THE LEDGER-STAR
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 9, 1994 TAG: 9408090594
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
President Clinton and House leaders have been lobbying heavily to save the compromise crime bill, but they won't receive support from several Virginia Democrats.
Only two members of the state's congressional delegation - a Republican and a Democrat - have pledged to support the $30 billion bill.
Six lawmakers - including four Democrats - said they will oppose the measure. Another lawmaker was undecided and two could not be reached for comment Monday.
Rep. Herbert H. Bateman, R-1st, and Rep. Leslie L. Byrne, D-11th, said they will back the bill. Ms. Byrne looks on it as ``a very balanced bill between prevention and punishment,'' her spokeswoman said.
Bateman cites a proposed ban on 19 types of assault-style firearms as one of the strongest reasons to vote for the bill.
But for other Virginia lawmakers, the proposed ban is a key reason for their opposition.
Rep. L.F. Payne, D-5th, supported the House version of the crime bill, which did not include the ban. But his spokesman said Payne will vote against the compromise bill unless the ban is stripped from it.
Rep. Rick Boucher, D-9th, is certain to vote against any bill that includes the gun ban, but he would consider supporting a bill without it, his spokesman said. Rep. Owen Pickett, D-2nd, likes much of what is in the crime bill, but will oppose it because of the ban, his spokesman has said.
Rep. Thomas J. Bliley Jr., R-7th, objects to the so-called ``social programs'' like midnight basketball leagues that are supposed to give kids an alternative to crime.
Rep. Robert C. Scott, a liberal Democrat, and Rep. Frank Wolf, a conservative Republican, oppose the bill for different reasons. They are part of the unlikely coalition that has taken shape in Congress in opposition to the compromise measure.
Scott, who represents the 3rd District, opposes the crime bill because he thinks it spends too much on punishing criminals and too little on crime prevention.
Wolf, who represents the 10th District, opposes the bill because he believes it pumps too much money into the prevention programs favored by Scott. That money, about $9 billion, would be better spent on more police officers or prisons, a Wolf spokesman said.
Among the bill's opponents in Virginia, Scott is alone in his claim that the bill relies too heavily on stiffer penalties, including more than 50 new death-penalty crimes and a provision that would put some three-time felons behind bars for life without parole.
KEYWORDS: CRIME BILL U.S. CONGRESS
by CNB