William Pryor: “today I have offered a sense-of-the- Congress resolution on behalf of myself and Senator Snowe and a bipartisan group of…”

“today I have offered a sense-of-the- Congress resolution on behalf of myself and Senator Snowe and a bipartisan group of 18 cosponsors. I am happy that the managers of the bill have accepted the amendment. Our amendment puts the Senate on record in support of fiscal year 1996, House-passed appropriation level for the Economic Development Administration [EDA]. The House level of $348.5 million dollars is a 25-percent cut from the requested level, but a significant increase from the $100 million passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee. The $100 million is a 79 percent reduction that would devastate the EDA. Mr. President, I do want to applaud Chairman Hatfield for providing the $100 million in his committee, which was an improvement on the zero funding proposed initially. Before I describe the critical role of EDA and the streamlining that has occurred at EDA, I want to explain the spending dynamic in our amendment. Simply put, the House allocated more funds to the Commerce, State, Justice bill. This permits a higher EDA funding level without cutting other programs within the bill. Mr. President, the Economic Development Administration has been crucial to rebuilding distressed rural and urban communities in each of our States. Not by providing Government handouts, but by helping communities become economically self-sufficient.”