Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 18, 1995 TAG: 9501180066
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
In a prelude to the coming battle, a lone Democratic senator on Tuesday impeded Republican efforts to pass a balanced-budget constitutional amendment, calling the measure ``a hoax'' on the American people.
In contrast, the House unanimously approved the first bill of the 104th Congress, which will now go to President Clinton for his signature. The measure requires Congress to live by the same laws it requires other employers to follow, and Clinton's signature was expected.
Meanwhile, Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., invoked an obscure Senate rule that forced the Judiciary Committee to suspend in mid-session its work on the balanced-budget amendment.
Backers of the amendment said they would try again today. And even longtime opponents conceded that Republicans in both houses likely will command the two-thirds support needed to send the measure - a key component of the GOP ``Contract With America'' - to the states for ratification.
But Byrd, 77 and an unsurpassed master at using the Senate's arcane rules to his advantage, vowed to keep up the fight. ``I may be run over by the streamroller, but I don't propose to get out of its way or just jump upon it and ride along with it.''
Separately, senior Republicans said it may take two or three weeks of floor debate to move the measure to a final vote this winter.
The struggle differed markedly with the overwhelming bipartisan support behind the Congressional Accountability Act, which passed the House 390-0 on Tuesday. When the Senate passed the measure 98-1 last week, Byrd cast the lone vote in opposition.
The balanced-budget amendment is the linchpin of GOP efforts to shrink government and cut spending. Public opinion polls show strong support for the concept after a quarter-century of unrelieved red ink. Republicans are hoping that, once enacted, the amendment will provide the discipline needed to force lawmakers to make the politically difficult cuts.
``Our children and grandchildren are being shackled with an insurmountable burden'' of debt, said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, as he convened the abortive session.
Many Democrats are likely to wind up supporting the measure. But in the political maneuvering under way, the White House and Democratic leaders in Congress are demanding that Republicans specify the cuts they envision to wipe out the deficit. Their hope is that the voters will recoil when they contemplate reductions in programs such as Medicare, education, the environment and health.
by CNB