THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 28, 1994 TAG: 9409280490
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF AND WIRE REPORT
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short : 50 lines
With flags waving, a band playing and a bank of television cameras rolling, Republican candidates for the House of Representatives mustered on the steps of the Capitol on Tuesday to sign a list of tax cuts and other measures they promised to press in their first 100 days if they win control of the House in November. They called it their ``contract with America.''
In a way, it was a throwback to the Reagan era with pledges of deep reductions in taxes for individuals and companies, a stronger military and a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced federal budget.
The 10-point list of promises differed from the Reagan policies in one important respect. The social issues like abortion, gun control, school prayer and flag-burning that dominated Republican dogma in the 1980s were ignored.
``It starts off real simple,'' said James L. Chapman IV, the GOP challenger in the 2nd Congressional District, covering Norfolk and Virginia Beach. ``Balanced budget, line-item veto, a strong defense, tax cuts - we're going to bring those things up for a vote in the first 100 days and if we don't do it, doggone it, then the voters can throw us out. That's where the responsibility lies.''
Democrats derided the Republicans as fiscally irresponsible.
``All told,'' said Rep. Richard Gephardt of Missouri, the House majority leader, ``their contract would blow a hole in the federal budget of roughly $1 trillion.''
But Rep. Newt Gingrich of Georgia, who is in line to be Republican leader in the next Congress and speaker of the House if Republicans are in the majority, was not fazed by Democratic accusations that Republicans sought a free lunch - lower taxes with no way to pay for them.
He quoted Franklin D. Roosevelt: ``We have nothing to fear but fear itself.'' He quoted Ronald Reagan: ``We have every right to dream heroic dreams; after all, we are Americans.'' And he said that while it might be a heroic dream to think the budget could be balanced, it could be accomplished through ``tremendous creativity and new effort.''
The rally on the steps off the West Front of the Capitol had the flavor of a political convention.
Eventually, more than 300 Republican candidates, incumbents and challengers alike, filed past a table covered with red, white and blue bunting and signed their ``contract with America.''
KEYWORDS: CANDIDATES U.S HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CAMPAIGN by CNB