[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 39 (Monday, October 4, 1999)]
[Page 1856]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Signing the Treasury and General Government Appropriations 
Act, FY 2000

September 29, 1999

    Today I signed H.R. 2490, ``Treasury and General Government 
Appropriations Act, FY 2000'', a bill that contains several important 
improvements in family planning and child care. This bipartisan bill 
will give people who work for the Federal Government access to more 
affordable child care and flexibility in family planning. It will 
require health plans participating in the Federal Employees Health 
Benefits Program (FEHBP) that provide prescription drug coverage to 
provide prescription contraceptive coverage as well, while providing an 
exception for plans that object to this requirement on religious 
grounds. The bill also gives Government agencies new flexibility that 
will allow them to make child care more affordable for lower-income 
Federal employees. While this bill is not perfect, it does show that we 
can make progress when we work in a bipartisan fashion.

Note: H.R. 2490, approved September 29, was assigned Public Law No. 106-
58.