This
Statement of Administration Policy provides the Administration's views
on the Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government Appropriations
Bill, FY 2002, as reported by the House Committee.
We
appreciate the Committee's efforts to fund agencies and programs
at the President's request and within the levels agreed to under
the budget resolution. For example, the Administration is pleased
that the Committee provided the funding requested for the Prevent
Youth and Gang Initiative, which will enable the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, and Firearms to continue its work on the reduction of youth
violence.
The
Administration supports passage of the bill and appreciates that
the Committee has funded agencies and programs within the levels
agreed to under the budget resolution. We would like to take this
opportunity to share some concerns with the Committee version of
the bill. We look forward to working with Congress to resolve these
issues as the bill moves forward.
Electronic
Government Fund (E-Gov)
We
urge the House to restore the $15 million reduction to the President's
request for the E-Gov Fund as well as the language on how the Fund
is to be administered. This initiative would play an important role
in fulfilling the President's commitment to a Federal Government
that is more efficient, productive, and responsive to its citizens.
In particular, the project approval role requested for OMB is important
to assure that the use of the proposed E-Gov Fund is coordinated
with agencies' other information technology investments as well
as with complementary management reform initiatives.
Postal
Service
The
Administration strongly opposes the use of advance appropriations,
such as the advance appropriation included in the bill for the Payment
to the Postal Service Fund, to avoid discretionary spending limitations.
There is no programmatic justification for an advance appropriation
for this account, and we urge the House to fully fund this program
through FY 2002 appropriations.
General
Services Administration (GSA)
The
Administration appreciates the full funding of GSA's Repair and
Alteration Program, which is critical to the maintenance of our
Nation's public buildings. However, we are concerned about failure
to fund repayment of the Judgment Fund for claims against GSA. Since
GSA is required by Federal law to repay the Judgment Fund, OMB will
score the $84 million cost associated with this repayment.
Federal
Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) Cost Accounting Standards
The
Administration opposes section 513 of the bill which would continue
the one-year moratorium on the application of Cost Accounting Standards
(CAS) to experience-rated contracts awarded under the FEHBP. A statutory
moratorium is not required, as existing law provides for an administrative
process that allows the CAS Board to exempt or waive classes or
categories of contracts from any or all CAS requirements in accordance
with current statutory and regulatory criteria. In addition, the
affected parties have been working on this issue for over a year
and that work is leading to a draft set of principles and procedures
applicable to the allocation of administrative costs by the carriers
to FEHBP contracts.
Federal
Employee Pay
An
amendment was adopted in Committee that provided a 4.6 percent pay
raise for Federal civilian employees. The President's budget proposes
a pay raise of 3.6 percent for Federal civilian employees and the
Administration continues to believe the proposal included in the
President's budget is both reasonable and responsible. We urge the
Congress to support the President's budget policy. The additional
cost of a Government-wide 4.6 percent civilian pay raise is nearly
$900 million over what is currently included in the President's
request and would, in many cases, need to be absorbed within agency
budgets. The additional cost of this policy would divert critical
resources from programs across the Government.
FEHBP
Contraceptive Coverage Mandate
The
Administration believes that all federal employees should have access
to a wide range of health care insurance options, including access
to prescription drugs such as contraceptives. The President's Budget
did not include a specific mandate for prescription contraceptives
in the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program because the FEHBP
does not mandate coverage for any other prescription drug and virtually
all plans already provide contraceptive coverage because of the
high demand for this coverage. Because the FEHBP is a competitive
program, insurers offer what they believe will be most beneficial
and important to current and potential enrollees at a premium that
is affordable. The Administration will not, however, object to the
provision adopted by the Committee.
Executive
Office of the President (EXOP)
The
Administration appreciates the Committee's bipartisan consideration
of the Administration's proposal to consolidate the current 18 separate
appropriations for Offices and Councils in the Executive Office
of the President (EXOP) into one account, but is disappointed that
it did not adopt the proposal. This proposal would provide the President
with the flexibility to more effectively manage and align resources
consistent with needs. It would also ensure that the new EXOP Chief
Financial Officer (CFO) has the ability to fulfill the requirements
of the CFO Act and achieve economies of scale in purchasing not
currently available. We look forward to continuing to work with
the Congress on this proposal.
The
Administration appreciates the Committee's support for the President's
drug control initiatives. However, we are disappointed that no funding
was provided for the Parents' Drug Corps, which would enable parents
to help their children avoid the dangers of substance abuse.
Office
of Management and Budget (OMB) Apportionment Authority and Credit
Subsidy Estimates
The
Administration objects to a provision added in Committee that would
require OMB to apportion at least 75 percent of the FY 2002 funding
for international food assistance provided by the Department of
Agriculture no later than December 31, 2001, and would limit OMB's
involvement with the interagency Food Assistance Policy Council
(FAPC). This restriction is troubling given that GAO and other independent
groups have identified cases in which such programs can be inefficient
and susceptible to corruption and waste. It would seriously restrict
the President's ability to discharge his responsibilities and would
hamper the President's ability to conduct foreign policy since the
FAPC provides a forum for different agencies to work together to
ensure that food donations are provided in a way that is consistent
with U.S. international objectives and sound programmatic management.
The Administration urges the House to drop this restriction on OMB's
apportionment authority.
The
Administration is also concerned that the Committee included a provision
that purports to mandate how subsidy estimates should be calculated
for the Small Business Administration's (SBA) 7(a) General Business
and 504 Certified Development Company loan programs. This provision
would interfere with OMB's responsibility to ensure that the Federal
Credit Reform Act of 1990 is implemented on a reasonable and consistent
basis. Further, it would set a dangerous precedent for other Federal
credit programs by ignoring information that could be indicative
of future performance, thereby, misrepresenting the programs' true
cost to the Government. OMB will continue to work closely with SBA,
as it does with all credit reform agencies, to improve the accuracy
of its subsidy calculations. The Administration will interpret this
provision to require only an illustrative display in the President's
budget as any other reading would be inconsistent with the Constitution's
Recommendations Clause. We will continue to ensure the integrity
of the technical analysis used to develop the subsidy estimates
across the government and strongly urge the House to delete this
provision.
Infringement
on Executive Authority
The
Administration objects to a number of provisions in the bill that
would require Committee approval before Executive Branch execution.
The Administration will interpret these provisions to require only
notification of Congress, since any other interpretation would contradict
the Supreme Court ruling in INS v. Chadha.
Section
619 of the bill raises substantial separation of powers concerns
because it could be read to limit the ability of the President and
his appointed heads of departments to supervise and control the
operations and communications of the Executive Branch, including
the control of privileged and national security information.
Potential
Amendments
The
Administration is aware of several amendments that could be introduced
on the House floor that would weaken existing sanctions against
the Cuban Government. The Administration believes it is important
to uphold and enforce the law to the fullest extent with a view
toward preventing unlicensed and excessive travel, enforcing limits
on remittances, and ensuring that humanitarian and cultural exchanges
actually reach pro-democracy activists in Cuba. Therefore, the Administration
would strongly oppose any amendment that weakens sanctions against
the Castro regime.
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