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OCR Page 1 of 47h3579cnf.wpd
Page 1
The Honorable Bob Livingston
Chairman
Committee on Appropriations
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Mr. Chairman:
The purpose of this letter is to provide the Administration's views on H.R.
3579, Making Emergency Supplemental Appropriations, FY 1998, as passed by the
House and by the Senate; and, H.R. 3580, Making Supplemental Appropriations
and Rescissions, FY 1998, as reported by the House Appropriations Committee.
As the conferees develop a final version of the bill, your consideration of the
Administration's views would be appreciated.
The Administration believes that we must provide disaster assistance to
communities here at home and support for our troops overseas without violating
last year's budget agreement or attaching extraneous provisions. The American
people want their Government to be able to respond quickly and in a non-partisan
manner to emergencies both here and overseas. It would be disappointing and
disturbing if our ability to provide assistance to victims of natural disasters, to
provide continued funding for our troops in Bosnia and Southwest Asia, and to
ensure the readiness of our military forces worldwide were held hostage to partisan
politics in the Congress. We urge the conferees to avoid actions that would result
in gridlock and that would be detrimental to our troops abroad and our citizens at
home in a time of need.
The Administration is deeply concerned that the pending supplemental
appropriations have been segregated into two distinct appropriations bills in the
House and strongly recommends that the two measures be combined into a single
bill. It is in the best interest of our national security and our economy that
Congress pass a single bill that provides funding for our missions in Bosnia and
Southwest Asia, for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and for overdue
payments to the United Nations. The segregation of the supplemental
appropriations into two bills has already impeded the House's ability to address
important international economic issues. Failure to produce one unified bill could
unnecessarily delay this vital assistance. This assistance should be provided free of
extraneous and controversial provisions. American economic and security interests