    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
    [June 17, 1997]
    [Page 760]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Statement on Signing Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Legislation
    June 17, 1997

        I am pleased to have signed into law H.R. 1871, the ``1997 Emergency
    Supplemental Appropriations Act for Recovery from Natural Disasters, and
    for Overseas Peacekeeping Efforts, Including Those in Bosnia.''
        This bill provides over $5.8 billion so that Federal agencies can
    help the hundreds of thousands of people who have suffered terribly from
    the flooding and other natural disasters that have ravaged the Dakotas,
    Minnesota, California, and 29 other States. The bill also provides $1.8
    billion to replenish Department of Defense accounts in connection with
    our peacekeeping efforts in Bosnia and Southwest Asia, and to assure
    that the Department can maintain maximum readiness of the troops.
        With regard to the funds described above, I hereby designate as
    emergency requirements all funds in this Act so designated by the
    Congress that I have not previously designated pursuant to section
    251(b)(2)(D)(i) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act
    of 1985, as amended.
        I commend the Congress for approving my request to extend
    Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid benefits through the end
    of fiscal 1997 to all legal immigrants who would otherwise lose them.
    This approach ensures that the Congress has the time to restore SSI and
    Medicaid benefits for disabled legal immigrants, consistent with the
    recent Bipartisan Budget Agreement.
        I am disappointed that the Congress chose to include several
    objectionable items that I identified in my veto message of June 9.
    Funding included in the bill for the Commission for the Advancement of
    Federal Law Enforcement not only will waste valuable Federal resources
    but also could interfere with Federal law enforcement policy and
    operations. As I indicated in my veto message, this type of oversight is
    more properly the role of the Congress, not an unelected commission.
        I am also disappointed that the Congress chose to rescind funds for
    the Ounce of Prevention Council and the Department of Defense Dual-Use
    Applications Program. The Council will be forced to reduce the level of
    grants for youth substance abuse prevention, for which about 300
    applications are under review. The reduction in the Dual-Use
    Applications program will result in higher costs of future defense
    systems.
        On balance, however, this bill is a vast improvement over the
    legislation that I vetoed on June 9. It includes the desperately needed
    resources for our Nation's hard-hit areas, but it does not include
    extraneous riders that had nothing to do with the goal of providing
    disaster relief. I am pleased that my Administration and the Congress
    worked together in a bipartisan fashion.

                                                          William J. Clinton

    The White House,

    June 17, 1997.

    Note: H.R. 1871, approved June 12, was assigned Public Law No. 105-18.