February 21, 1977
Page 4757
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The concurrent resolution will be stated.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
A concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 10) revising the Congressional budget for the United States Government for the fiscal year 1977.
The motion was agreed to and the Senate proceeded to consider the concurrent resolution.
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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.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 time for the quorum not be charged against the time on either side.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. 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. MUSKIE. 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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.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. MUSKIE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the following members of the staff of the Committee on the Budget be allowed to remain on the floor during consideration of and votes on Senate Concurrent Resolution 10:
John McEvoy, Sid Brown, Van Ooms, Jim Storey, Dan Twomey, Tom Dine, Karen Williams, Mary Jane Checchi, Faye Hewlett, Rodger Schlickeisen, Terry Finn, Tony Carnevale, George Merrill, Ira Tannenbaum, Chris Matthews, Bob Boyd, Charles Gentry, Ted Haggart, Letitia Chambers, Gary Kuzina and Hal Gross.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, I also ask unanimous consent that the following members of the staff of the Committee on Governmental Affairs be allowed to remain on the floor during consideration of and votes on Senate Concurrent Resolution 10: Alvin From and David Johnson.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, in a few moments I will undertake to begin my opening statement on the third budget resolution.
I ask unanimous consent that a statement by my good friend and the ranking Republican member of the committee (Mr. BELLMON) , be printed in the RECORD following my statement.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
(See exhibit 1.)
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a statement of my good friend, Senator MAGNUSON, who is the ranking Democrat, be printed in the RECORD following that of Senator BELLMON.
The PRESIDING OFFlCER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
(See exhibit 2.)
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, at this point I am happy to yield to the distinguished Senator from Washington, who I know would like to make an important point which may bear on the budget down the road. I am delighted to yield at this point before I proceed with my opening statement.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington is recognized.
Mr. JACKSON. Mr. President, I appreciate the indulgence of the distinguished chairman of the Budget Committee.
I rise at this time to call attention to the fact that the drought conditions in the western part of the United States have indeed reached catastrophic proportions.
The facts are that the losses in terms of agricultural products will be far greater than one anticipated just a few days ago. I need not remind our colleagues and the Nation of what this may mean in terms of the economy of the United States. We could well find ourselves short of critical food at a time when the economy is emerging from the worst winter that we have had in the East, and in the West we have had the worst drought in recorded memory.
The records of previous droughts are no comparison. It is possible that the dustbowl of the 1930's has been exceeded already in terms of potential loss.
I call the attention of my colleagues to the fact that the President, working with the various agencies involved, will indeed be called upon to ask the Congress for substantial sums of money to deal with this emergency in all its forms. Some of it will be needed for relief from financial losses; other aspects may involve the construction of temporary facilities such as aqueducts to move water from one place to another in order to meet the agricultural needs of a given area and to avoid a catastrophe.
I would just give as one example the Yakima Valley in the State of Washington, where we have over 300,000 acres of land under irrigation. We produce in that valley a wide variety of agricultural products. We have some of the largest apple and cherry orchards in the Nation. If they do not get water into that area. we could lose orchards that would take 8 to 10 years to replace.
I mention all this, keeping in mind that we do not yet have specific data as to financial requirements. I would hope that there is enough flexibility in the pending resolution so that the contingencies I have mentioned could be included in the legislative history now being presented to the Senate and upon which we will be called to vote.
I know the Senator from Maine is understanding and sympathetic to this problem. The reason I bring it up today is because I have been in touch with the administration and they hope to have some estimates to present shortly.
Mr. MUSKIE. May I say to my good friend from Washington I have read, with considerable sympathy, the press reports of the drought conditions in the West and particularly in the Northwest, which is of special interest to him. We have the reverse condition in my State. We have more snow than we are accustomed to. In the city of Buffalo, from which my mother came, we probably have had enough snow to solve the problems of the Northwest if we could get it there.
The budget process is flexible enough, of course, to respond to emergencies. Mr.Lance, the Director of OMB, indicated in his testimony before the Budget Committee that the administration had made no effort in this third resolution to try to quantify the consequences of this winter's weather conditions, whether the excessive cold in some parts of the country, the excessive snow in other parts, or the drought in the West.
He felt that it would take more time before we could quantify the budgetary implications of those problems. Obviously, the Government should be, and I think is, flexible enough to respond when we know what we need to do and what it will cost to do it.
I think it is highly appropriate that we make this legislative record as a forewarning of what we might be asked to respond to some weeks or even months down the road.
Mr. JACKSON. Mr. President, I want to thank the distinguished chairman of the committee for that statement. I think it answers the immediate problem. It will take a few days to gather the necessary quantifiable data dealing with the entire country as it pertains to the drought in the West and maybe floods hitting us in the East, as well as other effects of this unusual weather problem that is impacting so devastatingly on our economy in terms of loss of jobs, inflation, and so on. I thank the Senator.
Mr. MUSKIE. I thank my good friend from Washington.