July 18, 1977
Page 23512
Mr. STENNIS. Mr. President, I understand that the senior Senator from Maine has a matter concerning this bill. The junior Senator has another matter.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time?
Mr. STENNIS. I yield such time to the senior Senator from Maine as he may use.
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, I appreciate that courtesy on the part of the distinguished floor manager, the able Senator from Mississippi.
Mr. STENNIS. That is on the bill.
Mr. MUSKIE. In the course of our consideration of the appropriations bills this year, Mr. President, I should like to say I have been pleased, as chairman of the Committee on the Budget, representing the committee, that the managers of the bill and the Appropriations Committee have maintained the discipline of the budget so that it has not been necessary for me, as often as last year, to speak to the budget implications of these appropriations bills. This one is of such significance and magnitude in terms of cost that I thought I ought to comment briefly on it.
First, I hasten to say that I rise in support of the defense appropriation bill for fiscal year 1978. I want to express my views about the bill and how it relates to the national defense targets Congress established in the first budget resolution for fiscal year 1978.
First, I extend my congratulations to the distinguished Senator from Mississippi (Mr. STENNIS), the distinguished Senator from Arkansas (Mr. McCLELLAN) , and the other very able members of the Defense Subcommittee for the work they have done and the time they have devoted to this important measure, and also to the distinguished ranking Republican member of the committee (Mr. YOUNG). They have worked extremely hard, Mr. President, in bringing before the Senate a defense spending measure that is within the budget targets that Congress mandated for defense.
I remind the Senate that it was not easy to arrive at agreement with the House conferees on those budget targets and that agreement was achieved only after several days of rather vigorous disagreement and debate.
The bill before us appropriates funds totaling $111.1 billion in budget authority. Outlays associated with the bill are $101.5 billion, which includes outlays of $28 billion from prior year authority.
Under section 302(b) of the Budget Act, the Committee on Appropriations divides among its subcommittees the budget authority and outlays allocated to it under the first budget resolution.
Under this process, the Defense Subcommittee was allocated $113 billion in budget authority and $103.7 billion in outlays. The bill before us leaves $1.9 billion in budget authority and $2.2 billion in outlays remaining within the subcommittee's allocation.
Having said that, however, I hasten to point out that possible later requirements for Defense Department pay raises and military retired pay are now estimated at $2.1 billion in both budget authority and outlays. This would place the Defense Subcommittee over its allocation by $0.2 billion in budget authority and slightly below the level of its allocation in outlays.
Mr. YOUNG. Will the Senator yield on that?
Mr. MUSKIE. Yes; I yield.
Mr. YOUNG. The Senator from Maine is making a good point. Also, we shall have to give serious consideration to the add-ons that the President sent over in the budget, which amounts to $449 million. That, along with the pay raise, would put us over the budget ceiling.
Mr. MUSKIE. I am happy to have the Senator from North Dakota make that point. We must always bear in mind the future amounts that come down the budget pike in the years ahead. This is a tight budget. We knew it would be when we set the defense function budget totals. I am delighted that the committee has worked so hard and effectively at holding the line so closely, but there is no room for additional play with these figures.
Mr. President, we must, of course, be watchful when subcommittee allocations are exceeded. In the case of this appropriation bill, however, I believe there is no cause for concern. There are several reasons: First, the President's recent decision regarding the cancellation of the B-1 production program could have a downward impact on the final level of the bill. Second, the House-passed version of the defense appropriation bill is $1 billion in budget authority under the Senate-reported version, and it is possible that the Senate level may be reduced in conference. Moreover, even at the Senate level, we now expect the full Senate Appropriations Committee to remain within its first budget resolution committee allocation by approximately $5 billion in budget authority — an expectation fully supported by the distinguished chairman of the Appropriations Committee, who is also the chairman of the Defense Subcommittee.
Finally, Mr. President, the combination of the defense appropriation bill, as reported in the Senate, plus action to date on other appropriation bills, indicates that the Congress is well within the national defense functional targets established in the first budget resolution. It is currently estimated that the national defense function would be $1.2 billion in budget authority and $1.4 billion in outlays below the functional targets if this bill were enacted as reported.
I have a detailed chart depicting the derivation of these figures and I ask unanimous consent that the table be printed at this point in the RECORD.
There being no objection, the table was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:
[Table omitted]
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, in concluding my remarks, I extend my appreciation again to the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Appropriations (Mr. McCLELLAN) , and to the entire committee membership and staff for their efforts in producing a bill within the congressional budget targets for defense. I might also add that the distinguished chairman provided the Budget Committee sound counsel and able assistance during our deliberations in arriving at the first budget resolution, and I want to publicly thank him for his support of the budget process.
Mr. President, I support this defense appropriation bill, of course reserving the right to support or oppose floor amendments. I congratulate the distinguished chairman for reporting a bill that is consistent with the budget resolution targets and the committee's allocation; and I encourage him to continue his efforts in this regard in the subsequent conference with the House.
I repeat my congratulations to the Senators involved, the ranking Republican and my good friend from North Dakota, the distinguished floor manager of the bill (Mr. STENNIS) , and Senator McCLELLAN, the chairman of the full committee. I express my appreciation for the cooperation we are receiving from the Appropriations Committee on all matters affecting the budget.