[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000-2001, Book III)]
[December 21, 2000]
[Pages 2770-2777]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



[[Page 2770]]


Statement on Signing the Consolidated Appropriations Act, FY 2001
December 21, 2000

    I have signed into law H.R. 4577, the Consolidated Appropriations 
Act, FY 2001. I am pleased that my Administration and the Congress were 
able to reach agreement on the remaining appropriations bills and 
produce a hard-won victory for the American people.
    The legislation reflects my Administration's longstanding commitment 
to education, worker training and assistance, and medical research, and 
continued opposition to unrelated anti-environmental riders, which have 
no place in these appropriation bills. As a result of extensive 
negotiations, my Administration was able to secure significant funding 
increases for many programs that represent significant victories for the 
American people, including teacher training, class size reduction, 
worker protection programs, and mental health programs.
    I am very pleased that the legislation creates a new $1.2 billion 
school renovation grant program, targeted to high-need districts. It 
provides $0.9 billion for urgent school repairs, including $75 million 
for public schools with high concentrations of Native American students, 
$0.3 billion for special education and technology-related activities, 
and $25 million for a demonstration program to assist charter schools in 
obtaining non-Federal financing for their infrastructure needs. The 
initiative will enable schools to undertake much-needed renovation, such 
as repairs to roofs, heating and cooling systems, and electrical wiring.
    The bill also provides $1.6 billion for the third installment of my 
plan to help reduce class size in the early grades. While the Republican 
proposal did not guarantee funding for the teachers already hired and 
would have instead allowed Class Size dollars to be used for virtually 
any activity, I am pleased that the bill that I have signed provides 
$1.6 billion for Class Size Reduction, enough to support the over 29,000 
teachers already hired, plus an additional 8,000 teachers.
    I am also pleased that the budget agreement provides $567 million 
for my Teaching to High Standards plan to improve teacher preparation 
and help train teachers to meet higher standards. This funding level is 
$194 million more than last year's level. The bill includes $485 million 
for Eisenhower Professional Development State Grants, providing training 
for as many as 2.3 million teachers and strengthening accountability by 
requiring that States and districts use new Eisenhower funds to reduce 
the number of uncertified teachers in their schools. The bill also 
provides $44 million for new national-level activities, including 
initiatives to train early childhood educators and measures to recruit 
talented mid-career professionals into teaching.
    The legislation provides $846 million for 21st Century Community 
Learning Centers to support after school and summer school programs that 
make extended learning opportunities available for students and offer a 
safe place for ``latch-key'' children to learn during the after-school 
hours. At this funding level, nearly 650,000 more students than last 
year will have access to these services.
    I am very pleased that Title I Grants to Local Education Agencies 
are funded at $8.4 billion, an increase of $0.4 billion more than last 
year, to continue efforts to help disadvantaged students catch up with 
their peers. In addition, the bill supports my Accountability Fund 
proposal by providing $225 million, an increase of $91 million, to help 
States turn around the lowest-performing schools and hold schools 
accountable for results. This funding level will provide help to 4,500 
schools, an increase of 1,800 over last year.
    I am pleased that the bill provides an increase in funding to $286 
million for the Reading Excellence Initiative. This program supports 
literacy services for children, including local reading programs, 
teacher training, tutoring programs, and family literacy services. With 
this funding, all the remaining States and territories will be able to 
receive grants, bringing the number of children served to 3.1 million.
    I am pleased that the budget agreement provides $872 million for 
educational technology that will be used to fund programs that train an 
additional 110,000 teachers to effectively use modern technology in the 
classroom. The bill also provides a $32 million increase for Community 
Technology Centers, creating up to 650 centers that provide access to 
computers and

[[Page 2771]]

Information Age tools to children and adults that cannot afford them at 
home.
    The bill includes $125 million for the Small, Safe and Successful 
High Schools program, $80 million above the FY 2000 enacted level. The 
additional funds will help over 1,000 of the Nation's high schools 
implement smaller, more intimate learning environments through reforms 
like schools-within-schools and career academies.
    I strongly support the $190 million provided in the legislation for 
the Charter Schools program. The additional funds will support the 
startup of nearly 500 new or redesigned schools that offer enhanced 
public school choice and the freedom to pursue innovative educational 
programs. At the beginning of my Administration, there was only one 
charter school. With this increase, the Charter School program will have 
supported over 2,800 charter schools.
    I also support the $644 million provided in the bill for Safe and 
Drug Free Schools and Communities programs. Within this amount, the bill 
contains $35 million to expand the Safe Schools/Healthy Students 
initiative; $50 million for the middle school Coordinator Initiative; 
and $10 million for Project School Emergency Response to Violence, to 
provide emergency assistance, such as crisis counseling and increased 
security, to school districts that experience a violent or traumatic 
crisis.
    I strongly support the $7.4 billion for Special Education programs, 
an increase of $1.4 billion over the FY 2000 enacted level. Included in 
this total is $6.3 billion for Special Education State Grants. The bill 
also provides my requested increase for Grants for Infants and Families, 
for a total of $384 million.
    I am very pleased that the bill contains a major increase in funding 
for Pell Grants. The bill provides $8.8 billion to support a $3,750 
maximum award.
    The bill includes $295 million for GEAR-UP. Compared to last year, 
this funding level provides needed college preparation services to 
nearly 500,000 more low-income students. Equally important is the 
funding provided in the bill for TRIO, which receives $730 million and 
will help 765,000 disadvantaged students attend and complete college.
    I am pleased that the Congress fully funded my $1 billion request 
for Federal Work-Study. This level continues to enable one million 
students to work their way through college.
    I am pleased that the legislation provides over $1 billion in 
increases to programs included in my Administration's Hispanic Education 
Action Plan (HEAP). These programs help to improve overall the 
educational outcomes of Latino and limited English proficient students 
by increasing their levels of academic achievement, high school 
graduation, post-secondary participation, and opportunities for lifelong 
learning.
    I commend the Congress for including $70 million for my English 
Language/Civics Initiative, nearly triple last year's funding. This 
program helps States and communities provide recent immigrants and other 
limited English proficient individuals with expanded access to quality 
English-language instruction linked to civics education, including 
understanding the U.S. Government and public education systems, the 
workplace, and other key institutions of American life. Funding for this 
initiative in FY 2001 will provide services for almost 250,000 
individuals.
    The bill includes $306 million for Education Research, Statistics, 
and Assessment. The funds will provide additional support for the 
Interagency Educational Research Initiative, the new Birth Cohort of the 
Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, and new grants for the Initiative on 
Language Minority Students, a program that seeks better ways to educate 
children whose first language is not English.
    The bill provides $11.9 billion in discretionary funds for the 
Department of Labor (DOL), a $0.7 billion increase above the FY 2000 
enacted level. The funding provided supports my major proposals for job 
training, worker protection programs, and grants for working with 
developing countries to eliminate abusive child labor.
    I am pleased that the legislation provides $1.6 billion for 
dislocated worker assistance. The program will provide training and re-
employment services to 883,000 dislocated workers. Since FY 1993, my 
Administration has succeeded in almost tripling funding for, and 
participation in, programs that help dislocated workers return to work. 
In addition, the bill includes $35 million of the $50 million I 
requested to provide job-finding assistance to 156,000 unemployment 
insurance claimants to speed their reentry into the workforce.
    The bill provides nearly my full request to expand services to job 
seekers at One-Stop centers as recently authorized in the bipartisan 
Workforce Investment Act (WIA). The bill funds

[[Page 2772]]

$150 million of the $154 million requested to provide improved access to 
One-Stops as well as continued support for electronic labor exchange and 
labor market information. The enrolled bill also fully funds my $20 
million request for work incentive grants to help integrate employment 
services for persons with disabilities into the mainstream One-Stop 
system.
    The bill provides $55 million for the Responsible Reintegration of 
Youth Offenders (RRYO) initiative. RRYO will bring roughly 10,300 young 
ex-offenders into the workplace through job training, placement, and 
support services, and by creating new partnerships between the criminal 
justice system and the WIA system. In addition, the enrolled bill 
includes $20 million to enable DOL to contribute to the Safe Schools/
Healthy Students joint initiative with the Departments of Justice, 
Education, and Health and Human Services that will expand efforts to 
address out-of-school youth.
    The enrolled bill also provides additional funding for other youth 
job training programs. Specifically the bill includes $275 million for 
the Youth Opportunity Grants program to finance the third year of five-
year competitive grants that provide education, training and support 
services to 63,000 youth in Empowerment Zones/Empowerment Communities 
(EZ/ECs). In addition, the bill provides $1.1 billion for the Youth 
Activities Formula Grants to provide training and employment 
opportunities to an estimated 660,000 youth in FY 2001.
    I am disappointed that the Congress has not provided $255 million as 
requested for the Fathers Work/Families Win initiative. As a result, 
80,000 non-custodial and low-income parents will not get the additional 
support to get a job or upgrade their skills.
    The bill provides $148 million for the Bureau of International Labor 
Affairs, an increase of $78 million, or 112 percent, above last year's 
level. The legislation provides a total of $82 million for efforts to 
address international child labor issues. I am pleased that my $45 
million request to expand the work of the International Labor 
Organization's International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labor 
was fully funded and that the bill provides $37 million to support my 
new bilateral assistance initiative to improve access to basic education 
in developing countries.
    The legislation also provides $23 million to establish the Office of 
Disability Policy, Evaluation and Technical Assistance. Headed by a new 
Assistant Secretary, this office will provide leadership in helping 
people with disabilities enter, re-enter, and remain in the workforce. 
In addition, I am pleased that the bill includes $60 million to 
administer the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation 
Program to help workers who have developed illnesses associated with 
nuclear weapons production and testing.
    The bill provides the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) 
with $49.9 billion in funding, $7.1 billion above the FY 2000 level.
    I commend the Congress for fully funding my request of $817 million 
for the Child Care and Development Block Grant, bringing the total level 
of the block grant to $2 billion in FY 2001 and allowing nearly 150,000 
additional children to be served. The bill also authorizes and provides 
$20 million for the Early Learning Opportunities Act, which is similar 
to my Early Learning Fund proposal. Early Learning funds may be used to 
improve child care quality and promote school readiness through 
activities such as training parents to facilitate cognitive development 
and offering training, recruitment, and retention incentives for child 
care professionals.
    The enrolled bill provides the largest increase for Head Start in 
the program's history. An increase of $93 million over the FY 2000 
enacted level will bring total program funding to $6.2 billion, adding 
approximately 60,000 new slots for low-income children and continuing on 
the path to serve one million kids by FY 2002.
    I am pleased that the enrolled bill fully funds the Family 
Caregivers program established in the recently reauthorized Older 
Americans Act at $125 million. The program will provide information, 
respite care, and other support services to 250,000 families caring for 
loved ones who are ill or disabled.
    The enrolled bill increases Low Income Home Energy Assistance 
Program funds by $300 million for total non-emergency program funding of 
$1.4 billion. These additional funds will help low-income families cope 
with continued high heating fuel prices. The bill also provides $300 
million in contingent emergency funds.
    I strongly support the increase of $2.5 billion, or 14 percent, over 
the FY 2000 level provided to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) 
for biomedical research. The $20.3 billion will enable NIH to continue 
to pursue new methods

[[Page 2773]]

for diagnosing, treating, and curing diseases such as cancer, diabetes, 
Alzheimer's, and HIV/AIDS. The bill also provides $130 million for the 
newly-established Center for Research on Minority Health and Health 
Disparities, which will coordinate and support NIH's trans-Institute, 
billion dollar research portfolio on minority health.
    The bill provides $3.9 billion for the Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention. The increased funds will support: $163 million for 
domestic and global HIV/AIDS prevention efforts; $78 million to improve 
childhood immunizations; $67 million for infectious disease activities; 
$37 million for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and 
Health; and $18 million for breast and cervical cancer screening 
activities.
    I am pleased that this legislation provides $357 million for the 
Congressional Black Caucus HIV/AIDS initiative, an increase of $105 
million above the FY 2000 enacted level of $252 million. This will 
support an expanded scope of HIV/AIDS prevention, education, treatment, 
and outreach activities for minority community-based organizations 
working to slow the spread of HIV/AIDS in their communities.
    I support the $5.6 billion provided to the Health Resources and 
Services Administration, $1 billion above the FY 2000 enacted level and 
$890 million above the FY 2001 request. Increases over the FY 2000 level 
include: $100 million to continue funding demonstration projects that 
address health care access for the uninsured; $15 million for Family 
Planning; $213 million for Ryan White activities; $150 million for 
Community Health Centers; and, $195 million for Children's Hospitals 
Graduate Medical Education. In addition, I am pleased that the bill 
provides $550 million for the Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief Fund Act so 
that additional relief payments may be made to hemophiliacs who 
contracted HIV/AIDS, and their families.
    The bill provides $2.9 billion for Substance Abuse and Mental Health 
Services. Mental Health increases over the FY 2000 enacted level total 
$151 million, including $64 million for the Mental Health Block Grant, 
and $25 million in new targeted grants for early intervention and 
prevention, as well as local capacity expansion. Substance abuse 
increases over the FY 2000 level total $135 million, including $65 
million for the Substance Abuse Block Grant, $42 million for substance 
abuse treatment grants and $28 million for substance abuse prevention 
grants.
    The bill invests $50 million in Real Choice Systems Change Grants to 
help States develop comprehensive plans to care for persons with 
disabilities in the most appropriate setting. These funds would be used 
to do the following: conduct intensive outreach efforts to educate 
people with disabilities about the home and community-based options 
currently available to them; streamline application and eligibility 
processes for home- and community-based care services; and modify State 
policy that results in the unnecessary institutionalization of people 
with disabilities.
    The bill includes $79 million for my Nursing Home Initiative, a $32 
million, or 68 percent, increase over the FY 2000 enacted level. This 
funding provides $66 million for more rigorous inspections of nursing 
facilities and improved Federal oversight of nursing home quality, and 
grants to the States to develop ways for the disabled to move into 
community-based care rather than nursing homes. Congress also provided 
$13.5 million for HHS' Office of the General Counsel and Departmental 
Appeals Board to address the backlog of nursing home appeals and handle 
increased legal advice, litigation support, and hearings on nursing home 
enforcement cases.
    The bill provides a program level of $270 million to the Agency for 
Health Care Policy and Research, $70 million over the FY 2000 level, to 
expand research on the costs, uses, and quality of health care, and to 
enhance the Medical Expenditures Panel Surveys. This includes $50 
million for research on patient safety and the reduction of medical 
errors and $10 million for research on health care worker safety.
    I support the $326 million to expand HHS' bioterrorism initiative. 
Congress fully funded my request of $52 million for CDC's national 
pharmaceutical stockpile and provided $168 million for CDC to expand 
national, State, and local epidemiologic laboratories, surveillance 
capacity for biological agents, strategic planning, and capabilities to 
screen toxicants.
    The bill provides the Health Care Financing Administration's 
(HCFA's) program management with a total program level of $2.3 billion, 
$173 million, or eight percent, over the FY 2000 enacted level. This 
funding will support HCFA's efforts to strengthen its oversight of 
Medicare

[[Page 2774]]

contractors and efforts to ensure the quality and safety of nursing 
homes, non-accredited hospitals and other facilities. Funding is 
included for the National Medicare Education Program that educates 
beneficiaries, enabling them to make informed health decisions on topics 
like managed care, long-term care and supplemental insurance.
    I am pleased that bill language was modified to allow the Secretary 
of Commerce to issue regulations in January that will protect the 
endangered Steller sea lion, not undermine the Endangered Species Act, 
and allow an appropriate level of fishing to resume in the affected 
Alaska fisheries. In addition, the bill provides $50 million for 
research into the recovery of Steller sea lions, and for economic 
assistance to Alaskan fishing communities that may experience economic 
impacts from the new regulations. The bill sustains my Administration's 
longstanding commitment to protect the Nation's environmental laws from 
inappropriate and unrelated anti-environmental riders.
    I am pleased that the bill does not include language prohibiting the 
promulgation of the Department of Labor's ergonomics standard. The 
standard, which was promulgated last month, seeks to prevent work-
related injuries arising from risk factors such as repetitive motion or 
overexertion.
    The bill extends the current availability period for Welfare-to-Work 
grant funds for an additional two years, allowing grantees the chance to 
take advantage of eligibility changes made in the FY 2000 Appropriations 
Act.
    I am also pleased that the bill includes a provision to compensate 
beneficiaries of Federal programs who experienced a shortfall in their 
benefit payments as a result of the understatement of the Consumer Price 
Index that occurred in 1999. The bill provides that any compensation 
payments will be disregarded as income for purposes of means-tested 
programs. The bill also provides that the corrected CPI series for 1999 
be taken into account for purposes of the Internal Revenue Code, 
effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2000.
    I am very pleased that the legislation does not include language 
that would have restricted public health funds for emergency 
contraception health services in primary and secondary schools. I was 
strongly opposed to this language because decisions about what kinds of 
services should be provided in school settings are more appropriately 
left to local decisionmakers, who can take into consideration their 
community's health needs.
    I am very disappointed that Congress has mandated that all schools 
and libraries receiving Federal educational technology funds implement 
Internet filtering technology. Under the provisions of this bill, 
noncompliant schools and libraries will be ineligible for E-rate 
discounts and other Federal technology funds. My Administration has 
actively promoted the protection of children from harmful materials on 
the Internet, and I have been a strong supporter of locally driven 
efforts to make our schools and libraries safe portals for students to 
explore the World Wide Web. Because of the importance of protecting 
children from inappropriate material online, I believe that local 
development and implementation of an Internet-acceptable use plan is a 
more effective, appropriate solution than mandatory filtering for 
ensuring comprehensive protection while meeting the diverse needs of 
local schools and libraries. Although I am pleased that the required 
technological protection measures will be included as part of a locally 
developed policy, I would have preferred to allow communities more 
flexibility in developing appropriate policies by not imposing this 
potentially expensive and restrictive requirement. I am also concerned 
that because current technology may not be able to differentiate between 
harmful and non-harmful expression with precision, these provisions may 
have the effect of limiting access to valuable information in a manner 
that offends our tradition of freedom of speech. We will seek to 
implement the policy in a way that maximizes local flexibility and 
minimizes local burdens within the framework of the statute.
    The bill includes a provision making clear that religious 
organizations may qualify for substance abuse prevention and treatment 
grants from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 
Administration (SAMHSA) on the same basis as other nonprofit 
organizations. The Department of Justice advises, however, that this 
provision would be unconstitutional to the extent that it were construed 
to permit governmental funding of organizations that do not or cannot 
separate their religious activities from their substance abuse treatment 
and prevention activities that are supported by SAMHSA aid. Accordingly, 
I construe the bill as forbidding the funding of

[[Page 2775]]

such organizations and as permitting Federal, State, and local 
governments involved in disbursing SAMHSA funds to take into account the 
structure and operations of a religious organization in determining 
whether such an organization is constitutionally and statutorily 
eligible to receive funding.
    I am also pleased that, unlike earlier versions of the bill, the 
final bill excludes or modifies many provisions that would have changed 
our environmental protection and natural resource conservation laws 
without adequate public and congressional scrutiny. In particular, I am 
satisfied that a provision restricting the regulation of snowmobile use 
in national parks has been sufficiently modified to allow completion of 
a pending rule for Yellowstone National Park and two adjacent parks, so 
long as that rule does not reduce snowmobile use during the first two 
winter seasons.
    The bill fully funds my IRS modernization and reform program for FY 
2001. However, Congress denied a requested FY 2002 advance appropriation 
of $422 million for IRS technology modernization. In addition, the bill 
provides only $141 million of my $225 million request for enhanced 
staffing to improve tax compliance and customer service activities.
    I am pleased that the bill includes $185 million for the Office of 
National Drug Control Policy's National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, 
as well as $207 million for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas.
    I am very disappointed that the bill continues objectionable current 
law provisions that restrict Federal Employees Health Benefit Program 
(FEHBP) coverage for abortions except in the cases where the life of the 
mother is endangered or the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest. The 
bill continues current law requirements that health plans participating 
in the FEHBP that provide prescription drug coverage must also provide 
prescription contraceptive coverage.
    I am pleased that the bill provides funding and authority for 
priority agricultural conservation programs, including $26 million for 
the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and authority to spend 
existing funds on the Farmland Protection Program. These programs will 
improve our environment and protect our Nation's open spaces while 
boosting farm income.
    There are several authorization bills included in H.R. 4577, 
including the Medicare, Medicaid, and the State Children's Health 
Insurance Program (SCHIP) Benefits Improvement and Protection Act. This 
legislation provides States with increased allotments aimed at assisting 
hospitals serving significant numbers of low-income and uninsured 
patients; makes it easier for States to enroll uninsured children in 
Medicaid and SCHIP by permitting enrollment through schools, child 
support enforcement agencies, homeless shelters, program eligibility 
offices, and certain other sites; increases Medicaid reimbursements for 
federally qualified health centers and rural health centers; and directs 
HHS to issue the final Medicaid upper payment limit rule by December 31, 
2000. The bill provides an additional $70 million in FYs 2001 and 2002 
and $100 million in FY 2003 for the special diabetes programs at the 
National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention, and the Indian Health Service.
    The legislation also includes a two-year extension of the medical 
savings accounts program, which allows employers to make tax exempt 
contributions on behalf of employees to cover medical expenses.
    I am disappointed that the bill fails to include my proposals to 
expand coverage to uninsured families; restore Medicaid and SCHIP 
benefits to immigrant pregnant women, children, and disabled 
individuals; and improve equity in Medicaid by allowing States to serve 
individuals in their homes and communities rather than in nursing homes. 
I am also disappointed that the bill does not include my proposal to 
bring payment rates for hospital services in Puerto Rico more in line 
with the rates that apply elsewhere in the country.
    H.R. 4577 includes tax incentives and programs to help low-income 
people in distressed communities by encouraging private sector partners 
to increase investment and growth in low-income communities.
    I am pleased that the bill includes the creation of a New Market tax 
incentive for investors that invest in equity investments in qualified 
low-income communities; an increase in the low-income housing volume 
caps for tax-exempt private activity bonds; and an expansion of 
eligibility for the brownfields tax incentive to cover all contaminated 
sites certified by a State, other than sites on the Superfund National 
Priorities List, and an extension through 2003.
    The bill amends the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) to provide 
regulatory relief for investors and authorize appropriations of such 
sums

[[Page 2776]]

as are necessary to carry out the CEA for FYs 2001-2005. The bill would 
deregulate most over-the-counter derivatives (financial instruments 
whose value depends on the value or change in value of an underlying 
security, commodity, or asset) traded electronically between 
sophisticated entities such as banks, broker/dealers, and high-net-worth 
individuals.
    I support the reauthorization of a number of Small Business 
Administration programs in the bill, including my proposal to increase 
the number of small loans below $150,000, reduce borrower fees, and 
improve technical assistance programs available to microentrepreneurs. 
The bill would also extend the authority for a number of expiring 
programs such as the Small Business Innovation Research and Small 
Disadvantaged Business programs. Finally, the bill authorizes the New 
Markets Venture Capital, New Markets Technical Assistance, and 
BusinessLINC programs, which provide authority for $250 million in 
public and private capital for rural and urban small business 
investments, technical assistance, and mentoring services for aspiring 
entrepreneurs. The bill also authorizes establishment of a set-aside 
program for women-owned small businesses that are classified as 
economically disadvantaged or in an industry in which women owned 
businesses are substantially underrepresented.
    I am pleased that this legislation amends immigration provisions 
included in the Commerce/Justice/State Appropriations Act thereby easing 
immigration restrictions on an estimated 700,000 immigrant families 
living in the United States. The provisions would extend section 245(i) 
until April 30, 2001, to allow aliens (and their spouses and children) 
who apply for an adjustment of status or a labor certification to remain 
in the United States until such petition is approved. Additionally, the 
provisions would create a new, temporary non-immigrant visa for spouses 
and children of spouses of legal permanent residents and U.S. citizens 
seeking to enter the United States to await approval of legal permanent 
resident status for themselves (the ``V'' visa). The provisions would 
also allow certain individuals who were not granted amnesty under the 
Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 who are currently seeking 
such relief through the courts to apply for permanent residency. While I 
am disappointed that the legislation fails to eliminate the disparate 
treatment under our immigration laws sought for Salvadorans, 
Guatemalans, Hondurans, Haitians, and Liberians and does not provide any 
relief for deserving individuals affected by changes in the 1996 
immigration law, it is the best compromise that could be reached after 
several rounds of intense negotiations.
    H.R. 4577 also includes authorization for the Delta Regional 
Authority (DRA), a newly created agency that will focus $20 million for 
area development and technical assistance on distressed counties in the 
Mississippi Delta Region. The authorization will permit the 
establishment of the DRA which will work to improve the economic status 
of some of our Nation's most impoverished communities.
    There are provisions in the Act that purport to condition my 
authority or that of certain officers to use funds appropriated by the 
Act on the approval of congressional committees. My Administration will 
interpret such provisions to require notification only, since any other 
interpretation would contradict the Supreme Court ruling in INS v. 
Chadha.
    Section 620 of the Treasury/General Government Appropriations 
section of the Act prohibits the use of appropriations to pay the salary 
of any Federal Government officer or employee who interferes with 
certain communications between Federal employees and Members of 
Congress. I do not interpret this provision to detract from my 
constitutional authority and that of my appointed heads of departments 
to supervise and control the operations and communications of the 
executive branch, including the control of privileged and national 
security information.
    Another provision of the Act raises Appointments Clause concerns. 
Subsection 111(b) of the Small Business Reauthorization Act of 2000 
portion of the bill provides joint grant-making authority to the 
Administrator of the Small Business Administration, who is a 
constitutional officer, and to two other officials, who are not. In 
order to avoid an Appointments Clause problem raised by this provision, 
I will interpret that subsection as giving the Administrator the final 
say concerning selection of grant recipients after consultation with the 
other designated officials.
    Section 313 of the Legislative Branch Appropriations portion of the 
Act would establish in the legislative branch a ``Center for Russian 
Leadership Development.'' The principal function of the Center would be 
to administer a grant program to support visits to this country by 
Russian nationals. I fully support the goals

[[Page 2777]]

of this grant program. The Department of Justice advises me, however, 
that because the program is not administered by the executive branch, it 
is unconstitutional. I urge the Congress to enact new legislation 
reassigning the Center to an executive branch agency.
    Several provisions of the Act also raise concerns under the 
Recommendations Clause. These provisions purport to require a Cabinet 
Secretary or other Administration official to make recommendations to 
Congress on changes in law. To the extent that those provisions would 
require Administration officials to provide Congress with policy 
recommendations or draft legislation, I direct these officials to treat 
any such requirements as precatory.
    In addition, I hereby designate the following amounts as emergency 
requirements for the Department of Defense, pursuant to section 
251(b)(2)(A) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control act of 
1985, as amended: $100,000,000 provided to the Overseas Contingency 
Operations Transfer account and $150,000,000 provided to the Operations 
and Maintenance, Navy account in H.R. 5666, as enacted by H.R. 4577.

                                                      William J. Clinton

 The White House,

 December 21, 2000.

Note: H.R. 4577, approved December 21, was assigned Public Law No. 106-
554. This statement was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
December 22.