Volume 142, No. 141 covering the 2nd Session of the 104th Congress (1995 - 1996) was published by the Congressional Record.
The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“THE OMNIBUS APPROPRIATIONS BILL” mentioning the Environmental Protection Agency was published in the Senate section on pages S12327-S12328 on Oct. 3, 1996.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
THE OMNIBUS APPROPRIATIONS BILL
Mr. KEMPTHORNE. Mr. President, I wish to talk about the omnibus appropriations bill adopted by the Senate this week and signed into law by the President.
Passage and enactment before the end of the fiscal year was important to keep the Government in business and meeting the needs of American citizens.
The bill is significant in that it continues the Republican Congress' move to balance the Federal budget by the year 2002. It would have been easier had the President and his party not been more interested in obstruction over cooperation. Still, this Congress has cut around 300 unneeded Federal programs and saved $53 billion in discretionary spending.
We provide for a higher level of defense funding than the President requested. We also approved strong anti-crime and antidrug packages, aggressive antiterrorism programs and stringent antiillegal immigration measures. The bill increases funding to our States and communities hard hit by natural disasters.
My State of Idaho is one where residents and businesses had to cope with rains, floods, and wildfires this year. There is a role for the Federal Government in helping stabilize riverbeds and hillsides, reducing environmental damage, putting businesses back on solid footing and firefighting efforts. This bill accomplishes that.
The USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service watershed and flood prevention operations receive a $63 million increase in this bill, $5 million will go to help the Boise area recover from the devastating 8th Street fire in the Boise foothills. Without immediate attention to the fragile hillsides, this winter's rains and next spring's snowmelt could send tons of water and mud into homes and businesses all along the Boise front.
Additionally, the Bureau of Land Management's firefighting account will get a $17 million increase over last year. Wildfires are claiming more and more Western land, and the BLM's resources are stretched to the limit.
The Forest Service, which manages more than 20 million acres in Idaho, gets a $144.5 million increase in firefighting funding, $17.7 million for management of the National Forest System, almost $2 million for forest and rangeland research and nearly $19 million in State and private cooperative programs.
The Federal Government owns two-thirds of the land in Idaho, so I'm pleased these needed increases will help develop and maintain solid management and cooperation with private and State landowners.
Preservation of our natural resources and treasured environment is important to me and to Idaho. I'm pleased to see the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will get a $6 million dollar increase for the cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund. This grant program to the States will allow for cooperative agreements to save species and habitat. As I work on a revised Endangered Species Act, I want to encourage cooperation of States and private land owners to enter into these types of arrangements. States and local governments will play a greater role in species protection and recovery in the future.
Native Americans in Idaho and across the country will see increases in the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service. These increases are important so we don't neglect our obligations to tribes and their residents.
Besides what this bill does, it is important for what it does not do. There are no increases in grazing fees for ranchers in the West. Other amendments which limit Native American sovereignty were also dropped.
Mr. President, I am proud that this Congress passed, and the President signed, the Safe Drinking Water Act. The bill is the only major environmental legislation of the 104th Congress, and represents the way environmental laws should work. It protects public health and safety while giving States and communities the flexibility to manage water systems to meet their local needs. It is truly the best way to ensure safe and affordable drinking water to every American.
This omnibus appropriations bill includes an additional $40 million for the new Safe Drinking Water Act. $10 million will be dedicated to important health research on contaminants that are present in drinking water and that pose real threats to humans, like the microbe cryptosporidium that killed over 100 people in Milwaukee in 1993. With better science and a better understanding of contaminants in our drinking water, the Environmental Protection Agency and our States will be able to target their limited resources on the most serious water problems.
Earlier I mentioned how this bill strengthens our national defense. While I do not agree with all that is in this omnibus package, especially the funding for foreign aid, I have to applaud stronger national defense.
This bill provides an additional $9 million to slow the pace of the Clinton defense cuts. I believe this administration has cut too far, too fast. At a time when we're asking men and women in uniform to do more, we shouldn't be providing less. As our Armed Forces take part in so-called peace-keeping operations around the world, we should be supporting them, not cutting them. As chairman of the Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee, I'm pleased our military forces will be getting a 3 percent pay raise. I wish it could be more, but at least we're taking care of the troops and their families.
Idaho plays a key role in research and development to keep our national defense the best and strongest in the world. I am proud of the dedicated scientists, engineers, and workers in Idaho who fill important roles to make sure when our troops are called into action, they have the best and most advanced equipment and technology. The work at laboratories from Idaho Falls to Sandpoint saves lives.
The Department of Defense appropriations bill in this omnibus package funds projects which help diversify the missions at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. It provides $3.5 million for an Air Force Battle Management System and $3 million for the chemical weapons demilitarization Mobile Munitions Assessment System. These projects are designed to protect our forces in the field, where training and equipment are expected to perform.
Our Navy benefits from this bill as well. This bill funds $40 million over the President's request for advanced submarine technology development, much of this work is done at the Navy's acoustic center at Lake Pend Oreille in northern Idaho. Pend Oreille is the deepest lake in the country, and provides an excellent laboratory and training ground for development of the quietest and hardest to detect submarines in any ocean.
Mr. President, while I don't like the fact this bill is more than
$6.5 billion dollars more than Congress originally proposed, it does continue to bring fiscal responsibility to the Federal budget, and continues the pledge this Republican Congress made to Americans to balance the budget. It is important to note these spending increases are paid for with other provisions in this bill.
Therefore, Mr. President, I can only hope that in the next Congress, we can not only trim discretionary spending, but we can pass laws that will attack runaway mandatory spending. It is possible, if we have a President and a Congress that will work together.
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