[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
[June 9, 1997]
[Pages 713-714]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Message to the House of Representatives Returning Without Approval 
Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Legislation
June 9, 1997

To the House of Representatives:
    I am returning herewith without my approval H.R. 1469, the 
``Supplemental Appropriations and Rescissions Act, FY 1997.'' The 
congressional majority--despite the obvious and urgent need to speed 
critical relief to people in the Dakotas, Minnesota, California, and 29 
other States ravaged by flooding and other natural disasters--has chosen 
to weigh down this legislation with a series of unacceptable provisions 
that it knows will draw my veto. The time has come to stop playing 
politics with the lives of Americans in need and to send me a clean, 
unencumbered disaster relief bill that I can and will sign the moment it 
reaches my desk.
    On March 19, 1997, I sent the Congress a request for emergency 
disaster assistance and urged the Congress to approve it promptly. Both 
the House and Senate Appropriations Committees acted expeditiously to 
approve the legislation. The core of this bill, appropriately, provides 
$5.8 billion of much-needed help to people in hard-hit States and, in 
addition, contains $1.8 billion for the Department of Defense related to 
our peacekeeping efforts in Bosnia and Southwest Asia. Regrettably, the 
Republican leadership chose to include contentious issues totally 
unrelated to disaster assistance, needlessly delaying essential relief.
    The bill contains a provision that would create an automatic 
continuing resolution for all of fiscal year 1998. While the goal of 
ensuring that the Government does not shut down again is a worthy one, 
this provision is ill-advised. The issue here is not about shutting down 
the Government. Last month, I reached agreement with the Bipartisan 
Leadership of Congress on a plan to balance the budget by 2002. That 
agreement is the right way to finish the job of putting our fiscal house 
in order, consistent with our values and principles. Putting the 
Government's finances on automatic pilot is not.
    The backbone of the Bipartisan Budget Agreement is the plan to 
balance the budget while providing funds for critical investments in 
education, the environment, and other priorities. The automatic 
continuing resolution would provide resources for fiscal year 1998 that 
are $18 billion below the level contained in the Bipartisan Budget 
Agreement, threatening such investments in our future. For example: 
college aid would be reduced by $1.7 billion, eliminating nearly 375,000 
students from the Pell Grant program; the number of women, infants, and 
children receiving food and other services through WIC would be cut by 
an average of 500,000 per month; up to 56,000 fewer children would 
participate in Head Start; the number of border patrol and FBI agents 
would be reduced, as would the number of air traffic controllers; and 
our goal of cleaning up 900 Superfund sites by the year 2000 could not 
be accomplished.
    The bill also contains a provision that would permanently prohibit 
the Department of Commerce from using statistical sampling techniques in 
the 2000 decennial census for the purpose of apportioning 
Representatives in Congress among the States. Without sampling, the cost 
of the decennial census will increase as its accuracy, especially with 
regard to minorities and groups that are traditionally undercounted, 
decreases substantially. The National Academy of Sciences and other 
experts have recommended the use of statistical sampling for the 2000 
decennial census.
    The Department of Justice, under the Carter and Bush Administrations 
and during my Administration, has issued three opinions regarding the 
constitutionality and legality of sampling in the decennial census. All 
three opinions concluded that the Constitution and relevant statutes 
permit the use of sampling in the decennial census. Federal courts that 
have addressed the issue have held that the Constitution and Federal 
statutes allow sampling.
    The enrolled bill contains an objectionable provision that would 
promote the conversion of certain claimed rights-of-way into paved 
highways across sensitive national parks, public lands, and military 
installations. Under the provision, a 13-member commission would study 
the issue and provide recommendations to resolve outstanding Revised 
Statute (R.S.) 2477 claims. R.S. 2477 was enacted in 1866 to grant 
rights-of-way for the construction of highways over public lands not 
already reserved for public uses. It

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was repealed in 1976, subject to ``valid, existing rights.''
    This provision in the enrolled bill is objectionable because it is 
cumbersome, flawed, and duplicates the extensive public hearings 
conducted by the Department of the Interior over the last 4 years. In 
addition, the proposed commission excludes the Secretary of Defense, but 
military installations are among the Federal properties that would be 
affected by the recommendations of the commission. Furthermore, there is 
no assurance that the proposed commission would provide a balanced 
representation of views or proper public participation. Under the 
provision, the Secretary of the Interior can disapprove the commission's 
recommendations, preventing their submission to the Congress under 
``fast-track'' procedures in the House and Senate. I believe--and my 
Administration has stated--that a better approach would be for Interior 
to submit a legislative proposal to the Congress within 180 days to 
clarify R.S. 2477 claim issues permanently, with full congressional and 
public consideration.
    The enrolled bill contains an objectionable provision that funds the 
Commission for the Advancement of Federal Law Enforcement. I agree with 
the Fraternal Order of Police and other national law enforcement 
organizations that certain activities of the Commission, such as 
evaluating the handling of specific investigative cases, could interfere 
with Federal law enforcement policy and operations. This type of 
oversight is most properly the role of Congress, not an unelected review 
board. If external views about law enforcement programs are needed, a 
better approach would be to fund the National Commission to Support Law 
Enforcement.
    I also object to two other items in the bill. One reduces funding 
for the Ounce of Prevention Council by roughly one-third. This reduction 
would substantially diminish the work of the Council in coordinating 
crime prevention efforts at the Federal level and assisting community 
efforts to make their neighborhoods safer. The Council is in the process 
of awarding $1.8 million for grants to prevent youth substance abuse and 
of evaluating its existing grant programs. The Council has received over 
300 applications from communities and community-based organizations from 
all across the country for these grants. In addition, the bill reduces 
funding for the Department of Defense Dual-Use Applications Program. 
That program helps to develop technologies used and tested by the cost-
conscious commercial sector and to incorporate them into military 
systems. Reducing funding for this program would result in higher costs 
for future defense systems. The projects selected in this year's 
competition will save the Department of Defense an estimated $3 billion.
    Finally, by including extraneous issues in this bill, the Republican 
leadership has also delayed necessary funding for maintaining military 
readiness. The Secretary of Defense has written the Congress detailing 
the potential disruption of military training.
    I urge the Congress to remove these extraneous provisions and to 
send me a straightforward disaster relief bill that I can sign promptly, 
so that we can help hard-hit American families and businesses as they 
struggle to rebuild. Americans in need should not have to endure further 
delay.

                                                      William J. Clinton

The White House,

June 9, 1997.