Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 15, 1995 TAG: 9502150077
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Democrats said the 57-41 vote opened the door to tapping the Social Security trust fund to reduce deficits, a step that could lead to benefit cuts. Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole replied that Republicans have no such intention, adding, ``For the moment, everybody is willing to protect Social Security.''
The vote came amid deepening political stress in the Senate, where Republicans have tried to maintain the impression of bipartisanship on a measure that might need the votes of 15 Democratic senators to pass.
Within moments of the roll call on Social Security, Dole sought to curtail debate on the proposed amendment, with a vote on that effort set for Thursday.
Democratic leader Tom Daschle replied he was ``disappointed'' by Dole's action, saying some senators had proposed changes that deserved a thorough airing.
The House passed the amendment last month. If passed by the Senate and ratified by three-fourths of the states, it would require a gradual elimination of deficits over seven years. It would take a three-fifths vote of Congress to run a deficit after that, and a vote of the majority of both houses to raise taxes.
Behind the rhetoric, the vote on the politically appealing attempt by Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., to shield Social Security from budget cuts demonstrated that balanced-budget supporters have the strength to defeat any proposed changes. Fifty Republicans and seven Democrats voted to shelve the proposal, and 39 Democrats and two Republicans voted to sustain it.
The Senate earlier had overwhelmingly passed a Dole-crafted nonbinding measure that expressed support for Social Security.
White House chief of staff Leon Panetta said the administration was ``obviously disappointed by that vote because, despite the assurances about protecting Social Security, it's clear that they're not going to provide that guarantee as part of the balanced-budget amendment.''
At the American Association of Retired Persons, John Rother said the vote represented a ``threat to the integrity of the Social Security program because it opens up the program to cuts for deficit reduction, not actions to keep the program solid.''
Reid said, ``My amendment draws a line in the sand and says you can't tap Social Security trust funds. ... Anything less than my amendment will be an express statement that you will have a fox guarding the henhouse.''
Republicans say that, armed with an exemption for Social Security, future Congresses would be tempted to enable other popular programs to receive support from the trust funds, thereby endangering Social Security.
``It would denigrate the Constitution,'' said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.
After a private caucus with fellow Democrats, Daschle, of South Dakota, issued a statement criticizing the Republican National Committee for a series of television commercials designed to pressure him and other wavering Democrats into supporting the balanced-budget amendment.
``Last week, Republicans in Washington held a dinner that took in $11 million - the most money ever raised at a political fund-raiser,'' the statement said. ``Now we know why they need so much money: TV smear campaigns are expensive.''
by CNB