Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2006

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2006

Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, While I support the underlying amendment and hope my colleagues will support it, I rise to strongly object to a provision in this amendment which lies within the jurisdiction of the Senate Finance Committee. Section 1808 requires the Bureau of Customs and Border Patrol to conduct a study on the screening of municipal waste. The Bureau is then required to ban the importation of such waste 6 months after the report is submitted unless certain certifications are made.

I have been in consultation with the Office of the United States Trade Representative and believe that this provision raises serious international trade concerns. In fact, this provision could violate trade responsibilities under both the World Trade Organization and the North American Free Trade Agreement. If that is the case, our exporters are likely to face retaliation. I don't want that to happen. Furthermore, it could also provoke similar restrictive actions by our trading partners against U.S. waste exports. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, approximately 250 U.S. companies in over 30 States sent hazardous waste shipments to Canada in 2003 alone.

I am especially disappointed that this provision was reported out by the Committee on Homeland Security. Last year we engaged in significant debate regarding appropriate jurisdictional responsibilities of each committee. The Senate determined that provisions relating to Customs and border protection and international trade clearly lie within the jurisdiction of the Finance Committee.

Just a cursory reading of the scope of the Finance Committee's jurisdiction under Rule 25 of the Standing Rules of the Senate provides that:

The following standing committees shall be appointed at the commencement of each Congress, and shall continue and have the power to act until their successors are appointed, with leave to report by bill or otherwise on matters within their respective jurisdictions:

Committee on Finance, to which committee shall be referred all proposed legislation, messages, petitions, memorials, and other matters relating to the following subjects: Customs, collection districts, and ports of entry and delivery; reciprocal trade agreements; revenue measures generally; and tariffs and import quotas, and matters related thereto.

An elaboration of the scope of the Finance Committee's jurisdiction can be found on our web site where it is clearly explained that:

The Senate Finance Committee's jurisdiction is defined by subject matter--not by agency or Department.

As a consequence of the committee's broad subject matter jurisdiction, the Finance Committee has sole or shared jurisdiction over the activities of numerous agencies and offices: the Office of the United States Trade Representative; the Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service on matters relating to foreign barriers to U.S. agriculture goods; numerous divisions within the Department of Commerce; and Broad Jurisdiction over the Department of Homeland Security.

This provision of this amendment clearly falls within the jurisdiction of the Finance Committee. And there is a reason for committee jurisdiction. We need to ensure that those committees with appropriate expertise have an opportunity to weigh the implications of these provisions before they become law. Otherwise, we end up exactly where we are today--exposing our exporters to unnecessary trade retaliation due to ill conceived and short-sighted provisions.

I urge the conferees to reject this provision during conference consideration.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/C?r109:./temp/~r109bmWAMb