[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 31, Number 43 (Monday, October 30, 1995)]
[Pages 1946-1947]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Signing the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug 
Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996

October 27, 1995

    I have signed into law H.R. 1976, the ``Agriculture, Rural 
Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies 
Appropriations Act, 1996.''
    I urge the Congress to complete action on the remaining regular FY 
1996 appropriations bills and to send them to me in acceptable form. 
Last year, the Congress sent to me--and I signed--all 13 appropriations 
bills by September 30. Regrettably, this is only the second bill that I 
have been able to sign for this fiscal year.
    This Act provides $13.4 billion in discretionary budget authority 
for programs of the Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug 
Administration, including the Special Supplemental Feeding Program for 
Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); food safety programs; and various 
programs to protect and support rural communities.
    The Act also provides a total of $41.2 billion for the Food Stamp 
program, the Child Nutrition program, the Commodity Credit Corporation, 
and other mandatory programs.

[[Page 1947]]

    In signing this bill, I have made it possible for USDA to promptly 
send full-year payments of nearly $1.8 billion for the Conservation 
Reserve Program. This program compensates farmers for protecting 
environmentally sensitive cropland.
    I am pleased that H.R. 1976 provides the resources necessary to keep 
the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and 
Children on the Administration's path to full funding. An estimated 7.5 
million women and children will be served, 400,000 more than in FY 1995. 
This program provides important nutrition benefits and health-related 
services.
    I am also pleased that the Congress continued funding at my 
requested level for the Child Nutrition program and other important 
nutrition programs for needy Americans, including the Commodity 
Supplemental Food Program, Soup Kitchens, and the Nutrition Program for 
the Elderly.
    Funds included in the bill for the Agricultural Conservation Program 
will provide Federal cost-share financing to farmers for needed soil and 
water conservation practices and structures, including water quality 
improvements.
    The bill also includes funds I requested for farm operating and farm 
ownership loans, which help new farmers get started in agriculture, as 
well as those farmers who do not quality for private-sector financing.
    In addition, H.R. 1976 omits many of the troublesome provisions 
contained in earlier versions of the bill that would have compromised 
the ability of Federal nutrition programs to assist low-income 
Americans. However, I am concerned about the provisions to reduce food 
stamp spending in an appropriations bill. This action may lead to 
proposals for additional food stamp cuts in the reconciliation process. 
This program, which assists almost 27 million low-income children, 
elderly, and working family members, continues to be the cornerstone of 
the Federal nutrition safety net.
    The Act permits full funding for the Export Enhancement Program, as 
I requested. This program assists exports of American agricultural 
products, which reached an all-time high in FY 1995 of $53 billion--a 
trend we would like to continue.
    While funding provided by H.R. 1976 is an improvement over funding 
levels in earlier versions of the bill, I am still disappointed by its 
reductions from my request for rural development. By contrast the Act 
includes $58 million in unrequested funds for earmarked university 
research facilities. I believe rural Americans would have been better 
served had these funds instead been channeled into rural development 
programs. Doing so could have, for example, helped 7,000 rural families 
realize the American dream of owning their own home through USDA's 
single-family loan program.
    Section 726 raises constitutional concerns and I have therefore 
asked the Department of Justice to advise me as to the validity and 
enforceability of that section.
    Despite these concerns the overall bill is acceptable because of the 
very positive provisions I have already mentioned and because of the 
benefits its programs provide to farm families and rural communities.
    Again, I urge the Congress to meet its responsibilities by sending 
me the remaining regular FY 1996 appropriations bills in acceptable 
form.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
October 27, 1995.

Note: H.R. 1976, approved October 21, was assigned Public Law No. 104-
37.