F. Sensenbrenner

Mr. SENSENBRENNER

Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Chairman, it is easy to say you're in favor of balancing the budget. Congress has been saying it for years. But, until recently, those of us who are willing to follow the words with actions have not had enough votes to bring the budget under control. Now, we do. Actions speak louder than words, and this body has proven it. We made the tough choices and passed a balanced budget resolution, only to be confronted with an administration that wants to put those choices off and some colleagues who say they want to balance the budget as long as they don't have to cut any programs. The majority of us still have responsibility for putting the Government on a path to fiscal responsibility. We still have to make those hard calls. In the area of civil science, H.R. 3322 does that. In our civil space program, this bill represents a savings of $308.7 million dollars from the President's request. It preserves and strengthens NASA's historic focus and contributions in basic science areas, such as astronomy, astrophysics, aerodynamics, life, and microgravity sciences. It reduces those programs which amount to commercial welfare, and restructures programs, such as Mission to Planet Earth, that bust the President's own NASA budget in the outyears. The administration abdicated its responsibility to maintain programs consistent with available resources when he sent two sets of books up here last month. He left the tough choices for Congress to make. We made them. The bill fully funds the international space station and the space shuttle. The House passed a multiyear authorization of the station last year to put this program on a sound financial footing consistent with the balanced budget resolution. H.R. 3322 reaffirms the sound fiscal decisions we made last year. It also includes full funding for life and microgravity research, much of which will take place on the station and shuttle. This area of research is important in improving life on earth through new knowledge of materials and human physiology. H.R. 3322 increases the funding for space science. This area of NASA basic research has brought us amazing discoveries from programs such as the Hubble space telescope and the Galileo probe to Jupiter. This increase preserves space science as the bipartisan priority it has always been for the Science Committee and protects if from the disproportionate cuts inflicted by the administration's outyear budget. Most of the increases are dedicated to small, focused science missions that stimulate education and drive costs down. The space science community has made the greatest strides in increasing the bang taxpayers receive for their buck by redesigning missions to be faster, cheaper, better. We need to reward success and ensure that space science does not suffer disproportionately in the President' budget. This bill does that. The bill reduces the President's request for Mission to Planet Earth by $373.7 million, but still provides over a billion dollars and fully funds the AM-1, Landsat-7, and TRMM satellites; earth probes; and Mission to Planet Earth science, which alone accounts for $508 million. In 1992 the Science Committee concluded that Mission to Planet Earth was not a core NASA mission. Therefore, the Science Committee treated it as a discretionary program to be funded with whatever funds remained after NASA's core programs were funded. In NASA's fiscal year 1994 authorization, the Science Committee reaffirmed Mission to Planet Earth's status as a ``level of effort program that accomplishes as much as possible with whatever resources can be provided.`` Since the NASA budget is coming down, so must this discretionary program. This year and last, several congressional witness testified that Mission to Planet Earth can be done at a lower cost by using new technology, exploiting commercial investments in earth observation, and leveraging existing environmental data bases which remain largely unanalyzed by scientists. The bill directs NASA to begin taking those steps that will shift the focus on Mission to Planet Earth to science instead of hardware. We provide full funding for basis research efforts in aeronautics but control the rate of increase in the Advanced Subsonic Technology Program to prevent it from mutating into corporate welfare. H.R. 3322 saves $34 million from the President's request for this program within the aeronautics budget. We fully fund the new technology programs that are vital in taking our civil space program into the next century. These include new millennium spacecraft technology and the reusable launch vehicle. These programs will lower the cost of future government civil and national security space activities. They will also provide a boost to our commercial space industry as we transfer this technology into the private sector, making it more competitive with foreign space industries which receive huge, direct, operating subsidies from their governments. Balancing the/budget means making cuts and setting priorities, which we've done. H.R. 3322 builds on NASA's strengths and experience in basic research and fundamental science. It provides more than a billion dollars for studying this planet and the resources needed to bring the aviation industry into the next century. More importantly, it will continue NASA's accomplishments in revealing the wonders of the universe and set the stage for the future of human development of space. By passing H.R. 3322, we will enable NASA to continue achieving breakthroughs in science and keep the Government on the path toward balancing the budget. 1500

Mr. SENSENBRENNER

Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, through the following statement, I am making my financial net worth as of March 31, 1996, a matter of public record. I have filed similar statements for each of the sixteen preceding years I have served in the Congress. Assets real property Single family residence at 609 Ft. Williams Parkway, City of Alexandria, VA, at assessed valuation. (Assessed at $631,600). Ratio of assessed to market value: 100% (encumbered).........$631,600 Condominium at N76 W14726 North Point Drive, Village of Menomonee Falls, Waukesha County, WI, at assessor's estimated market value (encumbered)...................................................83,900 Undivided 25/44ths interest in single family residence at N52 W32654 Maple Lane, Village of Chenequa, Waukesha County, WI, at 25/44ths of assessor's estimated market value of $539,000..............306,250

Mr. SENSENBRENNER

Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the gentleman from Florida, Mr. Sam Gibbons, who has distinguished himself over the past 34 years in the House of Representatives through outstanding service to the people of the United States. Mr. Gibbons is a World War II hero who parachuted into Normandy on D- day as part of the 101st Airborne. After serving his country in the war, he began his political career while practicing law. Mr. Gibbons entered the Florida State House in 1952; 6 years later, he was elected to the State senate. For the past 34 years, he had admirably served in the House of Representatives for the Tampa area. Mr. Gibbons' legislative successes include floor-managing President Lyndon Johnson's antipoverty package, which contained Head Start and other programs. Throughout his years in public service, Sam Gibbons has been an unwavering advocate for the least fortunate in our society. He has admirably remained true to his values and principles even in the face of sharp opposition and criticism. On behalf of the citizens of Wisconsin's ninth district, we thank Mr. Sam Gibbons for his outstanding service.

Mr. SENSENBRENNER

Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the late Secretary Ron Brown, an American who distinguished himself as a leader in the Democratic Party and an outspoken supporter of free trade while serving as Commerce Secretary. During his youth, Mr. Brown excelled in school. His success led him to Middlebury College in Vermont, which he attended on a ROTC scholarship. After graduating in 1962, Mr. Brown entered the Army and rose to the rank of captain. Throughout his life he held many important positions in both the private and public sectors. Secretary Brown ably assisted Senator Kennedy on his staff and with the Judiciary Committee. In addition, he was a highly sought lobbyist with Patton, Boggs & Blow. Mr. Brown impressively unified the Jesse Jackson and Michael Dukakis supporters at the 1988 Democratic National Convention. His efforts propelled him to chairman of the Democratic National Committee, where he ably served for 4 years, culminating in Bill Clinton's 1992 election. Ron Brown deservedly received much of the credit for his work with the Clinton campaign. Over the past 3 years, Mr. Brown had directed his efforts toward improving trade and commerce for the United States. He served as a proud emissary for American interests. Mr. Brown was a talented and tireless adversary on the campaign trail as well as a distinguished member of the Clinton administration serving on behalf of the American people. I offer my condolences to the family and friends of Secretary Ron Brown.

Mr. SENSENBRENNER

Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the rule and of the conference report. Our out-of-control legal system is ruining the productivity of American manufacturing. Because the price of all of these crazy lawsuits and big judgments and product liability insurance premiums are all folded into our products that we try to sell, both at home and abroad, we end up being at a significant competitive disadvantage to our foreign competition, and specifically the British and the Germans and the Japanese. This legislation is a significant step forward to bringing American manufacturing more competitive. When that happens, that is going to mean more jobs for American people. So we are not talking about protecting big business here, we are talking about creating jobs at home, rather than having our legal system destroy jobs at home and create jobs abroad. Second, the original bill that passed the House contained medical malpractice insurance reform. It is no longer necessary to consider that issue in the context of this legislation, because the House took care of that issue last night when we passed the insurance reform bill with a medical malpractice reform component in it. So splitting off medical malpractice into other legislation has made this legislation easier to pass through reaching an agreement in the conference committee. I want to commend the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Hyde], the chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary and chairman of the conference committee, for crafting a very good bill that will be in the public interest. I hope it passes by more than a two-thirds vote today, because that will send the White House a needed message to sign this legislation.

Mr. SENSENBRENNER

Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of the Chabot amendment to strike the telephone verification system for prospective new employees. I am a strong supporter of turning off the economic magnet that draws illegal workers into our country. However, we cannot turn off this magnet with a system that is flawed. If we do, we are asking for trouble. An error rate in the data base on even the smallest percent means thousands of people will be denied the ability to earn a living. With 65 million hiring decisions made each year, an error rate of only 1 percent would deny 650,000 American citizens their jobs. The Social Security Administration says it cannot predict what the error rate might be. However, in 1994 there was a 2\1/2\-percent nonmatch rate with social security. We all employ case workers in our offices, and we all know firsthand how difficult and time-consuming it can be to correct an error in an official government record. Try convincing the Internal Revenue Service that they have made a mistake, for example. Yet the employee has only 10 days to correct any errors made by Social Security before being fired. While the employer can hire someone else, what happens to the person who needs a job and is denied it because Social Security has made a mistake? Some have said no new data bases are created by phone-in verification. But that is not correct. Employers must keep a permanent record of each approval code they obtain from the government. In order to know which approval matches which employee, there must be a new data base. To avoid further liability, employers also need to keep records of any negative responses they receive. Whether we like it or not, this is an unfunded mandate, an increased paperwork burden on American business. Phone-in verification is an addition to the I-9, not a substitute. Employers must keep this additional information in order to prove they obey the law. Even though the bill calls for a voluntary pilot program, it also calls for additional inspectors for enforcement to check the records of employers who choose not to participate in the program. That is not what I call voluntary. And I urge the approval of this amendment.

Mr. SENSENBRENNER

Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Chairman, immigration reform, unfortunately, is one of those hot button issues that politicians use for their own purposes. However, here on the floor of the House of Representatives, we should not be politicians, but rather we should be legislators. It seems to me, we should shoulder the responsibility the Constitution gives us to determine what our immigration policy should be and to enact the laws which implement such policy. H.R. 2202 says our immigration policy should be ``In the National Interest''--that immigration should benefit the country as a whole. According to the Roper poll in December 1995, 83 percent of those polled want a reduction in all immigration and 75 percent want illegal aliens removed. H.R. 2202 is a step in that direction. President Clinton organized a Commission headed by the late Barbara Jordan to study our immigration policies, to see if the current system is working, and to make recommendations if it is not. H.R. 2202 contains over 80 percent of those recommendations--recommendations which include legal and illegal immigration. The committee will be asked to vote later on to strike some of the sections on legal immigration because they, ``don't belong in a bill about illegal immigration.'' This bill is not about legal or illegal immigration, it is about our national immigration policy--immigration in the national interest. A national interest which is impacted by both legal and illegal immigration. Unless one supports no border or immigration control at all, then we have to make choices. This bill makes some of those choices. It chooses immediate family reunification--minor children and spouses--over extended family. It chooses skilled and educated workers over unskilled or uneducated, and reserves jobs at whatever level for those who are in this country legally. And, most importantly, it makes the policy decision that people who are in this country illegally are breaking the law and should leave without protracted litigation that can go on for years. Let us remember almost half the illegal aliens in this country arrive legally. To say that jobs, education, or taxpayer financed programs should be for those who are in our country legally is not ``anti-immigrant'' or ``isolationist.'' Rather it says that the Congress is finally serious about regaining control of our borders. Our first priority should be immigration policies in the Nation's interest not special interests.

Mr. SENSENBRENNER

Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to our departing colleague from Maryland, Congressman Kweisi Mfume. For the past 10 years, the people of Maryland's Seventh District have benefited from the representation of Congressman Mfume. Representative Mfume's political career began as a Baltimore City Council member where he promoted the causes of his inner-city constituents. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1986 and recently served on the Banking and Financial Services and Small Business committees. His record reflects a dedication of addressing the needs of his district while balancing those with the needs of the Nation. His hard work and legislative ability have earned him the respect of his colleagues on both sides of the aisle. Representative Mfume's outspoken support of civil rights and other traditional minority concerns lead to his election as Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus in 1992, where he elevated the level of influence for the caucus to a new level. I wish Congressman Mfume good luck as he assumes his new responsibilities as chief executive officer of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, where he will have a new platform to fight for the causes he believes in. This is an exciting opportunity for him and I know I am joined by my colleagues in wishing him continued success.

Mr. SENSENBRENNER

Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I support the conference report before the House today. I am hopeful this legislation will ensure that our telecommunications markets remain the most competitive in the world. The Justice Department's role in the success of the legislation before us is critical. For over a decade, the Justice Department has fostered competition in these markets and the bill requires that the Federal Communications Commission, as part of its interest review, will give ``substantial weight'' to the Justice Department's evaluation of a Bell Operating Company's application for entry into long distance. The role included in this bill for the Department of Justice is truly essential to the ultimate success of this bill. In particular, the bill requires the FCC to rely on the Department's expertise to assess the overall competitive impact of the RBOCs entry into long distance. Clearly, there are other public interest factors which are entitled to their proper weight, and the FCC's reliance on the Justice Department is limited to antitrust related matters. In those instances when the cumulative effect of all other factors clearly and significantly outweighs the Justice Department's competitiveness concerns, the FCC should not be precluded from acting accordingly. However, I expect the FCC will not take actions that, in the Justice Department's view, would be harmful to competition. Second, I strongly opposed a provision included in the House passed bill that would have allowed the Federal Communications Commission [FCC] to issue rules that would preempt local zoning on where to site cellular communications towers. Cellular communications companies would have been allowed to place towers in any location, regardless of local concerns and the actions of local city councils and planning commissions, provided that they had obtained approval from an FCC bureaucrat in Washington. It is estimated 100,000 towers will be sited across the country by the year 2000. I have consistently supported the rights of local governments to decide zoning questions and I opposed this bill because it dramatically infringed on the rights of local government with respect to zoning. I am pleased a compromise has been reached on this issue and the FCC will be prevented from infringing on the rights of local and State land use decisions. The authority of State and local governments over zoning and land use matters is absolutely essential and must be preserved. I congratulate Chairmen Hyde, Bliley, and Fields for their tireless work on this historic legislation.

Mr. SENSENBRENNER

Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, for the past 40 years, the people of Michigan's 16th district have benefited from the representation of John Dingell. John is a gentleman whose example challenges us in the House of Representatives, and will continue to do so. Michigan is consistently recognized each year as one of the most influentional delegations in the House. Through experience and leadership, both sides of the aisle have made their legislative mark for both their State and the entire Nation. John demonstrates both tenacity for his personal interests and causes, as well as a spirit of cooperation within the legislative process. His record reflects a dedication of addressing needs of his district while balancing those with the needs of the Nation. His hard work, legislative ability and conscientious votings have earned him the admiration of his constituents and fellow Members of Congress. I join my fellow colleagues in paying tribute to John, his accomplishments and his continued service to our Nation.

Mr. SENSENBRENNER

Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 2(a)(1) of rule IX of the House of Representatives, I hereby give notice of my intention to offer a resolution which raises a question of the privileges of the House. The form of the resolution is as follows: A resolution providing for the expulsion of Representative Walter R. Tucker, III from the House. Resolved, That pursuant to article I, section 5, clause 2 of the United States Constitution, Representative Walter R. Tucker, III, be, and he hereby is expelled, from the House of Representatives.

Mr. SENSENBRENNER

Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that at this point in the Record there be inserted an agreement between the three Republican and three Democratic official objectors to the Private Calender relative to procedures used for the consideration of the Private Calendar during the 104th Congress.

Mr. SENSENBRENNER

Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the call of the Private Calendar scheduled for today be dispensed with.

Mr. SENSENBRENNER

Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support for H.R. 1506, the Digital Performance Right in Sound Recordings Act of 1995. This bill gives recording artists and their recording companies copyright protection over the transmission of digital sound recordings. Under current law, songwriters, but not recording artists or companies, receive royalties when their music is played on radio or television. Artists and companies receive much of their compensation through the sale of compact discs, records, and tapes that are often promoted on radio and television. However, new interactive services are being created which allow consumers to use their TV's and computers to order any recording at any time. These subscriber services threaten sales of CD's, records and tapes. With this legislation recording artists will have a performance right in digital transmissions which will afford them the opportunity to receive compensation when their performances are transmitted digitally. Presently, under American copyright law, owners of almost every kind of copyrighted work have exclusive rights to authorize the public performance of that work. It is time to provide recording artists and companies some copyright protection. H.R. 1506 is equally important for what it doesn't do. This bill does not require businesses, such as bars and restaurants to pay an additional performance royalty when they play music. Such businesses should be allowed the play ``incidental'' or background music without having to pay fees to music performers. Background music is not now and will never be a substitute for consumer purchases of prerecorded music. I congratulate Chairman Moorhead and all the parties who contributed to the negotiations on this issue and made this compromise legislation possible. H.R. 1506 brings copyright law up-to-date to accommodate the new digital technologies in today's marketplace. I strongly urge its passage.

Mr. SENSENBRENNER

Mr. SENSENBRENNER. If the gentleman will yield further, maybe that is the difference between a Congress that ran up a $5 trillion debt and a Congress that wants to balance the budget.

Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Chairman, we are pleased to accept this amendment. I commend the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Hoke] for offering it. The amendment addresses the concerns of NASA, specifically that it provides the agency with a 3-month overlap of zero G operations by both NASA aircraft as well as aircraft operated by a prime contractor. This will ensure that there will be no hiatus in zero G capability during the transition period, and this means that there will be no impact in the training schedule of the astronauts. Privatization of this program by NASA means that now private corporations will have the opportunity to compete for a contract to provide this service to the agency. There are at this time companies that are prepared to enter competition and who are investing considerable amounts of time and capital to lay the groundwork for this effort. This legislation provides the opportunity to the private sector to demonstrate their ability to provide this service more efficiently, and this amendment allows sufficient overlap between the existing Federal operation and its private counterpart to ensure that there is no gap in this important function.

Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Chairman, we are pleased to accept this amendment. I believe that the gentleman from Florida has made an extremely valuable contribution to this bill. Obviously safety cannot be compromised with the space shuttle, because if we should have another disaster, America is out of manned space exploration for a generation. That is why I believe that mandating the Administrator of NASA to place safety first and going to a single prime contractor, as is proposed by the gentleman from Florida, puts the horse before the cart, and that is really important if we are to have a viable space program for generations to come.

Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Chairman, we are prepared to accept the gentleman's amendment on this side. We feel it makes a constructive addition to the bill.

Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from Texas [Ms. Jackson-Lee]. Mr. Chairman, this is the second budget-busting amendment that we have heard from the other side. It even violates the principles of offsets contained in the 1993 Clinton budget bill, $35 million more for an earmarked program that the gentlewoman from Texas [Ms. Jackson-Lee] wants to spend it on with no offset whatsoever, either in NASA or outside of NASA. This means that the Administrator of NASA is going to have to figure out where to find this $35 million. The author of the amendment does not come up and say where to find the $35 million. She punts that whole issue over to the administration, and that is an abdication of congressional responsibility. Now is the Administrator supposed to take this money out of the Johnson Space Flight Center? Is he supposed to take this money out of mission control for bringing the space station up into orbit? That is not specific, and an Administrator of NASA would have to do that. I think that the amount of money that is in this bill which was agreed to by the Committee on Appropriations and passed by the House of Representatives is an adequate amount for this program. We should not have an extra $35 million increase for NASA without saying where it is going to come out of, and I would urge that the committee reject this amendment.

Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Point of order, Mr. Chairman. The gentleman cannot do that, either.

Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Chairman, point of order. I believe it is against the rules to refer to proceedings in the other body.

Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Chairman, I seem to recall in the 1993 budget agreement which was passed by a single party in Congress and signed by President Clinton, there was a discretionary spending cap which meant that if one account at any discretionary spending area was increased, there had to be a dollar-for-dollar offset in other accounts. Now, this amendment that has been proposed by the gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Scott] does not even pass the test that was imposed by President Clinton 2 years ago, because there is no offset there.