Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 30, 1994 TAG: 9405020149
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short
On a 282-118 vote that cut across party lines, the House Thursday approved legislation that would exempt the Veterans Health Administration from personnel reductions for five years, beginning Oct. 1.
``The message is that you just can't have cuts across the board. You have to look at each department, and that was the point we were trying to make,'' said House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman G.V. ``Sonny'' Montgomery, D-Miss., the bill's chief sponsor.
Congress voted in February to reduce the federal work force by 272,900 employees over six years, endorsing the Clinton administration's downsizing plan, but Montgomery argued this week that the job cuts would harm VA hospitals and would likely close some outpatient clinics.
After the vote, Office of Management and Budget Director Leon Panetta warned that the Defense Department, Social Security Administration, Internal Revenue Service and the Justice Department would be at risk for additional personnel cuts if Montgomery's bill were enacted.
``This is a zero-sum game,'' Panetta said. ``If one agency is exempted, others will suffer the consequences.'' Although defeated by Montgomery, Panetta contended that the House tally ``was actually a respectable vote, given that most legislation regarding veterans passes unanimously, and given that House members were out of town [Wednesday] and unaware of our concerns about the bill. I believe that it lays the groundwork for the bill's ultimate defeat.''
by CNB