18, 1995]
    [Page 1105]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Statement on the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban
    Development Appropriations Legislation
    July 18, 1995

        The 1996 VA-HUD appropriations bill passed today by the House
    Appropriations Committee is unacceptable.
        By abolishing AmeriCorps it would eliminate opportunities for
    thousands of young people to serve their communities through the
    national service program. By dramatically slashing resources for the
    Environmental Protection Agency and imposing severe restrictions on that
    agency, the bill would decimate the Government's ability to protect the
    American people from air and water pollution. By cutting assistance for
    the Nation's homeless in half, it would punish some of the weakest and
    most vulnerable in our society.
        We need to balance the budget, and we need to cut spending to do it.
    But there is a right way and a wrong way. A bill so contrary to the
    priorities and concerns of the American people clearly represents the
    wrong way.
        I will not stand by as the Republican majority tries to impose this
    extreme agenda on the Nation. If this bill is presented to me in its
    current form, I will veto it. I call on the Congress to correct the
    appropriations bills now under consideration before they reach my desk,
    not after.