September 13, 1978
Page 29157
SENATE RESOLUTION 562 — SUBMISSION OF A RESOLUTION TO INSTRUCT THE CONFEREE ON THE PART OF THE SENATE ON HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 683
Mr. MUSKIE submitted the following resolution, which was placed on the calendar:
S. Res. 562
Whereas, H. Con. Res. 683, as adopted by the House of Representatives, contains funding of $2 billion for new public works spending in Function 450, and
Whereas, the Senate amendment to H. Con. Res. 683, as adopted by the Senate, contains no funds for this two billion dollars in new spending,
Resolved, that the conferees on the part of the Senate on H. Con. Res. 683 are instructed to insist on the Senate position.
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, I send a resolution to the desk and ask unanimous consent that it go to the calendar.
Mr. BAKER. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, and I will not object, I rise only to say that this matter and this procedure accords with the desires of the ranking member of the Budget Committee, and we have no objection to that.
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, I further ask unanimous consent that if and when the resolution is called up, it be subject to a time agreement in the usual form of 3 hours, to be equally divided between myself and Senator BELLMON
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. Mr. President, I wonder if I can add this unanimous consent request. Let me ask the Chair, would any motion to proceed to the consideration of this resolution be debatable?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The answer is, it would be.
Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent, under the circumstances, that the majority leader, after consultation with the chairman of the Budget Committee, Mr. BELLMON and Mr. BAKER, be authorized to call that resolution up without debate. The time agreement is on the resolution itself already.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Without objection, it is so ordered. The text of the agreement follows:
Ordered, That when the Majority Leader calls up S. Res. 562, a resolution instructing the Senate conferees on H. Con. Res. 683, which can be done by the Majority Leader without debate, debate on the resolution shall be limited to three hours to be equally divided and controlled by the Majority and Minority leaders or their designees; that time on the resolution may be yielded for the consideration of any amendment; and that no amendment not germane to the provisions of the resolution be in order.
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, I have good news and bad news from the conference now meeting on the second budget resolution for 1979.
The good news is that House and Senate conferees have resolved most differences in the conference.
The bad news is that one major policy difference — whether to agree to a new $2 billion-per-year public works program — has deadlocked the conference.
The House budget resolution would provide $2 billion in new spending next year alone for so-called "local public works."
A part of this massive new spending would be to pay for a pale shadow of the administration's "soft public works" program, which is intended to employ disadvantaged workers.
In fact, versions of this new spending program in both Houses could finance projects with money devoted to hiring the long-term unemployed. The bulk would go to regular construction workers at a time when construction employment has already reached record levels. The House position would finance public works programs costing nearly as much during the next 2 years as has been spent for anti-recessionary public works since the depth of the recession 3 years ago.
The Senate resolution contains $1.9 billion in outlays for the existing public works program. But it contains no funding for this massive new program.
Mr. President, the budget resolution, reported by the Senate Budget Committee, contained no funding for this program because we considered it inappropriate in the current economic recovery, too expensive, and inflationary.
No amendment was offered to provide funding for such a program when our budget resolution was debated on the Senate floor.
The House conferees continue to insist that such a program must be financed in this budget resolution and the Senate conferees continue to resist that additional spending.
Agreement in the conference — which is so near on so many other issues — is frustrated by this single question of whether to have a massive new public works program.
I am making this statement to the Senate today to alert all Senators to the likelihood of a vote on instructions to the conferees in the next day or so. Your Senate conferees will be communicating with you further as to our detailed objections to the House version.