September 1, 1976
Page 28786
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, a further parliamentary inquiry.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator will state it.
Mr. MUSKIE. If time is yielded back on the committee amendment and the committee amendment at that point is acted upon by the Senate, is it subject to amendment?
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. If it is agreed to, it is not subject to amendment, but yielding back the time does not require it to be acted upon immediately before other amendments are offered.
Mr. MUSKIE. Then under those circumstances Mr. President, I yield back the remainder of my time on the committee amendment.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Does the Senator from New Mexico yield back the remainder of his time?
Mr. DOMENICI. I yield back the remainder of my time.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The amendment of the Senator from Vermont is in order.
UP AMENDMENT 415
Mr. STAFFORD. Mr. President, I renew my request for consideration of the amendment that is pending at the desk and ask for its immediate consideration.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The amendment is in order.
The amendment will be stated.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
The Senator from Vermont (Mr. STAFFORD) for himself and Mr. Leahy proposes unprinted amendment 415.
Mr. STAFFORD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered. The amendment is as follows:
On page 3, line 22, insert after "(c)" the following: "(1) "
On page 4 after the list following line 2, insert the following new paragraph:
(c) (2) For the Fiscal year 1977, no State shall receive less than one-third of one per centum of the total allotment under the first paragraph of this subsection, except that in the case of Guam, Virgin Islands, American Samoa and the Trust Territories, not more than forty one-hundredths of one per centum in the aggregate shall be allotted to all four of these jurisdictions. For the purpose of carrying out this paragraph there are authorised to be appropriated, subject to such amounts as are provided in appropriations, not to exceed $50,000,000 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1977.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. There are 20 minutes of debate on the amendment in the second degree with time equally divided under the usual fashion.
Mr. STAFFORD. Mr. President, the amendment I am proposing is a simple one. It provides that no State will receive less than one-third of 1 percent of funds allocated for fiscal year 1977 for construction of water treatment works. My amendment authorizes an additional $50 million for this purpose.
The amendment would go in on page 4 of the bill immediately following the listing of the 50 States and some trust territories, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and Guam.
Members of the Committee on Public Works are in agreement that the formula provided in the committee amendment is applicable only to Fiscal year 1977. The committee did not have adequate time this session to conduct a complete review of allocation formulas. It is committed to such a thorough review next year. Thus, the 1977 formula is a stopgap, the committee’s best effort to be evenhanded, given its time limitations. It is a one-shot formula, Mr. President,
in order to insure that during this year of review, that is, fiscal 1977, which starts October 1, no State is deprived of adequate funds to carry on its construction program. I am proposing the one-third percent floor.
There are precedents for actions of this nature. In the distribution of highway construction and safety funds, minimum apportionments of one-half percent apply to several programs. The Senate has also provided a one-half percent floor in recently passed air pollution and solid waste control legislation.
In all cases these floors guarantee that States which might otherwise he harmed by biases in allocation formulas receive their fair share.
My own State of Vermont under the 1975 distribution formula received approximately one-third of a percent of the total water construction funds distributed. Under the committee amendment, Vermont would receive only twenty-two-one hundredths of 1 percent. This is a reduction of more than $5 million, assuming a total authorization of $5 billion.
Six other States — Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming — also receive less than one-third of 1 percent under the committee formula.. My amendment provides that each of these States will receive the minimum amount of approximately $16 million.
An additional authorization is included to cover the cost of guaranteeing this minimum. None of the remaining 41 States — and I emphasize that — will suffer a loss of its share of $5 billion as a result of my amendment. The additional authorization of contract authority, as well as the original authorization in the committee amendment, is subject to action by the Committee on Appropriations.
Mr. President, this is a reasonable amendment. It applies only to the upcoming fiscal year 1977. It is an equitable means of seeing that each State receives adequate support for construction programs while Congress reviews the whole basis for allocating funds. It will not diminish funds going to any State under the Committee provision.
I ask for the support of my colleagues for this amendment.
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, it is with considerable regret that I find myself unable to support the amendment offered by the distinguished Senator from Vermont.
As he knows, in committee I supported a different amendment offered by him to adopt the formula used in fiscal year 1975. I thought that formulas provided greater equity for his State of Vermont and my State of Maine. We were defeated, I think rather overwhelmingly, and the formula that is in the committee amendment was based upon the formula already adopted by the House of Representatives with one change. Instead of using a 1990 population projection as in the House hill, we changed it to include as actual 1975 population factor, so that formula, which was not all I wanted and not all the Senator from Vermont wanted, is the formula adopted by the overwhelming majority of the Committee on Public Works as the best 1-year answer to this very volatile political problem.
So I am concerned that we not trigger a rash of formulas geared to perceived notions of how Senators' States might profit more than under the committee amendment by adopting this particular formula for this particular purpose.
I promise the Senator from Vermont that when we get involved in consideration of a permanent formula next year he and I will find ourselves, I think, working side by side to protect the interests of small States like Maine and Vermont. Incidentally, I might point out that I think my own State suffers a reduction of about $6 million a year as against the formula that was in effect in 1975. So I myself would like to offer an amendment that would restore that balance — an amendment which would provide more funds to the State of Maine which by the way would not result from Senator STAFFORD's amendment — but I think, the formula adopted by the committee is the committee's good faith best judgment as to how to bridge this 1-year gap between the formula of the past and whatever we may develop next year.
Mr. President, I am prepared. to yield back the remainder of my time.
Mr. STAFFORD. Mr. President, unless there. are other Senators who wish to speak, I am prepared to yield back the remainder of my time.
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, I yield back the remainder of mg time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. HUDDLESTON).The question then is on agreeing to the amendment of the Senator from. Vermont (putting the question).
The Chair is in doubt, and I ask for a division.
Those in favor will stand and be counted.
Those opposed will stand and be counted.
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, in light of the parliamentary situation, rather than to prolong debate—
The PRESIDING OFFICER. If the Senator will withhold, we will announce the result of the vote.
Mr. MUSKIE. All right.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. According to the result of the division, the "noes" have it.
Mr. MUSKIE. I thank the Chair.
The amendment was rejected.