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PRESIDENT CLINTON CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE ACTION ON SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDING,
PROGRESS ON AMERICA'S AGENDA
Today, as Congress returns from its Memorial Day recess, President
Clinton will call on Congressional Leaders to break the logjam that has
neglected crucial needs such as disaster relief, the war against drugs,
military readiness, LIHEAP cooling assistance, and air safety. The
President will insist that Congress immediately pass supplemental
emergency funding that has languished in the Senate for months. The
President will also call on Congress to complete work on a fiscally
responsible budget that invests in the American people and to finalize
bipartisan legislation to pass common sense gun safety legislation, a
strong, enforceable Patient's Bill of Rights, a clean $1 increase in the
minimum wage over two years, and an affordable, voluntary Medicare
prescription drug benefit.
End Delays on Urgent Disaster Relief, Military and Other Crucial Needs
In February, President Clinton sent Congress an urgent $5.5 billion
supplemental funding request to pay for pressing national needs that
could not wait for next year's budget. After quick, bipartisan House
action, the Senate has now dragged its feet for three months. Among
other serious consequences, further delays will result in:
Reduced Air Safety Inspections And Air Traffic Control System
Maintenance: Without $77 million in additional funding contained in the
President's request, the FAA will have to complete the summer travel
season without hiring 170 safety inspectors, resulting in 10,000 fewer
safety inspections and 100 fewer substance abuse inspections. Continued
Congressional delay would also force the FAA to reduce maintenance of
critical air traffic control systems, which will cause more system
outages and increased flight delays during peak vacation times.
Delayed Relief To Victims Of Hurricane Floyd: In September 1999
Hurricane Floyd destroyed homes, farms and businesses along the east
coast, hitting North Carolina especially hard. Thousands of disaster
victims are still waiting for promised assistance. The President's
supplemental request contains $347 million to allow families to move or
rebuild, help farmers replace equipment and buildings lost in the storm,
and help small businesses repair damage. Further delays could postpone
home construction until next spring, forcing families to spend a second
winter in trailers or temporary shelters and preventing farmers from
producing a successful crop again this year. The request contains
housing assistance for up to 10,000 households through FEMA, HUD and the
Department of Agriculture.
Insufficient Firefighting Resources on National Parks and Public
Lands: Department of Interior funding to fight fires will be exhausted
by mid-June, just as peak fire season is beginning. The President has
supported another $200 million to maintain the ability to respond to
fires on National Parks and other public lands, and complete emergency
rehabilitation tasks for this year and next.
No emergency LIHEAP Cooling Assistance for Low Income Families: Winter
fuel needs exhausted the emergency reserve for low-income heating and
cooling assistance. The National Weather Service is predicting a hotter
than average summer, but there is no emergency fund to provide cooling
assistance for low income and elderly Americans. The President
requested $600 million for LIHEAP to protect vulnerable low-income
individuals from heat-related illness and death.
Weakened Anti-Drug Efforts in Colombia: Colombia supplies 80 percent
of the cocaine entering the U.S. The President's request for $955
million to support Colombia's sweeping anti-drug efforts has been
pending for four months, restricting counter narcotics efforts in
Colombia to small operations and giving drug traffickers an upper hand
in the area. Congress' lack of support has been a setback to the
international anti-drug effort, hampered Colombia's domestic reforms and
economic recovery. Further delays will weaken the Colombian government
and erode U.S. credibility in the global counter-narcotics battle while
strengthening illegal armed groups and drug kingpins.
Delaying International Debt Relief. Last year, the United States led
the way in reaching an historic international agreement to provide
greatly expanded relief to heavily indebted poor countries in order to
help them reduce poverty. The President has requested $210 million to
finance our participation in a global initiative that leverages $20 in
foreign contributions for every dollar we contribute. While Congress
fails to act, countries undertaking reforms in Latin America and Africa
are likely to continue paying millions in interest to foreign creditors
rather than investing in the health and education of their people. In
many of these countries, one in ten children dies before their first
birthday, one in three is malnourished, and the average adult has had
only three years of education.
Insufficient Funding for Military Readiness and American Troops in
Kosovo: The Department of Defense has already been forced to take
extraordinary action to avert a funding crisis because Congress failed
to make the $2.7 billion requested by the President available in April.
If Congress does not approve funds this month, the Army and other
services will likely have to curtail training, damaging the readiness,
capability and morale of our armed forces. The President's supplemental
request also contains vital funding to support American troops in
Kosovo.
Complete Work on America's Priorities
President Clinton will also call on Republican Congressional leaders to
move forward on five key priorities. In many cases, Congress has
answered the President's request to act on these items on a bipartisan
basis, only to see progress blocked and the interests of the American
people take a back seat to powerful lobbyists and special interests. The
President will call on Congress to use the weeks ahead to complete work
on the following measures:
Raise The Minimum Wage: Congress has delayed increasing the minimum
wage for over a year by attaching costly and unnecessary tax cuts to
this long-overdue measure. Each day Congress delays, it takes money out
of the paychecks of 10 million minimum wage workers, many who are moving
from welfare to work. The minimum wage has not been increased in nearly
four years. It now enjoys broad bipartisan support and should not be
held hostage to an irresponsible tax cut aimed at helping special
interests.
Pass Permanent Normal Trade Relations for China: The House passed
permanent normal trade relations in May. Now the Senate should clear
this bill for the President's signature. Granting permanent normal
trade relations, along with China's entry in the WTO, will open China's
markets to the United States and will promote the cause of openness,
reform and accountability in China. While China's entry into the WTO
will slash barriers to the sale of American goods and services in the
world's most populous country, the United States will be required simply
to continue the trade policies that it already applies to China. The
agreement is a clear win for American farmers, workers, manufacturers
and high-tech businesses.
Complete A Meaningful Patient's Bill Of Rights: Over nine months ago,
the House passed the Norwood-Dingell Patient's Bill of Rights with
overwhelming bipartisan support. However, Republican Congressional
leaders have stalled action. The delay has resulted in unnecessary harm
to thousands of patients whose insurance companies refuse to pay for
tests or diagnostic procedures, fail to cover a prescription drug, or
refuse to allow a doctor to refer the patient to a specialist. Congress
has just a few weeks remaining to demonstrate that the interests of
patients and doctors come before insurance company profits by passing a
meaningful bipartisan Patient's Bill of Rights.
Provide Affordable, Voluntary Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage For
All Beneficiaries: Medicare beneficiaries face prescription drug costs
that are increasing at double the rate of inflation, and a growing
number of seniors are finding themselves with inadequate prescription
drug coverage or none at all. Congress should act now to provide an
affordable coverage option before even more seniors are forced to choose
between food and prescription drugs for all beneficiaries.
Approve Common Sense Gun Safety Legislation: Sensible gun safety
legislation has languished in Congress for nearly a year, while an
estimated 30,000 Americans have lost their lives to gun violence. In
May 1999 the Senate passed common sense gun safety measures, with Vice
President Gore casting the tie-breaking vote. Since then, Republican
Congressional leaders have delayed and bottled up this legislation at
the behest of the gun lobby. The President will call on Congress to
come to consensus on a bill that closes the gun show loophole, requires
child safety locks to be sold with handguns, bans the importation of
large capacity ammunition clips and prevents violent juvenile offenders
from buying guns as adults.
Pass A Fiscally Responsible Budget That Invests In Our Priorities: The
President proposed a balanced and fiscally responsible budget that makes
investments in key priorities for the American people. The President's
budget includes important investments in education, including funds to
modernize 6,000 schools, continue the effort to hire 100,000 quality
teachers to reduce class size, expand our efforts to identify and turn
around failing schools, and increase accountability. However, in order
to pay for fiscally irresponsible tax cuts, Congressional Republicans
have cut $24 billion from the President's domestic priorities. This
would result in fewer quality teachers for schools, fewer law
enforcement officers and prosecutors to fight crime, reduced
environmental protection, and less funding for National Science
Foundation research. This year, as he has for the past seven, President
Clinton will insist that Congress produce a responsible budget that
honors our values and invests in the American people.