Statement by the Press Secretary

On Tuesday, December 17, 2002, the President signed into law:

H.R. 3180, which grants the consent of the Congress to an amendment to the New Hampshire-Vermont Interstate School Compact.

H.R. 3401, which conveys U.S. Forest Service facilities and lands to the Clovis Unified School District in California.

H.R. 3449, which authorizes the Department of the Interior to acquire additional land to be included within the boundaries of the George Washington Birthplace National Monument in Virginia.

H.R. 3609, which reauthorizes and amends the Department of Transportation's pipeline safety programs.

H.R. 3858, which expands the boundaries of the New River Gorge National River in West Virginia.

H.R. 4692, which increases the acreage ceiling of the Andersonville National Historic Site in Georgia.

H.R. 4823, Holocaust Restitution Tax Fairness Act of 2002, which makes permanent the exclusion from Federal income tax of restitution payments received by victims of the Nazi regime.

H.R. 5125, which authorizes the Department of the Interior to establish a battlefield acquisition grant program, and authorizes program funding.

H.R. 5738, which appropriates $150 million annually for FY 2004 through FY 2008 for each of two special diabetes programs within the Department of Health and Human Services.

H.R. 2099, which increases the authorization of appropriations for the Vancouver National Historic Reserve in the State of Washington;

H.R. 2109, which requires the Department of the Interior to study the suitability and feasibility of establishing the Virginia Key Beach Park near Miami, Florida, as a unit of the National Park System;

H.R. 2115, which authorizes the Department of the Interior to participate in the design, planning, and construction of a project to reclaim and reuse wastewater within or near the Lakehaven Utility District in the State of Washington;

H.R. 2187, which authorizes the Department of the Interior to use receipts collected from mineral leasing activities on certain naval oil shale reserves in Colorado for environmental restoration, waste management, and compliance costs;

H.R. 2385, "Virgin River Dinosaur Footprint Preserve Act," which authorizes a grant to finance the conveyance of certain private property to the City of St. George, Utah, in order to protect and preserve certain rare paleontological resources on that property;

H.R. 2628, "Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area Study Act of 2002," which requires the Department of the Interior to study the suitability and feasibility of establishing the Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area in Alabama;

H.R. 2818, which authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to convey a parcel of Bureau of Land Management land in Idaho to the owner of the Sand Hills Resort;

H.R. 2828, "Klamath Basin Emergency Operation and Maintenance Refund Act of 2002," which authorizes the Department of the Interior to refund to the Klamath Project irrigation and drainage districts the operation and maintenance fees collected for 2001;

H.R. 2937, which requires the Secretary of the Interior to convey approximately 2,880 acres of land to Clark County, Nevada; and

H.R. 2990, "Lower Rio Grande Valley Water Resources Conservation and Improvement Act of 2002" which amends the Lower Rio Grande Valley Water Resources Conservation and Improvement Act of 2000 by authorizing 15 additional projects and increasing authorized funding for project studies and construction.