ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, June 2, 1996 TAG: 9606030092
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: WARREN FISKE STAFF WRITER
note: below
JOHN WARNER SAYS he's a conservative. Just what does his voting record show?
Conservative, conservative, conservative, conservative. U.S. Sen. John Warner uses the word four times in a 30-second television commercial to describe his voting record.
Liberal, liberal, liberal. Challenger Jim Miller uses the word three times in a 60-second radio commercial about Warner.
Warner bolsters his case by citing his 100 percent voting compliance rating from the Christian Coalition and waving a fistful of endorsements from prominent conservatives such as Bob Dole and George Bush.
Miller rebuts by noting Warner supported President Clinton 58 percent of the time in 1994 and voted against the nomination of arch-conservative Robert Bork for the U.S. Supreme Court in 1987. "No conservative would have ever voted like John Warner has," he thunders.
What's a voter in the June 11 Republican primary to believe?
An extensive review of Warner's 17-year voting record shows Warner fitting comfortably and consistently in the philosophical center of Senate Republicans. The record also supports Miller's claim that Warner voted more conservatively last year as he prepared for re-election than any time in his career.
Warner's overall record is easily to the right of Northern Republicans such as Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Alfonse D'Amato of New York. On the other hand, it is to the left of GOP presidential nominee Dole and practically all Southern Republican senators, including Jesse Helms of North Carolina.
"My impression is that Warner is a dependable Main Street Republican vote in the Senate who's likely to throw in a few surprises on social issues,"' said Tom Morris, a political scientist who is president of Emory & Henry College.
"The record is there for all to see," Warner said recently. "I've cast thousands of votes. Are there some votes people are going to disagree with? You bet. But the overall record is solidly conservative.
"Do you think someone like Bob Dole and Trent Lott [R-Miss.] would be endorsing me if I wasn't a conservative?''
Warner noted that he has even received a plaque from a public interest group headed by Miller - Citizens for a Sound Economy - for a perfect conservative voting record on fiscal and regulatory issues in 1994.
Miller now has said the award was no big deal. But Warner said his voting record wouldn't be an issue if state Republican leaders weren't mad at him for refusing to support recent GOP nominees: Oliver North for the U.S. Senate in 1994, and Mike Farris for lieutenant governor in 1993.
Miller, a former federal budget director under President Ronald Reagan, acknowledged during a recent interview that Warner's voting record isn't all bad.
"He's cast some good votes, and he's cast some bad votes," Miller said. "The problem is that he's not a dependable conservative. He's just not there when the party really needs him. I will be a consistent conservative senator."
The "bad" vote Miller cites most often was against Bork. Warner complained that Bork "lacked compassion." Miller has argued that Bork's confirmation would have given the Supreme Court a solid conservative majority to rule on social issues such as abortion.
Much of Miller's criticism centers on Warner's independence on social issues. The senator has had a mixed voting record on abortion and gun control, has supported funding of the National Endowment for the Arts and backed a bill for condom distribution in public schools without parental consent.
Miller has vowed to take a harder line on all those issues. He also has signed a pledge to vote against any form of tax increase, an action Warner dismisses as irresponsible.
"I think a politician owes it to the people to explain up front how he's going to vote," Miller said.
Here is a more specific look at Warner's voting record on some of the tension points between the candidates.
Abortion
Warner's self-proclaimed "pro-choice with limitation, pro-life with exceptions" voting record on abortion has long baffled activists on both sides of the issue. They complain he is unpredictable and inconsistent on abortion votes.
According to the National Right to Life Committee, Warner has cast 53 anti-abortion votes and 29 pro-abortion rights votes since joining the Senate in 1979. He received a perfect 100 percent voting record from the group last year. But in 1992, the same organization gave him a zero.
Warner angered anti-abortion groups by consistently voting in the 1980s to allow federal funds to be used to pay for abortions in the District of Columbia. In 1990, he reversed himself.
He has offered a variety of reasons for his different votes for federal funds for abortion. He has said that D.C. should be entitled under home rule to make its own determination on abortion. He has also argued, at times, that funding for abortion was only a small line item in the federal appropriation for D.C., which Warner otherwise supported.
Warner also has supported using federal funds to pay for abortions for military personnel. "We have women in uniform in all corners of the world," he said. "I can't see depriving them of U.S. medical services - the best in the world - when they're in Third World countries."
Warner has supported fetal tissue research and parental notification. He opposed the nomination of Henry Foster, a physician who had performed abortions, for surgeon general.
The senator said his record shows consistent opposition for abortion except in cases of rape, incest or when a mother's life is endangered.
Miller is running as a tough abortion foe, favoring the procedure only when a mother's life is endangered. Like Warner, Miller also appears to have hardened his anti-abortion line in recent years. In 1993, he told GOP activists that he supported abortion in cases of rape and incest.
Defense
As second-ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Warner has racked up a solidly conservative and hawkish voting record over the years. He has supported the development of expensive weapons, including the Strategic Defense Initiative and the MX Missile.
Warner strongly favored deploying troops to the Middle East for Operation Desert Storm in 1991. More recently, however, he opposed sending using U.S. troops for peacekeeping in Bosnia. Warner argued that the United States has no vital national security interest in the region.
Over the years, Warner has consistently received 100 percent ratings from the National Security Index and other pro-military special interest groups.
Taxes and spending
For the most part, Warner has been a consistent supporter of Republican supply-side economics. Throughout the 1980s, he backed the Reagan and Bush administrations on almost all budgetary issues. He supported cuts in the capital gains tax.
Like Miller, Warner has supported a balanced-budget amendment and a line-item veto.
Miller has criticized Warner for supporting Bush's 1990 tax increase. "So did a majority of Republicans at the time," Warner said. "The nation was facing an economic crisis. We had to finance a war with Iraq, and the president and his advisers came to Congress and said, `This is the best way to do it.'''
Miller also has criticized Warner for voting against a $500 per child tax credit proposed last year by Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas. Warner said he was concerned that Gramm's plan was designed to steal momentum from Dole in last year's wrangling for the GOP presidential nomination. Warner ultimately joined Republicans in voting for another version of the $500 tax credit.
Miller strongly supports overhauling the current tax code with a simple flat tax similar to the one proposed by former presidential candidate Steve Forbes. Warner has criticized the proposal, saying Miller would eliminate popular deductions for mortgage interest and charitable contributions. Miller has since modified his proposal, saying people should have an option of paying a flat tax if it would save them money.
Warner has consistently received high ratings from public watchdog groups on the economy such as the Concord Coalition and the National Tax Limitation Committee.
Business and labor
Warner has consistently received high marks from pro-business groups such as the national Chamber of Commerce and relatively low ratings from pro-labor organizations such as the AFL-CIO.
Over the years, Warner has opposed raising the minimum wage, arguing that it would lead to job layoffs. He has supported measures that reduce inspections by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and opposed bills that would ban companies from replacing striking workers and require plants to give employees advance notice of plans to close. Warner has supported free trade agreements with Canada and Mexico.
Miller has not criticized Warner for any of these votes.
Guns and public safety
Once a friend of the National Rifle Association, Warner has angered the group in recent years by supporting the Brady bill, which mandates a five-day waiting period before handgun purchases, and the banning of certain types of semiautomatic weapons.
Warner said that although he is a supporter of gun rights, he believes the waiting period is a reasonable way to reduce crime. Warner said he is no longer convinced a ban on semiautomatic weapons deters crime and might reverse his vote if the matter comes up again.
Miller, who is endorsed by the NRA, is running as a strong opponent of gun control.
`Contract With America'
Warner said he supports all items of the Republican manifesto, except the call for term limits for members of Congress. Warner, a three-term incumbent, said voters should have the right to keep effective veteran office holders. Warner said he would support sending a constitutional amendment on term limits to the states for ratification.
Miller said he supports term limits and has vowed that he would serve no more than two six-year terms in the Senate.
LENGTH: Long : 185 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: GENE DALTON STAFF U.S. Sen. John Warner pets a youngby CNBbull Saturday during a visit to Virginia Tech. color (photo ran
with 2* version). GRAPHIC: Where does John Warner fit on the
political spectrum? STAFF KEYWORDS: POLITICS CONGRESS MGR