Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 2405 - Omnibus Civilian Science Authorization Act of 1995

(House)
(Walker (R) PA and 4 cosponsors)

If H.R. 2405 were presented to the President in its current form, the Secretaries of Commerce and Energy, the EPA Administrator, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and the President's Science Adviser would recommend that the bill be vetoed because of its unacceptably deep reductions in, and terminations of, Federal investments in science and technology.

This bill would reverse the past fifty years of unwavering, bipartisan commitment to U.S. leadership in science and technology. It would threaten economic growth, job creation, protection of the environment, national security, and improvements in the quality of life for all Americans.

H.R. 2405 would cut authorized FY 1996 appropriations for the Nation's civilian science and technology programs by more than $3 billion below current levels and about $3.3 billion below the President's FY 1996 Budget. The bill would effectively terminate the Advanced Technology Program. This Program promotes high- risk, long-term technology development with economic potential, and is essential to our country's competitiveness. H.R. 2405 would prohibit the use of funds for 42 programs, projects, and activities of the Department of Energy, including science education activities, laboratory technology transfer programs, and efforts to improve the safety of Soviet-designed nuclear reactors. H.R. 2405 would also prohibit the use of funds for EPA's environmental technology initiative and climate change action plan.

The prohibitions on the use of funds authorized by H.R. 2405 to "influence legislation pending before the Congress" except for certain "requests for legislation or appropriations" should be deleted. These overly broad prohibitions, if applied literally, would inappropriately and unnecessarily limit the ability of departments and agencies to advise Congress and the public of their views on pending legislation. These provisions are especially troublesome insofar as they would purport to constrain the constitutional authority of the President to communicate his views, through subordinates, to Congress and the American people. (Sections 129, 254, 310, 455, 505, and 607)

Sections 237 and 309(a) would interfere with the President's constitutional authorities to conduct foreign affairs and should be deleted.

H.R. 2405 also contains numerous provisions that would significantly restrict effective and efficient management decisionmaking or impose excessively burdensome reporting requirements. These include sections 124, 132, 214, 252, 306, 307, 311, 312, and 503.

A further explanation of major objections to H.R. 2405 is contained in the Attachment.

Pay-As-You-Go Scoring

H.R. 2405 would affect direct spending and receipts; therefore, it is subject to the pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) requirements of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990. The preliminary PAYGO estimate is being developed, but it could be several hundred million dollars in FY 1996. The major direct spending would result from the use of unobligated funds previously appropriated for the Clean Coal Technology Program for termination costs of certain Energy Department programs (section 312). The bill does not contain provisions to offset this increased deficit spending.