Appropriations Negotiations

White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta Thursday evening said Clinton administration officials are pleased with the progress of negotiations over the FY97 omnibus appropriations package, but are insisting that Republicans provide the $6.5 billion in additional spending the White House wants.

"We're making very good progress," Panetta said after a Capitol Hill meeting with Senate Democrats. He said he has found Republicans far more willing to compromise than they were during the FY96 appropriations negotiations. "I'm finding them very cooperative," Panetta said. "I think they're anxious to get out of town."

GOP leaders optimistically are sticking to their Sept. 27 target adjournment date, and plan to bring the omnibus spending package, consisting of unfinished FY97 appropriations bills, to the House and Senate floors next week. FY97 starts Oct. 1. "We'd like to meet the leadership's deadline," Panetta said, although he admitted some Democrats would like to force Republicans to stay in Washington longer.

Republican leaders have said they are willing to provide the administration with about $6 billion in new spending and Panetta said he is not willing to compromise much over that number. "I've been pretty clear what our bottom line is and it's the [$6.5 billion]," he said. "It has to be pretty close." Panetta said education funding remains the administration's top priority, but said $1 billion for anti-terrorism activities and funding for anti-drug initiatives also is important.

Panetta also said the administration is taking a hard line on legislative riders in the omnibus bill, although he added he would like to see the legislation include a provision dealing with the physician "gag rule." Many legislators realize the omnibus bill is the last major piece of legislation this year, and are pressing to include various riders in it. But Panetta noted, "In the end, everybody realizes this has to be a continuing resolution that is acceptable to the president." Panetta contended GOP leaders must exercise a "firm hand" in keeping unwanted riders out of the bill.

Some Democrats Thursday warned that finishing the omnibus funding bill may not be as easy as Republican members are saying. "Of course it's not going to be easy," said House Appropriations ranking member David Obey, D-Wis. Obey said one senator can hold the bill up, and that while "it may all go smoothly," some subcommittees have not been consulted yet about the legislation. And obviously referring to GOP leaders who are expressing optimism about passing the package, Obey said, "It's a helluva lot easier to say that it's easy if you don't have to do the real work."

Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., also warned there may be pitfalls in trying to pass the bill. "There are all kinds of issues out there," he said, adding that policy and funding questions remain. "Can we offer amendments?" he asked, and noted it still is unclear which of the FY97 appropriations bills will be included in the omnibus bill. "It's a moving target ... We don't know, for example, if Foreign Operations is in there."

One trouble spot that may arise involves the contentious logging issue.

Rep. Elizabeth Furse, D-Ore., Thursday released a letter signed by 105 members calling on President Clinton, House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., and House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., to support a repeal in the omnibus appropriations measure of last year's salvage timber rider.

Signers of the letter to Clinton included House Budget Chairman John Kasich, R-Ohio, House Banking Chairman Jim Leach, R-Iowa, House International Relations Chairman Ben Gilman, R-N.Y., and House Transportation and Infrastructure Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert, R-N.Y., co-chairman of the Speaker's Environmental Task Force.

The House in June failed in a 209-211 vote to include a repeal of the rider in the FY97 Interior appropriations bill.

Another area of concern is the use of spectrum auctions to offset additional FY97 spending. House Commerce Chairman Bliley and ranking member John Dingell, D-Mich., Thursday asked House leaders to look elsewhere for new revenue. "Spectrum auctions appear to have become a convenient funding source of last resort," Bliley and Dingell wrote in letters to Gingrich, Gephardt, House Appropriations Chairman Robert Livingston, R-La., and Obey. "Overall spectrum policy should be set after a considered and deliberative effort to address the many complex questions it presents, not on a piecemeal basis as political needs arise."

Meawhile, other Democrats clearly were gloating over the Republican rush to adjourn. "The 'Contract on America' fizzled," said Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., following the meeting with Panetta. "They've got to get home and campaign. Their proposals have turned into lemons and they're trying to wrap cotton candy around them."

Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., agreed. "I'd want to go home too if I were they," Dodd told reporters. "They realize that this Congress is a disaster." And he said Republicans have not been in a rush to adjourn in past years, adding, "Maybe we ought to keep them around in '96."

While some Democrats were saying many problems still remain, one key appropriations negotiator said he believes deals can be cut in time for Congress to leave at the end of next week. "I think it can be done," said House Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman John Porter, R-Ill. "The question is, 'Are you doing it responsibly?'"

Porter, whose Labor-HHS appropriations bill is likely to be the main recipient of additional funds, acknowledged he will end up funding programs he opposes.

For example, the House Labor-HHS bill provided no funds for the administration's Goals 2000 program, while the administration is insisting it is a high priority. "That's part of democracy and a part of the legislative process," Porter said.