protection for the consumer in alcohol beverage products; and continue projects on regulatory reform and continue programs offering assistance to other agencies (both regulatory and law enforcement), industry and the public.

Firearms program.-Reduce illegal trafficking in firearms; assist Federal, State, and local law enforcement and regulatory agencies in reducing illegal trafficking in weapons, reducing firearms-related crime, and investigating firearms-related cases; and identify and investigate violence-prone individuals who use firearms in criminal acts.

Explosives and arson programs.-Reduce criminal misuse of explosives; ensure public safety regarding the storage of legal explosives; reduce arson incidents; and assist Federal, State, and local investigative and regulatory agencies in explosives and arson-related areas.

The Committee has provided an additional $5,927,000 as an inflationary adjustment for BATF programs and activities in fiscal year 1990.

FEDERAL ALCOHOL ADMINISTRATION ACT

The Committee recognizes alcoholic beverages as among the most socially sensitive commodities marketed in the United States. In this connection, marketing, labeling, and advertising of alcoholic beverages must be accomplished in an environment which fosters fair and healthy competition while protecting the interests of the American consumer. For this reason, the Committee sees no justification for the administration's proposal to reduce funding and staffing levels for the Bureau's alcohol compliance activities in fiscal year 1990. The administration based its reduced funding needs on the assumption that amendments to the Federal Alcoholic Administration Act would be enacted in fiscal year 1990. Since legislation has not been passed to effect these changes, the Committee has provided an additional $8,000,000 to restore the alcohol compliance program to the fiscal year 1989 level. Unless and until legislation has been enacted to the contrary, the Committee expects the Bureau to continue to implement its statutory responsibilities according to existing law.

The administration's fiscal year 1990 budget also proposes the redirection of 24 full-time equivalent positions and $2,273,000 from alcohol law enforcement activities to firearms law enforcement. While the Committee agrees with the need for increased funding for firearms enforcement activities, it cannot approve the administration proposal to increase firearms programs at the expense of ongoing alcohol enforcement activities. Therefore, the Committee has restored $1,100,000 and 20 full-time equivalent positions for the law enforcement alcohol program. The Committee is seriously concerned about the rising attempts by some in the alcohol community to defraud the Federal Government by falsely identifying labels to reduce the tax consequences. The Bureau should use the funds provided in fiscal year 1990 to increase its investigative work in this area. The Committee expects the Bureau to provide quarterly progress reports on the increased enforcement activities resulting from the funding made available for investigations.

The Committee has also provided an additional $1,095,000 for the replacement of obsolete automated data processing equipment to support BATF tax collection activities.

ARSON

The efforts of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to control arson crime for profit warrant nothing less than unqualified support from the Congress. The investigative techniques and skills brought to arson crime investigations by ATF national response teams greatly enhance the potential for solution of these vicious acts.

COLLECTION OF STATISTICS/INGREDIENT LABELING

The Committee directs the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to continue the monthly collection of statistics for the beverage alcohol industry. The Committee finds that any move to disseminate these statistics on a quarterly rather than on a monthly basis will create a vacuum for industry, concerned consumer interest groups, and Federal, State, and local agencies that depend on timely statistics to accurately gauge trends and patterns in their efforts to address industry problems, including alcohol abuse.

The Committee has also included language in the bill which prohibits the Bureau from implementing regulations with regard to ingredient labeling.

Any changes in either of these areas at BATF should be addressed in the appropriate legislative committees of the House and Senate and only after the most careful and serious consideration of the potential consequences for both the alcohol industry and the public.

STAFFING

BUREAU OF ALCOHOL, TOBACCO AND FIREARMS FISCAL YEAR 1990 FUNDING

ARMED CAREER CRIMINAL APPREHENSION PROGRAM

The Armed Career Criminal Act, signed into law in 1984 and expanded by the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, provides mandatory sentences for certain violent repeat offenders who carry firearms. The Bureau, given its jurisdiction over firearms laws, has a unique opportunity to effect the apprehension of violent offenders. The success to date of the Bureau's Repeat Offender Program has surpassed initial expectations regarding apprehension, prosecution, and conviction of career criminals. The Committee notes that over 80 percent of the defendants apprehended under this program have direct involvement in illegal narcotics trafficking.

The administration has proposed a total increase of $21,829,000 and 424 full-time equivalents to support the Bureau's firearms compliance and law enforcement activities in fiscal year 1990. Of this amount, $3,029,000 was contained in the President's original budget request and the remaining $18,800,000 was requested as part of the President's Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1989, dated May 15, 1989. While the Committee supports the President's efforts to expand law enforcement activities of the Bureau, as noted by the Committee in its earlier discussion with reference to alcohol compliance and enforcement activities, the Committee is concerned that the President proposes to achieve his increase for firearms activities by reducing the funding necessary to carry-out current law for alcohol programs. Further, the President's request as part of his crime control package, arrived too late to be considered during congressional debate on the fiscal year 1990 budget resolution. Consequently, the administration now proposes that the increase in the Armed Career Criminal Program be achieved through unspecified reductions in other domestic discretionary programs.

The Committee rejects the administration's budget amendment for BATF included in the crime control package, and instead recommends that additional amounts provided to the BATF be used for higher priority purposes related to firearms control and enforcement activities.

In order to carry out what the Committee considers to be one of our Nation's foremost law enforcement objectives-namely, getting armed career criminals off the streets of our cities and towns-the Committee is providing an additional $13,183,000 and 149 FTE's over the fiscal year 1989 level for the Bureau's firearms compliance and law enforcement activities in fiscal year 1990. This will bring the total FTE staff ceiling for the BATF to a minimum level of 3,850 in fiscal year 1990. Of these additional amounts $4,500,000 and 75 FTE's are provided for the formation of five task forces to be located in high-crime metropolitan areas across the country where there is a growing incidence of firearms violations related to narcotics trafficking. The Committee recommends the following metropolitan areas for the location of these task forces: Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Philadelphia, and Phoenix. These task forces should be modeled after the Washington, DC, demonstration project which began operations in March 1989. That demonstration has been responsible for the arrest of 146 suspects in various narcotics and firearms violations. It has also resulted in the seizure of over 100 firearms, including 14 silencers and 7 machineguns. Fur

ther, over a kilogram of narcotics packaged for sale with a net value of approximately $100,000 in drug money was confiscated as a direct result of this very effective demonstration task force in the Nation's Capital. The Committee expects the Bureau to use the task forces to combat organized violent crime groups, such as the Jamaican posses, through cooperative investigations and a coordinated national strategy.

The remaining additional funds and positions should be allocated to inspection and enforcement-related activities to support the continued effort to reduce the number of repeat offenders engaging in criminal firearms violence.

The Committee recommends an appropriation of $1,059,634,000 for the salaries and expenses of the U.S. Customs Service. This amount is $28,144,000 more than the budget estimate and $18,144,000 over the House level.

The U.S. Customs Service is the primary border enforcement agency and a major revenue producer. Customs administers and enforces the Tariff Act of 1930 and some 400 other provisions of laws and regulations of 40 other Federal agencies governing international traffic and trade. The mission is multifaceted and mandates the Service to:

-Control, regulate, and facilitate the movement of carriers, persons, and commodities between the United States and other nations:

-Protect the American consumer and the environment against the introduction of hazardous and noxious products; and protect American industry and the American worker against unfair competition from foreign manufacturers;

-Assess, collect, and protect the revenue accruing to the United States from duties, taxes, and fees incident to international traffic and trade;

-Detect, interdict, and/or investigate:

Smuggling and other illegal practices designed to gain illicit entry into the United States of prohibited articles, narcotics, and other contraband;

Fraudulent activities calculated to avoid the payment of taxes and fees, or to evade the legal requirements of international traffic and trade;

Illegal transfers of critical technology to foreign nations for the building of their military systems, thus posing a threat to our national security;

Illegal international trafficking in arms, munitions, and currency.

COMMERCIAL OPERATIONS

As noted by the Committee in fiscal year 1989, the duties of the Customs Service to facilitate the legitimate transport of goods being imported into the United States and exported to overseas markets are directly linked to the economic well-being of our Nation. In addition, the revenues derived from the collection of duties, merchandise fees, and other commerce-related services help support Federal deficit reduction efforts. In fiscal year 1989 the revenues collected through the commercial operations activities of the U.S. Customs Service are expected to reach $18,600,000,000. This figure represents a return on investment ratio of 18 to 1.

In fiscal year 1989 the Committee approved a staffing enhancement of 640 additional full-time equivalent positions for Customs commercial operations activities. These positions were added to permit the Service to better respond to the growth in trade affecting all goods coming into or leaving the United States. The Committee notes that this staffing enhancement has resulted in the expedited inspection of commercial goods eligible for entry through our borders. At the same time, this staffing enhancement was responsible for the seizure of record amounts of contraband destined for U.S. markets. For these reasons, the Committee is concerned that the major initiative to enhance commercial operations staffing at the U.S. Customs Service approved by the Congress in fiscal year 1989 would be severely hampered if the administration's proposal to reduce staffing levels by 396 full-time equivalents were to be approved. The Committee sees no merit in the administration's proposal to reduce Federal resources for these programs. While the administration indicates that this funding reduction will have no adverse effect on commercial operations because it will be offset by other productivity savings, testimony received during the fiscal year 1990 budget hearings indicates the reduction will have the opposite effect.

The Committee, therefore, is rejecting the proposed funding reduction for commercial operations activities and instead recommends an increase of $14,300,000 to restore commercial operations staffing to a level of 10,385 full-time equivalent positions in fiscal year 1990.

CARGO CONTAINER EXAMINATIONS

For fiscal year 1990 the administration has proposed a major cargo container examination initiative designed to detect the illegal entry of narcotics or other contraband hidden in commercial shipments entering U.S. ports. The administration's initiative would provide an additional $28,000,000 and 435 full-time equivalent positions for the intensive examination of cargo containers coming from countries and shippers identified as high risk for the transport of illegal contraband. The Committee applauds this longoverdue initiative. Law enforcement personnel have confirmed that the transit of narcotics shipments coming into the United States through large cargo sea containers is presenting a growing threat to U.S. drug control efforts. The initiative, while modest, will help to stem the flow of illegal drugs presently being smuggled into the United States through cargo containers. The Committee has includ