[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 31, Number 51 (Monday, December 25, 1995)]
[Pages 2208-2210]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Message to the House of Representatives Returning Without Approval the 
Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related 
Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996

December 19, 1995

To the House of Representatives:

    I am returning herewith without my approval H.R. 2076, the 
``Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and 
Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996.''
    This bill does not meet the priorities and needs of our Nation and 
people. It would undermine our ability to fight the war on crime; 
decimate technology programs that are critical to building a strong U.S. 
economy; and weaken our leadership in the world by drastically cutting 
funding for international organizations, peacekeeping, and other 
international affairs activities.

[[Page 2209]]

    First, the bill represents an unacceptable retreat in our fight 
against crime and drugs. It eliminates my COPS initiative (Community 
Oriented Policing Services) to put 100,000 more police officers on the 
street. Already, this initiative has put thousands of police on the 
street, working hand-in-hand with their communities to fight crime. The 
block grant that H.R. 2076 would offer instead would not guarantee a 
single new police officer. That's not what the American people want, and 
I won't accept it. As I have said, I will not sign any version of this 
bill that does not fund the COPS initiative as a freestanding, 
discretionary grant program, as authorized.
    The bill also eliminates my ``drug courts'' initiative. And it 
unwisely abandons crime prevention efforts such as the Ounce of 
Prevention Council and the Community Relations Service. I am also 
disappointed that the funding levels in the bill fall short of my 
request for the Drug Enforcement Administration, and OCDETF (Organized 
Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force). This is no time to let down our 
guard in the fight against drugs.
    Second, the bill constitutes a short-sighted assault on the Commerce 
Department's technology programs that work effectively with business to 
expand our economy, help Americans compete in the global marketplace, 
and create high quality jobs. As we approach a new, technology-driven 
century, it makes no sense to eliminate an industry-driven, highly 
competitive, cost-shared initiative like our Advanced Technology Program 
(ATP), which fosters technology development, promotes industrial 
alliances, and creates jobs. Nor does it make sense to sharply cut 
funding for measures that will help assure our long-term growth and 
competitiveness--such as our National Information Infrastructure grants 
program, which helps connect schools, hospitals, and libraries to the 
information superhighway; the GLOBE program, which promotes the study of 
science and the environment in our schools; the Manufacturing Extension 
Partnership, which helps small manufacturers meet the hi-tech demands of 
the new marketplace; Defense Conversion; or the Technology 
Administration. And I oppose the bill's harmful cuts for the Census 
Bureau and for economic and statistical analysis.
    Third, I am deeply concerned that this bill would undermine our 
global leadership and impair our ability to protect and defend important 
U.S. interests around the world--both by making unwise cuts in funding 
for international organizations and peacekeeping activities, and by 
cutting programs of the State Department, the Arms Control and 
Disarmament Agency, and the United States Information Agency. These cuts 
would impair our ability to support important activities such as the 
nonproliferation of weapons, the promotion of human rights, and the 
control of infectious disease like the Ebola virus. Moreover, sections 
of the bill include inappropriate restrictive language, including 
language limiting the conduct of U.S. diplomatic relations with Vietnam, 
that I believe infringe on Presidential prerogatives. And I cannot 
accept the provision that would cut off all funding for these agencies 
on April 1, 1996, unless the State Department Authorization Act and 
related legislation had been signed into law.
    Fourth, the bill includes three additional provisions that I cannot 
accept.
    It cripples the capacity of the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) to 
fulfill its historic mission of serving people in need--slashing its 
overall funding, sharply limiting the administrative funds LSC needs to 
conduct its business, and imposing excessive restrictions on LSC's 
operations. LSC should be allowed to carry on its work in an appropriate 
manner, both in its basic programs and in special initiatives like the 
migrant legal services program.
    Section 103 of the bill would prohibit the use of funds for 
performing abortions, except in cases involving rape or danger to the 
life of the mother. The Justice Department has advised that there is a 
substantial risk that this provision would be held unconstitutional as 
applied to female prison inmates.
    The bill also includes an ill-considered legislative rider that 
would impose a moratorium on future listings under the Endangered 
Species Act by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and 
other agencies. That rider not only would make bad policy, it also has 
no place in this bill.

[[Page 2210]]

    Finally, I would urge the Congress to continue the Associate 
Attorney General's office.
    For these reasons and others my Administration has conveyed to the 
Congress in earlier communications, I cannot accept this bill. H.R. 2076 
does not reflect my priorities or the values of the American people. I 
urge the Congress to send me an appropriations bill that truly serves 
this Nation and its people.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
December 19, 1995.