[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 31, Number 51 (Monday, December 25, 1995)]
[Pages 2198-2199]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Message to the House of Representatives Returning Without Approval the 
Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996

December 18, 1995

To the House of Representatives:

    I am returning herewith without my approval H.R. 1977, the 
``Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 
1996.''
    This bill is unacceptable because it would unduly restrict our 
ability to protect America's natural resources and cultural heritage, 
promote the technology we need for long-term energy conservation and 
economic growth, and provide adequate health, educational, and other 
services to Native Americans.
    First, the bill makes wrong-headed choices with regard to the 
management and preservation of some of our most precious assets. In the 
Tongass National Forest in Alaska, it would allow harmful clear-cutting, 
require the sale of timber at unsustainable levels, and dictate the use 
of an outdated forest plan for the next 2 fiscal years.
    In the Columbia River basin in the Pacific Northwest, the bill would 
impede implementation of our comprehensive plan for managing public 
lands--the Columbia River Basin Ecosystem Management Project. It would 
do this by prohibiting publication of a final Environmental Impact 
Statement or Record of Decision and requiring the exclusion of 
information on fisheries and watersheds. The result: a potential return 
to legal gridlock on timber harvesting, grazing, mining, and other 
economically important activities.
    And in the California desert, the bill undermines our designation of 
the Mojave National Preserve by cutting funding for the Preserve and 
shifting responsibility for its management from the National Park 
Service to the Bureau of Land Management. The Mojave is our newest 
national park and part of the 1994 California Desert Protection Act--the 
largest addition to our park system in the lower 48 States. It deserves 
our support.
    Moreover, the bill would impose a misguided moratorium on future 
listings and critical habitat designations under the Endangered Species 
Act. And in the case of one endangered species, the marbled murrelet, it 
would eliminate the normal flexibility for both the Departments of the 
Interior and Agriculture to use new scientific information in managing 
our forests.
    Second, the bill slashes funding for the Department of Energy's 
energy conservation programs. This is short-sighted and unwise. 
Investment in the technology of energy conservation is important for our 
Nation's long-term economic strength and environmental health. We should 
be doing all we can to maintain and sharpen our competitive edge, not 
back off.
    Third, this bill fails to honor our historic obligations toward 
Native Americans. It provides inadequate funding for the Indian Health 
Service and our Indian Education programs. And the cuts targeted at key 
programs in the Bureau of Indian Affairs are crippling--including 
programs that support child welfare; adult vocational training; law 
enforcement and detention services; community fire protection; and 
general assistance to low-income Indian individuals and families. 
Moreover, the bill would unfairly single out certain self-governance 
tribes in Washington State for punitive treatment. Specifically, it 
would penalize these tribes financially for

[[Page 2199]]

using legal remedies in disputes with non-tribal owners of land within 
reservations.
    Finally, the bill represents a dramatic departure from our 
commitment to support for the arts and the humanities. It cuts funding 
of the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities so deeply as to 
jeopardize their capacity to keep providing the cultural, educational, 
and artistic programs that enrich America's communities large and small.
    For these reasons and others my Administration has conveyed to the 
Congress in earlier communications, I cannot accept this bill. It does 
not reflect my priorities or the values of the American people. I urge 
the Congress to send me a bill that truly serves the interests of our 
Nation and our citizens.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
December 18, 1995.