Jim Jeffords

Mr. JEFFORDS

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I rise today to submit a Senate resolution to designate the fourth Friday in April, April 24, 1998, as National Child Care Professional's Day. For the more than 12 million children under the age of five-- including half of all infants under 1 year of age--who spend at least part of their day being cared for by someone other than their parents-- it is important that we recognize the skills and dedication of the child care providers who take care of them. Child care professionals take care of our Nation's children in homes and centers throughout the country. They assume this responsibility for little pay, long hours, and few, if any benefits beyond the hugs and smiles of the children for which they care. As the public dialog on child care moves to the forefront, we must keep in mind the people who are caring for our children, while their mothers and fathers work. If we want to move child care from babysitting to early childhood education we have to concentrate much of our efforts on professional development for child care providers. And we have to support efforts to make child care a valued profession--one that attracts the best and brightest and pays enough to keep them caring for our children. Since 1990, the costs of child care have risen about 6 percent annually. This is almost triple the annual increase in the cost of living. At the same time, there are strong indicators that the quality of child care has significantly decreased during the same period of time. Parents are paying more bet getting less. The quality of child care in America is very troubling. A recent nationwide study found that 40-percent of the child care provided to infants in child care centers was potentially injurious. Fifteen percent of center-based child care providers for all pre-schoolers are so bad that a child's health and safety are threatened; 70-percent are mediocre--not hurting or helping children; and 15-percent actively promote a child's development. Center-based child care, the object of this study, is the most heavily regulated and frequently monitored type of child care. There are strong indications that care for children in less regulated settings, such as family-based child care and in-home care, is far worse. Unless we are willing to provide the support and assistance that is needed to help child care providers improve the services they provide to our children, there is little real hope for enhancing the quality of child care. Since the 1970's there has been a decline in child care teacher salaries. In 1990, teachers in child care centers earned an average of $11,500 a year. Assistant teachers, the largest growing segment of child care professionals, were paid 10- to 20-percent less than child care teachers. The 1990 annual income of regulated family child care providers was $10,944 which translates to about $4 an hour. Nonregulated family child care, generally comprised of providers taking care of a smaller number of children, earned an average of $4,275 a year--substantially less than minimum wage. With these wages, it is easy to understand why more child care providers do not participate in professional training or attend college classes to improve their skills. The costs of applying for and receiving certification as a qualified child care professional are minimal, but understandably out of reach for many child care providers. Think about it. At the most important time in the development of a child's brain, more than 12 million children are being cared for by people who are paid less than the person who picks up your garbage each week, are required to have less training than the person who cuts your hair, and less skill-based testing than the person delivering packages to your house. Child care providers play an important role in a child's development, for they help fine-tune the child's capacity to think and process information, social skills, emotional health, and acquisition of language. That is why this resolution is so important. Good child care enables parents to work and maintain economic self-sufficiency--the goal of last year's welfare reform legislation. This resolution is a small step to increase the public's awareness of the need to support and recognize the vital work provided by child care professionals. On April 24, 1998, I hope each of us will visit a child care center or family-based child care provider in our State. Lead efforts to celebrate the contributions that child care professionals make to our society, our economy, our families, and most of all--our children.

Mr. JEFFORDS

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I would like to announce for information of the Senate and the public that a hearing of the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources will be held on Thursday, October 23, 1997, 10 a.m., in SD-430 of the Senate Dirksen Building. The subject of the hearing is S. 869, Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 1997. For further information, please call the committee, 202 / 224-5375. committee on energy and natural resources subcommittee on national parks, historic preservation and recreation

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I would like to announce for information of the Senate and the public that a hearing of the Subcommittee on Public Health and Safety, Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources will be held on Monday, October 27, 1997, 2 p.m., in SD-430 of the Senate Dirksen Building. The subject of the hearing is ``Youth and Tobacco: Breaking the Cycle.'' For further information, please call the committee, 202 / 224-5375.

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I would like to announce for information of the Senate and the public that a executive session of the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources will be held on Wednesday, October 22, 1997, 9:30 a.m., in SD-430 of the Senate Dirksen Building. The following are on the agenda to be considered: S. 1294, Emergency Student Loan Consolidation Act of 1997; S. 1237, Safety Advancement for Employees Act of 1997; and Presidential nominations. For further information, please call the committee, 202 / 224-5375. committee on labor and human resources

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I would like to announce for information of the Senate and the public that a hearing of the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources will be held on Tuesday, October 21, 1997, 9:30 a.m., in SD-430 of the Senate Dirksen Building. The subject of the hearing is S. 1124, Workplace Religious Freedom Act. For further information, please call the committee, 202 / 224-5375. committee on labor and human resources

Mr. JEFFORDS

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to hold an executive business meeting during the session of the Senate on Thursday, October 9, 1997, at 10:00 a.m., in room 226 of the Senate Dirksen Office Building.

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, October 9, 1997, at 2:00 p.m. to hold a hearing.

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet on Thursday, October 9, 1997 at 9:30 a.m. on the tobacco agreement public health analysis.

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on National Parks, Historic Preservation, and Recreation of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be granted permission to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, October 9, for purposes of conducting a subcommittee hearing which is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. The purpose of this oversight hearing is to receive testimony on the feasibility of using bonding techniques to finance large-scale capital projects in the National Park System. subcommittee on public health and safety

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Labor and Human Resources Subcommittee on Public Health and Safety be authorized to meet for a Hearing on NIH Clinical Research during the session of the Senate on Thursday, October 9, 1997, at 9:30 a.m.

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Securities of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, October 9, 1997, to conduct an oversight hearing on the financial accounting standards board and its proposed derivatives accounting standard.

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on International Economic Policy, Export and Trade Promotion be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, October 9, 1997, at 9:30 am to hold a hearing.

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent on behalf of the Governmental Affairs Committee Special Investigation to meet on Thursday, October 9, at 10:00 a.m. for a hearing on campaign financing issues.

Mr. JEFFORDS

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to Vermont Educational Television, or Vermont ETV as it is known, on the occasion of its 30th anniversary. The station, which is a member of the Public Broadcasting Service, will begin to celebrate its long track record of success in October. A series of brief clips will be shown throughout the year to take a look back at some of the more memorable moments in its programming. Vermont ETV understands that learning is a lifelong process. Through community support, this station is able to provide exceptional programming 24 hours a day with something for every age group. Some of my favorite shows are produced locally by Vermont ETV, presenting a unique perspective for issues and events important to people in the region. The station's impeccable selection of shows provides both an entertainment and educational value for all Vermonters. Of noteworthy importance is their efforts to address the needs of pre-school children through the Ready To Learn and Early Education Initiative. In close cooperation with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting as well as the Department of Education, these programs are designed to assist children and prepare them for the challenges they will face in school. Vermont ETV is dedicated to providing children, from a wide array of backgrounds, with the opportunity to start off on equal ground. Vermont ETV is one of the finest examples of a successful community partnership, with almost 78% of its budget financed through donations from the public. I believe that Vermont ETV sets the standard similar stations in other States should strive to emulate. That is why I have been an active supporter for over 20 years. I would like to extend my congratulations and best wishes to Vermont ETV, its employees as well as its supporters, for many more years of continued success.

Mr. JEFFORDS

Mr. JEFFORDS. I thank the Senator for a very eloquent statement on where we are and where we ought to be. I think it is incredibly important that those of us who are as dedicated as she is and as I am--perhaps those of us in the middle, as so often happens in this body--have to take a look at what we can do to pull things together. Now, I am personally convinced, having talked with a number of Democratic Senators and a number of Republican Senators, that there are at least 60 Senators who want meaningful campaign reform. However, we have postured ourselves at this time and particular moment in a situation where that will not occur. I am pleased in a way that we are going into a brief period of recess. I am dedicated, as I know the Senator from Maine is, to using that period of time to try to find, if we can, a common ground. I think it is important for us to take a look at what we really need to do and where the real stumbling blocks are. We are two political parties, Republicans and Democrats. Some things advantage one and some things advantage another. So we have to find ways to reform the campaign finance system and do whatever is necessary to make sure that we can find something that both sides can--not willingly, but certainly with the public pressure out there now--do something. We can find a way to do that. What needs to be done? The Senator from Maine has done superb work in trying to find a middle ground on one issue with the Democratic Party, and that is how to handle the situation with unions--and we would say all groups--to make sure that the people that are involved, that have to contribute the money, or do contribute the money, have a say in how that money is spent; first, so that they know how it has been spent in the past so they can better judge what happens in the future, but also that they have full disclosure and the ability to say no, or the ability to at least say ``not my money,'' which is what our amendment does. I think that is a very big step forward. Now, there have been all sorts of technical problems raised with this, that, and the other thing. But the substance of it is one in which all America can agree. When you are in the situation where you have money taken from you, you ought to have at least a say as to where it is going and, even more important, to say ``not my money.'' ``You can spend your money and the rest of the money, but not mine.'' I think that is a pretty simple philosophy with which many Americans would agree. The next area we have to take a look at--and this is critical for the Republicans and it is also the center of debate nationwide--is what happened at the White House with all this money pouring in, hundreds of thousands over here, and all that so-called soft money. We have to do something about that. But to say that, especially under the Constitution, we can just ban it, or we can set up rules where you can't use any of it, that is not going to work. It is not going to work because people have the right under our first amendment to be able to spend money on political campaigns, but how much and for what purposes, that can be controlled, as we have found. I will tell you, the money will find a way, some way, to be spent. If we don't have it spent for ``party building'' as ``soft money,'' it will be in ``issue advocacy'' or ``independent expenditures.'' So the best thing to do is to make sure that there are limits placed on it, that there is full disclosure, and that there are ways to make sure that these funds are not abused or become dominant in the process. There are ways to do that. They are not ones that everybody is going to readily agree upon. But on the other hand, from a first amendment perspective, the way people want to help a political party ought to be something that we can find a solution for. So I hope now that we are in this situation where it is obvious that no final decision can be made, no way will be found in the next few hours for us to solve this, that we step back and work together. The Senator from Maine and I are both dedicated to finding those Senators in the middle that are willing to help us pull something together so that we can get at least 60 votes. I hope now that we can move back to the regular legislative process in the interim, to move legislation along which is necessary to be moved along, and, hopefully, as the Senator suggested, the leaders will get together and we can find a way to pull that middle together. There may be kicking and screaming in order to do that, but possibly we can find a way to let this Nation know that we want campaign finance reform, we want the process to be one we can be proud of, one which is acceptable to the American people, and one which allows everybody to know what is going on. I thank the Senator for her statement. I am sorry that we are in this situation, but I think it is important that we take a breath of fresh air and come back in the next week or so and, hopefully, make some progress. Several Senators addressed the Chair.

Mr. JEFFORDS

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I rise to introduce the Emergency Student Loan Consolidation Act of 1997. This bill will provide emergency relief to the nearly 70,000 students nationwide whose efforts to consolidate their student loans have been thwarted by the collapse of the Department of Education's Direct Loan Consolidation Program. In addition this bill makes conforming changes in the Higher Education Act to ensure that students who receive the Hope Tax Credit are able to receive all of the financial aid to which they are entitled. The Emergency Student Loan Consolidation Act of 1997 is the companion bill to H.R. 2535 which was favorably reported by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on September 24, 1997, by a bipartisan vote of 43-0. The rapidly rising cost of attending college is producing students with overwhelming student loan debt loads. The College Board reports that tuition at 4-year private institutions has risen by 89 percent over the past 15 years while median family income has risen by only 5 percent. Students are responding by borrowing at record levels--in fact, student borrowing under Title IV since 1990 exceeds student borrowing in the 1960's, 1970's, and 1980's combined. Between 1993 and 1995, graduate and professional student borrowing increased by over 74 percent. In order to ease the burden of repaying these debts, Congress created the student loan consolidation program. This program allows students to consolidate their student loans into a single loan that has a variety of repayment options. Current law allows students to consolidate all of their Direct Student Loans and their Federal Family Education Loan Program [FFELP] loans into a Direct Lending Consolidation loan administered by the Department of Education. A student may consolidate his or her FFELP loans into a FFELP Consolidation Loan but may not consolidate his or her Direct Loans into the FFELP Program. As a result, borrowers who wish to consolidate both Direct Student Loans and FFELP loans into a single loan must go to the Department of Education. Last August, the Department of Education announced that it had accumulated a backlog of 85,000 applications for consolidated loans and would cease accepting new applications until this backlog was eliminated. This decision places more than 70,000 students in limbo with no place to turn for help. This bill will provide temporary authority to allow them to consolidate all of their loans, both FFELP and Direct through the FFELP program. In addition, this legislation makes technical corrections to the need analysis provisions of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to conform with changes made to the Tax Code earlier this year which provide students and parents with higher education tax credits. The bill addresses an oversight in the tax legislation which will result in some students receiving reduced student aid under Title IV of the Higher Education Act simply because they qualify for and receive the new tax credits. By adopting this change to the need analysis formula now, the Department can begin the process of revising the student aid application forms well in advance of the 1999 academic year. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a Washington Post article detailing the problems with the loan consolidation program be included in the Record. I urge my colleagues to support this legisation.

Mr. JEFFORDS

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, today I rise today to introduce a bill to assist in the preservation of Asian elephants. The bill, the ``Asian Elephant Conservation Act of 1997'', is modeled after the highly successful African Elephant Conservation Act of 1988 and the Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Act of 1994. It will authorize up to $5 million per year to be appropriated to the Department of the Interior to fund various projects to aid in the preservation of the Asian elephant. Since the challenges of the Asian elephants are so great, resources to date have not been sufficient to cope with the continued loss of habitat and the consequent diminution of Asian elephant populations Among the threats to the Asian elephant in addition to habitat loss are population fragmentation, human-elephant conflict, poaching for ivory, meat, hide, bones and teeth, and capture for domestication. To reduce, remove, or otherwise effectively address these threats to the long-term viability of populations of Asian elephants in the wild will require the joint commitment and effort of nations within the range of Asian elephants, the United States and other countries, and the private sector. On April 22, 1997, I introduced the African Elephant Conservation Reauthorization Act of 1997 (S. 627). By the late 1980's, the population of African elephants had dramatically declined from approximately 1.3 million animals in 1979 to less than 700,000 in 1987. The primary reason for this decline was the poaching and illegal slaughter of elephants for their tusks, which fueled the international trade policy. Today, as a result of the bill, the African elephant population has stabilized, international ivory prices remain low, and wildlife rangers are better equipped to stop illegal poaching activities. I am a strong proponent of the protection and conservation of endangered species. If we do not act now, the world's future generations may not be able to enjoy many of the species of wildlife now in existence. This small, but critical investment of U.S. taxpayer money will be matched by private funds and will significantly improve the likelihood that wild Asian elephants will exist in the 21st Century. It is my hope that the Asian Elephant Conservation Act of 1997 will hopefully see the same successes that the African elephant bill has seen.

Mr. JEFFORDS

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I rise to introduce the Emergency Student Loan Consolidation Act of 1997. This bill will provide emergency relief to the nearly 70,000 students nationwide whose efforts to consolidate their student loans have been thwarted by the collapse of the Department of Education's Direct Loan Consolidation Program. In addition this bill makes conforming changes in the Higher Education Act to ensure that students who receive the Hope Tax Credit are able to receive all of the financial aid to which they are entitled. The Emergency Student Loan Consolidation Act of 1997 is the companion bill to H.R. 2535 which was favorably reported by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on September 24, 1997, by a bipartisan vote of 43-0. The rapidly rising cost of attending college is producing students with overwhelming student loan debt loads. The College Board reports that tuition at 4-year private institutions has risen by 89 percent over the past 15 years while median family income has risen by only 5 percent. Students are responding by borrowing at record levels--in fact, student borrowing under Title IV since 1990 exceeds student borrowing in the 1960's, 1970's, and 1980's combined. Between 1993 and 1995, graduate and professional student borrowing increased by over 74 percent. In order to ease the burden of repaying these debts, Congress created the student loan consolidation program. This program allows students to consolidate their student loans into a single loan that has a variety of repayment options. Current law allows students to consolidate all of their Direct Student Loans and their Federal Family Education Loan Program [FFELP] loans into a Direct Lending Consolidation loan administered by the Department of Education. A student may consolidate his or her FFELP loans into a FFELP Consolidation Loan but may not consolidate his or her Direct Loans into the FFELP Program. As a result, borrowers who wish to consolidate both Direct Student Loans and FFELP loans into a single loan must go to the Department of Education. Last August, the Department of Education announced that it had accumulated a backlog of 85,000 applications for consolidated loans and would cease accepting new applications until this backlog was eliminated. This decision places more than 70,000 students in limbo with no place to turn for help. This bill will provide temporary authority to allow them to consolidate all of their loans, both FFELP and Direct through the FFELP program. In addition, this legislation makes technical corrections to the need analysis provisions of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to conform with changes made to the Tax Code earlier this year which provide students and parents with higher education tax credits. The bill addresses an oversight in the tax legislation which will result in some students receiving reduced student aid under Title IV of the Higher Education Act simply because they qualify for and receive the new tax credits. By adopting this change to the need analysis formula now, the Department can begin the process of revising the student aid application forms well in advance of the 1999 academic year. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a Washington Post article detailing the problems with the loan consolidation program be included in the Record. I urge my colleagues to support this legisation.

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, today I rise today to introduce a bill to assist in the preservation of Asian elephants. The bill, the ``Asian Elephant Conservation Act of 1997'', is modeled after the highly successful African Elephant Conservation Act of 1988 and the Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Act of 1994. It will authorize up to $5 million per year to be appropriated to the Department of the Interior to fund various projects to aid in the preservation of the Asian elephant. Since the challenges of the Asian elephants are so great, resources to date have not been sufficient to cope with the continued loss of habitat and the consequent diminution of Asian elephant populations Among the threats to the Asian elephant in addition to habitat loss are population fragmentation, human-elephant conflict, poaching for ivory, meat, hide, bones and teeth, and capture for domestication. To reduce, remove, or otherwise effectively address these threats to the long-term viability of populations of Asian elephants in the wild will require the joint commitment and effort of nations within the range of Asian elephants, the United States and other countries, and the private sector. On April 22, 1997, I introduced the African Elephant Conservation Reauthorization Act of 1997 (S. 627). By the late 1980's, the population of African elephants had dramatically declined from approximately 1.3 million animals in 1979 to less than 700,000 in 1987. The primary reason for this decline was the poaching and illegal slaughter of elephants for their tusks, which fueled the international trade policy. Today, as a result of the bill, the African elephant population has stabilized, international ivory prices remain low, and wildlife rangers are better equipped to stop illegal poaching activities. I am a strong proponent of the protection and conservation of endangered species. If we do not act now, the world's future generations may not be able to enjoy many of the species of wildlife now in existence. This small, but critical investment of U.S. taxpayer money will be matched by private funds and will significantly improve the likelihood that wild Asian elephants will exist in the 21st Century. It is my hope that the Asian Elephant Conservation Act of 1997 will hopefully see the same successes that the African elephant bill has seen.

Mr. JEFFORDS

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I would like to announce for information of the Senate and the public that a hearing of the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources will be held on Wednesday, October 8, 1997, 10 a.m., in SD-106 of the Senate Dirksen Building. The subject of the hearing is the nomination of David Satcher to be Surgeon General and Assistant Secretary of HHS. For further information, please call the committee, 202-224-5375. subcommittee on public health and safety

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I would like to announce for information of the Senate and the public that a hearing of the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources will be held on Tuesday, October 7, 1997, 9:45 a.m., in SD-430 of the Senate Dirksen Building. The subject of the hearing is the nomination of Charles Jeffress to be an Assistant Secretary of Labor (OSHA). For further information, please call the committee, 202-224-5375. committee on labor and human resources

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I would like to announce for information of the Senate and the public that a hearing of the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources Subcommittee on Public Health and Safety will be held on Thursday, October 9, 1997, 9:30 a.m., in SD-430 of the Senate Dirksen Building. The subject of the hearing is National Institutes of Health clinical research. For further information, please call the committee, 202-224-5375.

Mr. JEFFORDS

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I want to take a moment to remark on the passing of a valued friend of the U.S. Senate, Michael Gutowski, a specialist in private health insurance issues at the General Accounting Office. Michael died suddenly and unexpectedly on September 23 at the age of 53. He was stricken during a meeting with Labor Department officials while gathering information for a report on the implementation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act that I requested. Over the past 10 years, Michael directed a remarkable series of studies, almost 50 in all. Many focused on gaps in private health insurance coverage, gaps that make affordable coverage under reasonable terms unavailable to many groups and individuals. Michael's reports were remarkable in a number of ways. First, they succeeded in keeping the Congress up-to-date on the evolution of the private health insurance market. Second, the reports, while based on thorough and often innovative data collection techniques, were not just a tabulation of statistics. Michael had a remarkable gift for weaving data into a clear and articulate story, one that was immediately comprehensible and compelling. During my tenure as chairman, the reports, testimony, and briefings Michael developed for the Labor and Human Resources Committee have consistently informed our deliberations on health care policy. We have benefited from the research he led regarding employer strategies in purchasing health insurance, children's health insurance, the role of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and State insurance regulation, and the implementation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. In all these areas, he drew on his wide knowledge of the real world insurance marketplace. I know that his contribution to other congressional committees and Members on a diverse range of housing, health policy, economic, and workers compensation issues both at GAO and the Congressional Budget Office have been equally valued. In 1995, Michael received the Assistant Comptroller General's award for studies related to health care reform. Michael was an economist by training but a humanitarian by heart, warn and generous with an unquenchable sense of humor. Michael was very devoted to his wife Lois, and his children Laura and David. In extending condolences to his family, I want them and his colleagues at the General Accounting Office to know that we, too, in the Senate will miss him. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a list of GAO reports by Michael Gutowski be placed in the Record.

Mr. JEFFORDS

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, today I rise to introduce the Special Separation Benefits [SSB] Improvement Act of 1997. This legislation would address the unfair provision that double-taxes veterans who participate in the special separation benefits downsizing program run by the Department of Defense [DOD]. Since 1991, in an effort by the DOD to downsize the armed services, certain military personnel have been eligible for a special separation benefit [SSB]. However, since the inception of this program recipients who are subsequently determined to have a service-connected disability must offset the full SSB amount paid to that individual through the withholding of disability compensation by the Department of Veterans Affairs [VA]. Because of these cost cutting provisions, veterans who participate in the DOD's downsizing by selecting an SSB lump sum payment are forced to pay back the full, pre-tax amount in disability compensation--offsetting money that the disabled veteran would never see. This is a gross injustice to veterans by double taxing their hard earned benefits. My bill would ease this double taxation for all members who accept an SSB package, and make these alterations retroactive to December 5, 1991. Thus, service members not able to receive payment concurrently since 1991 will be reimbursed for their lost compensation portion that was taxed. The near-term costs of this bill were estimated by the Congressional Budget Office to be less than $500,000 through the year 2000 and about $2 million in 2002 --barely a fraction of a percentage of our annual spending on compensation and benefits for former military personnel. Mr. President, I urge my colleagues to join me in correcting the double-taxing of veterans' benefits by the Government.

Mr. JEFFORDS

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, today I rise to introduce the Special Separation Benefits [SSB] Improvement Act of 1997. This legislation would address the unfair provision that double-taxes veterans who participate in the special separation benefits downsizing program run by the Department of Defense [DOD]. Since 1991, in an effort by the DOD to downsize the armed services, certain military personnel have been eligible for a special separation benefit [SSB]. However, since the inception of this program recipients who are subsequently determined to have a service-connected disability must offset the full SSB amount paid to that individual through the withholding of disability compensation by the Department of Veterans Affairs [VA]. Because of these cost cutting provisions, veterans who participate in the DOD's downsizing by selecting an SSB lump sum payment are forced to pay back the full, pre-tax amount in disability compensation--offsetting money that the disabled veteran would never see. This is a gross injustice to veterans by double taxing their hard earned benefits. My bill would ease this double taxation for all members who accept an SSB package, and make these alterations retroactive to December 5, 1991. Thus, service members not able to receive payment concurrently since 1991 will be reimbursed for their lost compensation portion that was taxed. The near-term costs of this bill were estimated by the Congressional Budget Office to be less than $500,000 through the year 2000 and about $2 million in 2002 --barely a fraction of a percentage of our annual spending on compensation and benefits for former military personnel. Mr. President, I urge my colleagues to join me in correcting the double-taxing of veterans' benefits by the Government.