EXTENSIONS of REMARKS January 21, 1987 EXTENSIONS of REMARKS

1796 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS January 21, 1987 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS APPROPRIATIONS PROCESS TABLE I.-SUMMARY OF REGULAR AND CONTINUING AP It is true that the omnibus appropriations bill REFORM PROPRIATIONS ACTS ENACTED AND VETOED: FISCAL was held up for some time over the threat of YEARS 1968-87 t a Presidential veto. Table 2 contains a Wash HON. TRENT LOTT ington Post summary of the administration's A Number of regular appropriations Number of and B lists of objectionable itel]ls in confer OF MISSISSIPPI acts: continuing ence. Initial appropriations Enacted IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Fiscal Con - Enacted acts: TABLE 2.-0MB'S Deal-breakers year by after gress/ start of start of Total Wednesday, January 21, 1987 session Vetoed (By Cass Peterson and Judith Havemann) the the enacted Enacted Vetoed fiscal fiscal A LIST Mr. LOTT. Mr. Speaker, today I am introduc year year ing the Appropriations Process Reform 1. House defense spending: The White Amendments of 1987, a resolution amending 1968 ... 90-1 I 12 13 House wants the Senate's $277 billion, not House rules to provide for a more managea 1969 90- 2 I 12 13 the House's $264 billion. 1970 91 - 1 0 13 13 ble, understandable, and accountable yearend 2. House Strategic Defense Initiative 1971... 91 - 2 0 12 12 budget: The Senate's $3.4 billion for SDI appropriations process. 1972 .. 92-1 0 13 13 1973 ... 92 - 2 0 11 11 spending won't draw a veto; the House's $2.8 Mr. Speaker, I have no doubt that we can 1974... 93-1 0 13 13 billion will. do much better at enacting all 13 regular ap 1975 ......... 93 - 2 0 13 13 3. House constraints on defense activities: 1976 .... 94-1 0 13 13 propriations bills prior to the start of the fiscal 1977 94-2 13 0 13 House provisions forbid the administration year if we get organized earlier and keep ex 1978 ... 95- 1 9 3 12 to deploy strategic weapons beyond SALT II 1979 95-2 5 7 12 limits, test antisatellite weapons in space or traneous matters out of the process. Under 1980 ...... 96- 1 3 7 10 1981... 96-2 1 7 8 nuclear devices above one kiloton, and pro the new, accelerated Gramm-Rudman dead 1982 ........ 97 - 1 0 9 9 cure binary chemical weapons for a year. lin,es which took effect last year, all appropria 1983 ..... 97-2 1 5 6 Each is veto bait. 1984 . 98-1 4 6 10 4. House cap on outlays in foreign aid: tions bills in the House must be reported by 1985 98- 2 4 1 5 June 10 and passed by June 30. However, we 1986 ......... 99-1 0 6 6 The administration wants the Senate's fell far short of those deadlines last year. No 1987 .. .... 99- 2 0 0 0 higher spending level of $12.9 billion and more flexible provisions on the timing and bills had been reported in the House by June terms of military aid. 10, and only one had passed this body by whi~hM~~! i~~~a~~~~ :t~t~~ f(:ef:rr~~~ i~e~his~~b~~~s ~h~n.~inm:~..s~~~~i~n )~ however. in some cases legislation was not enacted or vetoed until the 5. House provision terminating the Civil June 30. Eight others were passed in late following session. Rights Commission: The administration July; one in early August; another in early The Federal Government used a July 1-June 30 fiscal year cycle from the wants the Senate language keeping the com mid-1800's through fiscal year 1976. Beginning with fiscal year 1977, the September; and two never passed the House. cycle was changed to October !-September 30. mission alive, and also wants funding raised But, if history is any guide, no matter what The table provides information for a 20-year period on the 13 regular to $9 million. appropriations acts presently acted on by Congress; the title and structure of 6. Senate provision ratifying California the deadlines and good intentions, we will still some of these acts have changed over the years. From lime to time during the period, Congress considered other measures that could be regarded as regular Nevada compact: The Interior Department greet the fiscal new year with less than a full appropriations acts, but they are not covered in this table. says the compact, in which the two states deck in place, and we will be forced once In recent years. Congress had incorporated the full text of certain regular divided water from the Truckee, Carson and appropriations acts into full-year conlinumg appropriations acts. again to resort to the so-called continuing ap For fiscal year 1968, the District of Columbia Appropriation Act also Walker rivers, ignores federal water rights propriation mechanism. provided continuing appropriations for certain agencies and therefore is counted and the government's trust responsibilities both as an enacted regular appropriations act and continuing appropriations act to Indian tribes that also rely on the r~vers. As table 1. shows, we have a tradition of (see section 18 of Public Law 90-134) . Sen. Paul Laxalt <R-Nev.), sponsor of the not completing action on regular appropria Sources: Final Edition of the Calendars of the U.S. House of Representatives provision, has agreed to remove it from the (90th- 99th Congresses): U.S. Congress. Senate. Office of the Secretary of the tions bills on time and instead of relying on Senate. Presidential Vetoes, 1789-1976 (1978) and Presidential Vetoes, Justice Department appropriations bill. "It's continuing resolutions to tide us over. This 1977 - 1984 (1985); U.S. Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service. dead," said a Laxalt aide. "Probably for Government Division. Presidental Vetoes and Ronald Reagan 's Use of the ever." was true both prior to the 197 4 Budget Act, Process in His Second Term [by1 Gary L Galemore. Issue Brief 85093. and since its enactment, even though one of November 28. 1986. 7. House "deferral" provision: A measure (Prepared by Robert Keith, Specialist in American National Government. that would prevent the Energy and Interior the purposes of the budget act was to obviate Government Division, Congressional Resea rch Service.) departments, and some related agencies, the need for continuing resolutions. We even from deferring expenditures was added to a changed the fiscal year by 3 months to facili We are rapidly becoming a government by House appropriations bill by Rep. Sidney R. tate that objective. continuing resolution. Last year, in enacting no Yates <D-Ill.) because of DOE's refusal to But, as the table demonstrates, we still av separate bills, we achieved the dubious dis spend funds appropriated to fill the Strate tinction of producing the biggest single spend gic Petroleum Reserve. The administration erage between three and four continuing reso maintains that budget law specifically gives lutions per session. Moreover, our ability to ing bill in the history of the Republic, totaling deferral authority to the executive branch. eventually enact separate, regular appropria $576 billion in new spending authority-the 8. House "Buy American" prov1s10n: tions bills, even after the start of the fiscal first permanent continuing appropriations reso Added to the House bill by Rep. Ralph year, has grown progressively worse since en lution in 36 years that funds the entire Gov Regula <R-Ohio), this measure would re actment of the Budget Act-from enacting all ernment for the entire fiscal year. quire offshore drilling rigs used in U.S. waters to be at least 50 percent American 13 in the first 2 years of the Budget Act to en This bloated omnibus money bill, or BOMB, as I have called it, was dropped on the White made. It is opposed by the administration as acting no separate appropriations bills last protectionism. year. House some 18 days after the fiscal year had 9. House Strategic Petroleum Reserve pro begun. In the meantime, Congress was forced vision: This would require the administra to adopt four, short-term CR's just to keep the tion to put 75,000 barrels of oil a day in the Government running. And even then we reserve. The administration wants the provi dropped the ball and forced a 1-day shutdown sion deleted or changed to conform with at some expense and inconvenience. While current law, which requires a minimum of some Members were quick to blame the ad 35,000 barrels a day. 10. House "double-breasting" provision: ministration for this shutdown, the fact is the This measure restricts unionized construc blame rests squarely on our shoulders. If we tion companies' practice of setting up sepa had completed our work on time, this wouldn't rate firms to perform work with nonunion have happened. labor, and was considerd the first major leg- e This "bullet" symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor. January 21, 1987 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS 1797 islative victory for labor in several years Transportation: Three items, two involv less Members are likely to know what they are when it passed the House last April. ing spending levels and one limiting the voting on. One Member was quoted in the 11. House PATCO provisions: The House number of political appointees in the De Congressional Quarterly as saying of the con bill includes language that would allow the partment of Transportation. rehiring of air traffic controllers fired Treasury /Postal: Nine items, ranging tents of the conference report on the CR: during the 1981 Professional Air Traffic from a provision on which charities shall be "Jamie knows all.

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