Pete Domenici: “As my colleagues know, I intended this amendment to be the first amendment before the Senate. I intended for some weeks…”

“As my colleagues know, I intended this amendment to be the first amendment before the Senate. I intended for some weeks to offer an amendment to retain the Legal Services Corporation and to provide it with adequate funding to continue providing legal assistance to those who could otherwise not afford it. That amendment was drafted to the bill reported by the Appropriations Committee. Last night the distinguished full committee chairman filed a reallocation of funding to the subcommittee, and the Senate adopted an amendment to restore some $400 million to various programs in the bill including $4 million for the ITC. This amendment made significant changes to the bill as reported, and thus affected the amendment that I am offering with other Senators. I would like to clarify that the intention of the Domenici amendment is to take a reduction in the International Trade Commission [ITC] by $4 million from the level approved in the managers amendment rather than from the level of funding reported in the original bill. It is not my intention to reduce the ITC by 30 percent as some may assume from a literal reading of the amendment. I understand the concerns of some of my colleagues over the use of the ITC funding as an offset. As a conferee on the bill, I will work with Chairman Hatfield to sustain a level of funding that will be adequate to support the work of the International Trade Commission.”