
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, June 21, 1994                    TAG: 9406210331 
SECTION: FRONT                     PAGE: A9    EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: Long 
DATELINE: 940621                                 LENGTH:

CONGRESSIONAL ROLL CALL

{LEAD} Here's how area members of Congress were recorded on major roll call votes in the week ending June 17.

HOUSE

{REST} COURTHOUSES: By a vote of 145 for and 271 against, the House refused to kill three proposed federal courthouses that are not authorized by any House committee or requested by the administration. The vote preserved $15.8 million for courthouse construction in Albany, Ga., Steubenville, Ohio, and Corpus Christi, Texas, as part of a FY '95 appropriations bill (HR 4539) that was later passed and sent to the Senate. Under House rules, the funding needs authorization at some point by the Public Works and Transportation Committee.

A yes vote was to kill the courthouse projects.

Herbert H. Bateman, R-Va. No

Owen B. Pickett, D-Va. No

Robert A. Scott, D-Va. No

Norman Sisisky, D-Va. No

Eva Clayton, D-N.C. No

H. Martin Lancaster, D-N.C. No

\ WHITE HOUSE: By a vote of 147 for and 287 against, the House rejected a Republican amendment to cut $5 million from the FY '95 budget for presidential operations. The cut was to penalize the White House for not meeting Republican demands for manifests on the estimated 30 planes and 1,000 persons who recently accompanied President Clinton to Europe to observe the 50th anniversary of the Normandy invasion. The vote occurred during debate on HR 4539 (above).

A yes vote supported the cut.

Bateman No

Pickett No

Scott No

Sisisky No

Clayton No

Lancaster No

\ HELICOPTER TRIP: By a vote of 195 for and 236 against, the House rejected an amendment to HR 4539 (above) to reduce the White House FY '95 budget by $13,130 until presidential aides provide a full accounting of helicopter trips by White House staff. That amount represents the cost of a recent helicopter jaunt by White House aides to a Maryland golf course. David Watkins, who led the outing, resigned from the government, saying he will reimburse taxpayers for the cost.

A yes vote was to cut the White House budget in response to the helicopter incident.

Bateman Yes

Pickett No

Scott No

Sisisky No

Clayton No

Lancaster No

\ TO ABOLISH ICC: The House voted 234 for and 192 against to abolish the 93-year-old Interstate Commerce Commission and transfer its regulation of truckers' freight rates to the Department of Transportation. The amendment was attached to a FY '95 appropriations bill (HR 4556) that budgets $43 million for the ICC next fiscal year. It reverses a House vote nine months ago in which members rejected, 207-222, a similar attempt to kill the ICC, which is the oldest federal agency.

A yes vote was to kill the Interstate Commerce Commission.

Bateman Yes

Pickett Yes

Scott No

Sisisky Yes

Clayton No

Lancaster No

\ RACE IN SENTENCING: By a vote of 264 for and 149 against, the House reversed its earlier support of the Racial Justice Act, which enables minorities to avoid the death sentence by showing it was applied to them as part of a discriminatory pattern in the sentencing jurisdiction. In April, 217 House members voted to keep the measure in the 1994 crime bill. The new vote is advisory. It urges House conferees on the crime bill (HR 3355) to disregard the House position of April and join the Senate in rejecting the language.

A yes vote was to repudiate the Racial Justice Act.

Bateman Yes

Pickett Yes

Scott No

Sisisky Yes

Clayton No

Lancaster Yes

\ SENATE

WHITEWATER HEARINGS: Senators voted 56 for and 43 against, along party lines, to convene public hearings by the end of July into some of the events known as Whitewater. They endorsed a Democratic plan to limit the Banking Committee inquiry to Washington aspects of the alleged scandal that special prosecutor Robert Fiske has completed work on.

The hearings will cover National Park Service and White House responses to the apparent suicide of White House aide Vincent Foster. They also will explore White House contacts with banking regulators concerning the failed Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan Association in Arkansas. Republicans wanted a much broader inquiry conducted by a special committee.

A yes vote supported the Democratic plan for Whitewater hearings.

John W. Warner, R-Va. No

Charles S. Robb, D-Va. Yes

Jesse A. Helms, R-N.C. No

Lauch Faircloth, R-N.C. No

by CNB