    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book I)]
    [May 1, 1998]
    [Pages 662-663]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Statement on Signing the 1998 Supplemental Appropriations and
    Rescissions Act
    May 1, 1998

        Today I have signed into law H.R. 3579, the FY ``1998 Supplemental
    Appropriations and Rescissions Act.'' This emergency supplemental
    legislation makes urgently needed funds available for victims of natural
    disasters and for our troops in Bosnia and the Persian Gulf. While it is
    disappointing that the Congress has failed to meet the Nation's
    financial responsibilities by not approving funds for the International
    Monetary Fund (IMF) and the United Nations (U.N.), the Congress has
    provided funds that I requested for victims of natural disasters at home
    and for our military troops overseas.
        I am pleased that this legislation will enable us to meet our
    commitment to our troops in Bosnia and the Gulf, to support readiness
    worldwide, and to aid victims of natural disasters at home. This Act
    provides more than $2 billion for these purposes.
        The Act also includes $2.4 billion for disaster relief programs for
    the Federal Emergency Management Agency, for emergency highway repair,
    for repairing levees and other flood control systems, for repairing
    national wildlife refuges and national park property, and for State and
    private forestry, farm loans, dairy, and other agricultural assistance.
        I am also pleased that the Congress has decided to omit a number of
    extraneous and objectionable items in this legislation, such as
    provisions to increase the number of assault weapons on the street, to
    subsidize banks excessively for making student loans without fully
    offsetting the costs, and to undermine our ability to provide food
    stamps to certain legal immigrants.
        It is very troubling, however, that the Congress placed politics
    above sound science by insisting on two measures that would diminish our
    public lands. One of these provisions permits the building of a six-lane
    commuter highway near Albuquerque, New Mexico, through the Petroglyph
    National Monument. This is a dangerous departure from the practice of
    managing National Parks based on sound science and resource protection.
    Another objectionable section is intended to interfere with the Forest
    Service's ability to manage the National Forests. This rider is directed
    at a proposed regulation that would temporarily suspend road
    construction in roadless areas of our National Forests. It imposes
    difficult and burdensome paperwork and potentially costly compensation
    requirements on the Forest Service. In addition, I am very concerned
    about the limitations placed on the Government's ability to ensure a
    fair return for oil and gas resources extracted from Federal lands. My
    Administration will oppose any efforts to make these limitations
    permanent.
        I am deeply disappointed that this Act extends the comment period
    and delays the effective date of the ``Organ Procurement and
    Transplantation Network'' final rule, allowing an unfair organ
    allocation system to continue. This inequitable system violates the
    intent of the National Organ Transplant Act, which requires a national,
    equitable system, free of geographic bias, as well as the American
    Medical Association's Code of Medical Ethics, which prohibits the
    distribution of organs on the basis of geographic conditions. The final
    rule would ensure that organs are allocated to the sickest candidates
    first.

    [[Page 663]]

        It is also regrettable that in order to pay for the emergency
    funding for victims of natural disasters, this legislation demands
    unnecessary and unwarranted cuts in existing housing programs for low-
    income Americans. In response to my Administration's strong objections,
    the Congress pledged to restore this funding fully in the next fiscal
    year. I call upon the Congress to honor that promise, and to do so
    without draining resources from any of the housing programs contained in
    my budget for FY 1999. Instead of cutting housing assistance to low-
    income Americans, the Congress should provide funding for the 100,000
    new housing vouchers proposed in my FY 1999 Budget.
        It is imperative that the Congress act quickly so that we may meet
    our commitment to the IMF and the U.N. Delay or failure to meet the full
    IMF requests could undermine our capacity to deal with threats to world
    economic stability and could leave us unable to protect American
    workers, farmers, and businesses in the event of an escalation or spread
    of the Asian financial crisis or a new crisis. In addition, failure to
    provide the full request for U.N. arrears could jeopardize our chance to
    affect negotiations on lowering U.S. dues and would undermine U.S.
    leadership in the international community. I call on the Congress to
    pass new legislation quickly, with workable terms, so that the United
    States is able to maintain its position as a world leader and to meet
    its obligations to the IMF and the U.N.

                                                          William J. Clinton

    The White House,

    May 1, 1998.

    Note: H.R. 3579, approved May 1, was assigned Public Law No. 105-174.