Cord Byrd: “I commend the efforts of the subcommittee chairman, Senator Bond, and the ranking minority member, Senator Mikulski, in…”

“I commend the efforts of the subcommittee chairman, Senator Bond, and the ranking minority member, Senator Mikulski, in bringing H.R. 3666, the fiscal year 1997 VA/HUD and Independent Agencies Appropriation Bill to the Senate expeditiously. They have done their best to craft a balanced bill within the discretionary funding allocation they were given. While the VA/HUD Subcommittee received an allocation that is $100 million in budget authority above the House allocation, the discretionary allocation for this subcommittee is nevertheless $3 billion below the President's request. Having to work within that very constrained level of funding, Chairman Bond and Senator Mikulski have done a remarkable job in funding the many important departments and agencies under the subcommittee's jurisdiction; from the Department of Veterans Affairs to NASA to HUD, to NSF, to FEMA, to EPA, and a number of other Federal agencies. I also commend the chairman and ranking member of the subcommittee for their attempts to keep this bill free of the controversial riders and significant new legislative language that made this such a difficult bill during the fiscal year 1996 process.”