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This Statement of Administration Policy provides the Administration's
views on S. 1034, the Veterans Affairs, Housing and Urban Development, and
Independent Agencies Appropriations Bill, FY 1998, as reported by the
Senate Appropriations Committee. Your consideration of the Administration's
views would be appreciated.
The Committee has developed a bill that provides requested funding for
many of the Administration's priorities. We appreciate the Senate's
efforts to fully fund many high priority requests. Regrettably, there are
a number of specific provisions of the Bipartisan Budget Agreement that are
not reflected in the Committee bill. As a result, the bill is
unacceptable.
As discussed below, the Administration will seek restoration of
certain of the Committee's reductions below the President's request. We
recognize that it will not be possible in all cases to attain the
Administration's full request and will work with the Senate toward
achieving acceptable funding levels. We also note that in a number of
accounts, funding levels exceed requests in the FY 1998 Budget. The
Administration is committed to working with the Senate to identify
reductions in the bill in order to find offsets for the restoration of
funds that the Administration seeks. We urge the Senate to reduce funding
for lower priority programs, or for programs that would be adequately
funded at the requested level, and to redirect funding to programs of
higher priority.
Corporation for National and Community Service
The Administration is deeply concerned about the $146.5 million, or 27
percent, reduction to the President's request for the Corporation for
National and Community Service. These funds support the President's
America Reads Challenge, the national literacy campaign to ensure that
every child can read well and independently by the third grade. This is
one of the Administration's highest priorities. The Bipartisan Budget
Agreement specifically calls for funding a literacy program, "with the
goals and the concepts of the President's America Reads program." Without
the requested funding, the Corporation would not be able to finance 11,000
AmeriCorps tutor coordinators to help recruit, organize, and manage the
America Reads army of a million volunteers to tutor over three million
children. The Administration strongly urges the Senate to fully fund the
Corporation at the requested level of $549 million and to adopt the
appropriation language included in the President's FY 1998 Budget.
Environmental Protection Agency
The Administration appreciates the Senate's continued efforts to keep
the bill free from contentious legislative riders. However, the
Administration believes that the Committee's overall $669 million, or 8.8
percent, reduction to the President's request for the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) would significantly limit key activities and fails
to meet the funding levels contained in the Bipartisan Budget Agreement.
In particular, the Committee's reduction of $213 million to the
President's $3.4 billion request for EPA's Operating Program is a violation
of the Bipartisan Budget Agreement that could severely impair the Agency's
ability to protect the environment adequately. In addition to the overall
funding level, the Administration is concerned that the Committee has
reduced funding for key Administration priorities while funding numerous
unrequested and unauthorized projects. In particular, the Administration
strongly opposes the 38 percent reduction to the President's requests for
the Climate Change Action Plan. These voluntary programs represent the
most cost-effective method of achieving reductions in greenhouse gases that
are needed to fulfill U.S. treaty commitments. The Administration also
urges the Senate to restore funding for the President's Kalamazoo Right to
Know initiative, which will make more environmental data available to the
public in 75 major cities; the Montreal protocol program, which works to
prevent depletion of the ozone layer; finishing construction of the
Research Triangle Park lab, which will replace several antiquated
facilities; and, the innovative GLOBE program.
The Administration also strongly objects to the Committee's $694
million, or 33 percent, reduction to the President's request for Superfund.
It is especially troubling that the Committee has failed to fund this
program at the level anticipated in the Bipartisan Budget Agreement. These
funds are urgently needed to eliminate the backlog of Superfund cleanups
and to double the pace of cleanups over the next four years. This will
improve the quality of life for more than 27 million Americans, including
over four million children, who live within four miles of a Superfund site.
Congress should fully fund the President's request for Superfund, as
anticipated by the Bipartisan Budget Agreement.
In addition, the Administration urges the Senate to restore the
President's request of $100 million for Boston Harbor to help improve water
quality and reduce the number of beach closings. This funding would
continue to fulfill a bipartisan Federal commitment to Boston Harbor. The
Administration strongly opposes the Committee's $4 million reduction to
EPA's budget to fund the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board,
and continues to support the EPA/OSHA Joint Accident Investigation Program
to investigate chemical accidents and recommend action for their further
prevention. Since it began, the EPA/OSHA program has successfully
investigated numerous accidents; produced an independently reviewed
accident report with more reports pending release; disseminated alerts to
industry; and prompted OSHA to consider changing its process safety rule.
Rather than creating a duplicative agency, the Administration supports the
EPA/OSHA program, which combines and improves existing agency efforts, as
the most effective strategy to prevent accidents.
Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund
The Administration is very concerned about the Committee's decision
not to fund the CDFI Fund. The Bipartisan Budget Agreement clearly
indicates that funding for CDFI will be at the level projected in the FY
1998 Budget. The CDFI Fund has a demonstrated record of success. In the
first round of the CDFI Program, the Fund awarded $37.2 million in loans,
equity investments, grants, and technical assistance to 31 CDFIs serving 46
States and the District of Columbia. These investments have already
leveraged more than $50 million in non-Federal matches and, over the long
term, are estimated to leverage 10 to 20 times the amount awarded.
Furthermore, under the Bank Enterprise Award Program, the CDFI Fund has
awarded $13.1 million to 38 banks and thrifts. These awards have
encouraged $126 million in support for CDFIs and direct lending and
financial services in distressed neighborhoods. We strongly urge the
Senate to fund CDFI at the requested level of $125 million, as agreed upon
in the Bipartisan Budget Agreement, and as funded by the House in H.R.
2158.
Council on Environmental Quality
The Administration urges the Senate to restore the reduction from the
request for the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). The Committee's
reduction would severely affect CEQ's ability to perform its statutory
obligations under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and,
consequently, would cripple its ongoing effort to reinvent NEPA, a project
designed to improve decision-making and raise efficiency in the performance
of NEPA reviews. The results of the NEPA reinvention will reduce costs,
time delays, and paperwork to the benefit of the general public. We also
urge the Senate to include requested bill language concerning the number of
CEQ council members.
Department of Housing and Urban Development
The Administration notes that the overall level of funding provided
by the Committee for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
is generally consistent with the Administration's request. However, the
Committee has failed to fund a number of Presidential initiatives,
including Brownfields Redevelopment, Empowerment Zones, Homeownership
Zones, Bridges to Work, and housing certificates to help families make the
transition from welfare to work. The Administration strongly urges the
restoration of funds for these priorities by eliminating some of the
unrequested funds for several HUD programs.
The Administration seeks restoration of new incremental housing
assistance funding in the Housing Certificate Fund to aid additional
low-income families. These funds would be allocated to collaboratives
consisting of State welfare agencies and housing authorities. The
Administration objects to the Committee's inclusion of a three-month delay
in rescinding housing vouchers, which would reduce the number of families
assisted.
The Administration objects to the reduction in resources for the
Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO). OFHEO provides
crucial taxpayer protection through its financial supervision of Fannie Mae
and Freddie Mac.
The Administration also seeks restoration of requested funding for HUD
Salaries and Expenses. The proposed Committee reduction would not allow
HUD to implement critical phases of its management reform and restructuring
plan.
Department of Veterans Affairs
The Administration appreciates the Senate's responsiveness to several
of the President's key initiatives. We are pleased that the
Administration's user fee proposal has been included in the bill. The
Administration also appreciates the continued support the Senate has shown
for the Veterans Equitable Resource Allocation (VERA).
The Administration urges the Senate to grant authority and provide
related funding for the Veterans Benefits Administration to reimburse the
Veterans Health Administration for medical examinations conducted in
support of veterans' disability compensation claims. We believe that the
establishment of a customer and service provider relationship between the
two bureaus will result in higher quality medical exams. Improved medical
exams are expected to translate into improved timeliness of claims
processing, fewer appeals and remands, and better service to veterans.
Federal Emergency Management Agency
We are concerned that the Committee has chosen not to fund the
Administration's proposal for a new pre-disaster mitigation program.
Pre-disaster mitigation is important in reducing disaster damage, saving
disaster relief expenditures, and preventing loss of life. We urge the
Senate to provide funding for this important program, to the extent
possible.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
We appreciate the Committee's efforts to fully fund the President's
request for NASA. The Administration suggests that language concerning the
$150 million in transfer authority provided by H.R. 2158 for the
International Space Station be incorporated in the Senate bill. The
Administration will oversee the implementation of this transfer authority
to ensure that it will not have adverse effects on other priority NASA
programs. The Administration supports funding for Russian Program
Assurance, which can be accommodated within the President's requested level
for NASA.
Office of Consumer Affairs
The Administration opposes the Committee's proposed termination of the
Office of Consumer Affairs (OCA). This agency represents consumer needs
and viewpoints across the Federal Government by coordinating Federal
consumer policy and providing information to consumers through a help-line
and educational materials. The Administration requests that the Senate
restore funding for OCA and, as requested in the FY 1998 Budget, restore
OCA's authority to accept and expend donated funds.
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