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to that now provided for offline transactions; maintain technology 
neutrality; minimize legal and regulatory barriers to electronic 
commerce; and take into account cross-border transactions that are now 
likely to occur electronically.
    The Working Group shall request each Federal agency, including 
independent regulatory agencies, to identify any provision of law 
administered by such agency, or any regulation issued by such agency, 
that may impose a barrier to electronic transactions or otherwise impede 
the conduct of commerce online or by electronic means, and to recommend 
how such laws or regulations may be revised to allow electronic commerce 
to proceed while maintaining protection of the public interest.
    The Working Group shall invite representatives of State and local 
governments to identify laws and regulations at the State and local 
level that may impose a barrier to electronic transactions or otherwise 
to the conduct of commerce online or by electronic means, to discuss how 
State and local governments are revising such laws or regulations to 
facilitate electronic commerce while protecting the public interest, and 
to discuss the potential for consistent approaches to these issues.
    The Working Group shall report to the President in a timely manner 
identifying:
(1)         laws and regulations that impose barriers to electronic 
            commerce or that need to be amended to facilitate electronic 
            commerce, and
(2)         recommended steps for addressing the barriers that will 
            facilitate the growth of electronic commerce and will ensure 
            continued protection for consumers and the public at large.
                                            William J. Clinton


<DOC>
[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents]
 [frwais.access.gpo.gov]
                         

[Page 2458-2465]
 
Monday, December 6, 1999
 
Volume 35--Number 48
Pages 2453-2515
 
Week Ending Friday, December 3, 1999
 
Statement on Signing Consolidated Appropriations Legislation for Fiscal 
Year 2000

November 29, 1999

    I have signed into law H.R. 3194, the Consolidated Appropriations 
Act for FY 2000. I am pleased that my Administration and the Congress 
were able to reach agreement on the first budget of the 21st Century--
producing a hard-won victory for the American people.
    This legislation makes progress on several important fronts. It puts 
education first, honoring our commitment to hire 100,000 qualified 
teachers to lower class size in the early grades and doubling the funds 
for after school and summer school programs.
    It makes America a safer place. The bill provides an acceptable 
funding level for my 21st Century Policing Initiative, which builds on 
the success of the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program. 
To date, the COPS program has funded more than 100,000 additional police 
officers for our streets. This bill funds the first increment of the 
21st Century Policing initiative, which will place an additional 30,000 
to 50,000 police officers on the street over the next 5 years, while 
expanding the concept of community policing to include community 
prosecution and law enforcement technology assistance. I appreciate the 
Congress' efforts to forge a bipartisan commitment to the program, which 
will build upon our successful efforts to reduce crime in our 
communities.
    The bill strengthens our effort to preserve natural areas and 
protect our environment by its support of my Lands Legacy Initiative. I 
am very pleased that the bill does not include most of the environmental 
riders that would have put special interests above the national 
interest.
    This budget agreement also strengthens America's leadership role in 
the world by

[[Page 2459]]

paying our dues and arrears to the U.N.; by meeting our commitments to 
the Middle East peace process; by making critical investments in debt 
relief for the poorest countries, by enhancing the security of our 
overseas personnel; by providing for new, critical peacekeeping 
missions; and by funding efforts to safeguard nuclear weapons in Russia.

Labor/Health and Human Services/Education Bill

    Specifically, I am pleased that the legislation provides $1.3 
billion for the second installment of my plan to help reduce class size 
in the early grades. The Republican proposal did not guarantee funding 
for the teachers hired last year and would have instead allowed Class 
Size dollars to be used for virtually any activity, including vouchers. 
The final budget agreement supports the over 29,000 teachers hired last 
year plus an additional 2,500 teachers.
    The bill appropriately includes several other high priority 
education initiatives. One million students will continue to be served 
by the Reading Excellence Initiative and 375,000 more students than last 
year will have access to 21st Century Community Learning Centers. By 
providing $145 million for Public Charter Schools, approximately 650 
more schools than last year will receive startup funding.
    I commend the Congress for providing increases to several programs 
in my Hispanic Education Agenda that address the disproportionately low 
educational achievement and high dropout rates of Latino and limited 
English proficient students. The Hispanic Education Agenda includes 
programs such as Title I Grants to Local Education Agencies (LEAs), 
Adult Education, Bilingual Education, the High School Equivalency and 
College Assistance Migrant Programs (HEP/CAMP), Hispanic-serving 
Institutions, and support services to promote the graduation of low-
income college students (TRIO).
    I am disappointed, however, that this legislation does not provide 
any of the funding that I specifically requested for Troops to Teachers. 
This lack of funding jeopardizes this program, which would have provided 
3,000 new teachers in high-need subject areas and school districts.
    I am pleased that the bill funds most of my major proposals for job 
training, worker protection programs, and grants for working with 
developing countries to establish core labor standards. For example, 
$1.6 billion is included for dislocated worker assistance, enabling the 
program to provide training and re-employment services to 858,500 
dislocated workers. Since 1993, my Administration has succeeded in 
tripling funding for, and participation in, programs that help 
dislocated workers return to work.
    As authorized in the bipartisan Workforce Investment Act of 1998, 
the Congress has provided $140 million to expand services to job seekers 
at One-Stop centers.
    I am pleased that the bill provides the funds I requested for major 
youth job training programs. Specifically, the bill includes the $250 
million I requested for Youth Opportunity Grants to finance the second 
year of the 5-year competitive grants that provide education, training, 
and support services to 58,000 youth in Empowerment Zones and Enterprise 
Communities. In addition, the bill provides the $1 billion for Youth 
Activities Formula Grants to provide training and summer employment 
opportunities to an estimated 577,700 youth. Also it includes $55 
million for the final year of Federal funding for the School-to-Work 
initiative. The bill provides $1.4 billion for the Job Corps program, 
including financing for enhanced follow-up services for graduates, 
completion of a four-center expansion initiated in FY 1998, and 
construction of Head Start child care facilities on five Job Corps 
campuses.
    The bill provides $83 million, or 8 percent above the FY 1999 
enacted level, for labor law enforcement agencies, funding key 
initiatives to ensure workplace safety, address domestic child labor 
abuses, encourage equal pay, assist in complying with pension law, and 
promote family leave.
    I am especially pleased that this legislation includes critically 
needed changes to the Welfare-to-Work program's eligibility 
requirements. We have worked closely with the Congress to ensure these 
changes were enacted this year. By simplifying eligibility, this 
legislation will allow the Welfare-to-Work program, within existing 
resources, to serve more effectively long-term welfare recipients

[[Page 2460]]

and noncustodial parents of low-income children. The bill also 
establishes an alternative penalty that is tough, but fair, for States 
that have not implemented certain child support enforcement 
requirements.
    This legislation fully funds my request for Head Start, adding up to 
44,000 new slots for low-income children and continuing on the path to 
serve one million children by FY 2002.
    Unfortunately, the bill reduces the Social Services Block Grant by 
$134 million below the FY 1999 level, undermining programs serving our 
most vulnerable families.
    The bill includes historic investments in biomedical research, 
mental health, pediatric training, and a number of other critically 
important public health initiatives. It also makes an essential 
downpayment on my Safety Net proposal, which is designed to provide 
financial and technical support to those providing a disproportionate 
amount of care to the uninsured. Lastly, it provides payment 
restorations to hospitals, nursing homes, and other providers serving 
the 39 million elderly and disabled beneficiaries.
    It also provides a $34.5 billion investment in health programs, 11.7 
percent above the FY 1999 enacted level, including an historic increase 
of $2.3 billion for the National Institutes of Health. These new 
initiatives will strengthen the public health infrastructure, provide 
critical prevention and treatment services to individuals with mental 
illness, and invest in pediatric training programs. Specifically, the 
bill provides $40 million to support graduate medical education at 
freestanding children's hospitals, which play an essential role in the 
education of the Nation's pediatricians; $67 million above the FY 1999 
funding level for the Mental Health Block Grant, a 23 percent increase 
over FY 1999 and the largest increase ever; $30 million for health 
education, prevention, and treatment services to address health 
disparities among minority populations; and an additional $62 million 
over FY 1999 funding levels to provide critical immunizations to 
children nationwide. The $239 million for the Title X Family Planning 
program will enable family planning clinics to extend comprehensive 
reproductive health care services to an additional 500,000 clients who 
are neither Medicaid-eligible nor insured. In addition, the $25 million 
for the Health Care for the Uninsured Initiative will support the 
development of integrated systems of care and address service gaps 
within these systems.
    It provides $25 million, a full down payment on our proposed $1 
billion investment to develop integrated systems of care for the 
uninsured. It also dedicates an additional $15 million to identify the 
best ways to deliver health care coverage to this population. I am 
pleased that the bill includes a $73 million increase in funding for HIV 
prevention activities to help stop the spread of this disease; an 
increase of $183 million in the Ryan White CARE Act, which helps provide 
primary care and support for those living with HIV/AIDS; and an 
estimated $300 million in additional funds for AIDS-related research at 
the NIH. The bill also includes $80 million in funding to the Minority 
AIDS Initiative, which utilizes existing programs to reach African-
Americans, Latinos, and other racial and ethnic minorities that are 
disproportionately impacted by HIV/AIDS, as well as an additional $100 
million to fight AIDS internationally. Finally, the Administration 
helped protect local authority over HIV prevention activities, 
successfully removing language from the District of Columbia 
appropriations bill that would have tied the hands of community health 
agencies in their ability to use needle exchange programs as part of 
their overall HIV prevention strategy.
    The bill includes $264 million to expand HHS' bioterrorism 
initiative. It provides $52 million for the Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention's (CDC) national pharmaceutical stock pile and $123 
million for CDC to expand national, State, and local epidemiologic, 
laboratory, and surveillance planning capacity, as well as to conduct a 
vaccine study. The bill also fully funds my request to expand the number 
of Metropolitan Medical Response Systems that can respond to the health 
and medical consequences of a chemical, biological, or nuclear incident, 
and to enhance smallpox and anthrax vaccine research and development. I 
am particularly pleased that the bill funds the creation of a new 
national electronic disease surveillance system, which will also help 
detect outbreaks

[[Page 2461]]

and strengthen the public health delivery system.
    I commend the Congress for providing funding for my Nursing Home 
Initiative, including resources for more rigorous inspections of nursing 
facilities and improved Federal oversight of nursing home quality, and 
for funding the 31-percent increase in Home-Delivered Meals that I 
requested.
    Finally, the bill also includes the Balanced Budget Refinement Act 
of 1999, which invests $16 billion over 5 years to address the flawed 
policy and excessive payment reductions resulting from the Balanced 
Budget Act of 1997. It lifts caps on therapy services, increases 
payments for very sick nursing home patients, restores teaching hospital 
funding, and eases the transition to the new prospective payment system 
for hospital outpatients. It also includes provisions to limit cost-
sharing requirements for Medicare beneficiaries and extends coverage of 
important immunosuppressive drugs. Unfortunately, it includes provisions 
that are not justifiable, such as a $4 billion payment increase to 
managed care plans that are already overpaid according to most experts. 
This is troubling because any excess payments from the Medicare trust 
fund put the program at greater risk.

Commerce/Justice/State Bill

    Regrettably, the bill does not contain a needed hate crimes 
provision that was included in the Senate version of the bill. I urge 
the Congress to pass legislation in a timely manner that would 
strengthen the Federal Government's ability to combat hate crimes by 
relaxing jurisdictional obstacles and by giving Federal prosecutors the 
ability to prosecute hate crimes that are based on sexual orientation, 
gender, or disability, along with those based on race, color, religion, 
and national origin.
    I am pleased that we were able to secure additional funds for the 
Legal Services Corporation. Adequate funding for legal services is 
essential to ensuring that all citizens have access to the Nation's 
justice system. Similarly, through negotiations with the Congress, the 
funding level for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was 
increased above the FY 1999 enacted level. The additional funds will 
assist the EEOC in its continued progress in reducing the backlog of 
employment discrimination cases.
    The bill funds my requested $13 million increase for the Department 
of Justice's Civil Rights Division. These funds will support law 
enforcement actions related to hate crimes, the Americans with 
Disabilities Act, and fair housing and lending.
    The legislation contains adequate funding for the decennial census, 
and includes a compromise on language requiring the Census Bureau to 
allocate funds among eight functions or frameworks. With the decennial 
census approaching, I am confident that this language will not inhibit 
the Census Bureau's ability to actually conduct the census.
    The United States has recently entered into the U.S.-Canada Pacific 
Salmon Agreement. The Agreement ends years of contention between the 
U.S. and Canada regarding expired fishing harvest restrictions and 
provides for improved fisheries management. I am pleased that 
legislative riders that would have hindered implementation of this 
important Agreement have been modified or removed from the bill. In 
addition, additional funds have been provided for implementation of the 
Agreement and for other salmon recovery efforts. These funds will allow 
us to work cooperatively with our partners--Canada, a number of western 
States, and Treaty Tribes--to implement the Agreement and to restore 
Pacific coastal salmon runs.
    The bill does not provide additional requested funding to the 
Department of Justice for tobacco litigation, but does not preclude the 
expenditure of funds for this purpose. We will identify existing 
resources to pursue this important case. Smoking-related health expenses 
cost taxpayers billions of dollars each year through Medicare, veterans' 
and military health, and other Federal health programs. The $20 million 
I requested is needed to represent the interests of the tax-payers, who 
should not have to bear the responsibility for these staggering costs.
    Critical funds were added to help our Nation's 24 million small 
businesses. The bill now includes $16.5 million for my New Markets 
Initiative to invest in targeted rural and urban areas. Also, funding 
levels were increased for the Small Business Administration's (SBA) 
operating expenses and disaster

[[Page 2462]]

loan program. These funds will enable the SBA to provide critical 
services, including a fast and effective response to Hurricane Floyd.

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