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

DATE: SUNDAY, June 26, 1994                    TAG: 9406260077 
SECTION: FRONT                     PAGE: A16    EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: Long 
DATELINE: 940626                                 LENGTH:

CONGRESSIONAL ROLL CALL

{LEAD} Here's how area lawmakers were recorded on major roll call votes in the week ending June 24.

\ HOUSE

{REST} BIOLOGICAL SURVEY: By a vote of 169 for and 259 against, the House rejected an amendment to squelch the Interior Department's National Biological Survey. The vote kept $167.2 million for the project in a FY '95 appropriations bill (HR 4602) that was sent to the Senate. A priority of Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, the survey would catalog plant and animal species on the nation's private and public land. Its data would help all levels of government set policies affecting the environment.

A yes vote opposed the National Biological Survey.

Herbert H. Bateman, R-Va. Yes

Owen B. Pickett, D-Va. Yes

Robert A. Scott, D-Va. No

Norman Sisisky, D-Va. Yes

Eva Clayton, D-N.C. No

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

\ \ INDEPENDENT COUNSEL: By a vote of 317 for and 105 against, the House renewed a law providing for an independent counsel rather than the Justice Department to prosecute wrongdoing by top executive branch officials including presidents.

The vote sent President Clinton a bill (S 24) extending for five years a post-Watergate law dormant since 1992. Concerning members of Congress, the measure allows the Justice Department final say on whether it will investigate lawmakers or request an independent counsel to do so. Critics had sought mandatory coverage of Capitol Hill.

A yes vote was to renew the independent counsel law.

Bateman No

Pickett Yes

Scott Yes

Sisisky Yes

Clayton Yes

Lancaster Yes

\ \ ARTS FUNDING: By a vote of 132 for and 297 against, the House rejected an amendment to more than halve FY '95 spending for National Endowment for the Arts grants. The vote during debate on HR 4602 (above) preserved a $171 million budget for agency subsidies of the arts in communities nationwide. A later vote slightly reduced the NEA budget.

The NEA has drawn rebukes in Congress for using public money to fund sexual works that offend many taxpayers. Defenders say only a small number of NEA grants have been controversial and that overall the agency enriches American life.

Sponsor Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., called it ``outrageous that the administrative expenses of the NEA are $25 million'' and that ``it costs $25 million here in Washington'' to distribute $171 million in program grants.

Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., who opposed the cut, said: ``An amendment that will harm our nation's schools, damage our cultural heritage and damage local economies . . . does not deserve the support of this house.''

A yes vote was to more than halve spending for NEA grants.

Bateman No

Pickett No

Scott No

Sisisky No

Clayton No

Lancaster No

\ \ SENATE

FEDERAL JOBS: The Senate voted 66 for and 33 against to require minimum staffing levels at law enforcement agencies, such as the Secret Service, that are funded by the Treasury Department appropriations bill for FY '95. The vote kept personnel floors in the $23.6 billion bill (HR 4539). At issue was how far Congress should go in telling agencies where to hire and fire at the same time it requires an overall cut in the federal work force.

A yes vote was to set minimum staffing levels at certain agencies.

John W. Warner, R-Va. No

Charles S. Robb, D-Va. Yes

Jesse A. Helms, R-N.C. Yes

Lauch Faircloth, R-N.C. No

\ \ U.N. PEACEKEEPING: By a vote of 35 for and 60 against, the Senate refused to eliminate Defense Department funding of United Nations peacekeeping missions such as those in Somalia and Bosnia. The amendment sought to transfer $300 million earmarked for U.N. peacekeeping to U.S. combat readiness. It was proposed to a $263.3 billion defense authorization bill for FY '95 (S 2182) that remained in debate. America also contributes from the State Department budget to the U.N.'s multinational military operations.

A yes vote was to eliminate Pentagon funding of U.N. peace-keeping.

Warner No

Robb Yes

Helms Yes

Faircloth Yes

\ \ NUCLEAR CARRIER: The Senate voted 72 for and 24 against to support construction of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier for the Navy. The vote killed a bid to delete $3.6 billion for the CVN-76 carrier from the $263.3 billion FY '95 defense budget (S 2182; above). The Navy has 12 aircraft carriers in its fleet.

Supporter Charles S. Robb, D-Va., said: ``The world has not shrunk, so the patrol areas for aircraft carriers are every bit as large as they were 10 years ago or 50 years ago. To assert that the end of the Cold War means the carrier force can be safely cut ignores that reality. . . . The president has requested this ship because the Navy needs it to maintain America's presence and deter aggression - if need be, to fight a war.''

Russ Feingold, D-Wis., said: ``We simply do not have the resources to continue large program procurements indefinitely without having, out on this Senate floor, a serious and open debate on their value in the post-Cold War world. . . . $3.6 billion is real money even for the federal government, particularly as we face threatening federal deficits. We in Congress should be held responsible for allocating that money wisely.''

A yes vote was to spend $3.6 billion next fiscal year on a new aircraft carrier.

Warner Yes

Robb Yes

Helms Yes

Faircloth Yes