September 30, 1976
Page 33863
Mr. MUSKIE. President, once again we have been presented with a veto of a Labor-HEW appropriations bill. And once again, the message claims that the veto is needed to control Federal spending and dampen the fires of inflation.
Mr. President, these arguments did not hold water last January when we overrode the veto of the 1976 Labor-HEW bill, and they make even less sense today. Only last week I placed a statement in the RECORD detailing congressional performance in management of the economy and the Federal budget. I think the record is clear that Congress his successfully stimulated the beginning of economic recovery, while at the same time keeping a tight rein on the budget. There has been no sign of a renewed upward surge of prices at the rates experienced in 1974 and 1975 but
there has been an upsurge in unemployment to 7.9 percent August.
I think my colleagues should consider the real meaning of President Ford's veto as they decide how to vote on the override attempt. The President's message masks the real issue — the issue of budget priorities.
If you look at overall budget totals, the congressional budget is not much larger than the President's. The deficit is only $3.1 billion higher, a gap that is more than accounted for by spending for temporary job creating programs. which the Congress proposes and the President rejects. Moreover, the difference is less than 1 percent of Federal spending, which is below OMB's threshold of accuracy in estimating based on their performance in gaging spending for fiscal1976 and the transition quarter.
What President Ford really objects to is not the level of the budget adopted but the priorities within that budget. He states that the Labor-HEW bill provides $4 billion more for these programs than he requested. As my colleagues know, we adopted a budget based on congressional priorities for each of the functions of Government. The $56 billion Labor-HEW bill is in accord with those priorities. This means that we have chosen to spend more than the President wants for biomedical research, for training and rehabilitation, and for elementary and secondary education grants. I know of no reason for Congress to turn away from these priorities, and I urge my colleagues to uphold them with a vote to override this veto.