Uncertain Future for the Commerce Department
This has been a busy week on Capitol Hill for the U.S. Department of Commerce. Three committee hearings have been held on legislation to dismantle the department, and the House finished its consideration of the department’s FY 1996 appropriation. What has emerged is a very uncertain future for the Commerce Department.
Earlier this week, two House subcommittees held a joint hearing on H.R. 1756, which would dismantle the Commerce Department. Secretary Ronald Brown left no doubt about how he viewed this legislation, saying, “There’s been a lot of hot rhetoric about this issue, and I don’t know if it is about saving money or about government restructuring to make government more effective, or trophy hunting.”
Senator William Roth (R-DE) is the chairman of the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, and will be one of the architects of the department’s fate. At a hearing on Tuesday on S. 929, he said dismantling Commerce is “not a new idea, but an idea whose time has come.” Roth sponsored similar legislation in 1967. Ranking Minority Member John Glenn (D-OH), while not a supporter of the bill, did say, “Commerce is clearly in need of some kind of reorganization.”
Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole (R-KS) was the hearing’s lead witness. Dole spoke for only a few minutes, but said of the department’s elimination that it is “certainly one we ought to start looking at.” He said his decision to dismantle the department was not a difficult one for him to make, adding “we can no longer afford” Commerce.
Roth, while strongly supportive of remaking Commerce, said he “frankly disagrees” with S. 929 since it would splinter the department’s activities. He favors consolidation of government activities, and is especially concerned about a viable federal trade function. Roth asked Brown if he could support a consolidation of the department’s activities. Brown replied, “we are open,” although he quickly linked this to a government-wide reorganization.
Yesterday, the House finished its consideration of H.R. 2076, the Commerce, Justice, and State Appropriations Bill for FY 1996. No changes were made affecting NIST programs, and the department itself was left intact with approximately 83% of its current year budget. The House rejected by a vote of 204-yes to 223-no an amendment offered by Alan Mollohan (D-WV) to lift the prohibition on FY 1996 money being used for new projects under the Advanced Technology Program.
Despite House approval of an FY 1996 budget for Commerce, the department is by no means out of the woods. Republican freshmen threatened to defeat the appropriations bill unless they received assurances that Commerce would be dismantled. House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) and Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX) signed a letter pledging “our firm commitment to incorporate the dismantling legislation” into the budget reconciliation bill later this year. Reconciliation bills usually pertain to revenue and entitlement programs, but can serve as a vehicle for other legislation. In remarks on the floor, Rep. Sam Brownback (R-KS) declared, “I intend to vote for the final passage of the appropriations bill because this is the beginning of the end of the Department of Commerce.” He said that the appropriations bill was not the place to eliminate the department, but added that authorizing committees were moving ahead with legislation to eliminate, privatize, and consolidate the department’s activities. Rep. Dick Chrysler (R-MI), sponsor of H.R. 1756, echoed these remarks, saying, “I too intend to vote for final passage of this appropriations bill. ...we have received assurances from the speaker and the majority leader that the Department of Commerce will be dismantled as part of this year’s budget reconciliation package.”
President Clinton has declared his intention to veto any legislation which dismantles the Commerce Department. How this will be resolved is anyone’s guess.
