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

DATE: FRIDAY, June 23, 1995                   TAG: 9507180111
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINTGON                                 LENGTH: Medium

HOUSE VOTES TO PRUNE PERKS FROM THE BUDGET

Cutting its own budget with relish, the House voted Thursday to eliminate 2,700 jobs, terminate its lease on a warehouse and end federal subsidies for its barber and beauty shops.

One hardy perk survived the pruning, though. The House voted to keep 10 automatic elevator operators on the job in its office buildings, despite a puckish declaration from first-term Rep. Jon Christensen, R-Neb., that it was time for lawmakers to ``begin pushing their own buttons.''

The vote was 337-87 in favor of the overall bill, which reduces spending by $155 million for the House and several congressional agencies. The $1.7 billion measure now heads to the Senate, which is expected to propose additional cuts in its own operations.

With that, deficit-conscious lawmakers in the House turned to a measure that would cut foreign aid by $1.6 billion this year, with final passage expected next week. The biggest reductions would come from international lending funds that aid poor countries.

Overall, Republicans said that in drafting the congressional funding bill - their first after 40 years out of power - they had trimmed costs, cut the work force and paved the way for turning several functions, including the barber and beauty shops, over to private enterprise.

``This bill is a significant step in the way of not only balancing the budget, but of showing the American people that we can downsize, that we can right-size our budget,'' said Rep. Ron Packard, R-Calif., chairman of the subcommittee that drafted the measure.

In all, the measure would cut 2,700 jobs, including 833 in the House itself and the bulk of the rest from the General Accounting Office, the congressional investigative agency. It would take a 25 percent cut over two years, beginning with 15 percent next year - more than 650 jobs.

Officials said the warehouse being given up is a repository for furniture and old publications no longer needed. The measure also included a provision to close one of the parking lots that dot Capitol Hill.

In their zeal to cut, though, Republicans on the Appropriations Committee found themselves bumping into another of their policy goals. The legislation initially denied additional funding to the Congressional Budget Office.

by CNB