[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 52 (Monday, January 1, 2001)]
[Pages 3167-3174]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
<R04>
Statement on Signing the Consolidated Appropriations Act, FY 2001
December 21, 2000
I have signed into law H.R. 4577, the Consolidated Appropriations
Act, FY 2001. I am pleased that my Administration and the Congress were
able to reach agreement on the remaining appropriations bills and
produce a hard-won victory for the American people.
The legislation reflects my Administration's longstanding commitment
to education, worker training and assistance, and medical research, and
continued opposition to unrelated anti-environmental riders, which have
no place in these appropriation bills. As a result of extensive
negotiations, my Administration was able to secure significant funding
increases for many programs that represent significant victories for the
American people, including teacher training, class size reduction,
worker protection programs, and mental health programs.
I am very pleased that the legislation creates a new $1.2 billion
school renovation grant program, targeted to high-need districts. It
provides $0.9 billion for urgent school repairs, including $75 million
for public schools with high concentrations of Native American students,
$0.3 billion for special education and technology-related activities,
and $25 million for a demonstration program to assist charter schools in
obtaining non-Federal financing for their infrastructure needs. The
initiative will enable schools to undertake much-needed renovation, such
as repairs to roofs, heating and cooling systems, and electrical wiring.
The bill also provides $1.6 billion for the third installment of my
plan to help reduce class size in the early grades. While the Republican
proposal did not guarantee funding for the teachers already hired and
would have instead allowed Class Size dollars to be used for virtually
any activity, I am pleased that the bill that I have signed provides
$1.6 billion for Class Size Reduction, enough to support the over 29,000
teachers already hired, plus an additional 8,000 teachers.
I am also pleased that the budget agreement provides $567 million
for my Teaching to High Standards plan to improve teacher preparation
and help train teachers to meet higher standards. This funding level is
$194 million more than last year's level. The bill includes $485 million
for Eisenhower Professional Development State Grants, providing training
for as many as 2.3 million teachers and strengthening accountability by
requiring that States and districts use new Eisenhower funds to reduce
the number of uncertified teachers in their schools. The bill also
provides $44 million for new national-level activities, including
initiatives to train early childhood educators and measures to recruit
talented mid-career professionals into teaching.
The legislation provides $846 million for 21st Century Community
Learning Centers to support after school and summer school programs that
make extended learning opportunities available for students and offer a
safe place for ``latch-key'' children to learn during the after-school
hours. At this funding level, nearly 650,000 more students than last
year will have access to these services.
I am very pleased that Title I Grants to Local Education Agencies
are funded at $8.4 billion, an increase of $0.4 billion more than last
year, to continue efforts to help disadvantaged students catch up with
their peers. In addition, the bill supports my Accountability Fund
proposal by providing $225 million, an increase of $91 million, to help
States turn around the lowest-performing schools and hold schools
accountable for results. This funding level will provide help to 4,500
schools, an increase of 1,800 over last year.
I am pleased that the bill provides an increase in funding to $286
million for the Reading Excellence Initiative. This program supports
literacy services for children, including local reading programs,
teacher training, tutoring programs, and family literacy services. With
this funding, all the remaining States and territories will be able to
receive grants, bringing the number of children served to 3.1 million.
I am pleased that the budget agreement provides $872 million for
educational technology that will be used to fund programs that train an
additional 110,000 teachers to effectively use modern technology in the
classroom. The bill also provides a $32 million increase for Community
Technology
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Centers, creating up to 650 centers that provide access to computers and
Information Age tools to children and adults that cannot afford them at
home.
The bill includes $125 million for the Small, Safe and Successful
High Schools program, $80 million above the FY 2000 enacted level. The
additional funds will help over 1,000 of the Nation's high schools
implement smaller, more intimate learning environments through reforms
like schools-within-schools and career academies.
I strongly support the $190 million provided in the legislation for
the Charter Schools program. The additional funds will support the
startup of nearly 500 new or redesigned schools that offer enhanced
public school choice and the freedom to pursue innovative educational
programs. At the beginning of my Administration, there was only one
charter school. With this increase, the Charter School program will have
supported over 2,800 charter schools.
I also support the $644 million provided in the bill for Safe and
Drug Free Schools and Communities programs. Within this amount, the bill
contains $35 million to expand the Safe Schools/Healthy Students
initiative; $50 million for the middle school Coordinator Initiative;
and $10 million for Project School Emergency Response to Violence, to
provide emergency assistance, such as crisis counseling and increased
security, to school districts that experience a violent or traumatic
crisis.
I strongly support the $7.4 billion for Special Education programs,
an increase of $1.4 billion over the FY 2000 enacted level. Included in
this total is $6.3 billion for Special Education State Grants. The bill
also provides my requested increase for Grants for Infants and Families,
for a total of $384 million.
I am very pleased that the bill contains a major increase in funding
for Pell Grants. The bill provides $8.8 billion to support a $3,750
maximum award.
The bill includes $295 million for GEAR-UP. Compared to last year,
this funding level provides needed college preparation services to
nearly 500,000 more low-income students. Equally important is the
funding provided in the bill for TRIO, which receives $730 million and
will help 765,000 disadvantaged students attend and complete college.
I am pleased that the Congress fully funded my $1 billion request
for Federal Work-Study. This level continues to enable one million
students to work their way through college.
I am pleased that the legislation provides over $1 billion in
increases to programs included in my Administration's Hispanic Education
Action Plan (HEAP). These programs help to improve overall the
educational outcomes of Latino and limited English proficient students
by increasing their levels of academic achievement, high school
graduation, post-secondary participation, and opportunities for lifelong
learning.
I commend the Congress for including $70 million for my English
Language/Civics Initiative, nearly triple last year's funding. This
program helps States and communities provide recent immigrants and other
limited English proficient individuals with expanded access to quality
English-language instruction linked to civics education, including
understanding the U.S. Government and public education systems, the
workplace, and other key institutions of American life. Funding for this
initiative in FY 2001 will provide services for almost 250,000
individuals.
The bill includes $306 million for Education Research, Statistics,
and Assessment. The funds will provide additional support for the
Interagency Educational Research Initiative, the new Birth Cohort of the
Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, and new grants for the Initiative on
Language Minority Students, a program that seeks better ways to educate
children whose first language is not English.
The bill provides $11.9 billion in discretionary funds for the
Department of Labor (DOL), a $0.7 billion increase above the FY 2000
enacted level. The funding provided supports my major proposals for job
training, worker protection programs, and grants for working with
developing countries to eliminate abusive child labor.
I am pleased that the legislation provides $1.6 billion for
dislocated worker assistance. The program will provide training and re-
employment services to 883,000 dislocated workers. Since FY 1993, my
Administration
[[Page 3169]]
has succeeded in almost tripling funding for, and participation in,
programs that help dislocated workers return to work. In addition, the
bill includes $35 million of the $50 million I requested to provide job-
finding assistance to 156,000 unemployment insurance claimants to speed
their reentry into the workforce.
The bill provides nearly my full request to expand services to job
seekers at One-Stop centers as recently authorized in the bipartisan
Workforce Investment Act (WIA). The bill funds $150 million of the $154
million requested to provide improved access to One-Stops as well as
continued support for electronic labor exchange and labor market
information. The enrolled bill also fully funds my $20 million request
for work incentive grants to help integrate employment services for
persons with disabilities into the mainstream One-Stop system.
The bill provides $55 million for the Responsible Reintegration of
Youth Offenders (RRYO) initiative. RRYO will bring roughly 10,300 young
ex-offenders into the workplace through job training, placement, and
support services, and by creating new partnerships between the criminal
justice system and the WIA system. In addition, the enrolled bill
includes $20 million to enable DOL to contribute to the Safe Schools/
Healthy Students joint initiative with the Departments of Justice,
Education, and Health and Human Services that will expand efforts to
address out-of-school youth.
The enrolled bill also provides additional funding for other youth
job training programs. Specifically the bill includes $275 million for
the Youth Opportunity Grants program to finance the third year of five-
year competitive grants that provide education, training and support
services to 63,000 youth in Empowerment Zones/Empowerment Communities
(EZ/ECs). In addition, the bill provides $1.1 billion for the Youth
Activities Formula Grants to provide training and employment
opportunities to an estimated 660,000 youth in FY 2001.
I am disappointed that the Congress has not provided $255 million as
requested for the Fathers Work/Families Win initiative. As a result,
80,000 non-custodial and low-income parents will not get the additional
support to get a job or upgrade their skills.
The bill provides $148 million for the Bureau of International Labor
Affairs, an increase of $78 million, or 112 percent, above last year's
level. The legislation provides a total of $82 million for efforts to
address international child labor issues. I am pleased that my $45
million request to expand the work of the International Labor
Organization's International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labor
was fully funded and that the bill provides $37 million to support my
new bilateral assistance initiative to improve access to basic education
in developing countries.
The legislation also provides $23 million to establish the Office of
Disability Policy, Evaluation and Technical Assistance. Headed by a new
Assistant Secretary, this office will provide leadership in helping
people with disabilities enter, re-enter, and remain in the workforce.
In addition, I am pleased that the bill includes $60 million to
administer the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation
Program to help workers who have developed illnesses associated with
nuclear weapons production and testing.
The bill provides the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
with $49.9 billion in funding, $7.1 billion above the FY 2000 level.
I commend the Congress for fully funding my request of $817 million
for the Child Care and Development Block Grant, bringing the total level
of the block grant to $2 billion in FY 2001 and allowing nearly 150,000
additional children to be served. The bill also authorizes and provides
$20 million for the Early Learning Opportunities Act, which is similar
to my Early Learning Fund proposal. Early Learning funds may be used to
improve child care quality and promote school readiness through
activities such as training parents to facilitate cognitive development
and offering training, recruitment, and retention incentives for child
care professionals.
The enrolled bill provides the largest increase for Head Start in
the program's history. An increase of $93 million over the FY 2000
enacted level will bring total program funding to $6.2 billion, adding
approximately
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60,000 new slots for low-income children and continuing on the path to
serve one million kids by FY 2002.
I am pleased that the enrolled bill fully funds the Family
Caregivers program established in the recently reauthorized Older
Americans Act at $125 million. The program will provide information,
respite care, and other support services to 250,000 families caring for
loved ones who are ill or disabled.
The enrolled bill increases Low Income Home Energy Assistance
Program funds by $300 million for total non-emergency program funding of
$1.4 billion. These additional funds will help low-income families cope
with continued high heating fuel prices. The bill also provides $300
million in contingent emergency funds.
I strongly support the increase of $2.5 billion, or 14 percent, over
the FY 2000 level provided to the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
for biomedical research. The $20.3 billion will enable NIH to continue
to pursue new methods for diagnosing, treating, and curing diseases such
as cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's, and HIV/AIDS. The bill also provides
$130 million for the newly-established Center for Research on Minority
Health and Health Disparities, which will coordinate and support NIH's
trans-Institute, billion dollar research portfolio on minority health.
The bill provides $3.9 billion for the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention. The increased funds will support: $163 million for
domestic and global HIV/AIDS prevention efforts; $78 million to improve
childhood immunizations; $67 million for infectious disease activities;
$37 million for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health; and $18 million for breast and cervical cancer screening
activities.
I am pleased that this legislation provides $357 million for the
Congressional Black Caucus HIV/AIDS initiative, an increase of $105
million above the FY 2000 enacted level of $252 million. This will
support an expanded scope of HIV/AIDS prevention, education, treatment,
and outreach activities for minority community-based organizations
working to slow the spread of HIV/AIDS in their communities.
I support the $5.6 billion provided to the Health Resources and
Services Administration, $1 billion above the FY 2000 enacted level and
$890 million above the FY 2001 request. Increases over the FY 2000 level
include: $100 million to continue funding demonstration projects that
address health care access for the uninsured; $15 million for Family
Planning; $213 million for Ryan White activities; $150 million for
Community Health Centers; and, $195 million for Children's Hospitals
Graduate Medical Education. In addition, I am pleased that the bill
provides $550 million for the Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief Fund Act so
that additional relief payments may be made to hemophiliacs who
contracted HIV/AIDS, and their families.
The bill provides $2.9 billion for Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services. Mental Health increases over the FY 2000 enacted level total
$151 million, including $64 million for the Mental Health Block Grant,
and $25 million in new targeted grants for early intervention and
prevention, as well as local capacity expansion. Substance abuse
increases over the FY 2000 level total $135 million, including $65
million for the Substance Abuse Block Grant, $42 million for substance
abuse treatment grants and $28 million for substance abuse prevention
grants.
The bill invests $50 million in Real Choice Systems Change Grants to
help States develop comprehensive plans to care for persons with
disabilities in the most appropriate setting. These funds would be used
to do the following: conduct intensive outreach efforts to educate
people with disabilities about the home and community-based options
currently available to them; streamline application and eligibility
processes for home- and community-based care services; and modify State
policy that results in the unnecessary institutionalization of people
with disabilities.
The bill includes $79 million for my Nursing Home Initiative, a $32
million, or 68 percent, increase over the FY 2000 enacted level. This
funding provides $66 million for more rigorous inspections of nursing
facilities and improved Federal oversight of nursing home quality, and
grants to the States to develop ways for the disabled to move into
community-based care rather than nursing homes. Congress also provided
$13.5 million for HHS' Office of the General Counsel and
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Departmental Appeals Board to address the backlog of nursing home
appeals and handle increased legal advice, litigation support, and
hearings on nursing home enforcement cases.
The bill provides a program level of $270 million to the Agency for
Health Care Policy and Research, $70 million over the FY 2000 level, to
expand research on the costs, uses, and quality of health care, and to
enhance the Medical Expenditures Panel Surveys. This includes $50
million for research on patient safety and the reduction of medical
errors and $10 million for research on health care worker safety.
I support the $326 million to expand HHS' bioterrorism initiative.
Congress fully funded my request of $52 million for CDC's national
pharmaceutical stockpile and provided $168 million for CDC to expand
national, State, and local epidemiologic laboratories, surveillance
capacity for biological agents, strategic planning, and capabilities to
screen toxicants.
The bill provides the Health Care Financing Administration's
(HCFA's) program management with a total program level of $2.3 billion,
$173 million, or eight percent, over the FY 2000 enacted level. This
funding will support HCFA's efforts to strengthen its oversight of
Medicare contractors and efforts to ensure the quality and safety of
nursing homes, non-accredited hospitals and other facilities. Funding is
included for the National Medicare Education Program that educates
beneficiaries, enabling them to make informed health decisions on topics
like managed care, long-term care and supplemental insurance.
I am pleased that bill language was modified to allow the Secretary
of Commerce to issue regulations in January that will protect the
endangered Steller sea lion, not undermine the Endangered Species Act,
and allow an appropriate level of fishing to resume in the affected
Alaska fisheries. In addition, the bill provides $50 million for
research into the recovery of Steller sea lions, and for economic
assistance to Alaskan fishing communities that may experience economic
impacts from the new regulations. The bill sustains my Administration's
longstanding commitment to protect the Nation's environmental laws from
inappropriate and unrelated anti-environmental riders.
I am pleased that the bill does not include language prohibiting the
promulgation of the Department of Labor's ergonomics standard. The
standard, which was promulgated last month, seeks to prevent work-
related injuries arising from risk factors such as repetitive motion or
overexertion.
The bill extends the current availability period for Welfare-to-Work
grant funds for an additional two years, allowing grantees the chance to
take advantage of eligibility changes made in the FY 2000 Appropriations
Act.
I am also pleased that the bill includes a provision to compensate
beneficiaries of Federal programs who experienced a shortfall in their
benefit payments as a result of the understatement of the Consumer Price
Index that occurred in 1999. The bill provides that any compensation
payments will be disregarded as income for purposes of means-tested
programs. The bill also provides that the corrected CPI series for 1999
be taken into account for purposes of the Internal Revenue Code,
effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2000.
I am very pleased that the legislation does not include language
that would have restricted public health funds for emergency
contraception health services in primary and secondary schools. I was
strongly opposed to this language because decisions about what kinds of
services should be provided in school settings are more appropriately
left to local decisionmakers, who can take into consideration their
community's health needs.
I am very disappointed that Congress has mandated that all schools
and libraries receiving Federal educational technology funds implement
Internet filtering technology. Under the provisions of this bill,
noncompliant schools and libraries will be ineligible for E-rate
discounts and other Federal technology funds. My Administration has
actively promoted the protection of children from harmful materials on
the Internet, and I have been a strong supporter of locally driven
efforts to make our schools and libraries safe portals for students to
explore the World Wide Web. Because of the importance of
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protecting children from inappropriate material online, I believe that
local development and implementation of an Internet-acceptable use plan
is a more effective, appropriate solution than mandatory filtering for
ensuring comprehensive protection while meeting the diverse needs of
local schools and libraries. Although I am pleased that the required
technological protection measures will be included as part of a locally
developed policy, I would have preferred to allow communities more
flexibility in developing appropriate policies by not imposing this
potentially expensive and restrictive requirement. I am also concerned
that because current technology may not be able to differentiate between
harmful and non-harmful expression with precision, these provisions may
have the effect of limiting access to valuable information in a manner
that offends our tradition of freedom of speech. We will seek to
implement the policy in a way that maximizes local flexibility and
minimizes local burdens within the framework of the statute.
The bill includes a provision making clear that religious
organizations may qualify for substance abuse prevention and treatment
grants from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration (SAMHSA) on the same basis as other nonprofit
organizations. The Department of Justice advises, however, that this
provision would be unconstitutional to the extent that it were construed
to permit governmental funding of organizations that do not or cannot
separate their religious activities from their substance abuse treatment
and prevention activities that are supported by SAMHSA aid. Accordingly,
I construe the bill as forbidding the funding of such organizations and
as permitting Federal, State, and local governments involved in
disbursing SAMHSA funds to take into account the structure and
operations of a religious organization in determining whether such an
organization is constitutionally and statutorily eligible to receive
funding.
I am also pleased that, unlike earlier versions of the bill, the
final bill excludes or modifies many provisions that would have changed
our environmental protection and natural resource conservation laws
without adequate public and congressional scrutiny. In particular, I am
satisfied that a provision restricting the regulation of snowmobile use
in national parks has been sufficiently modified to allow completion of
a pending rule for Yellowstone National Park and two adjacent parks, so
long as that rule does not reduce snowmobile use during the first two
winter seasons.
The bill fully funds my IRS modernization and reform program for FY
2001. However, Congress denied a requested FY 2002 advance appropriation
of $422 million for IRS technology modernization. In addition, the bill
provides only $141 million of my $225 million request for enhanced
staffing to improve tax compliance and customer service activities.
I am pleased that the bill includes $185 million for the Office of
National Drug Control Policy's National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign,
as well as $207 million for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas.
I am very disappointed that the bill continues objectionable current
law provisions that restrict Federal Employees Health Benefit Program
(FEHBP) coverage for abortions except in the cases where the life of the
mother is endangered or the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest. The
bill continues current law requirements that health plans participating
in the FEHBP that provide prescription drug coverage must also provide
prescription contraceptive coverage.
I am pleased that the bill provides funding and authority for
priority agricultural conservation programs, including $26 million for
the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and authority to spend
existing funds on the Farmland Protection Program. These programs will
improve our environment and protect our Nation's open spaces while
boosting farm income.
There are several authorization bills included in H.R. 4577,
including the Medicare, Medicaid, and the State Children's Health
Insurance Program (SCHIP) Benefits Improvement and Protection Act. This
legislation provides States with increased allotments aimed at assisting
hospitals serving significant numbers of low-income and uninsured
patients; makes it easier for States to enroll uninsured children in
Medicaid and SCHIP by permitting enrollment through
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schools, child support enforcement agencies, homeless shelters, program
eligibility offices, and certain other sites; increases Medicaid
reimbursements for federally qualified health centers and rural health
centers; and directs HHS to issue the final Medicaid upper payment limit
rule by December 31, 2000. The bill provides an additional $70 million
in FYs 2001 and 2002 and $100 million in FY 2003 for the special
diabetes programs at the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, and the Indian Health Service.
The legislation also includes a two-year extension of the medical
savings accounts program, which allows employers to make tax exempt
contributions on behalf of employees to cover medical expenses.
I am disappointed that the bill fails to include my proposals to
expand coverage to uninsured families; restore Medicaid and SCHIP
benefits to immigrant pregnant women, children, and disabled
individuals; and improve equity in Medicaid by allowing States to serve
individuals in their homes and communities rather than in nursing homes.
I am also disappointed that the bill does not include my proposal to
bring payment rates for hospital services in Puerto Rico more in line
with the rates that apply elsewhere in the country.
H.R. 4577 includes tax incentives and programs to help low-income
people in distressed communities by encouraging private sector partners
to increase investment and growth in low-income communities.
I am pleased that the bill includes the creation of a New Market tax
incentive for investors that invest in equity investments in qualified
low-income communities; an increase in the low-income housing volume
caps for tax-exempt private activity bonds; and an expansion of
eligibility for the brownfields tax incentive to cover all contaminated
sites certified by a State, other than sites on the Superfund National
Priorities List, and an extension through 2003.
The bill amends the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) to provide
regulatory relief for investors and authorize appropriations of such
sums as are necessary to carry out the CEA for FYs 2001-2005. The bill
would deregulate most over-the-counter derivatives (financial
instruments whose value depends on the value or change in value of an
underlying security, commodity, or asset) traded electronically between
sophisticated entities such as banks, broker/dealers, and high-net-worth
individuals.
I support the reauthorization of a number of Small Business
Administration programs in the bill, including my proposal to increase
the number of small loans below $150,000, reduce borrower fees, and
improve technical assistance programs available to microentrepreneurs.
The bill would also extend the authority for a number of expiring
programs such as the Small Business Innovation Research and Small
Disadvantaged Business programs. Finally, the bill authorizes the New
Markets Venture Capital, New Markets Technical Assistance, and
BusinessLINC programs, which provide authority for $250 million in
public and private capital for rural and urban small business
investments, technical assistance, and mentoring services for aspiring
entrepreneurs. The bill also authorizes establishment of a set-aside
program for women-owned small businesses that are classified as
economically disadvantaged or in an industry in which women owned
businesses are substantially underrepresented.
I am pleased that this legislation amends immigration provisions
included in the Commerce/Justice/State Appropriations Act thereby easing
immigration restrictions on an estimated 700,000 immigrant families
living in the United States. The provisions would extend section 245(i)
until April 30, 2001, to allow aliens (and their spouses and children)
who apply for an adjustment of status or a labor certification to remain
in the United States until such petition is approved. Additionally, the
provisions would create a new, temporary non-immigrant visa for spouses
and children of spouses of legal permanent residents and U.S. citizens
seeking to enter the United States to await approval of legal permanent
resident status for themselves (the ``V'' visa). The provisions would
also allow certain individuals who were not granted amnesty under the
Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 who are currently seeking
such relief through the courts to apply for permanent residency. While I
am disappointed that the legislation fails to
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eliminate the disparate treatment under our immigration laws sought for
Salvadorans, Guatemalans, Hondurans, Haitians, and Liberians and does
not provide any relief for deserving individuals affected by changes in
the 1996 immigration law, it is the best compromise that could be
reached after several rounds of intense negotiations.
H.R. 4577 also includes authorization for the Delta Regional
Authority (DRA), a newly created agency that will focus $20 million for
area development and technical assistance on distressed counties in the
Mississippi Delta Region. The authorization will permit the
establishment of the DRA which will work to improve the economic status
of some of our Nation's most impoverished communities.
There are provisions in the Act that purport to condition my
authority or that of certain officers to use funds appropriated by the
Act on the approval of congressional committees. My Administration will
interpret such provisions to require notification only, since any other
interpretation would contradict the Supreme Court ruling in INS v.
Chadha.
Section 620 of the Treasury/General Government Appropriations
section of the Act prohibits the use of appropriations to pay the salary
of any Federal Government officer or employee who interferes with
certain communications between Federal employees and Members of
Congress. I do not interpret this provision to detract from my
constitutional authority and that of my appointed heads of departments
to supervise and control the operations and communications of the
executive branch, including the control of privileged and national
security information.
Another provision of the Act raises Appointments Clause concerns.
Subsection 111(b) of the Small Business Reauthorization Act of 2000
portion of the bill provides joint grant-making authority to the
Administrator of the Small Business Administration, who is a
constitutional officer, and to two other officials, who are not. In
order to avoid an Appointments Clause problem raised by this provision,
I will interpret that subsection as giving the Administrator the final
say concerning selection of grant recipients after consultation with the
other designated officials.
Section 313 of the Legislative Branch Appropriations portion of the
Act would establish in the legislative branch a ``Center for Russian
Leadership Development.'' The principal function of the Center would be
to administer a grant program to support visits to this country by
Russian nationals. I fully support the goals of this grant program. The
Department of Justice advises me, however, that because the program is
not administered by the executive branch, it is unconstitutional. I urge
the Congress to enact new legislation reassigning the Center to an
executive branch agency.
Several provisions of the Act also raise concerns under the
Recommendations Clause. These provisions purport to require a Cabinet
Secretary or other Administration official to make recommendations to
Congress on changes in law. To the extent that those provisions would
require Administration officials to provide Congress with policy
recommendations or draft legislation, I direct these officials to treat
any such requirements as precatory.
In addition, I hereby designate the following amounts as emergency
requirements for the Department of Defense, pursuant to section
251(b)(2)(A) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control act of
1985, as amended: $100,000,000 provided to the Overseas Contingency
Operations Transfer account and $150,000,000 provided to the Operations
and Maintenance, Navy account in H.R. 5666, as enacted by H.R. 4577.
William J. Clinton
The White House,
December 21, 2000.
Note: H.R. 4577, approved December 21, was assigned Public Law No. 106-
554. This statement was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on
December 22. This item was not received in time for publication in the
appropriate issue.