H. Con. Res. 83—28
SEC. 308. SENSE OF THE SENATE WITH RESPECT TO INCREASED EDU-
CATION FUNDING.
It is the sense of the Senate that—
(1) this budget resolution makes available up to $6.2 billion
in discretionary budget authority for funding domestic priorities
in excess of the President’s request;
(2) funding for discretionary education programs (including
Head Start and funds for the Department of Education in
excess of the President’s request of $44.5 billion in discretionary
budget authority for fiscal year 2002) is one such priority;
and
(3) these additional funds for education should be devoted
to high priority programs including Head Start, the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act, education for the disadvan-
taged, Impact Aid, State assessment tests, Pell Grants, reading
improvement programs, school construction, and teacher and
classroom quality programs.
Subtitle B—Sense of the Congress
SEC. 311. ASSET BUILDING FOR THE WORKING POOR.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:
(1) For the vast majority of United States households,
the pathway to the economic mainstream and financial security
is not through spending and consumption, but through savings,
investing, and the accumulation of assets.
(2) One-third of all Americans have no assets available
for investment and another 20 percent have only negligible
assets. The situation is even more serious for minority house-
holds; for example, 60 percent of African-American households
have no or negative financial assets.
(3) Nearly 50 percent of all children in America live in
households that have no assets available for investment,
including 40 percent of Caucasian children and 73 percent
of African-American children.
(4) Up to 20 percent of all United States households do
not deposit their savings in financial institutions and, thus,
do not have access to the basic financial tools that make asset
accumulation possible.
(5) Public policy can have either a positive or a negative
impact on asset accumulation. Traditional public assistance
programs based on income and consumption have rarely been
successful in supporting the transition to economic self-suffi-
ciency. Tax policy, through $288,000,000,000 in annual tax
incentives, has helped lay the foundation for the great middle
class.
(6) Lacking an income tax liability, low-income working
families cannot take advantage of asset development incentives
available through the Federal tax code.
(7) Individual Development Accounts have proven to be
successful in helping low-income working families save and
accumulate assets. Individual Development Accounts have been
used to purchase long-term, high-return assets, including
homes, postsecondary education and training, and small busi-
ness.
H. Con. Res. 83—29
(b) SENSE
OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress that
the Federal tax code should support a significant expansion of
Individual Development Accounts so that millions of low-income,
working families can save, build assets, and move their lives for-
ward; thus, making positive contributions to the economic and
social well-being of the United States, as well as to its future.
SEC. 312. FEDERAL FIRE PREVENTION ASSISTANCE.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:
(1) Increased demands on firefighting and emergency med-
ical personnel have made it difficult for local governments
to adequately fund necessary fire safety precautions.
(2) The Government has an obligation to protect the health
and safety of the firefighting personnel of the United States
and to ensure that they have the financial resources to protect
the public.
(3) The high rates in the United States of death, injury,
and property damage caused by fires demonstrates a critical
need for Federal investment in support of firefighting personnel.
(b) SENSE
OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress that
the Government should support the core operations of the Federal
Emergency Management Agency by providing needed fire grant
programs to assist our firefighters and rescue personnel as they
respond to more than 17,000,000 emergency calls annually. To
accomplish this task, Congress supports preservation of the Assist-
ance to Firefighters grant program. Continued support of the Assist-
ance to Firefighters grant program will enable local firefighters
to adequately protect the lives of countless Americans put at risk
by insufficient fire protection.
SEC. 313. FUNDING FOR GRADUATE MEDICAL EDUCATION AT CHIL-
DREN’S TEACHING HOSPITALS.
It is the sense of Congress that:
(1) Function 550 includes an appropriate level of funding
for graduate medical education conducted at independent chil-
dren’s teaching hospitals in order to ensure access to care
by millions of children nationwide.
(2) An emphasis should be placed on the role played by
community health centers in underserved rural and urban
communities.
(3) Funding under function 550 should also reflect the
importance of the Ryan White CARE Act to persons afflicted
with HIV/AIDS.
SEC. 314. CONCURRENT RETIREMENT AND DISABILITY BENEFITS TO
RETIRED MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that the Secretary of Defense
is the appropriate official for evaluating the existing standards
for the provision of concurrent retirement and disability benefits
to retired members of the Armed Forces and the need to change
these standards.
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress that—
(1) the Secretary of Defense should report not later than
180 days after the date of adoption of this resolution to the
congressional committees of jurisdiction on the provision of
concurrent retirement and disability benefits to retired mem-
bers of the Armed Forces;
H. Con. Res. 83—30
(2) the report should address the number of individuals
retired from the Armed Forces who would otherwise be eligible
for disability compensation, the comparability of the policy to
Office of Personnel Management guidelines for civilian Federal
retirees, the applicability of this policy to prevailing private
sector standards, the number of individuals potentially eligible
for concurrent benefits who receive other forms of Federal
assistance and the cost of that assistance, and alternative initia-
tives that would accomplish the same end as concurrent receipt
of military retired pay and disability compensation;
(3) the Secretary of Defense should submit legislation that
he considers appropriate;
(4) upon receiving such report, the committees of jurisdic-
tion, working with the Committees on the Budget of the House
of Representatives and the Senate, should consider appropriate
legislation; and
(5) the Congressional Budget Office and the Office of
Management and Budget should report not later than 30 days
after the date of adoption of this resolution to the Committees
on the Budget on the risk that provision of full concurrent
receipt of military retired pay and disability compensation
would reduce the surplus below the level of the Medicare Hos-
pital Insurance Trust Fund.
SEC. 315. FEDERAL EMPLOYEE PAY.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:
(1) Members of the uniformed services and civilian
employees of the United States make significant contributions
to the general welfare of the Nation.
(2) Increases in the pay of members of the uniformed
services and of civilian employees of the United States have
not kept pace with increases in the overall pay levels of workers
in the private sector, so that there now exists—
(A) a 32 percent gap between compensation levels of
Federal civilian employees and compensation levels of pri-
vate sector workers; and
(B) an estimated 10 percent gap between compensation
levels of members of the uniformed services and compensa-
tion levels of private sector workers.
(3) The President’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2002
includes a 4.6 percent pay raise for military personnel.
(4) The Office of Management and Budget has requested
that Federal agencies plan their fiscal year 2002 budgets with
a 3.6 percent pay raise for civilian Federal employees.
(5) In almost every year during the past 2 decades, there
have been equal adjustments in the compensation of members
of the uniformed services and the compensation of civilian
employees of the United States.
(b) SENSE
OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress that
rates of compensation for civilian employees of the United States
should be adjusted at the same time, and in the same proportion,
as are rates of compensation for members of the uniformed services.
SEC. 316. SALES TAX DEDUCTION.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
(1) in 1986 the ability to deduct State sales taxes was
eliminated from the Federal tax code;
H. Con. Res. 83—31
(2) the States of Tennessee, Texas, Wyoming, Washington,
Florida, Nevada, and South Dakota have no State income tax;
(3) the citizens of those seven States continue to be treated
unfairly by paying significantly more in taxes to the Govern-
ment than taxpayers with an identical profile in different States
because they are prohibited from deducting their State sales
taxes from their Federal income taxes in lieu of a State income
tax;
(4) the design of the Federal tax code is preferential in
its treatment of States with State income taxes over those
without State income taxes;
(5) the current Federal tax code infringes upon States’
rights to tax their citizens as they see fit in that the Federal
tax code exerts unjust influence on States without State income
taxes to impose on their citizens;
(6) the current surpluses that our Government holds pro-
vide an appropriate time and opportunity to allow taxpayers
to deduct either their State sales taxes or their State income
taxes from their Federal income tax returns; and
(7) over 50 Members of the House of Representatives have
cosponsored legislation to restore the sales tax deduction option
to the Federal tax code.
(b) SENSE
OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress that
the Committee on Ways and Means and the Committee on Finance
should consider legislation that makes State sales tax deductible
against Federal income taxes.
Attest:
Clerk of the House of Representatives.
Attest:
Secretary of the Senate.