August 3, 1978
Page 24151
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, the Senate is now considering H.R. 12934, the fiscal year 1979 appropriation bill for the Departments of State, Justice, and Commerce, the Judiciary and related agencies. The bill is generally consistent with the assumptions of the first budget resolution, and I support it. But I would like to raise one point of caution.
Under section 302(b) of the Budget Act, the Appropriations Committee divides among its subcommittees the total budget authority and outlays allocated to it under the budget resolution. These allocations, together with the functional targets established in the first budget resolution, provide benchmarks so that the Senate's action on individual bills can be evaluated in the context of the overall congressional budget.
The Appropriations Committee has allocated $10.2 billion in budget authority and $10.5 billion in outlays to the Subcommittee on State, Justice, Commerce, and the Judiciary.
This bill as reported provides $8.6 billion in new budget authority. Outlays associated with the bill total $11.1 billion, including $5.3 billion in outlays from prior years' authority.
Thus the totals for this bill are under the subcommittee's section 302(b) allocation by $1.6 billion in budget authority, but are above that allocation by $0.6 billion in outlays. Much of the pressure on outlays results not from decisions of the State-Justice Subcommittee relating to fiscal year 1979 activities, but rather from decisions made to unleash SBA disaster loans in fiscal year 1978.
We see here a warning that Congress should take firm action to bring disaster spending under control now or we will continue to create problems for the future.
While H.R. 12934 as reported is within the subcommittee's budget authority allocation and only slightly over the subcommittee's outlay allocation, there could be other claims made against this allocation in the coming months, such as labor-intensive public works, and the expansion of economic stimulus programs. In total, these possible later requirements could cost an additional $2.2 billion in budget authority and $0.3 billion in outlays, and cause the subcommittee to exceed its allocation by $0.6 billion in budget authority and $0.9 billion in outlays. Should these possible later requirements materialize, other subcommittees will need to stay below their allocations if the Appropriations Committee is to stay within its total allocation. This will not be easy.
Mr. President, I ask that a table showing the relationship of this bill and possible later requirements to the subcommittee allocation be inserted in the RECORD at this point.
The table follows:
[Table omitted]
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, this appropriation bill is an excellent example of why it is important for committees of the Congress to meet the May 15 deadline in reporting authorizing legislation, as set forth in section 402(a) of the Budget Act. This appropriation bill includes about $3.8 billion in budget authority that was not included in the House bill because authorizing legislation has not yet been enacted. Programs excluded from the House bill because of the lack of authorizing legislation include programs of the Department of State, international programs, programs of the Maritime Administration, and most programs of the Department of Justice. We are not talking about new or experimental programs here, but ongoing programs of major Federal agencies.
It is not yet certain that lack of authorization will create substantial difficulties in reaching final agreement in this bill. But one thing is clear — the failure to enact authorizing legislation in a timely way creates problems in the appropriations process, which is precisely what section 402(a) was intended to avoid. I hope that our track record with respect to meeting the May 15 deadline can be improved substantially next year.
I support H.R. 12934, as reported, and commend the distinguished chairman of the Subcommittee on State, Justice, Commerce, and the Judiciary, Senator HOLLINGS. His efforts in support of the budget process, both as an appropriations subcommittee chairman and as a member of the Budget Committee, are highly effective and deeply appreciated.