CLINTON: JOBS BILL CUT OK

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 16, 1993                   TAG: 9304160285
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By The Baltimore Sun
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium
CLINTON: JOBS BILL CUT OK
President Clinton agreed Thursday to accept a reduced version of his $16.3 billion jobs bill after a lobbying campaign not only failed to pick up any Republican Senate support but helped cost him the votes of two Democrats.
Sens. Russ Feingold and Herbert Kohl, two Wisconsin Democrats who had been in the "maybe" category on the White Househead count, announced this week that they would oppose the economic stimulus package unless changes were made to reduce its impact on the budget deficit.
That left a bare minimum of 51 committed votes in favor of the legislation, with six of the Senate's 57 Democrats considered likely opponents. Clinton also still is at least four votes short of the 60 he needs to end the Republican filibuster that is preventing the House-passed measure from coming up for a Senate vote.
It was not clear Thursday how far the president might have to go to find a compromise that would end the filibuster and secure enough support to win final passage of the stimulus bill. But the White House acknowledged the original $16.3 billion proposal of speedy public works spending designed to create new jobs is effectively dead.
"I'm willing to compromise so long as we keep the focus on jobs, keep the focus on growth and keep the focus on meeting unmet national needs," Clinton said at a Rose Garden ceremony.
"Our opponents have been asking for a smaller package, and today I ask them to join me in determining exactly what kind and what size package Congress can approve that actually meets the needs of the American people."
Asked what programs he considered vital, Clinton listed summer jobs, highway spending, the rehiring of police, employment of more meat inspectors and health-care programs for AIDS victims.
Notably, the president did not include on his top priority list the $2.5 billion for Community Development Block Grants that have have been a lightning rod for Republican charges of unnecessary "pork barrel" spending.
Senate Republican Leader Robert Dole of Kansas is insisting that most, if not all, of the new spending be offset by cuts elsewhere in the budget.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB