DEPARTMENTS OF VETERANS AFFAIRS AND HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND INDEPENDENT AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2004

601 Pages·57.4 MB·English

by  Committee on Appropriations

S. HRG. 108–162
Senate Hearings
Before the Committee on Appropriations
Departments of Veterans Affairs
and Housing and Urban
Development and Independent
Agencies Appropriations
2004
Fiscal Year
108
th CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION
H.R. 2861/S. 1584
AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT: OFFICE OF
CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY
SERVICE FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION:
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL
AGENCY FOR TOXIC SUBSTANCES AND NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE
DISEASE REGISTRY ADMINISTRATION
DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN NATIONAL CREDIT UNION ADMINISTRATION
DEVELOPMENT NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY—CIVIL NEIGHBORHOOD REINVESTMENT CORPORATION
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY: COMMUNITY NONDEPARTMENTAL WITNESSES
DEVELOPMENT FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FUND SELECTIVE SERVICE SYSTEM
DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS U.S. CHEMICAL SAFETY AND HAZARD
INVESTIGATION BOARD
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR VETERANS CLAIMS
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S. HRG. 108–162
DEPARTMENTS OF VETERANS AFFAIRS AND
HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND
INDEPENDENT AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS
FOR FISCAL YEAR 2004
HEARINGS
BEFOREA
SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE
COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
ON
H.R. 2861/S. 1584
AN ACT MAKING APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE DEPARTMENTS OF VET-
ERANS AFFAIRS AND HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, AND FOR
SUNDRY INDEPENDENT AGENCIES, BOARDS, COMMISSIONS, CORPORA-
TIONS, AND OFFICES FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING SEPTEMBER 30,
2004, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
American Battle Monuments Commission Executive Office of The President: Office
Corporation for National and Community of Science and Technology Policy
Service Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation:
Department of Health and Human Office of Inspector General
Services: Agency for Toxic Substances National Aeronautics and Space
and Disease Registry Administration
Department of Housing and Urban National Credit Union Administration
Development National Science Foundation
Department of the Army—Civil Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation
Department of the Treasury: Community Nondepartmental Witnesses
Development Financial Institutions Selective Service System
Fund U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard
Department of Veterans Affairs Investigation Board
Environmental Protection Agency U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims
Printed for the use of the Committee on Appropriations
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/senate
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
85–944 PDF WASHINGTON : 2003
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office
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COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
TED STEVENS, Alaska, Chairman
THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi ROBERT C. BYRD, West Virginia
ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii
PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico ERNEST F. HOLLINGS, South Carolina
CHRISTOPHER S. BOND, Missouri PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont
MITCH MCCONNELL, Kentucky TOM HARKIN, Iowa
CONRAD BURNS, Montana BARBARA A. MIKULSKI, Maryland
RICHARD C. SHELBY, Alabama HARRY REID, Nevada
JUDD GREGG, New Hampshire HERB KOHL, Wisconsin
ROBERT F. BENNETT, Utah PATTY MURRAY, Washington
BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL, Colorado BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota
LARRY CRAIG, Idaho DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California
KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois
MIKE DEWINE, Ohio TIM JOHNSON, South Dakota
SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana
JAMES W. MORHARD, Staff Director
LISA SUTHERLAND, Deputy Staff Director
TERRENCE E. SAUVAIN, Minority Staff Director
SUBCOMMITTEE ON VA, HUD, AND INDEPENDENT AGENCIES
CHRISTOPHER S. BOND, Missouri, Chairman
CONRAD BURNS, Montana BARBARA A. MIKULSKI, Maryland
RICHARD C. SHELBY, Alabama PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont
LARRY CRAIG, Idaho TOM HARKIN, Iowa
PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico ROBERT C. BYRD, West Virginia
MIKE DEWINE, Ohio TIM JOHNSON, South Dakota
KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas HARRY REID, Nevada
TED STEVENS, Alaska (ex officio)
Professional Staff
JON KAMARCK
CHEH KIM
ALLEN CUTLER
PAUL CARLINER (Minority)
GABRIELLE A. BATKIN (Minority)
ALEXA SEWELL (Minority)
Administrative Support
JENNIFER STORIPAN
(II)
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CONTENTS
THURSDAY, MARCH 6, 2003
Page
Department of Housing and Urban Development................................................. 1
THURSDAY, MARCH 13, 2003
Department of Veterans Affairs ............................................................................. 75
THURSDAY, MARCH 20, 2003
Environmental Protection Agency .......................................................................... 141
THURSDAY, APRIL 3, 2003
Executive Office of the President: Office of Science and Technology Policy ....... 221
National Science Foundation .................................................................................. 221
THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 2003
Corporation for National and Community Service ............................................... 271
Department of the Treasury: Community Development Financial Institutions
Fund ...................................................................................................................... 325
THURSDAY, MAY 1, 2003
National Aeronautics and Space Administration .................................................. 351
Material submitted by agencies not appearing for formal hearings: 403
American Battle Monuments Commission ..................................................... 440
Department of Health and Human Services: Agency for Toxic Substances
and Disease Registry .................................................................................... 417
Department of the Army—Civil ...................................................................... 424
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation: Office of Inspector General .......... 427
National Credit Union Administration ........................................................... 403
Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation....................................................... 444
Selective Service System .................................................................................. 451
U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board ................................ 408
U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims .................................................... 413
Nondepartmental witnesses.................................................................................... 455
(III)
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DEPARTMENTS OF VETERANS AFFAIRS AND
HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND
INDEPENDENT AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS
FOR FISCAL YEAR 2004
THURSDAY, MARCH 6, 2003
U.S. SENATE,
SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met at 10:03 a.m., in room SD–138, Dirksen
Senate Office Building, Hon. Christopher S. Bond (chairman) pre-
siding.
Present: Senators Bond and Mikulski.
DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
STATEMENT OF MEL MARTINEZ, SECRETARY
ACCOMPANIED BY:
MICHAEL LIU, ASSISTANT SECRETARY, PUBLIC AND INDIAN HOUS-
ING
KENNETH DONOHUE, INSPECTOR GENERAL
JOHN C. WEICHER, ASSISTANT SECRETARY, HOUSING, AND FED-
ERAL HOUSING COMMISSIONER
PHILIP MANGANO, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, INTERAGENCY COUN-
CIL ON HOMELESSNESS
OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR CHRISTOPHER S. BOND
Senator BOND. Good morning, Mr. Secretary. The hearing of the
Senate VA–HUD Appropriations Subcommittee will come to order.
As we begin our hearings on the fiscal year 2004 requests, it is
a pleasure to welcome Secretary Martinez and other guests from
the Department of Housing and Urban Development who have
joined us here this morning to testify on the President’s fiscal year
2004 budget request. This is your third visit before the sub-
committee on HUD’s budget, Mr. Secretary, and I hope not the
last.
As we have discussed, the Department remains a troubled agen-
cy plagued by a morass of program and management problems
that, in most cases, you inherited from previous administrations. I
think I warned you privately before you took it on that you were
taking on a huge challenge and I know you have found it to be ev-
erything that I promised you it would be.
Your committed leadership and steady hand has made a big dif-
ference already, and continued stability at the top can only
strengthen and enhance the reforms that have already occurred
(1)
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2
within HUD. Please remember I said that, because there will be
some comments I have later on that really point out some problems
that you and I face together, and we have to resolve them because
we want to see HUD be the kind of agency of which all of us can
be proud.
The request for fiscal year 2004 proposes $31.3 billion, an in-
crease of $872 million over the fiscal year 2003 funding level of
$30.43 billion. As was the case with the fiscal year 2003, the Sub-
committee will be facing some very difficult funding decisions in
fiscal year 2004, including funding decisions for HUD. In addition,
the tightness of the HUD budget request for fiscal year 2004 only
makes these decisions more difficult, especially since, as always, we
will have to stack up the funding by priorities of the many needs
and priorities of many other agencies and programs within the ju-
risdiction of this Subcommittee, including such priorities as VA
medical care, National Science Foundation, the Environmental Pro-
tection Agency and NASA, which itself faces a whole set of special
needs as we attempt to understand what went horribly wrong with
the reentry of the Space Shuttle Columbia.
In addition, HUD’s fiscal year 2004 budget request is tied to a
number of very ambitious legislative recommendations and pro-
gram changes, which if enacted, and you and we know the likeli-
hood of that, would represent a landmark restructuring of many of
the Department’s most important and largest programs. I will
highlight a few of the most important and potentially controversial
funding decisions and legislative recommendations.
First, the administration is proposing to restructure the various
Section 8 programs by creating a new Section 8 tenant-based
voucher program that would be called Housing Assistance for
Needy Families, or HANF. HANF would be funded at about $12.5
billion in fiscal year 2004 and would transition to a block grant
program of the States in fiscal year 2005. As part of this proposals,
the Section 8 project-based programs would continue to be adminis-
tered by HUD through State housing agencies and PHAs.
While I understand the administration’s frustrations with the
Section 8 tenant-based voucher program with its annual rescissions
and poor cost projections, HANF does not appear to be the best
possible replacement for the existing voucher program. Being a
former governor and having been an advocate of block grants, I be-
lieve there are areas in which they can be very helpful, but instead
we need to provide more flexibility in a low-income-housing pro-
gram based on local decision making, I fear that HANF merely
moves the responsibility for voucher administration to the States
and otherwise appears to duplicate much of what the HOME pro-
gram already is capable of doing. HANF likely will put new bur-
dens on States and localities to meet rising housing costs as well
as low-income housing needs. And as history tells us, block grant
programs seldom receive any significant increased funding once the
programs are established. I think that is particularly troubling dur-
ing a period of time when most States and localities are facing in-
creasingly difficult financial decisions and large budget shortfalls,
and I find it unlikely that the States would be willing to pick up
any of these responsibilities.
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