March15, 1977
Page 7583
WAIVER OF SECTION 402(a) OF CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET ACT — CONSIDERATION OF S. 925
Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent, with the understanding that I will then put in a quorum call, that the Senate proceed now with the budget waiver of S. 925 and that upon the disposition of the budget waiver the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. 925.
Mr. BAKER. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, and I shall not object, the matter of the budget waiver is one that addresses, of course, itself to Senator BELLMON, who is the ranking Republican who will be here shortly.
Do I correctly understand that the majority leader intends to ask for a quorum call pending that?
Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. Yes.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. MOYNIHAN). Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The second assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
ORDER FOR THE YEAS AND NAYS ON S. 925
Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that it be in order at this time to order the yeas and nays on final passage of S. 925.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. I ask for the yeas and nays on passage of S. 925.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second? There is a sufficient second.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. Mr. President,
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The second assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. Mr. President,I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the immediate consideration of Senate Resolution 111, the budget waiver resolution on S. 925.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The resolution will be stated.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
Resolved, That pursuant to section 402(c)) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the
provisions of section 402(a) of such Act are waived with respect to the consideration of S. 925, a bill to provide temporary authorities to the Secretary of the Interior to facilitate emergency actions to mitigate the impacts of the 1976-1977 drought. The waiver is necessary in order to provide the opportunity for funding of drought preventive measures in a timely fashion so as to mitigate beforehand adverse economic and resource impacts of the 1976-1977 drought.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the Senate will proceed to its consideration.
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, I do not think an extensive discussion of the waiver resolution is necessary. The resolution, by its terms, is intended to deal with an emergency, a situation that could not have been anticipated by last May 15, and related to drought conditions that have developed this winter.
For that reason, the Budget Committee has voted to report out the waiver resolution, so that the Senate may consider the bill on its merits.
I emphasize that the Budget Committee does not take a position on the merits of this or any other piece of legislation that is waived under the conditions of the Budget Act. The committee position was unanimous, and I suspect there will be no need for further debate, and that the Senate can proceed to vote on the resolution.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Do Senators yield back their time?
Mr. MUSKIE. I yield back the remainder of my time.
Mr. BELLMON. I yield back my time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the resolution.
The resolution (S. Res. 111) was considered and agreed to.
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the RECORD an excerpt from the report (No. 95-53), explaining the purposes of the measure.
There being no objection, the excerpt was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:
PURPOSE OF THE RESOLUTION
Section 402 (a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 provides that it shall not be in order in either the House or the Senate to consider any bill or resolution which directly or indirectly authorizes the enactment of new budget authority for a fiscal year unless that bill or resolution is reported in the House or Senate, as the case may be, on or before May 15 preceding the beginning of such fiscal year. Because S. 925 which authorizes enactment of new budget authority which would become available in fiscal 1977, was reported by the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on March 11, 1977, a resolution waiving section 402(a) of the Budget Act with respect to S. 925 must be adopted before this bill can be considered by the Senate. In reporting favorably on the resolution, the Budget Committee is simply recommending that the Senate proceed to consideration of S. 925, but is not prejudging the merits of the bill.
Committee criteria
The Budget Committee is extremely reluctant to recommend the adoption of resolutions waiving Section 402(a) of the Budget Act. This section was included in the Budget Act to insure that all authorizing legislation is considered as far as possible in advance of the fiscal year in which it will take effect so that it could be considered in the formulation of the First Concurrent Resolution. In addition, this section was included to provide the Appropriations Committee with some reasonable notice of needed appropriations for the coming fiscal year so that the Appropriations Committee can meet the appropriations timetable spelled out in the Budget Act.
Legislation authorizing the enactment of new budget authority which is reported to the Senate after May 15 could delay the enactment of appropriations bills past the Budget Act deadline of seven days after Labor Day for the completion of the entire appropriations process. The legislative history of the Budget Act indicates that the May 15 reporting deadline is not to be lightly waived. Under these circumstances, the Budget Committee, in deciding whether to favorably report resolutions waiving section 402(a) of the Budget Act, will consider factors including: the reporting committee's effort to meet the May 15 deadline, the delay in the appropriations process engendered by the delayed reporting of the authorization, and whether the enactment of the authorization will significantly affect the Congressional budget.
BUDGET IMPLICATIONS
S. 925 authorizes an appropriation not to exceed $200 million which may become available in FY 1977 to carry out the purposes of the Emergency Fund Act of 1948. Enactment of this legislation would also permit a transfer into the emergency fund of up to $200 million of FY 1977 funds already appropriated for other Interior Department purposes. However, outlays from both the new and transferred money are limited to $200 million. (The $200 million not expended in FY 1977 would serve to replenish the fund for future emergencies).
According to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, the purpose of this legislation is to provide temporary authority and the necessary funding to undertake preventive measures designed to ameliorate the severity of drought conditions affecting irrigated lands. This is an emergency measure. Its programs focus on preventing drought damage before it occurs, with particular emphasis on the continued productivity of irrigated lands and the protection of perennial crops. If consideration of this bill is defeated, the economic effects of the drought may be far reaching, including crop losses, unemployment and permanent damage to farm land.
In favorably reporting the resolution, the Committee notes that the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources made every effort to fully authorize all irrigation programs prior to May 15, 1978. At that time, however, the continuing severity of the drought conditions in the Western States could not have been anticipated.
Consideration of S. 925 will not delay the regular appropriations process because the FY 1977 appropriations for the Emergency Fund Act have already been enacted. Funding for S. 925 could be provided in a supplemental appropriation. Full funding of this legislation would not in itself cause the ceiling for Function 300 or the aggregate budget ceilings to be breached.