Jim Walsh

Mr. WALSH

Mr. WALSH. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to take this opportunity to welcome home to Syracuse the 29 soldiers of the Supply Platoon of the 1019th Quartermaster Company after a very successful mission in the region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. These dedicated Central New Yorkers spent the past 6 months as part of the U.S. Peacekeeping Mission. They were stationed in Hungary, where they provided support for Operation Joint Endeavor and Operation Joint Guard. The majority were reservists working in the main supply warehouse where every uniformed American was processed and provided with essential equipment. In addition to these duties, they also processed all of the servicemen as they left the area prior to their returning to the States. There were times when the company processed over 500 soldiers a day. Our community is proud of the hard work and dedication displayed by the 1019th Quartermaster Company. They are truly a credit to Central New York. Following are the names of the members of the Supply Platoon of the 1019th Quartermaster Company: 1st Lt. David Fosdick, 2d Lt. Ronald Humphery, CWO3 Gerald Davies, M. Sgt. Robert Fuller, Sfc. Ramona Sandoval, S. Sgt. Thomas Fahey, Sgt. Gregory Beebe, Sgt. Teddy Cavollo, Sgt. William Hazelton, Sgt. David Jones, Sgt. Edward Keegan, Sgt. Abraham Ortiz, Sgt. Miguel Pujos, Sgt. Deborah Reed, Sgt. Bradley Wass, Spc. Debra Addison, Spc. Richard Bailey, Spc. Michael Bick, Spc. Nicola Green, Spc. Traci Hall, Spc. Leroy Hardge, Spc. Samantha Isles, Spc. Sean Lawless, Spc. David Nixon, Spc. Timothy Peterson, Spc. Megan Taylorrolf, Pfc. Alana Crossman, and Pfc. Vincent Harris. I would ask my colleagues to join me in thanking them as they return to their civilian jobs or their educational pursuits. We are proud of the commitment our national reservists make to their families and our country.

Mr. WALSH

Mr. WALSH. Mr. Speaker, this year as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of LeMoyne College, I would like to applaud an outstanding Jesuit institution in Central New York. This is a college which prides itself on its value-oriented education, a campus whose achievements truly stand apart from the rest. LeMoyne College was founded by the Jesuits in 1946. On September 5, 1947 the college began classes with an enrollment of 450 students. Recently LeMoyne was nationally recognized in U.S. News and World Report as ranking second among the top 10 regional liberal arts colleges in the north. The total number of undergraduate degrees awarded through June 1996 was 16,700. LeMoyne prides itself on being the first Jesuit college in the world to open its doors to both men and women. However, their accomplishments do not end there. They created a center for continuous learning, an adult education division, to meet the needs of nontraditional students. Every student is viewed as an individual with different ethnic, geographic and academic interests. Each receives personal consideration in small class settings. This classroom atmosphere strengthens the special bond that develops between the professors and students alike. The Panasci Family Chapel, built in 1994, enhances the spirit of family, tradition and values that distinguish LeMoyne from any other university. Campus Ministry conducts programs such as PIC-projects in the community, which allows students to be active in community service. I am proud to recognize LeMoyne's many successes. We are fortunate to have an institution such as this in central New York. I congratulate LeMoyne's administration, faculty and staff for their efforts in providing men and women with a well-rounded, family-oriented education. I would like to take a moment to commend those who were instrumental in the founding and development of LeMoyne. Without their hard work, dedication and devotion, the college would not be the institution of higher learning that it is today. They are: The Most Reverend Walter A. Foery, D.D.; Rev. Robert F. Grewen, S.J.; Leonard P. Markert; Edward P. Eagan; W. Marcus Crahan; and T. Frank Dolan. I also salute LeMoyne's president, Rev. Robert A. Mitchell, S.J. and the interim academic vice president, Rev. Edmund G. Ryan, S.J., for their valuable leadership. I ask my colleagues to join me today in wishing this extraordinary institution all the best in what is certain to be an outstanding future.

Mr. WALSH

Mr. WALSH. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WALSH. Mr. Speaker, I will be very brief. The conference agreement we bring to the House this evening is essentially the same bill that was passed by this House 2 weeks ago. Our conference agreement includes $719 million in Federal funds and is within our 602(b) allocation in both budget authority and outlays. In District funds, we retain the ceiling of $5.108 billion on total operating expenses, and we were successful in getting a deficit cap reduced to $74 million instead of $99 million, as proposed by the consensus in the Senate bill. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the members of the subcommittee for their hard work. This is a good conference agreement. I urge the Members to support it. Mr. Speaker, this evening we have before the House the conference agreement on H.R. 3845, the District of Columbia Appropriations Act for fiscal year 1997. It is essentially the same bill that was passed by this House 2 weeks ago with a few exceptions that I will highlight in a moment. Our conference agreement includes $719 million in federal funds and is within our 602(b) allocation in both budget authority and outlays. In Federal funds, the $719 million agreed to by the conferees is $1 million above the amounts recommended in the bill as passed by the House and Senate. The efforts of the gentleman from California [Mr. Dixon], the ranking member on our subcommittee, resulted in this $1 million being added to our bill for the control board to contract with private entities to inspect, flush, and repair the drinking water distribution system in the District. There is a strong Federal interest in assuring that those who visit, live, and work in the Nation's Capital have safe water to drink. In District funds, we retain the ceiling of $5.108 billion on total operating expenses for fiscal year 1997, and we were successful in getting the deficit cap reduced to $74 million instead of $99 million as proposed in the consensus budget and the Senate bill. Mr. Speaker, there are four items I want to mention briefly. First, on the abortion issue, the Senate receded to the House language that no appropriated funds, Federal or local, are available for abortions except to save the mother's life, or in cases of rape or incest. Regarding the domestic partners provision, the House language was agreed to by the conferees and provides that no funds, Federal or local, are to be used for a registration system or to implement or enforce the District's Domestic Partners Act. Mr. Speaker, our subcommittee is concerned about deficit spending by the District government and borrowing long term to finance those deficits. We are urging the Mayor, the Council, and the control board to hold spending to the level of revenues collected. The District cannot spend its way to prosperity; nor can it borrow its way to prosperity. And lastly, we have included an important provision regarding the Chief Financial Officer. Language in section 142 makes clear that all financial personnel in the executive branch of the District government, including all independent agencies and excluding the legislative and judicial branches, are under the exclusive control of the CFO. The CFO is making progress. It has been reported that the time delay in making vendor payments has been reduced from months to between 30 to 45 days. This is good progress. I would like to thank the members of the sbucommittee for their hard work on this bill--the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Bonilla], the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Kingston], the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Frelinghuysen], the gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. Neumann], the gentleman from Mississippi [Mr. Parker], the gentleman from California [Mr. Dixon], the ranking member on our subcommittee and my predecessor as subcommittee chairman, the gentleman from New York [Mr. Serrano], the gentlelady from Ohio [Ms. Kaptur], and the ranking member of the committee, the gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. Obey]. I want to especially thank the full committee chairman, the gentleman from Louisiana [Mr. Livingston], for his extraordinary efforts on this bill. He took time to participate in our markups and meetings while still tending to other important appropriations matters. Each of these Members is to be commended. I also want to thank the House and Senate staff as well as my personal staff for their hard work. Mr. Speaker, at this point in the Record, I will insert a tabulation summarizing the conference action. [The tabulation referred to follows:] [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH01AU96.027 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TH01AU96.028

Mr. WALSH. Mr. Speaker, i yield myself such time as I may consume. (Mr. WALSH asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. WALSH. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on the conference report to accompany H.R. 3845, and that I may include tabular and extraneous material.

Mr. WALSH. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to the previous order of the House, I call up the conference report on the bill (H.R. 3845) making appropriations for the government of the District of Columbia and other activities chargeable in whole or in part against the revenues of said District for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1997, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. WALSH. Mr. Speaker, I have no requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WALSH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I would also like to thank the gentleman from California [Mr. Dixon], who served as chairman of this subcommittee, now serves as ranking member, for his cooperation, for his staff's cooperation. It was a remarkable feat to complete this bill in less than 3 weeks. It is due in no small part to the cooperation we received from the Democrat side and from the Senate.

Mr. WALSH

Mr. WALSH. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3603 and its accompanying conference report that provides funding for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and related agencies programs for fiscal year 1997. I want to commend subcommittee chairman Skeen and ranking member Mr. Durbin for their leadership and fine work in crafting this difficult bill. I also would like to thank the subcommittee staff for their diligence and for the long hours they spent putting together this bill. This bill provides $53.3 billion for Agricultural appropriations. This represents a reduction of $10.3 billion from last year's level. Discretionary spending in our bill has been reduced by $350 million, forcing our subcommittee to make some difficult choices. We have had to consolidate and reduce spending on a number of rural development and rural housing programs and spending in this bill is still woefully inadequate to meet the needs of those rural communities seeking water and sewer loans. Fortunately, there are many positive areas in this bill that deserve special recognition. For one, we were finally successful in reforming the section 515 low-income housing program. This multifamily rural rental housing program assists elderly, disabled and low-income working families in securing affordable housing. In this bill we have extended the section 515 program for another year and have permitted funding to be used for construction of new affordable housing units. This program has been in need of reform for years and I am hopeful that these overdue changes will enable us to operate this program more efficiently so that we will be able to provide increased funding to the program in future years. In this bill we have also significantly increased spending on nutrition and feeding programs. We have provided $8.7 billion for child nutrition programs such as the school lunch and school breakfast programs and $27.6 billion for food stamps. The important WIC program is funded at last year's level of $3.73 billion. With the large carryover balances in the WIC account, we are within reach of full funding for WIC, a goal that I believe its shared by all Members of Congress. We have also provided the administration's full request of $574 million for the Food Safety and Inspection Service. Ensuring the safety of our Nation's food supply is one of the highest priorities in this bill. We are committed to providing the Food Safety and Inspection Service with the needed funding required to maintain the current inspection system while providing the needed investments required to implement the new hazard analysis and critical control point [HACCP] meat and poultry inspection system. This bill also provides critical resources to the Natural Resources Conversation Service that will enable them to provide planning and technical assistance for watershed projects and to help farmers implement conservation compliance plans on highly erodible lands. We need to do a better job in controlling soil erosion and protecting environmentally sensitive crop lands. We do that in our bill by providing strong funding levels for conservation operations, the conservation reserve program, the wetlands reserve program and the newly created environmental quality incentives program [EQUIP]. One of my major regrets in this bill is the failure to include the Northern Forest Stewardship Act in the agriculture appropriations conference report. The Northern Forest Stewardship Act is bipartisan legislation that positively balances the environmental and economic future of resource-dependent communities in northern New England and New York. This bill represents a carefully, crafted compromise based on the recommendations of the northern forest land council. Foresters, conservationists, and recreationists have worked together to develop a plan of action that protects the scenic and wildlife resources of the region while preserving the economic timber base of the region and without infringing on the rights of landowners. We must protect and enhance the forest health, forest economies and community development of these northern forests for current and future generations. I strongly support this consensus approach to preserving our treasured natural resources. The decision by the Agriculture Appropriation Subcommittee conferees to not include riders, or potentially controversial authorization language on our bill, led our subcommittee to reluctantly drop the Northern Forest Stewardship Act from the conference report. Nevertheless, I plan on continuing to work closely with my northeastern colleagues to find a way that expedites passage of the Northern Forest Stewardship Act in this Congress. In spite of my reservations on a few specific provisions in the bill I believe that the bill overall is a good one. We have done the best we can with the resources available to us and I urge Members to support this bill and yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WALSH

Mr. WALSH. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the Speaker's table the bill (H.R. 3845) making appropriations for the government of the District of Columbia and other activities chargeable in whole or in part against the revenues of said District for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1997, and for other purposes, with Senate amendments thereto, disagree to the Senate amendments, and agree to the conference asked by the Senate.

Mr. WALSH

Mr. WALSH. Mr. Speaker, I would like to just take a moment to congratulate everyone, both sides of the aisle, Republicans and Democrats, chairmen and ranking members, who worked to find a reasonable solution to this problem. This is a problem that the country, our producers, our processors, our consumers, it has bedeviled them for a long, long time, and this approach to legislation is remarkable. The result is remarkable. It is good for everyone. I carried the rider last year on the Delaney Clause that would have prevented the EPA from delicensing chemicals that did not meet the standard that the court required them to meet. That was a strong measure. We backed away from that to provide some pressure to the legislative process. The Committee on Commerce responded, and I think it is a terrific solution, and I congratulate all of you.

Mr. WALSH

Mr. WALSH. Mr. Chairman, in response to the gentleman's questions, we are all very much aware of all of these problems in the city. I would remind my colleague that these did not just happen overnight. The bridges and roads and infrastructure and police cars and fire engines have been running on basically empty for years. There has been no investment in the schools. The city's capital program basically does not exist. The fact is, the District of Columbia's budget is over $5 billion for a city of 550,000 people. The State of South Carolina, with 3\1/2\ million people, has a budget of $4 billion. So it would seem that there is enough money. We have discussed this with the city officials and have urged them to spend money on these public works projects. Basically the funds in this bill are at their discretion to spend, but we do strongly urge them to make these structural repairs and changes to turn the District around from its downward spiral.

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

Mr. WALSH. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California [Mr. Horn].

Mr. WALSH. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia [Ms. Norton].

Mr. WALSH. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume to comment on my colleague's remarks. We have made, I think, tremendous progress in reducing our deficit spending. This Congress reduced discretionary spending by $56 billion last year, a remarkable and astounding feat, given past performance, and no one in this body is more committed to reducing deficit spending or reducing our deficits than I. We have, I think, made great effort here to reduce the projected deficit by an additional $59 million or 60 percent to bring this budget closer to balance. It may take another year before we get there, but we are heading in the right direction. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from California [Mr. Dixon], the ranking member of the committee.

Mr. WALSH. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the gentleman's amendment. While I know it is with the best of intentions, looking toward reducing our deficit by reducing our Federal spending, I want to assure him that we have made every effort to do so, in fact, have been accused of asking for too many spending cuts of the District of Columbia. The Federal payment to the District of Columbia is a contribution that is made in lieu of taxes to the District government. The Federal Government occupies roughly 45 percent of the land area of this city. This payment is our contribution to the local community for the police, fire, and other services that are provided not only to Congress, but to the Federal offices and foreign embassies and various groups that have received congressionally chartered tax exemptions, not to mention the millions and millions of tourists and other visitors who come here either to see the beauty of our Nation's Capital or to participate in government or in business. The second point I want to make is that the amount we are recommending in this bill for fiscal year 1997 is exactly the same amount that was appropriated in each of the last 2 years. In other words, this will make it 3 years in a row with no increase--a flat Federal payment appropriation for the past 3 years for the District of Columbia. Third, the Constitution places the responsibility for the District under the Congress, and it is our duty to provide a fair contribution for the operation of the seat of our national Government. Mr. Chairman, the District is in the midst of a financial crisis. In response to that crisis, this Congress last year passed legislation to create a financial control board. That board has been in place a little over a year and is making some progress in grappling with the situation. I would say to my good friend and colleague from Minnesota that we are appropriating exactly the amount authorized by his committee. The authorizers told us this is the amount that we should spend, and in respect to that committee and in respect to the process, we are appropriating at exactly that level. If the gentleman wishes to change that authorization, he is on the committee that can make that change. So, Mr, Chairman, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the gentleman's amendment. We should not shirk our responsibility to our Nation's Capital by reducing the Federal payment to a level below what it was 3 years ago. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WALSH. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. (Mr. WALSH asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. WALSH

Mr. WALSH. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Traficant] for yielding. We have examined the amendment, Mr. Chairman, find it to be in perfectly good order, find it to be consistent with the wishes of the subcommittee, and have no objections to the gentleman's amendment.

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

Mr. WALSH. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. We have no further requests for time on this amendment, and I would close by saying, as I said earlier, that this is an unusual bill in that we appropriate all the funds, both Federal and local, for the District of Columbia. We did not set it up that way, the Constitution did. Therefore, I think in order to be consistent with the government- stated policy on funding abortions, we should stick to the language in section 189 of the bill that says no funds can be used for abortions except to save the mother's life or in cases of rape or incest. So I would strongly urge defeat of this amendment. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WALSH. Mr. Chairman, I yield 4 minutes to my distinguished colleague, the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Smith].

Mr. WALSH. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in opposition to the gentlewoman's amendment. This bill is different from the other 12 regular appropriations bills in that our bill appropriates all funds for the operations of the District government; all funds, not just Federal funds. That is the way the bill is designed. That is why the abortion language in section 129 of our bill restricts the use of all funds for abortions, except to save the mother's life or in cases of rape or incest. I think that is consistent with our appropriations policies. We are appropriating all funds for this bill. The abortion language in our bill this year is identical to the language in last year's bill which was signed by the President. It is also identical to the language in the continuing resolutions that the President signed last year. It is identical to the language in Public Law 104-69 that the President signed on December 22, 1995; to legislation that he signed on January 4, 1996; to legislation that he also signed on January 6, 1996, and to legislation he signed less than 3 months ago on April 26. While I appreciate the gentlewoman's feelings about home rule, the language in our bill does allow the use of funds for abortions in those cases where the life of the mother is endangered or in the case of rape or incest. I believe it is broad enough to give District officials the discretion they need so that the procedure is not misused. Mr. Chairman, as I mentioned just a moment ago, the President, less than 3 months ago, signed a bill with language identical to that found in section 129 of this bill. There is no reason for the President to not approve this language which, again, is identical to language he recently approved. I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WALSH. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I will be brief in closing. Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank everyone involved for their support in this process and I certainly want to thank the efforts of the authorizing committee and the subcommittee chair, the gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Davis], and the ranking member, the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia [Ms. Norton]. While they may not agree totally with what we have proposed, they are urging support of the bill, and I thank them for that. There has been some progress, Mr. Chairman. It is difficult to see at times, but I think we need to stop and look and see how far we have come. The financial control board has begun to put some muscle into new management in the District, especially in the chief financial officer position. The CFO is beginning to make his mark in terms of strengthening the discipline of the financial management of the District of Columbia. We have much better numbers now. For the first time in a long time we are getting into a range where we can count on the numbers that we are getting from the city. The city is moving toward restructuring some of its nonessential services. The control board is proposing a strategic plan which we all await with great anticipation, because that truly will be the path that we follow to take this city out of its crisis. The deficits are going down. The receiver of the city housing department reports progress. Blue Plains is becoming a regional facility. Spending is under control. High government payrolls are being reduced. Have we been tough, Mr. Chairman? Yes, we have. But sometimes tough love is required to get the proper outcome. No doubt that we all love this city greatly, all of us. All of us come at it from a different point of view, but this is our Nation's Capital. It is a marvelous place. It is the seat of democracy. It is the envy of the world. We cannot do any less than be tough to get it back on its road to recovery. I urge my colleagues to support this bill. Mr. Chairman, I thank my colleagues for their indulgence, and I yield back the balance of my time.