SUMMARY OF ESTIMATES AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The budget estimates for the departments and agencies included in the accompanying bill are contained in the budget of the United States for 1988 submitted on January 28, 1987 (H. Doc. 100-4), and budget amendments submitted on March 5, 1987 (H. Doc. 100-44), April 29, 1987 (H. Doc. 100-71, June 22, 1987 (S. Doc. 100-11), and June 26, 1987 (H. Doc. 100-86).

The total amount of new budget authority recommended by the Committee for fiscal year 1988 is $14,275,122,933. This amount is a net increase of $815,497,926 over appropriations enacted for fiscal year 1987 for these departments and agencies. The Committee recommendation is $540,780,067 below the budget estimates, as amended, but it is $378,621,933 above the amount provided in the House bill.

The House bill included a general provision, Section 609, requiring a 2.4-percent reduction to all appropriations in the bill except for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Immigration and Naturalization Service, and Drug Enforcement Administration. The Committee has deleted this provision and has stayed within the 302(b) allocation by exercising its judment on the individual accounts. The amounts identified as "House allowance" in this report are the amounts in the House bill before the application of section 609.

The amounts recomended will virtually consume the allocation of outlays to the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State, and the Judiciary pursuant to section 302(b)(1) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as amended. Accordingly, the departments and agencies funded by this bill must conduct their operations in fiscal 1988 with the view that there will be no supplemental appropriation in 1988.

COMMITTEE PROCEDURES REGARDING REPORT LANGUAGE

Any limitation, directive, or earmarking contained in either the House or Senate report, which is not contradicted by the other report nor specifically denied in the conference report, shall be considered as having been approved by both Houses of Congress.

DEFINITION OF "PROGRAM, PROJECT, AND ACTIVITY" FOR PURPOSES OF THE BALANCED BUDGET AND EMERGENCY DEFICIT CONTROL ACT OF 1985

During the fiscal year 1988, for purposes of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Public Law 99-177) and any amendments thereto, the following information provides the definition of the term "program, project, and activity" for departments and agen

cies under the jurisdiction of the Commerce, Justice, State, the Judiciary and Related Agencies Subcommittee. The term "program, project, and activity" shall include the most specific level of budget items identified in the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1988, as passed the Senate and the Senate report accompanying said act.

In implementing any possible Presidential order, departments, and agencies shall apply the percentage reduction required for fiscal year 1988 pursuant to the provisions of Public Law 99-177, and any amendments thereto, to each program, project, activity, and subactivity specified in the budget justification documents submitted to the Committees on Appropriations of the House and Senate in support of the fiscal year 1988 budget estimates, as amended, for such departments and agencies, as modified by congressional action. In addition, the departments and agencies in implementing the Presidential order, shall not (1) eliminate any program, project, or activity; (2) reorder priorities or funds; or (3) initiate any program, project, or activity that was not funded in the fiscal year 1988 appropriations act. However, for purposes of program execution these departments and agencies may propose reprogrammings between programs, projects, and activities pursuant to the Committee's reprogramming procedures after they implement the reductions required under the Balanced Budget Act.

REPROGRAMMINGS, REORGANIZATIONS, AND RELOCATIONS

As in previous years, the Committee has inserted section 608 under title VI of general provisions of the bill. This section restates previous law with regard to the reprogramming of funds between programs or activities.

CONSULTATION CALLS AND COORDINATION ON COAL EXPORTS, DEPARTMENTS OF COMMERCE AND STATE AND THE U.S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

The Committee remains concerned over delays occurring in the consultation call process implemented by the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements, represented by the Department of State, the Special Trade Representative, and the Department of Commerce. The Committee has previously requested that these agencies work to improve a delayed process that permits identified market disruption situations to continue, and results in the negotiation of artificially high import levels pursuant to calls made by CITA. The Committee acknowledges improvements resulting from more timely domestic production and import data; however, it continues to be made aware of delays in the approval of calls. Therefore, the Committee puts the CITA agencies on notice that it will closely monitor individual agencies' roles in the call process. Shall the Committee's review of the actions and votes of individual agencies demonstrate a pattern of obstruction to the proper functioning of the call process, the Committee will consider taking steps to restrict these agencies' involvement.

The Committee directs the Secretary of Commerce to provide the Committee with a monthly report on all market disruption situations recommended by the Department to the CITA. The report shall list each recommendation by category and country, the date the requests are made, the level of general imports during the 12 months ending on the month prior to the request, the minimum permissible level for import control under the bilateral agreement (or other agreement) at the time the recommendation was presented, the actions taken by the CITA on the proposal, and the individual agency votes on whether to request consultations, if taken.

The Committee is concerned about the United States declining share of the Japanese coal market. As in previous years, the Committee calls on the Commerce Department and the State Department to utilize every available opportunity to negotiate with the Government of Japan to maintain and increase the United States share of the Japanese coal market. The Committee requests that the Commerce Department and the State Department report to the Committee regularly on the progress of the United States-Japanese Energy Working Group. These reports should contain details on the current coal trade situation, including the source of coal being imported by Japan and the status of the United States market share for both metallurgical and steam coal. In addition, these reports should include full details on action taken and progress made to implement the Reagan/Nakasone joint policy statement on energy cooperation.

VISA WAIVER PROGRAM

The Committee is concerned that development of the Visa Waiver Pilot Program is not proceeding in a timely manner. The Department of State is directed to proceed with negotiations with eligible countries for the implementation of the Visa Waiver Pilot Program. Such agreements may include provisions for the adoption of machine-readable passport technology, the placement of INS personnel at departure points, and reciprocity in other such matters necessary for the implementation of a visa waiver program. The Committee requests the Department of State and the Immigration and Naturalization Service to implement an interim system for departure control by January 1, 1988, to protect the security of the United States until the eventual acquisition and implementation of devices that permit computerized entry of information from machine-readable passports and visas.

TITLE I-DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

A total of $2,536,333,933 is recommended for the Department of Commerce, which is $413,516,933 more than the amount for 1987, $443,079,933 more than the budget estimates, and $46,363,933 above the House allowance. Increases over the budget requests occur primarily in appropriations for the Economic Development Administration, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the National Bureau of Standards.

The Committee recommends an appropriation of $41,265,000, an increase of $3,723,000 from 1987 appropriations to date. The amount recommended is $1,109,000 less than the request and $765,000 more than the House allowance.

This appropriation provides for the executive direction of the Department of Commerce, including the secretarial officers and their immediate staffs; for departmental staff services for management and administration, including such functions as budget, program evaluation, congressional relations, public information, legal services, organization and management studies, personnel, systems, publications, and security; and for the audit and investigative duties of the inspector general.

The amount recommended reflects approval of all of the requested adjustments to base and built-in changes except for the restoration of a nonrecurring base reduction of $1,213,000 and a general reduction of $396,000. The Committee recommendation also provides for a requested program increase of $1,115,000 to continue development of the Department's financial management information system to provide for a single, uniform system of information and data to be used by all Department bureaus and managers. The recommendation also reflects approval of the requested program increase of $800,000 and nine positions for the Office of the Inspector General to expand the loan audit program beyond its current pilot basis and to strengthen the preaward review process for major procurements and contracts.

The recommendation also includes $500,000 for the establishment, within the Office of the Secretary of Commerce, of a clearinghouse on

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State and local initiatives on productivity, technology, and innovation, to serve as a central repository for information on such initiatives.

The Committee recommends an appropriation of $99,270,000, an increase of $7,057,000 over 1987 appropriations to date. The amount recommended is $2,806,000 less than the request and $730,000 less than the House allowance.

This appropriation provides for the Bureau of the Census' statistical programs which include the measurement of the Nation's economy and the demographic characteristics of the population. These programs provide a broad base of economic, demographic, and social information used for decisionmaking by governments, private organizations, and individuals.

The amount recommended provides for all of the requested adjustments to base and built-in changes except for the amount requested for restoration of the nonrecurring base reduction of $1,975,000 and a general reduction of $1,211,000. In addition, the Committee recommendation reflects approval of three requested program changes. These include an increase of $549,000 and 11 positions for the Business Statistics Program to survey additional business service industries and to include more detailed data items in annual service trade reports. The recommendation also includes approval of the requested increase of $300,000 for the Foreign Trade Statistics Program to complete the implementation of the new Harmonized International Trade Data System and for regular updating to maintain the accuracy and quality of the system. Finally, the recommendation reflects approval of the requested increase of $300,000 and two positions for demographic surveys to provide for the implementation of computer-assisted telephone interviewing in the current population survey. The Committee recommendation also reflects elimination of the survey of the communications industry and continuation of the coverage of the Quarterly Financial Report at the fiscal year 1984 level.

The Committee recommends an appropriation of $361,255,000, an increase of $186,449,000 over 1987 appropriations to date. The amount recommended is $14,958,000 less than the budget estimate and $1,255,000 more than the House allowance. The major part of the increase over 1987 is due to the startup costs of the 1990 decennial census.