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

DATE: THURSDAY, February 23, 1995                   TAG: 9502230055
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-11   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BOB GOODLATTE
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

PROMISES MADE ARE PROMISES BEING KEPT BY THE GOP

By now it is clear that the Republican majority is actually honoring the promises we made to the American people last September when we signed a solemn contract that spelled out what we would do if the American people gave us a majority in the House.

On the very first day, we kept our promise to make major reforms in the way the House of Representatives is run. We eliminated three full committees and 25 subcommittees, while also cutting committee staff by one-third. We slapped term limits on committee chairmen, banned proxy voting, opened committee hearings to the public, and forced roll-call votes on important legislation.

The contract promised to make Congress live under the laws it passes on everybody else, and we kept that promise on the first day, too - passing the Congressional Compliance Act. Now, just like tens of millions of American families and businesses, Congress will have to obey the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the National Labor Relations Act and a multitude of other laws it has arrogantly put itself above.

Next up was the balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution, and despite fierce opposition from opponents we kept this promise and pushed it through the House, winning the two-thirds majority needed for passage. Now, if we get our way, the federal government will have to start living within its means - just like families have to do every day.

For more than a decade, Republican presidents have asked Democratic Congresses to give them a line-item veto to cut pork-barrel spending. This request was always rejected. Just a few weeks ago, our new Republican-controlled Congress voted to give the line-item veto to a Democratic president.

Most folks have probably never heard of unfunded mandates, but they've been paying the resulting bills for years through higher local property taxes and other state and local taxes. For years, Congress passed regulations and bureaucracy down to localities and states. But they did not provide the money. So local folks wound up bearing the burden of new red tape dreamed up far away by Washington bureaucrats. That's why we put limiting unfunded mandates in our contract, and on Feb. 1 we kept our promise by passing this bill.

Last week, we passed a series of crime bills that actually focus on making criminals afraid to go outside at night. Our bill streamlines endless death-row appeals for convicted murderers, forces quicker deportation of illegal aliens who break our laws, adds "good faith" provisions to the exclusionary rule that rein in the outrageous practice of violent criminals getting off on technicalities, ties federal prison funds to states forcing their violent inmates to serve longer sentences, and gives local folks the final decision in how they will spend their money to fight crime.

Most recently, we passed the National Security Act, which forbids foreign officers from commanding our troops and limits the president's ability to commit our troops to so-called peacekeeping missions in every world trouble spot (even where our national interest is not at stake).

Much work remains to be done in the next 50 days. Tough issues lie ahead and more promises are still to be kept. However, I think it's important to make two key observations at this halfway point in the contract.

First, our victories so far have been by wide margins. Despite fierce opposition from the leadership of the minority party in the House, the Republican majority has consistently picked up 20, 30, 50 and even 100 Democrat votes. This demonstrates how in tune our agenda is with the American people.

Second, last fall when I and other Republicans signed the Contract With America, many, many people attacked us. The other party, national media pundits and Washington power insiders derided our contract as a "gimmick" and as "empty political rhetoric.''

However, a majority of American voters decided they did want the change we offered. Now, just 50 days into the new Congress and halfway through the first 100 days of the Republican contract, we're proving the pundits and cynics wrong. We still have a long way to go and the first 100 days is just a beginning. But we are keeping our promises. And we are creating real change in Washington and in our government.

Bob Goodlatte, a Republican, represents Virginia's 6th District in the U.S. House of Representatives.