$2.5 billion sought for Defense, Labor bills

Saying that final negotiations have begun on fiscal 1999 funding bills, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, Tuesday said appropriators need a minimum of $2.5 billion more for the Defense and Labor-HHS measures.

Stevens said he believes that a minimum of $2 billion is needed for Defense and that members of the Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee want between $500 million and $700 million. And, he added, "We should give it to them."

The Appropriations chairman said that part of the new spending could be classified as emergency spending, and that he expects between one and three supplemental requests from the administration.

"An emergency is an emergency and we shouldn't fool around with it," Stevens said.

Stevens repeated that funding to help solve the year 2000 computer problem should be classified as an emergency, a move that House Republicans have resisted.

While House Republicans have been reluctant to classify much spending as emergencies, Stevens said he believes "we won't have trouble with the House."

Stevens renewed his call for a short-term continuing resolution that would last through the middle of the first week of October, noting that Congress will have lost three work days for Labor Day and Jewish holidays.

He said the CR simply would extend the end of the fiscal year.

"September 30th isn't September 30th," he contended. "It's Wednesday, October 7th." He said, "If we have that extra little time, we'll be able to work things out with the administration."

Stevens said he believes Congress can send between 10 and 12 funding bills to the president by Oct. 7, adding that Congress will have trouble finishing the Commerce-Justice-State, Interior and Labor-HHS bills.

He said that as long as senators do not load up the District of Columbia bill with unrelated issues, Congress can finish that bill as well.

He also predicted that Congress would include the full $18 billion for the International Monetary Fund and that any final legislative deals will include some sort of tax cut. "But that's not my bag," he said.

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said legislators are talking about using part of the surplus for emergency spending, while adding those negotiations also should include discussion of tax cuts.

Stevens said the Senate can pass three appropriations conference reports a week, as Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., suggested, but only if members are willing to set aside controversial issues that may be difficult to resolve this year.

He warned that non-appropriations matters are bogging down the funding measures, saying the Senate might have to vote on cloture three times in the Interior appropriations measure.