Haley Stevens: “On October 6, the President impounded funds for 38 projects contained in the fiscal year 1998 military construction…”

“On October 6, the President impounded funds for 38 projects contained in the fiscal year 1998 military construction bill, which totaled $287 million. Let me first take a moment to review the merits of this bill. Mr. President, in June, President Clinton reached a budget agreement with the bipartisan leadership of the Congress. That agreement provided for an increase of $2.6 billion for national defense over the amount the President had requested for the budget in the fiscal year 1998. The President's action on the military construction bill, in my judgment, reneges on the budget agreement that he reached with the Congress. Congress was given spending caps. We then allocated that within the appropriations process, and the Appropriations Committee presented the Senate with 13 appropriations bills consistent with the spirit, terms, and limits of the revised budget. Mr. President, I state to the Senate, without any chance of being corrected, that the Senator from West Virginia and I have done our utmost to live within the terms of the budget agreement, although we didn't agree with it and we weren't present at the time it was made. Now, we have upheld the congressional commitment to the President.”