H. Con. Res.178—41
93, which represented a 30 percent increase in the existing
motor fuels tax;
(3) the OBRA 93 transportation fuels tax has cost American
motorists an estimated $14,000,000,000 to $15,000,000,000
since it went into effect on October 1, 1993;
(4) the OBRA 93 transportation fuels tax is regressive,
creating a larger financial impact on lower and middle income
motorists than on upper income motorists;
(5) the OBRA 93 transportation fuels tax imposes a dis-
proportionate burden on rural citizens who do not have access
to public transportation services, and who must rely on their
automobiles and drive long distances, to work, to shop, and
to receive medical care;
(6) the average American faces a substantial tax burden,
and the increase of this tax burden through the OBRA 93
transportation fuels tax represented and continues to represent
an inappropriate and unwarranted means of reducing the
Nation’s budget deficit;
(7) retail gasoline prices in the United States have
increased an average of 19 cents per gallon since the beginning
of the year to the highest level since the Persian Gulf War,
and the OBRA 93 transportation fuels tax exacerbates the
impact of this price increase on consumers;
(8) continuation of the OBRA 93 transportation fuels tax
will exacerbate the impact on consumers of any future gasoline
price spikes that result from market conditions; and
(9) the fiscal year 1997 budget resolution will assume a
net tax cut totaling $122,000,000,000 over six years, which
exceeds the revenue impact of a repeal of the OBRA 93
transportation fuels tax, and will establish a reserve fund which
may be used to provide other forms of tax relief, including
relief from the OBRA 93 transportation fuels tax, on a deficit
neutral basis.
(b) SENSE OF THE SENATE.—It is the sense of the Senate that
the revenue levels and procedures in this resolution provide that—
(1) Congress and the President should immediately approve
legislation to repeal the 4.3 cents per gallon transportation
fuels tax contained in the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act
of 1993 through the end of 1996;
(2) Congress and the President should approve, through
the fiscal year 1997 budget process, legislation to permanently
repeal the 4.3 cents per gallon transportation fuels tax con-
tained in the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993; and
(3) the savings generated by the repeal of the 4.3 cents
per gallon transportation fuels tax contained in OBRA 93
should be fully passed on to consumers.
SEC. 426. SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING THE USE OF BUDGETARY
SAVINGS.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Senate finds that—
(1) in August of 1994, the Bipartisan Commission on
Entitlement and Tax Reform issued an Interim Report to the
President, which found that, ‘‘To ensure that today’s debt and
spending commitments do not unfairly burden America’s chil-
dren, the Government must act now. A bipartisan coalition
of Congress, led by the President, must resolve the long-term
H. Con. Res.178—42
imbalance between the Government’s entitlement promises and
the funds it will have available to pay for them’’;
(2) unless Congress and the President act together in a
bipartisan way, overall Federal spending is projected by the
Commission to rise from the current level of slightly over 22
percent of the Gross Domestic Product of the United States
(hereafter in this section referred as ‘‘GDP’’) to over 37 percent
of GDP by the year 2030;
(3) the source of that growth is not domestic discretionary
spending, which is approximately the same portion of GDP
now as it was in 1969, the last time at which the Federal
budget was in balance;
(4) mandatory spending was only 29.6 percent of the Fed-
eral budget in 1963, but is estimated to account for 72 percent
of the Federal budget in the year 2003;
(5) Social Security, Medicare and medicaid, together with
interest on the national debt, are the largest sources of the
growth of mandatory spending;
(6) ensuring the long-term future of the Social Security
system is essential to protecting the retirement security of
the American people;
(7) the Social Security Trust Fund is projected to begin
spending more than it takes in by approximately the year
2013, with Federal budget deficits rising rapidly thereafter
unless appropriate policy changes are made;
(8) ensuring the future of Medicare and medicaid is essen-
tial to protecting access to high-quality health care for senior
citizens and poor women and children;
(9) Federal health care expenses have been rising at double
digit rates, and are projected to triple to 11 percent of GDP
by the year 2030 unless appropriate policy changes are made;
and
(10) due to demographic factors, Federal health care
expenses are projected to double by the year 2030, even if
health care cost inflation is restrained after 1999, so that
costs for each person of a given age grow no faster than the
economy.
(b) SENSE OF THE SENATE.—It is the sense of the Senate that
budget savings in the mandatory spending area should be used—
(1) to protect and enhance the retirement security of the
American people by ensuring the long-term future of the Social
Security system;
(2) to protect and enhance the health care security of
senior citizens and poor Americans by ensuring the long-term
future of Medicare and medicaid; and
(3) to restore and maintain Federal budget discipline, to
ensure that the level of private investment necessary for long-
term economic growth and prosperity is available.
SEC. 427. SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING THE TRANSFER OF
EXCESS 
GOVERNMENT 
COMPUTERS 
TO 
PUBLIC
SCHOOLS.
(a) ASSUMPTIONS.—The figures contained in this resolution are
based on the following assumptions:
(1) America’s children must obtain the necessary skills
and tools needed to succeed in the technologically advanced
21st century;
H. Con. Res.178—43
(2) Executive Order 12999 outlines the need to make mod-
ern computer technology an integral part of every classroom,
provide teachers with the professional development they need
to use new technologies effectively, connect classrooms to the
National Information Infrastructure, and encourage the cre-
ation of excellent education software;
(3) many private corporations have donated educational
software to schools, which are lacking the necessary computer
hardware to utilize this equipment;
(4) current inventories of excess Federal Government
computers are being conducted in each Federal agency; and
(5) there is no current communication being made between
Federal agencies with this excess equipment and the schools
in need of these computers.
(b) SENSE OF THE SENATE.—It is the sense of the Senate that
the functional totals and aggregates in this budget resolution
assume that the General Services Administration should place a
high priority on facilitating direct transfer of excess Federal Govern-
ment computers to public schools and community-based educational
organizations.
SEC. 428. SENSE OF THE SENATE ON FEDERAL RETREATS.
It is the sense of the Senate that the assumptions underlying
the function totals and aggregates in this resolution assume that
all Federal agencies will refrain from using Federal funds for
expenses incurred during training sessions or retreats off Federal
property, unless Federal property is not available.
SEC. 429. SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING THE ESSENTIAL AIR
SERVICE PROGRAM OF THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPOR-
TATION.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Senate finds that—
(1) the essential air service program of the Department
of Transportation under subchapter II of chapter 417 of title
49, United States Code—
(A) provides essential airline access to isolated rural
communities across the United States;
(B) is necessary for the economic growth and develop-
ment of rural communities;
(C) connects small rural communities to the national
air transportation system of the United States;
(D) is a critical component of the national transpor-
tation system of the United States; and
(E) provides air service to 108 communities in 30
States; and
(2) the National Commission to Ensure a Strong Competi-
tive Airline Industry established under section 204 of the Air-
port and Airway Safety, Capacity, Noise Improvement, and
Intermodal Transportation Act of 1992 recommended maintain-
ing the essential air service program with a sufficient level
of funding to continue to provide air service to small commu-
nities.
(b) SENSE OF THE SENATE.—It is the sense of the Senate that
the essential air service program of the Department of Transpor-
tation under subchapter II of chapter 417 of title 49, United States
Code, should receive a sufficient level of funding to continue to
provide air service to small rural communities that qualify for
assistance under the program.
H. Con. Res.178—44
SEC. 430. SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING EQUAL RETIREMENT
SAVINGS FOR HOMEMAKERS.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Senate finds that the assumptions of this
budget resolution take into account that—
(1) by teaching and feeding our children and caring for
our elderly, American homemakers are an important, vital part
of our society;
(2) homemakers retirement needs are the same as all
Americans, and thus they need every opportunity to save and
invest for retirement;
(3) because they are living on a single income, homemakers
and their spouses often have less income for savings;
(4) individual retirement accounts are provided by Congress
in the Internal Revenue Code to assist Americans for retirement
savings;
(5) currently, individual retirement accounts permit work-
ers other than homemakers to make deductible contributions
of $2,000 a year, but limit homemakers to deductible contribu-
tions of $250 a year; and
(6) limiting homemakers individual retirement account con-
tributions to an amount less than the contributions of other
workers discriminates against homemakers.
(b) SENSE OF THE SENATE.—It is the sense of the Senate that
the revenue level assumed in this budget resolution provides for
legislation to make individual retirement account deductible con-
tribution limits for homemakers equal to the individual retirement
account deductible contribution limits for all other American work-
ers, and that Congress and the President should immediately
approve such legislation in the appropriate reconciliation vehicle.
SEC. 431. SENSE OF THE SENATE ON THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF
HEALTH FUNDING FOR ANTI-ADDICTION DRUGS.
It is the sense of the Senate that amounts appropriated for
the National Institutes of Health should provide funding for addi-
tional research on an anti-addiction drug to block the craving for
illicit addictive substances.
SEC. 432. SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING THE EXTENSION OF
THE EMPLOYER EDUCATION ASSISTANCE EXCLUSION
UNDER SECTION 127 OF THE INTERNAL REVENUE CODE
OF 1986.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Senate finds that—
(1) since 1978, over 7,000,000 American workers have bene-
fited from the employer education assistance exclusion under
section 127 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 by being
able to improve their education and acquire new skills without
having to pay taxes on the benefit;
(2) American companies have benefited by improving the
education and skills of their employees who in turn can contrib-
ute more to their company;
(3) the American economy becomes more globally competi-
tive because an educated workforce is able to produce more
and to adapt more rapidly to changing technologies;
(4) American companies are experiencing unprecedented
global competition and the value and necessity of life-long edu-
cation for their employees has increased;