The Omnibus Appropriations Bill

Congressional Record 108th Congress First Session Monday, February 17, 2003

Recently, the Senate passed an omnibus appropriations bill containing the funding for FY2003 which under normal circumstances would have been contained in eleven separate appropriations bills and which should have been done prior to the beginning of this fiscal year last October 1st. Once again, the Senate found itself considering a massive appropriations bill, in this case totaling about 2000 pages and spending more than $ 400 billion, and containing other important legislation which doesn't belong in an appropriations bill at all. This is a process which reflects poorly on the Congress both because it represents a failure to get the nation's work done on time, and because of its huge size and the inclusion of matters which were not previously considered in the Senate hinders the kind of careful consideration and debate which wise decision-making demands. It is certain that Senators will only learn after the fact details about many provisions which have been added.

While I am pleased that the Omnibus Appropriations bill for FY2003 which the Congress has now passed includes a number of important projects for the nation and Michigan and necessary funding for key priorities, I am also concerned that adequate funding has not been included in some critical areas.

At a time when we are told that the threat to our country and its citizens is high, first responders, those who would be at the front lines of any national emergency, are severely short- changed in the bill. This bill represents a significant step backward from the bills that the Senate Appropriations Committee unanimously approved last year. For example, this bill cuts Transportation Security Administration funding by $170 million from what the Senate appropriations committee passed last July. Community policing grants, FEMA disaster recovery and assistance, domestic preparedness funding, emergency operations centers and American embassy security have all been significantly cut from the original Senate bill. Further, as our country faces an increased threat of terrorism, U.S. borders remain significantly understaffed and this bill does nothing to improve that. The U.S. Customs Service says that it needs $57 million to beef up inspections of cargo containers, yet this bill provides but $12 million. The Detroit area's border crossings such as the Ambassador Bridge, the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, and the Blue Water Bridge are among the busiest in the country and the Northern border cannot be neglected. In addition, the firefighter grant program was cut by $150 million. To decrease the funding for this important program now, when we need it the most, is indefensible.

There are also provisions in this bill which would have a very adverse impact on the environment and which don't belong on an appropriations measure. For example, this bill will eliminate judicial review for the Tongass National Forest land management plan, remove language protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, exempt the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System from environmental review, cut funding for important conservation programs and dramatically expand the forest stewardship contracting program until 2013. We need to reverse this trend of degradation of environmental protections.

Also, although I am pleased that the bill includes an improved disaster assistance package for Michigan's farmers as compared to what the Senate passed last month, it remains inadequate.

First, farmers in Michigan have suffered tremendous losses in each of the past three growing years. Yet, this bill requires that farmers choose between receiving disaster assistance for either their 2001 or 2001 growing year even if they suffered losses in both years. Grape growers in Southwestern Michigan have lost upward of 80% of their crop in each of the past two years, but they will only be able to receive aid for one of those years.

Second, previous disaster packages have used emergency funds to pay for disaster assistance, but this aid package sets a bad precedent by re-opening the farm bill and cutting important, mandatory conservation assistance. This conservation assistance would have provided an important source of income for farmers and help preserve valuable farmland.

This aid package is an improvement over the disaster assistance program passed by the Senate last month. The key improvement is that it now utilizes a targeting mechanism which will cover Michigan's specialty crop growers who were ineligible for aid under the Senate-passed proposal.

On three occasions in the last Congress, the Senate passed relief that would have compensated all drought victims for their loss in both the 2001 and 2002 growing years. Unfortunately, each time objections from the White House and the House Republican leadership stopped this aid from making it to producers.