Date: 1983-10-04
Speaker: W EICKER (republican)
Chamber: S

But the fact Is that we are standing on the threshold of achieving legislation whereby the Senate of the United States Is a full partner and an independent partner in setting the funding priorities of this Nation. That must have some sort of a dollar value. also. I have talked with my friends in education as they have tried to persuade me to support this amendment and indeed they have been good to me. both In terms of their advice with respect to my legislative duties and in terms of their political support. But I asked them the same question about whether or not the time has come for us to be in a position where we can exaine the needs of our times and act upon them. or whether or not we can meet the needs of our times with legislation that is 5 years old. Mr. President. the appropriations process as it deals with education. science. and health Is 5 years old. It has been brought up to date by cost of living or Inflationary increases. not by addressing Itself to the substance or the priorities. It may be that some of the ongoing programs should n~ot be Included on our national priority list. Maybe other matters have now come to the forefront which deserve added emphasis. For example. maybe it Is that the battle over polio was won but a new battle over AIDS has begun. and yetI refer to this in a figurative sensewe are stuck with a prior allocation for polio so that we cannot do what needs to be done for AIDS. Again this is Just a hypothetical situation. one that illustrates what Is wrong with the continuing resolution process. In any event. I read the letter in this Chamber to Senators this morning describing what the administration thinks of the Senate bill. It is almost a veiled threat that implies unless we in the Senate reach the House level. the administration Is not going to accept this bill. The administration simply will not accept the additional funding that has been allocated to many of these areas described by the distinguished Senator from New Jersey. The House wants to stick to Its level. And now there are those who want to add on to programs here on the Senate floor. And those of us who are trying to once again set the process and the priorities back on trackand I will get to that in a minuteare caught in the crossfire and so nothing logical. practical can be achieved. Both in the funding sense and in a conceptual sense I deeply believe that so much more needs to be done in the areas of health. science. education. and so on. Yet. I have been held at bay by a coalition of Republicans and Democrats on these issues who thought the strength of the Nation was its weaponry rather than the minds of Its people. I along with a handful of other Senators have been held at bay by both sides of the aisle. So no one can take sole credit for blocking anything or having been responsible for not achieving our national priorities. Everyone can take a little share of it. but now we have a chance to bust out of the ring. The full Appropriations Commnittee last weekbriefly let me just tell the Senate what we didreported out the bill. In it. we provided $1.7 billion over the budget request. more than half a billion dollars in Increases over the fiscal year 1983 level. about $80 million more than the House for conmparable programs. The bill just reported out of our committee is. for the most part. very generous to education. However. it may not be as generous as many of us would like. or as generous as we ultimately will be when fiscal 1984 Is completed. However. I think we have provided Important increases in the large majority of programs under the Jurisdiction of the Department of Education. For example. our bill increases fundIng for chapter 1 education for the disadvantaged by $280 million over last year. It is the same as the House level and $466 million over the Presidents request. It Is also the full amount authorized by law until such time as the law Is changed. The amount requested in this amendment for chapter 1 is well In excess of the current authorization. For student financial assistance. based on our discussions with students and families and college and university officials. we determined that the Pell grant Is a high priority program because It removes the economic barriers to post secondary education. Accordingly. we provided $2.8 billion for Pell grants. which is $381 million over last years level. $181 million over thle House recommendation for fiscal 1983. And we have also raised the maximum award allowable by $200 per eligible student for total student assistance programs that exceeds last years level by $336 millionthe budget request was for $437 millionand the House level by $141 million. So. I do not make any apology for the Appropriations Committees education rccommendation. Let us understand one thing. that if the proponents of this measure succeed and it becomes a part of the bill and the bill is then vetoed and we are back to the continuing resolution. then we are at levels lower than what is now being proposed in this Senate bill. Who wants to take on this responsibility? Who wants that one on their head? Continuing resolution levels will be lower. My Job is to deliver. not to0 talk about. assistance to the retarded. to thle disabled and disadvantaged and the young kids going to college. I have to deliver. I have not delivered and our colleagues have not delivered on this matter in this Chamber for 5 years. That is what is at issue here with this vote. not whether or not a particular Senator is committed to education. What are Senators going to deliver? What will they have to show for it after we finish with this proccssa veto confrontation? If so. hooray for thle politicians from both sides. and for the year 1984 we will roil up a 6th year in the continuing resolution. I Suppose one thing I have always been blessed by is the fact that Connecticut is such a small State that to me these have never been numbers or programs. Rather. I look into the faces of the people of my State. and after I do I come back down in this Chamber and speak as I do. Mr. President. I hope that we will be able to support the committee onl this issue and be proud in the work product. Any man of woman who has not been to the State legislature can sit out there and raise cane. But. this Is the top of the profession. That is what differentiates the man who has been around 15 and 20 years from the rookie. that he can deliver. The rookie can talk. But can he deliver? So I hope that we just do that. deliver. because there are an awful lot of people out there who have been left standing for an awfully long time and everywhere they look. everyone is playing the political game. Everywhere they look there is a lot of philosophical rhetoric. I am not referring now to the average man. I am just talking about the general conduct of this matter. I might add with 5 years of being on a continuing resolution I think the matter is ipsa loquitur. It speaks for itself. And I do not think it speaks in the best traditions of the Senate or the ideals of the Nation. Mr. President. I do not want to cut off any comments. I also wish to lay my cards on the table. and I will do this in a way so as not to cut anyone off. However. Mr. President. I will make a point of order that the pending amendment is In violation of rule XVI. paragraph 1. In that It increases appropriations already contained in the bill which does not carry out the provisions of any existing law. treaty. resolution passed by the Senate this session or budget estimate. I repeat I do not in any way want to cut off additional comments by my friends but as soon as that comment Is forthcoming I would appreciate it if we could get on with the many other priorities that are contained in this bill.