Making Further Continuing Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2003-Conference Report

MAKING FURTHER CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2003—CONFERENCE REPORT

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, the Senate is now considering and will soon adopt the omnibus conference report on H.J. Res. 2. I will vote for the conference report. I know from my work on the Appropriations Committee that this bill represents a genuine effort by many in both bodies to finally finish the fiscal year 2003 appropriations bill.

I want to begin my remarks by thanking our leader on this side, Senator ROBERT BYRD. Senator BYRD was the chairman of the Appropriations Committee when the fiscal year 2003 appropriations process began. He steered all 13 appropriations bills through the committee with bipartisan support from every member of the committee. Senator BYRD was instrumental in putting this conference report together. I know the Senator has many concerns about this bill. I share many of his concerns and particularly those regarding the many cuts to homeland security in this bill. The Senator has been a leading voice for homeland security funding and I look forward to working closely with him in the days ahead as this body works on this important issue.

I also want to acknowledge and thank the chairman of the Appropriations Committee. We are here tonight because of the determined leadership of Senator TED STEVENS. I know many of my colleagues did not want to see the Congress agree to fund the government with a continuing resolution for the rest of the fiscal year. This would have represented a huge failure on the part of the Congress, setting a dangerous precedent for the legislative branch's working relationship with the Executive Branch. Chairman STEVENS is a tough but fair chairman. I appreciate the work he has put in to manage and successfully complete this very unusual process.

I appreciate the inclusion of funding for many projects and programs that directly benefit the environment and natural resources in my beautiful home State. The bill includes funding for salmon recovery work from the Elwha River in northwest Washington to the Snake River in southeast Washington and nearly every community between. Funding is also provided to fight the Spartina infestation in Willapa Bay and to acquire important ecological lands around the State. However, while I am very grateful for my colleagues willingness to support my work to secure this funding, I must express my dismay over anti-environmental provisions included in the bill and its failure to adequately fund the conservation trust fund created 3 years ago.

The conference considered many different provisions related to the Tongass National Forest which sought to strip away environmental considerations in the management of the forest. I appreciate the conference removing these provisions, but wish the one remaining provision could have also been deleted.

Also of concern to me is a provision retained in the omnibus that significantly expands the Forest Service's stewardship contracting program. This had been a pilot project intended to see if the stewardship contracts were a constructive tool in addressing forest health issues. The problem with the provision in the bill is that it creates a permanent program before we have received any data from the pilot projects already authorized. There is simply no data yet in upon which to make the decision to provide unlimited expansion of the program. I want to make clear that I support the pilot program and believe stewardship contracting could be a valuable tool in addressing forest health issues, but in order for this to be a valuable tool, it must be one that has the trust of Congress and citizens. There is simply not enough data to have created that trust yet.

There are many great accomplishments in this bill. I am particularly proud of the work we did in the transportation title. The Senate worked very hard to keep my amendment to fund the Community Action Program or CAP at $120 million for the fiscal year. I appreciate the Senate's hard work to stand for this small program that is making a difference all across the country. This bill provides increased funding for a number of education programs. Importantly, education programs like Head Start are exempted from any across the board cuts associated with this bill.

As we conclude the fiscal year 2003 appropriations process, I hope we can move forward on the coming fiscal year with a renewed commitment to finish all 13 appropriations bills on time. We will need the help of our House colleagues and of course, the administration is an important contributor to the appropriations process too. We must avoid a repeat performance of fiscal year 2003.