[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
[June 5, 1997]
[Page 704]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Statement on Supplemental Disaster Assistance Legislation
June 5, 1997

    By attaching a political wish list to the much-needed disaster 
relief legislation, the congressional majority has chosen politics over 
the public interest.
    The people of the Dakotas and Minnesota have been hit hard by 
devastating floods. They, and the people in other States around the 
country that have suffered disasters, urgently need funds from the 
enactment of a straightforward disaster relief bill. I have asked the 
Congress for such legislation.
    Instead, the Republican majority in Congress has insisted on 
attaching to this vital legislation political provisions that they know 
are unacceptable. Among them, the bill would violate our balanced budget 
agreement, cutting critical investments in education and the environment 
instead of providing important increases in investments in these and 
other areas. In addition, it would prohibit the Commerce Department from 
taking steps to improve the accuracy and cut the costs of the year 2000 
decennial census. There are other unacceptable provisions as well. None 
of them have any place in this legislation.
    Disaster relief legislation is neither the time nor the place for 
these matters. Congress needs to appropriate this disaster relief, so 
communities can begin long-term recovery, and funds can continue for 
families to rebuild homes and businesses and farmers to dig out their 
fields to plant crops.
    I call on the Republican leaders of Congress to keep the politics 
off disaster relief legislation. They should now, without delay, send me 
straightforward legislation without provisions that are not in the 
interest of the American people and that they know I will not accept.