Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 28, 1995 TAG: 9501310037
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
WASHINGTON - House Majority Leader Dick Armey, the second-ranking Republican in the House, called Democratic Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts ``Barney Fag'' during an interview Friday. But when asked about it, he quickly apologized and said the comment was a slip of the tongue.
``This was nothing more than an unintentional mispronunciation of another person's name,'' the Texas Republican said later in an emotional statement on the House floor. He also excoriated the news media, saying they had turned the incident into a ``firestorm.''
Frank, who is homosexual, said he told Armey he understood the remark was not intentional.
``But I could not accept that it was wholly accidental,'' Frank said after listening to a tape of the interview. ``... I just had to believe that it was somewhere in the back of his mind.''
After watching Armey's floor statement, Frank told reporters: ``This is an obviously unpleasant business for all of us. I do appreciate in part what Dick Armey said. ... The fact that Dick Armey considered this to be a really negative accusation ... is some sign of progress.''
The comment occurred when reporters asked about a book he is writing. To avoid the criticism House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., faced over his book deal, Armey said, he would give all the proceeds to charity.
``I like peace and quiet,'' Armey said. ``And I don't need to listen to Barney Fag [pause], Barney Frank, [emphasis on `Frank'] haranguing in my ear because I made a few bucks off a book I worked on. I just don't want to listen to it.''
- Associated Press
Senate forbids unfunded mandates
WASHINGTON - Proclaiming the return of power to the people, the Senate passed a bill Friday curbing the congressional propensity to create new programs and make states pay for them.
The ``unfunded mandates'' bill - a cornerstone of the Republican ``Contract With America'' agenda - won approval on a bipartisan 86-10 vote despite some Democrats' concerns that health, safety and environmental programs could suffer.
``We've dusted off the 10th amendment,'' Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole said after passage. ``The idea that power should be kept close to people, that's federalism. That's the idea on which our nation is founded.''
- Associated Press
GOP backing off curbing SSI benefits
WASHINGTON - Alison Higginbotham cannot feed herself, hold a cup, take a bath, or speak. She is 6, but functions like an 18-month-old child.
When House Republicans heard her story and watched her squirming in her wheelchair Friday, they decided they couldn't take away the small monthly check that keeps her - and thousands of other severely disabled children - at home and out of institutions.
``We will not forget you, and we will not forget all of the Alisons of the world,'' said Rep. Clay Shaw, R-Fla., chairman of a Ways and Means subcommittee that is looking for ways to reform Supplemental Security Income, the most expensive and fastest growing cash welfare program in the federal budget.
Rep. Jim McCrery, R-La., who had earlier proposed replacing SSI cash with supplemental medical benefits for disabled children, retreated somewhat Friday, saying the money should not be turned off if it means the difference between living at home or an institution.
- Associated Press
by CNB