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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release February 25, 2000

        President Clinton Sends FY2000 Supplemental to Congress
            For Needs Including Home Heating Assistance and
                            Hurricane Floyd
                           February 25, 2000

     President Clinton today sent to Congress a FY 2000 supplemental

request for $837 million which includes funding for costs associated with home heating assistance for this winter's increased fuel prices, for unmet needs resulting from Hurricane Floyd, and for fisheries suffering emergency circumstances that are causing commercial failures. This supplemental also requests $19 million for weatherization for low-income households.

On February 16, the President released the last of the available funds for FY2000 from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), bringing to $295 million the total LIHEAP funding released this winter to help low-income families pay their heating bills. The President is requesting an additional $600 million to replenish LIHEAP so that resources will be available to meet any additional needs due to increased fuel costs and cope with other emergencies during this fiscal year.

The President is also asking Congress to provide an additional $19 million for the Department of Energy's Weatherization Assistance program, which would allow approximately an additional 9,000 low-income homes nationwide to be weatherized. Last year, Congress funded $135 million of the President's request for $154 million in funding for weatherization. The $19 million in today's supplemental request would restore full funding for the President's request for weatherization.

This supplemental requests additional Federal resources to help affected States recover from flooding and other damage caused by recent natural disasters, including $347 million for Hurricane Floyd. Included in this funding of Hurricance Floyd is $111 million from the Department of Agriculture (USDA) for emergency agricultural and rural housing programs for damage from Hurricane Floyd. Key elements are:

$81 million for forgiveness of USDA loans to producer-owned marketing associations that suffered losses from recent hurricanes; -- $16 million for low-interest loans to construct some 1,000 rental housing units for low-income rural residents who were displaced from their homes or rental units by the hurricanes; and -- $14 million in rental assistance on newly constructed units for low-income tenants.

This request also includes $12 million in emergency funding for the Department of Housing and Urban Development to support approximately 2,000 additional housing vouchers to assist families displaced from their homes due to damage caused by Hurricane Floyd or other recent natural disasters.

This supplemental also requests $1.5 million in emergency funding for the Corps of Engineers to undertake a feasibility study to evaluate options for providing flood damage reduction for the historic town of Princeville, North Carolina, which was devastated by floods caused by Hurricane Floyd. The study and report to the Congress will provide the engineering, economic, and environmental analyses needed to determine how best to provide future flood protection for this area. These analyses will reflect the unique cultural and historical values of the community and the importance of providing adequate protection for them.

Recent fisheries disasters, including those caused by Hurricanes Floyd and Dennis, and others elsewhere in the United States have severely hurt the fishing industries on both East and West Coasts. The President is requesting $56 million including:

$24 million to provide relief from fisheries disasters occurring in the Long Island Sound and the West Coast and to fund post-disaster planning grants and related assistance to communities.
$6 million to fund losses sustained by North Carolina fishermen due to Hurricanes Floyd and Dennis and $5 million to Florida fishermen for losses caused by Hurricanes Georges and Mitch.
In addition, $21 million is being requested in contingent emergency funding for the Department of Commerce to provide resources if relief from other disasters is declared necessary in this fiscal year.

In keeping with recent Presidential directives, the President is requesting that Congress provide $40 million in assistance to meet the concerns of the residents of Vieques, Puerto Rico related to training at the Navy range on the island. This funding, combined with other actions, would implement measures regarding health, safety, the environment and the economy. The Department of the Navy will also submit legislation to the Congress to authorize the transfer of land on the western side of Vieques to the Government of Puerto Rico in keeping with the President's January 31, 2000 directive. The forthcoming authorization language will also establish the management and funding mechanisms necessary for the management of the conservation zones and surrounding environmentally sensitive areas on these lands consistent with a co-management agreement among the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rico Conservation Trust, and the Department of the Interior.

In addition, other funding increases requested by the President provide a total of:

$30 million to establish the Delta Regional Authority (DRA) in FY 2001. The DRA, modeled after other regional economic development authorities, would assist in directing its resources and the resources of other Federal agencies to the Delta region -- 219 counties in seven States -- with a focus on those counties with the highest levels of poverty and unemployment.
$25 million in emergency expenses for the National Transportation Safety Board to support the investigation of the Egypt Air 990 and Alaska Air 261 accidents.

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