Republicans Introduce Bill to Nix Commerce Department

WASHINGTON _ House Republicans introduced a bill Tuesday that would eliminate the U.S. Commerce Department, saying it would save more than $7.7 billion over the next five years.

The legislation, introduced by Rep. Dick Chrysler, R-Mich., would immediately terminate six programs and transfer over the next three years the rest of the department's functions to other agencies or to the private sector.

The measure would carry out one of the steps called for in the budget guidelines that the House approved last week, which proposed elimination of the departments of the Commerce, Energy, and Education.

Programs to be shuttered immediately, saving $3.834 billion over five years, include the Economic Development Agency, Minority Business Development Agency, U.S. Travel Tourism Administration, Technology Administration, and National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

"This is the first time in history that a cabinet department would be abolished," Chrysler said. The department "is history," said Rep. John Kasich, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Budget Committee. "Put a fork in it. It's dead," he said.

Still, most of the department's functions, which range from the distribution of patents and trademarks to the collection of economic statistics, would be farmed out to other agencies.

Among those proposed shifts and estimated savings over five years: The Patent and Trademark Office would be transferred to the Justice Department for an estimated $375 million in savings. The Census Bureau would move to the U.S. Treasury and be streamlined, while another statistical agency, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, would go to the Federal Reserve system, saving a total of $827 million. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which accounts for 40 percent of the Commerce Department's budget, would be broken up, its functions assumed by agencies ranging from the U.S. Coast Guard to the Department of the Interior. Consolidation would save an estimated $2.338 billion. The Bureau of Export Administration would have its export control functions moved to the State Department while licensing responsibility would be taken over by the Customs Service. Those changes would save an estimated $91 million. The International Trade Administration would see most of its functions transferred to the office of the U.S. Trade Representative for an estimated $294 million in savings.

Commerce Secretary Ron Brown defended his agency, saying the Republican plan to abolish it amounted to "little more than box-shuffling."

"As far as I've been able to determine, it would save little or no money," Brown said in a conference call from Paris, where he's attending a meeting of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. "Amazingly, the essence of the attack is on the programs that are clearly most cost effective and have the most positive effect on future export promotion efforts," he said.

Brown also said the decision to eliminate the Commerce Department, which has the smallest budget of any cabinet-level agency, about $3.6 billion in 1995, was an "ideological attack" rather than a serious attempt at cost-cutting.

"They have a misconception that somehow it is inappropriate for government to play a significant role in promoting the commercial interests of the U.S.," he said. "It's a debate other countries concluded 20 or 30 years ago," he said.

Robert Mosbacher, Commerce Secretary under President George Bush, said that although he supports the Republican plan to abolish the department, there's still a government role for export promotion through the U.S. Trade Representative's office.

"As long as our international trade competitors are skewing markets, we will need to promote _ not subsidize _ U.S. exports," he said.

The National Association of Manufacturers also urged caution. "Should the Commerce Department cease to exist, we are not in favor of scattering its key trade and export functions to the far corners of the federal bureaucracy while global competition is on the rise," said Howard Lewis, vice president of trade and technology at NAM.

Brown said he was confident support from the business community would save his agency. "I can't imagine a nation that has no seat at the table for the private sector," he said. "It's a long road between now and September, or whenever the decision on the budget is made," he said.

The proposal to abolish his department comes as Brown faces questions about $500,000 in payments from a former business partner and about possible false statements on federal financial statements and a private mortgage application. Attorney General Janet Reno last week asked a federal court panel to name an independent counsel to investigate Brown's financial dealings.

"The scandals surrounding Secretary Brown confirm that the Department of Commerce has long outlived its$usefulness," said Sen. Lauch Faircloth, R-N.C., who's leading Senate efforts to abolish the department.

The House budget proposal, unlike the Senate's, also calls for the elimination of the departments of Energy and Education.

"We're going to start just with Commerce, but we'll catch up," said Sen. Majority Leader Bob Dole, R-Kan.

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