E 1082 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks May 19, 1995

THE REGULATORY EFFICIENCY

ACT

HON. RANDY TATE OF WASHINGTON

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Thursday, May 18, 1995

Mr. TATE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce legislation to streamline our Nation’s regulatory process. The Regulatory Efficiency Act

of 1995 will force Government agencies to finalize proposed regulations within 18 months

or the proposals will be terminated.

For too long, Government bureaucrats have

terrorized private property owners, small businesses, and individuals with unreasonable

regulatory proposals. Too many Americans

and their businesses have worried about complying with costly and burdensome proposed

regulations well before they take effect. In

many cases, a proposed regulation will loom

while taxpayers are waiting for the ax to fall.

Many time, businesses spend thousands of

dollars to change their facilities or operations

because they expect that they will have to

comply with the proposed regulation in the future. Unfortunately, our regulatory system is

far from perfect. Too often is the case when

businesses comply with a proposed regulation,

only to have the proposed regulation change

significantly, or be withdrawn, before it becomes final. Many in fact, change the way

they operate soon after a regulation is proposed only to clear later that the proposed

regulation is not the regulation that will become effective. In other cases, proposed regulations do not become final until weeks before

their enforceability—leaving it impossible for

businesses to comply in a timely fashion. I do

not need to tell my colleagues what happens

when a business does not comply with a Federal regulation.

We must put an end to this drawn-out regulatory roller coaster ride. American taxpayers

and businesses should know there is a definite date by which a proposed regulation becomes final or it will terminate. The American

people want common sense returned to Government. My bill brings efficiency and certainly

back to the regulatory process. I urge my colleagues to support this long-awaited legislation.

MIDTOWN COMMUNITY SCHOOL

fHON. ROBERT MENENDEZ OF NEW JERSEY

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Thursday, May 18, 1995

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today

before the House of Representatives to take

this opportunity to congratulate Midtown Community School of Bayonne, NJ. Midtown Community School was recently selected by

Redbook as one of the best schools in America.

Midtown Community School is an example

of what is right about public school education.

We are constantly bombarded in the media by

horror stories about how public education is

letting our children down. Nothing could be

further from the truth at MCS. At MCS they

take extra effort to expose the students to advanced technology. Technology is the cornerstone of the curriculum at MCS and it is incorporated into every aspect of the school day,

from the science classes to the music classes.

The students teachers and administrators

don’t just talk about the electronic super highway, they are riding it.

Nearly 500 schools were nominated for the

prestigious award by State and national leaders, but only 142 schools were recognized by

Redbook. A panel of 10 distinguished educational experts selected the winners. It took

dedication by the parents and staffs to work

collectively to earn this recognition.

Midtown Community School is one of the

best elementary schools in the country. It is an

example of what public education can accomplish and we take great pride in knowing that

it is part of our community. MCS’s commitment to education does not end at 3 p.m. It offers a wide range of educational programs to

all segments of the community. MCS fosters

lifelong learning. Schools like MCS nurture

students. They create a climate in which they

can excel. At the same time they insure that

our country will be competitive in the next century. MCS is a national educational treasure

and deserves emulation. There can be no

doubt that at Midtown Community School the

future is here, today.

Please join me in honoring this excellent

educational institution for their extraordinary

accomplishment. Lets not forget that the future

of our Nation depends on the students of

today. I am proud to have a school in the 13th

Congressional District which serves as an

academic role model for the rest of the Nation.

That school is the Midtown Community School

of Bayonne.

STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF THE

COALITION BUDGET

f

HON. WILLIAM O. LIPINSKI OF ILLINOIS

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Thursday, May 18, 1995

Mr. LIPINSKI. Mr. Speaker, this is a time of

tough, economic choices. Congress is faced

with a $4.7 trillion debt that is depriving our

Nation of the investments we need to improve

our economic productivity and give our children a stable future.

I have long searched for a solution to the

problems facing my constituents and the country as a whole. I have listened to the concerns

of the hard-working people in my district. They

understand that sacrifices have to be made in

order to get our financial debt under control.

They just want to make sure that it is done in

a fair, sensible, common-sense way.

This is why I voted for a budget proposal

that is tough on the deficit, but makes only the

cuts necessary to balance the budget.

Unfortunately, the Republicans in the House

have proposed a budget that puts off consideration of cuts until after $350 billion in tax

cuts are put in place. I want to see those tax

cuts become a reality—but we need to reduce

government first. The Senate has put forth a

budget that reflects this idea. They agree that

it is not good fiscal policy to start giving out

tax credits before the budget is balanced.

The budget resolution that I support makes

many tough choices. It is a new, bold solution

to really fix what needs fixing—reigning in government spending. But it does it much more

slowly and deliberately than what the Republicans have proposed. It will cut what needs to

be cut, but it doesn’t go too far, too fast. The

budget proposal I voted for makes conservative, but not unreasonable cuts, in funding for

programs such as education, health, economic

development, and maintains the solvency of

the Medicare Trust Fund.

The Republican budget proposal would

cause Cook County to lose $90 million in

mass transit funds, $6.8 billion in Medicare

funding, and $1.5 million in community development grants. I am for balancing the budget.

I just do not want to make drastic and unnecessary cuts that will hurt my community, especially its elderly.

The Coalition Budget Substitute that I supported makes smart choices about downsizing the government:

It slows the growth of Medicare just enough

to keep the Trust Fund solvent. What we need

to do in the next several years is lower the

projected cost of the Medicare Program, while

preserving benefits, quality, choice and affordability. We can do this by aggressively investigating fraud and abuse, and offer incentives

to encourage the use of fewer and less expensive services. Medicare growth needs to be

controlled, but drastically increasing the premiums of Medicare recipients is not the answer.

It turns Medicaid into a block grant and

slows the current growth rate of the program.

The Coalition Substitute cuts less than the Republican bill—$50 billion less in cuts—but it

will significantly reorder Medicaid funding. This

program is important to Illinois because 50

percent of the beneficiaries are disabled individuals who are unable to work, and 20 percent are elderly who need assistance with

nursing home care costs. The Republican

budget’s cuts would be so severe, that longterm care for the more vulnerable elderly and

disabled would be non-existent. Medicaid

needs changing, and the Coalition Budget

Substitute can accomplish this change without

devastating the elderly and disabled in Illinois.

Many health care organizations have come

out in support of the Coalition Budget Substitute because they know that our health care

system cannot continue to meet the needs of

the American people if the broader economy

is ill. They support this alternative to the Republican budget proposal because it makes

hard choices while still preserving essential

safety net programs in Medicare and Medicaid.

It incorporates savings from welfare reform

that will not give benefits to non-citizens. It is

time for this country to put the needs of its

hard-working, law-abiding citizens ahead of

those who do not contribute to our economy.

This bill does gives priority to legal U.S. citizens.

It does not cut guaranteed student loans.

The Republican budget proposal would start

penalizing children while they were still in

school. We need to continue educating our

children, not take away their ability to improve

themselves and our country.

It deletes the tax on Federal employees, so

people who have contributed all their lives to

their pension will not be penalized for doing

so. The Republicans included this increase in

Federal employees’ contributions to pay for

tax cuts, but I don’t agree with targeting one

group of retirees for this purpose. It is not fair,

and the budget proposal I voted for would

right this wrong.