November 9, 1979
Page 31933
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, the Senate now is considering the conference report on H.R. 4930, the Interior and related agencies appropriation bill which appropriates fiscal year 1980 funds for energy, natural resources, and environment. and several other program areas. I want to take the opportunity to comment on the budgetary implications of this bill.
The conference report on the bill provides $30.3 billion in new budget authority and $6.4 billion in fiscal 1980 outlays. The conference report, therefore, is about $700 million in budget authority and $200 million in outlays above the Senate-passed bill.
While I remain concerned about the Appropriations Committee's ability to live within its total allocation, this bill is well within the applicable functional totals of the conference agreement on the second budget resolution. In addition, the spending in H.R. 4930 clearly was contemplated in the second budget resolution. In particular, I am referring to the new synthetic fuels program and the low-income assistance program, which are of critical importance to our Nation.