Thomas Daschle: “On May 14 the Senate approved vitally important legislation to provide sorely needed aid to victims of the recent…”

“On May 14 the Senate approved vitally important legislation to provide sorely needed aid to victims of the recent weather-related disasters throughout the country, including South Dakota. It is critical that this legislation be enacted as soon as possible so that residents of disaster-stricken States can get on with the process of recovering from the loss of property and livestock. I am concerned that controversial riders on this bill, including the automatic continuing resolution and the provision related to the implementation of R.S. 2477 by the Interior Department, could, if included in the final conference report, make enactment of the bill impossible and thus delay needed aid to disaster victims. The controversial Interior provision, over which Secretary Babbitt has said he will recommend a veto, blocks recent efforts by the administration to close a loophole in the mining laws that allow roads to be constructed in national parks and other sensitive Federal lands. Many Senators have gone on record that the administration should have the ability to protect our public lands from unnecessary and environmentally destructive road construction, and an amendment offered by Senator Bumpers to strip the R.S. 2477 provision from the supplemental lost by a vote of only 49-51, drawing considerable bipartisan support. I urge the conferees to drop this and other controversial provisions from the bill during the House-Senate conference.”