THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, July 1, 1996 TAG: 9607010036
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: 224 lines
Here's how area members of Congress were recorded on major roll call votes in the week ending June 28. HOUSE
Spending bill
By a vote of 269 for and 147 against, the House passed a bill (HR 3666) providing $84.3 billion in fiscal 1997 for the departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development and other agencies. The bill increases appropriations by 2.2 percent over 1996 levels but provides none of the $400 million sought by the administration for its AmeriCorps national service program. The largest items are $20.1 billion for veterans' pensions and other entitlements, $17.3 billion for veterans' medical care, $19.7 billion for HUD, $13.6 billion for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and $6.5 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency.
The GOP-drafted bill slightly increases the EPA budget, in contrast to last year when Republicans sought to cut EPA spending by about 20 percent. It raises spending for the Veterans Health Administration, which has some 200,000 employees, by 2.6 percent to $17.3 billion.
Louis Stokes, D-Ohio, said the bill ``reaffirms our commitment to serving our veterans as they have served us, to protecting the environment, to caring for the poorest of the poor, to ensuring America's future leadership in space.''
Thomas Manton, D-N.Y., said bill overstates by $861 million the amount it would actually provide for cleaning up toxic waste sites under the Superfund program. ``Clearly, the (GOP) majority wants to improve their image on the environment,'' he said.
A yes vote was to pass the appropriations bill.
Bateman Yes Pickett No Scott No Sisisky Yes Clayton No Jones Yes
Budget cut: The House rejected, 45 for and 372 against, an amendment to cut a pending $84.3 billion budget bill (HR 3666, above) for veterans, housing, environmental protection, space and other programs by 1.9 percent, or about $1.6 billion.
Sponsor Mark Neumann, R-Wis., said ``we have an obligation to let the American people know this bill is not going down in spending. . . in good old Wisconsin language, it is going up because we're spending more of the taxpayers' money.''
Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., said pursuing balance ``doesn't mean that you have to overnight tear the heart out of important programs. . . . Over time, as you reduce the pattern of spending and your revenues grow, you get to 2002 and you have a balanced budget. That is our objective.''
A yes vote was to trim the bill by 1.9 percent.
Bateman No Pickett No Scott No Sisisky No Clayton No Jones No
Homeless vs. space: By a vote of 138 for and 277 against, the House refused to shift $297 million within HR 3666 (above) from the space station to programs for the homeless. As later sent to the Senate, the bill provides $2.1 billion for space station Alpha and $823 million for administering homeless programs under the McKinney Act.
Sponsor Joseph Kennedy, D-Mass., said: ``HUD has made homelessness a top priority. They have streamlined and improved the delivery of homeless assistance by urging local governments and non-profit providers to coordinate their efforts. . . . We know what works. All we need is the will to provide the funding.''
Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., said it was ``almost impossible to argue against'' such an amendment but ``we cannot just throw money at problems. Indeed, we have very few answers here. We have delivered a good deal of money and found little or no solution to this growing difficulty.''
A yes vote was to transfer $297 million from the space station to the homeless.
Bateman No Pickett No Scott Yes Sisisky Did not vote Clayton Yes Jones No
Trade with China: The House refused, 141 for and 286 against, to impose trade penalties on the People's Republic of China. The vote on HJ Res 182 supported the administration's decision to grant China ``most favored nation'' trade status for another year, until June 1997, enabling it to continue receiving the lowest U.S. tariffs.
Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., said ``human rights abuses are on the rise, Chinese companies continue to steal America's intellectual property rights, military spending is increasing and anti-American sentiment is rising throughout China. Not only do we tolerate such behavior from China, but by granting `most favored nation' status to China. . . . It is, in simple terms, the American seal of approval.''
Bill Archer, R-Tex., said: ``Our presence in China puts us in the best position to influence the Chinese government concerning sensitive issues in the region including North Korea. . . . There is no doubt that the relationship between the U.S. and China is troubled. However, the solution is not to walk away. Instead we should maintain free and open trade.''
A yes vote opposed normal trade with China.
Bateman No Pickett No Scott No Sisisky Yes Clayton Yes Jones Yes
Pilots: The House voted, 247 for and 159 against, to block a proposed study of whether the Federal Aviation Administration should raise the maximum age for commercial pilots above the present limit of 60 years. This occurred during debate on a fiscal 1997 appropriations bill (HR 3675) for the Department of Transportation, a $12.5 billion measure that was later sent to the Senate on a near-unanimous vote. Language accompanying the bill called for a National Transportation Safety Board study of the ``age 60 rule'' for commercial pilots.
Mac Collins, R-Ga., said the issue ``has been studied and restudied for decades by experts in the field,'' including the National Institutes of Health and National Institute of Aging, without any recommendation to raise the maximum flying age for commercial pilots.
Frank Wolf, R-Va., said: ``People are living longer and are in better health than when the original ``age 60 rule'' was passed in 1959 in the United States. . . . 14 countries around the world allow or soon will allow pilots to fly past age 60, including Canada and some European countries.''
A yes vote was to block the proposed age study.
Bateman No Pickett No Scott Yes Sisisky Yes Clayton Yes Jones No
Aviation funds: By a vote of 193 for and 212 against, the House rejected an amendment to HR 3675 (above) to transfer $1 million from the Department of Transportation inspector general's budget to the Federal Aviation Administration safety inspection budget. In part, the amendment was designed to send a message to Inspector General Mary Schiavo, who, in the wake of the recent ValueJet crash in the Everglades, has been outspoken in criticizing the FAA's airline safety record. Her office's overall budget is $40 million.
A yes vote was to transfer $1 million in fiscal 1997 from the DOT inspector general's office to FAA safety inspections.
Bateman No Pickett No Scott Yes Sisisky Yes Clayton Yes Jones No SENATE
Campaign finance: By a vote of 54 for and 46 against, the Senate failed to end a GOP-led filibuster against campaign finance legislation (S 1219). Sixty votes were needed to advance the bill to a vote on its merits. Although the House also will take up the measure, this vote apparently killed any chance of Congress this year changing the way House and Senate candidates raise and spend campaign funds. In part, the bill would ban political action committee (PAC) contributions, limit out-of-state funding of Senate candidates and reduce broadcast and postal rates for Senate candidates who accept spending limits based on state population.
Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., said that until Congress reforms campaign finances, it ``will continue to be perceived as the property of the special interests - that is exactly what it is, the property of the special interests, owned lock, stock and barrel. We all know it. And, as the public opinion polls indicate, the American people know it, too.''
Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, said ``the Supreme Court has been very clear that the speech of political candidates cannot be restricted. . . . That is what this bill is about - building a massive federal bureaucracy to restrict the speech of candidates and of groups in this country. . . . It would create a gargantuan Federal Election Commission with the mission to shut people up all across America.''
A yes vote was to advance the bill.
Robb Yes Warner No Faircloth No Helms No
Defense: By a vote of 34 for and 65 against, the Senate rejected an amendment to reduce a pending $267.4 billion defense spending bill (S 1745) by $13 billion and allocate the savings to deficit reduction. The amount represented $13 billion that was put in the bill by the GOP-led Armed Services Committee although not requested by the Pentagon.
Sponsor Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., said ``some of my colleagues are talking about deficit reduction at the same time they are larding up the defense bill with billions in spending for the benefit of their local shipyards, weapons contractors or plane manufacturers.''
Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., said ``the administration's defense budget request barely covers the costs for current operations and does not budget adequately for modernizing the force (and) requires our men and women in uniform to perform their duties without the resources they need.''
A yes vote was to switch $13 billion from defense programs to deficit reduction.
Robb No Warner No Faircloth No Helms No
Rifle practice: Voting 71 for and 27 against, the Senate supported a plan in the fiscal 1997 defense authorization bill (S 1745) to transfer the Army's Civilian Marksmanship Program to a new private entity, the Corporation for the Promotion of Rifle Practice. Under the 93-year-old program, the Army provides 1,100 gun clubs around the country with rifles and ammunition to further recreational shooting. The new corporation would receive assets including 176,000 guns and 150 million rounds of ammunition at virtually no cost, according to critics of the plan, and could resell the weaponry.
Ted Stevens, R-Alaska., said: ``These are weapons that are now stored by the Defense Logistics Agency. They are obsolete with regard to the activities of the Department of Defense. . . . This is going to save money and continue the concept of trying to find ways to instruct our young people on rifle practice and firearm safety.''
Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., said: ``This gift of millions of dollars worth of weapons and ammunition is terrible public policy. . . . The government must work to stem the rising tide of gun violence in this country, not aid and abet it. . . . Guns and ammunition for which the federal government no longer has a use should be destroyed, and this corporation should be abolished.''
A yes vote supported transferring Civilian Marksmanship Program assets to private hands.
Robb Yes Warner Yes Faircloth Yes Helms Yes
Generic drugs: The Senate adopted, 53 for and 45 against, an amendment concerning the time required to bring certain generic drugs to market in the United States under terms of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. The vote expressed Senate support of GATT global trade rules that have extended some 100 pharmaceutical patents in the United States, thus delaying for a few years the marketing of certain generic equivalents. In effect, it shelved a move to void the GATT rules as they affect drug patent extensions in the United States. It occurred during debate on S 1745 (above).
Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said: ``As much as we all sympathize with the goal of getting lower priced drugs to the American consumers - particularly our elderly living on fixed incomes - we must not act in a fashion that undermines the incentives to invest in biomedical research.''
John Chafee, R-R.I., said the GATT rules have provided windfall profits to a few U.S. drug manufacturers. ``Keeping the generic versions of these drugs off the shelf for up to three additional years means that Americans - especially older Americans - are paying for more than was ever intended for these intentions,'' he said.
A yes vote endorsed the GATT delays of certain U.S. pharmaceutical patents.
Robb No Warner Yes Faircloth Yes Helms Yes
Defense stockpile: By a vote of 74 for and 18 against, the Senate authorized the sale of strategic materials such as cobalt and tungsten from the National Defense Stockpile to raise about $440 million over five years for furthering U.S. arms sales abroad. This occurred during debate on S 1745 (above). Profits from stockpile sales would offset revenue lost from waiving certain Pentagon fees on private weapons sales. Levied when a defense company sells to a foreign government, the fees are designed to recoup U.S. taxpayer dollars that subsidized the development of the particular weapon. Companies want waivers because, they say, the fees drive up the price of their arms and cause them to lose sales.
A yes vote supported defense stockpile sales to offset Treasury losses on certain weapons sales abroad.
Robb Yes Warner Yes Faircloth Yes Helms Yes ILLUSTRATION: ROLL CALL: How area members of Congress voted.
[Photos, telephone numbers and addresses of senators and
representatives from Virginia and North Carolina.]
To reach any representative or senator on any issues that concern
you, call (202) 224-3121. by CNB