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(C) must provide benefit levels that ade-
quately reflect individual contributions to the
Social Security System.
(D) must preserve and strengthen the safety
net for vulnerable populations, including the dis-
abled and survivors.
(3) We should honor section 13301 of the Budget
Enforcement Act of 1990.
SEC. 309. SENSE OF THE SENATE CONCERNING STATE FIS-
CAL RELIEF.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Senate makes the following find-
ings:
(1) States are experiencing the most severe fiscal
crisis since World War II.
(2) States are instituting severe cuts to a variety
of vital programs such as health care, child care, edu-
cation, and other essential services.
(3) According to the Kaiser Commission on Med-
icaid and the Uninsured, 49 States already have
taken actions or plan to cut medicaid before or dur-
ing the current fiscal year 2003. Medicaid budget pro-
posals in many States would eliminate or curtail
health benefits for eligible families and substantially
reduce or freeze provider reimbursement rates.
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(4) In 2002, at least 13 States reported decreased
State investments in their child care assistance pro-
grams.
(5) According to a forthcoming analysis of 22
States, at least 1,700,000 people are now at risk of
losing their health care coverage under cuts that have
already been implemented or proposed.
(6) Fiscal relief would help avoid adding even
more Americans to the ranks of the uninsured while
preserving the safety net when it is most needed dur-
ing an economic downturn.
(7) Curtailing the States’ need to cut spending
and increase taxes is essential for true economic
growth.
(b) SENSE OF THE SENATE.—It is the Sense of the
Senate that the functional totals in this resolution assume
that any legislation enacted to provide economic growth for
the 
United 
States 
should 
include 
not 
less 
than
$30,000,000,000 for State fiscal relief over the next 18
months (of which at least half should be provided through
a temporary increase in the Federal medical assistance per-
centage (FMAP)).
SEC. 310. FEDERAL AGENCY REVIEW COMMISSION.
It is the sense of the Senate that a commission should
be established to review Federal domestic agencies, and pro-
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HCON 95 EAS
grams within such agencies, with the express purpose of
providing Congress with recommendations, and legislation
to implement those recommendations, to realign or elimi-
nate government agencies and programs that are duplica-
tive, wasteful, inefficient, outdated, or irrelevant, or have
failed to accomplish their intended purpose.
SEC. 311. SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING HIGHWAY
SPENDING.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Senate makes the following find-
ings:
(1) Highway construction funding should in-
crease over current levels.
(2) The Senate Budget Committee-passed Resolu-
tion increases highway funding above the President’s
request.
(3) All vehicles, whether they are operated by
gasoline, gasohol, or electricity, do damage to our
highways.
(4) As set out in TEA–21, the direct relationship
between excise taxes and highway spending makes
sense and should be maintained.
(5) Highways should be funded through user fees
such as excise taxes and not through the General
Fund of the Treasury.
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(b) SENSE OF THE SENATE.—It is the sense of the Sen-
ate that the Senate should only consider legislation that in-
creases highway spending if such legislation changes high-
way user fees to pay for such increased spending.
SEC. 312. SENSE OF THE SENATE CONCERNING AN EXPAN-
SION IN HEALTH CARE COVERAGE.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Senate finds that—
(1) there were 74,700,000 Americans who were
uninsured for all or part of the two-year period of
2001 and 2002;
(2) this large group of uninsured Americans con-
stitutes almost one out of every three Americans
under the age of 65;
(3) most of these uninsured individual were
without health coverage for lengthy periods of time,
with two-thirds of them uninsured for over six
months;
(4) four out of five uninsured individuals are in
working families;
(5) high health care costs, the large number of
unemployed workers, and State cutbacks of public
health programs occasioned by State fiscal crises are
causing more and more individuals to become unin-
sured; and
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HCON 95 EAS
(6) uninsured individuals are less likely to have
a usual source of care outside of an emergency room,
often go without screenings and preventive care, often
delay or forgo needed medical care, are often subject
to avoidable hospital days, and are sicker and die
earlier than those individuals who have health insur-
ance.
(b) SENSE OF SENATE.—It is the sense of the Senate
that the functional totals in this resolution assume that—
(1) expanded access to health care coverage
throughout the United States is a top priority for na-
tional policymaking; and
(2) to the extent that additional funds are made
available, a significant portion of such funds should
be dedicated to expanding access to health care cov-
erage so that fewer individuals are uninsured and
fewer individuals are likely to become uninsured.
SEC. 313. SENSE OF THE SENATE ON THE STATE CRIMINAL
ALIEN ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Senate finds the following:
(1) The control of illegal immigration is a Fed-
eral responsibility.
(2) In fiscal year 2002, however, State and local
governments spent more than $13,000,000,000 in costs
†
HCON 95 EAS
associated with the incarceration of undocumented
criminal aliens.
(3) 
The 
Federal 
Government 
provided
$565,000,000 in appropriated funding to the State
Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) to re-
imburse State and local governments for these costs.
(4) In fiscal year 2003, the fiscal burden of in-
carcerating undocumented criminal aliens is likely to
grow, however, Congress provided only $250,000,000
to help cover these costs.
(5) The 56 percent cut in fiscal year 2003 fund-
ing for SCAAP will place an enormous burden on
State and local law enforcement agencies during a
time of heightened efforts to secure our homeland.
(6) The Administration did not include funding
for SCAAP in its fiscal year 2004 budget.
(b) SENSE OF THE SENATE.—It is the sense of the Sen-
ate that—
(1) the functional totals underlying this resolu-
tion on the budget assumes that the State Criminal
Alien Assistance Program be funded at $585,000,000
to reimburse State and local law enforcement agencies
for the burdens imposed in fiscal year 2003 by the in-
carceration of undocumented criminal aliens; and