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“CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 1141, 1999 EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS ACT” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1087 on May 25, 1999.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 1141, 1999 EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL
APPROPRIATIONS ACT
______
HON. JULIAN C. DIXON
of california
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, May 25, 1999
Mr. DIXON. Mr. Speaker, I rise to reluctantly support this conference report, as well as commend Chairman Young, Mr. Obey, and the conferees for their hard work in bringing this difficult bill to the floor. Clearly, many of my colleagues share my ambivalence about this legislation. As a body, we seem to be all over the place on this measure. Some of my friends on the Republican side voted earlier this month to oppose NATO intervention in Kosovo; now they support doubling the President's Kosovo budget request. My Democratic colleagues support funding to provide relief to tornado victims in Oklahoma, hurricane victims in Central America, and refugees in Kosovo; however, they balk at the bill's environmental riders and inflated defense spending. Members on both sides of the aisle decry emergency designation of non-
emergency items, but we have a bipartisan inability to admit that our current budget caps are unrealistic and unworkable.
I have great concerns over portions of this legislation; however, on balance, Mr. Speaker, I believe that the need for much of the funding is real and outweighs my reservations. Given the situation in Kosovo three months ago and our commitment to the defense of Europe, I believe that President Clinton made the right decision to join our NATO allies in acting against Milosevic's ethnic cleansing campaign. The responsibility to allocate dollars to pay for the military campaign falls on the Congress. While the increases over the President's request for Kosovo should be addressed in the regular 2000 appropriations process, we need to move forward to commit these funds.
I strongly support emergency funding for non-defense items in the supplemental. The Congress has moved expeditiously, as is our tradition, to address the destruction caused by recent tornadoes in Oklahoma and Kansas. H.R. 1141 also includes long overdue relief to Central America still struggling in the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch. Sorely needed relief is being supplied to America's farmers.
Today's vote to provide $100 million in military assistance and economic support to Jordan coincides with the visit of King Abdullah. These funds will enable that nation to assist in the Middle East peace process, pursuant to the Wye River agreement. There is renewed optimism that the recent elections in Israel can help reinvigorate that process.
This bill also includes some important legislative provisions. The repeal of the June 15th funding cutoff for the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State and the Federal Judiciary, included in the fiscal 1999 omnibus bill, ensures that essential government functions no longer face shutdown. The bill grants the Department of Justice the authority to make restitution to Japanese Americans and Latin Americans of Japanese descent who were forcibly detained in the United States during World War II, but whose claims have not been settled. Settlement of these claims will close a shameful episode in this great nation's history.
The Republican majority continues to use appropriations bills to pass damaging environmental provisions. This time we have Senate provisions to protect narrow special interests at the expense of the environment. We continue to delay reforms to the 1872 mining law and changes in oil valuation which ensure that the government receives reasonable royalties from drilling on federal land. I urge my colleagues to vote to recommit this legislation so that the bill's onerous environmental provisions can be removed.
So, while I share the reservations voiced by many of my colleagues, I believe we need to move forward with the important work H.R. 1141 funds.
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