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

DATE: Sunday, July 31, 1994                  TAG: 9407310040
SECTION: FRONT                    PAGE: A9   EDITION: FINAL 
                                             LENGTH: Long  :  124 lines

CONGRESSIONAL ROLL CALL

Here's how area members of Congress were recorded on major roll call votes in the week ending July 29.

HOUSE

CALIFORNIA DESERT: By a vote of 298 for and 128 against, the House sent to conference with the Senate a bill (HR 518) to protect much of the vast desert in southeastern California from commercial and recreational use. The bill designates about 8 million acres within the 25 million-acre desert as national park, national preserve or wilderness areas. It is the most extensive land conservation act since Congress protected 56.6 million Alaskan acres in 1980. It allows continuation of some mining and grazing, and it permits hunting in the proposed 1.5 million-acre East Mojave National Preserve.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Herbert H. Bateman, R-Va. No

Owen B. Pickett, D-Va. Yes

Robert A. Scott, D-Va. Yes

Norman Sisisky, D-Va. Yes

Eva Clayton, D-N.C. Yes

H. Martin Lancaster, D-N.C. Yes

NATIONAL PARK CONCESSIONS: By a vote of 386 for and 30 against, the House sent to conference with the Senate a bill (S 208) to begin requiring competitive bidding for the hundreds of concessions, from hotels to canoe rentals, operating in the National Park Service's 132 units. Contracts would be awarded on the basis not only of cost but also on commitment to preserving natural resources.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Bateman Yes

Pickett Yes

Scott Yes

Sisisky Yes

Clayton Yes

Lancaster Yes

RADON GAS: By a vote of 193 for and 227 against, the House refused to remove homeowner disclosure language from a bill (HR 2448) to increase regulation of radioactive radon gas within dwellings. The vote retained the bill's requirements that people selling their property provide buyers with pamphlets on radon hazards and divulge results of any radon testing. In addition to regulating property owners, the bill gives the Environmental Protection Agency expanded authority to identify and reduce high radon concentrations. The bill was sent to the Senate.

A yes vote was to soften the bill's impact on property owners.

Bateman Yes

Pickett Yes

Scott No

Sisisky Yes

Clayton No

Lancaster Yes

SENATE

ELLIS ISLAND BRIDGE: By a vote of 43 for and 56 against, the Senate refused to kill a proposed bridge from New Jersey to Ellis Island in New York Harbor. This vote kept the project alive despite opposition from the House and the National Park Service. Its fate could be determined when House-Senate conferees draft final language soon on the FY '95 Interior Department appropriations bill (HR 4602).

Congress already has appropriated $15 million to erect a quarter-mile, mainly pedestrian bridge to the island where millions of immigrants entered America. Visitors now reach the Ellis Island National Landmark by ferry from Manhattan.

A yes vote opposed a New Jersey-Ellis Island bridge.

John W. Warner, R-Va. Yes

Charles S. Robb, D-Va. No

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

Lauch Faircloth, R-N.C. Yes

SCHOOL PRAYER: By a vote of 47 for and 53 against, the Senate rejected an amendment denying federal elementary and secondary education aid to school districts that prohibit ``constitutionally protected'' prayer by students. The underlying bill (S 1513) remained in debate. Although the U.S. Supreme Court has outlawed organized prayer in public schools, it has permitted informal prayer initiated by students.

Sponsor Jesse Helms, R-N.C., said: ``In the long term, the amendment's impact will be to help reverse the breakdown in our nation of traditional morality and respect for human life and love of our fellow man.''

Opponent Paul Simon, D-Ill., said: ``When we ask the schools to get into this business of religion, I think we have to remind ourselves, believe it or not, in Nazi Germany they had required religion in the schools.''

A yes vote supported the amendment linking school aid to student prayer.

Warner Yes

Robb No

Helms Yes

Faircloth Yes

BREYER NOMINATION: The Senate confirmed, 87 for and nine against, federal appellate judge Stephen M. Breyer of Boston as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. While supporters warmly praised Breyer for his intellect and judicial record, critics deplored his entanglement with Lloyd's of London. As a Lloyd's investor, Breyer faces open-ended personal liability for certain ongoing losses incurred by the insurance syndicate.

Supporter John Warner, R-Va., said: ``I find Judge Breyer highly qualified to become a justice of the United States Supreme Court. Questions about his financial problems have been raised today . . . an investment perhaps unwisely made in hindsight but that is a separable and a single issue from his overall and very extensive commendable accomplishments throughout his professional career as a lawyer.''

Opponent Richard Lugar, R-Ind., said: ``Judge Breyer is trapped in a troubled Lloyd's of London insurance syndicate (that) will mean substantial personal financial losses for him and his family over several years and will force him necessarily to recuse himself from many cases. . . . He exercised extraordinarily bad judgment in signing documents that placed him under the jurisdiction of English law and exposed him and his estate to unlimited liability . . . down to the last button.''

A yes vote was to confirm Breyer.

Warner Yes

Robb Yes

Helms No

Faircloth Yes