94th Congress, 1st Session House Document No. 94-222

VETO OF THE EDUCATION DIVISION AND

RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATION

ACT, 1976

MESSAGE

FROM

THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES VETOING

H.R. 5901, AN ACT MAKING APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE

EDUCATION DIVISION AND RELATED AGENCIES, FOR THE

FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1976, AND THE PERIOD

ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 1976, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

JULY 25,1975.-Message and accompanying papers ordered to be printed

57-011 0

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 1975
To the House of Representatives.

I return without my approval H.R. 501, the Education Division and

Related Agencies Appropriation Act, 1976.

Throughout my public life, I believed-and still believe-that education is one of the foundation stones of our republic. But that is not

the issue in this appropriation bill.

The real issue is whether we are going to impose fiscal discipline on

ourselves or whether we are going to spend ourselves into fiscal

insolvency.

This is the first regular appropriation bill passed by the Congress

this year and it provides $7.9 billion, $1.5 billion more than I

requested.

Earlier this year, I drew a line on the budget deficit for fiscal year

1976 at $60 billion. That line is considerably higher than I would like.

On May 14, the Congress drew its own line on the deficit at $69

billion. But now, the Congress' own July 21 budget scorekeeping report

estimates a possible deficit this year of $83.6 billion.

I cannot, in good conscience. support such a deficit, not only because

of what it means this year, but next year and the year after. In fact,

if this bill were to become law, nearly $1 billion would be added to

next year's deficit.

While I do not insist that my original budget recommendation is the

only one acceptable, I do believe major reductions must be made in

this bill. The Congress could make a substantial move in that direction

by simply accepting my recommendations for impact aid and higher

education. In these two areas alone, Congress has added $913 million

to my proposals.

No single program is more bankrupt than the Impact Aid program.

Starting with President Eisenhower, every Chief Executive has recommended reform or abolition of impact aid. Yet. the Congress would

allocate three quarters of a billion dollars of the taxpayers' money to

this program over the next 15 months. This program is a luxury we

can no longer afford. If we are to do what must be done, we must stop

doing what need not be done.

We must also avoid increasing the funding of other programs unless

we have the money to pay for them. In that regard, I urge the Congress to reconsider the $434 million added to my $2 billion recommendation for higher education.

The other increases the Congress had added to this bill are a part of

the trend over the past several years-a little more for every program.

In this case, "a little more" adds up to nearly $629 million.

Taken as a whole, this appropriation bill is too much to ask the taxpayers-and our economy-to bear.

I urge the Congress to sustain my veto of this bill and then we can

work. together-as we have before-to achieve a responsible compromise.

GERALD R. FoRD.

THE WroTE HOUSE, July 25,1975.

(III)

55D. 222