[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 41 (Monday, October 16, 2000)]
[Pages 2434-2435]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Signing the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies 
Appropriations Act, 2001

October 11, 2000

    Today I have signed into law H.R. 4578, the ``Department of the 
Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001.'' I want to 
commend the Congress for agreeing on an acceptable version of this bill 
that provides critical funding for many priority needs--our national 
parks, national forests, wildlife refuges, and other public lands; State 
and local grants for land conservation and preservation; Native American 
programs; cleaner water; energy security; and the Arts. I am pleased 
that, unlike earlier versions of the bill, the final bill excludes a 
large number of highly objectionable provisions that would change our 
environmental protection and natural resource conservation laws without 
adequate public and congressional scrutiny.
    In particular, I am very pleased that this Congress has agreed to 
establish a new budget category to provide dedicated and protected 
funding for the conservation and preservation programs in my Lands 
Legacy Initiative and other related activities. This agreement will 
nearly double our investment next year in these programs and move us 
toward providing communities with the resources they need to protect 
their most precious lands. By establishing this new budget category and 
fencing off more than $10 billion over the next 5 years, we are 
fulfilling our commitment to make the single largest annual investment 
in protecting our green and open spaces since Theodore Roosevelt set our 
Nation on the path of conservation nearly a century ago.
    The bill provides a significant increase in funding for key 
components of my Native American Initiative program, including most of 
the requested investments in Indian school construction and law 
enforcement. It also provides the largest funding increase for the 
Indian Health Service in its history. The bill also helps to protect the 
environment by increasing funds for the Clean Water Action Plan and 
promotes the Arts by providing the first funding increase for the 
National Endowment for the Arts in 9 years. In addition, the increase 
provided for the National Endowment for the Humanities will enable the 
NEH to continue to implement its Rediscovering America through the 
Humanities initiative.
    The bill provides strong support for a number of other national 
priorities. It expands funding for weatherization of low-income homes, 
which will help low-income households prepare for the coming winter 
season. It includes funding for research into energy efficiency to 
reduce our dependence on oil and address climate change, through 
initiatives like the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles, which 
will aid in the development of a new generation of ultra-efficient

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cars. In addition, the bill provides funding for a Regional Home Heating 
Reserve for the Northeast.I note that there is also a provision in Title 
VIII of the bill that violates INS v. Chadha because it purports to 
condition the availability of certain appropriated funds on the 
provision by congressional committees of a list of specific acquisitions 
to be undertaken with such funds. As a result, I will treat that 
provision as being advisory only, and not as legally binding.
    In addition, all of the funds in Title V of the bill have been 
designated by the Congress as emergency requirements. I hereby designate 
those amounts in Title V, totaling $87,515,000, as emergency 
requirements pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A) of the Balanced Budget and 
Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, as amended. The Congress has 
provided other important emergency funds in the bill to assist States 
that have been ravaged by wildfires in the West. My Administration is 
reviewing the current situation, and these firefighting funds will be 
released as needs dictate.
    In conclusion, by dedicating future funds for conservation and 
related programs, investing in Indian schools, assisting energy 
conservation, and supporting the Arts, this bill represents a major step 
forward. The American people both expect and deserve nothing less.
                                            William J. Clinton

Note: H.R. 4578, approved October 11, was assigned Public Law No. 106-
291. An original was not available for verification of the content of 
this statement.