THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc. DATE: Sunday, February 26, 1995 TAG: 9502260030 SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A17 EDITION: FINAL DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Long : 157 lines
Here's how local members of Congress were recorded on major roll call votes in the week ending Feb. 24.
HOUSE
Tax bill: By a vote of 381 for and 44 against, the House passed a bill (HR 831) that enables the self-employed to deduct 25 percent of health insurance premiums from taxable income, costing the Treasury $500 million annually. To regain the revenue, the bill, in part, eliminates the Federal Communications Commission's use of tax incentives to spur the sale of broadcast properties to minorities. The bill probably would kill Viacom Inc.'s planned cable TV sale to minority-owned Mitgo Corp. Under present FCC policy, Viacom stands to defer or avoid hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes on its gains from the sale.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Herbert H. Bateman, R-Va. Yes
Owen B. Pickett, D-Va. Yes
Robert C. Scott, D-Va. No
Norman Sisisky, D-Va. Yes
Eva Clayton, D-N.C. No
Walter Jones Jr., R-N.C. Yes
Democratic plan: By a vote of 191 for and 234 against, the House rejected a Democratic amendment to HR 831 (above) that preserved but scaled back FCC tax breaks to encourage minority ownership of broadcast properties. By capping benefits at $50 million per deal, the amendment sought to win over critics and thus save the 17-year-old FCC policy. The amendment proposed several other tax changes to pay for the health insurance tax breaks provided by the underlying bill.
A yes vote supported the amendment.
Bateman No
Pickett Yes
Scott Yes
Sisisky Yes
Clayton Yes
Jones No
Defense spending: Voting 262 for and 165 against, the House sent the Senate a bill (HR 889) increasing military appropriations by $3.2 billion in fiscal 1995, the current budget year. The funding is mostly for U.S. support of international peacekeeping but also for military pay raises and troop, equipment and base expenses. GOP sponsors said the $3.2 billion is fully offset by cuts and reimbursements, but Democrats said it will cause some deficit spending. To pay for itself, the bill rescinds more than $2.8 billion in unspent 1995 appropriations and anticipates $360 million in payments from allied nations.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Bateman Yes
Pickett Yes
Scott Yes
Sisisky Yes
Clayton No
Jones Yes
Sunset provision: Voting 156 for and 265 against, the House refused to ``sunset'' after five years the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs , which is the paperwork-control arm of the Office of Management and Budget. The amendment to give OIRA a temporary rather than permanent existence was proposed to HR 830 (see next issue).
A yes vote was to close down the OIRA after five years unless Congress acts to keep it alive.
Bateman No
Pickett No
Scott Yes
Sisisky No
Clayton Yes
Jones No
Paperwork: Voting 418 for and none against, the House sent the Senate a bill (HR 830) to update the 1980 Paperwork Reduction Act. In part, the bill requires executive branch agencies to cut by ten percent annually the paperwork burden they place on businesses and individuals and to reduce internal paper handling by converting more rapidly to electronic processing. The Office of Management and Budget, which says the public spends more than six billion hours annually filling out federal forms, receives increased power under the bill to curb the paperwork generated by U.S. agencies.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Bateman Yes
Pickett Yes
Scott Yes
Sisisky Yes
Clayton Yes
Jones Yes
Ban on regulations: The House passed, 276 for and 146 against, a bill (HR 450) to ban most new federal regulations between Nov. 20, 1994 and Dec. 31, 1995, by which time GOP leaders hope to have put sweeping regulatory overhaul into law. The bill allows new rules in a host of areas including international trade, tax collection and matters posing an imminent threat to public health and safety.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Bateman Yes
Pickett Yes
Scott No
Sisisky Yes
Clayton No
Jones Yes
Exemptions: By a vote of 177 for and 249 against, the House rejected an amendment to HR 450 (above) allowing new regulation in the following four areas to take effect despite a general freeze on most federal rule-making: food and water safety, meat and poultry inspection, drinking water safety and importation of food in lead cans.
A yes vote was to write four specific health and safety exemptions into the bill.
Bateman No
Pickett No
Scott Yes
Sisisky No
Clayton Yes
Jones No
SENATE
Veterans: By a vote of 62 for and 33 against, the Senate tabled (killed) a bid to constitutionally protect veterans' benefits as part of a balanced budget constitutional amendment (HJR 1).
A yes vote opposed constitutional language guaranteeing veterans' benefits.
John W. Warner, R-Va. Yes
Charles S. Robb, D-Va. Yes
Jesse A. Helms, R-N.C. Yes
Lauch Faircloth, R-N.C. Yes
Majority rule: The Senate killed, 55 for and 41 against, an amendment to HJR 1 (above) concerning the approval of deficit spending when the nation is on war footing. The amendment sought to lower the voting hurdle so that a vice president could break 50-50 ties in the Senate during national security crises. Sponsor Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., said that under HJR 1, vice presidents could not break ties as they always have been able to do under the Constitution. He noted that HJR 1 bases voting to permit red ink in wartime on the ``whole number'' of the membership (100 senators), a definition that prohibits a vice president from casting the 101st vote to break a 50-50 deadlock.
A yes vote was to retain wording in HJR 1 that allows only the 100 senators to vote on whether to allow deficit spending to meet a security threat.
Warner Yes
Robb No
Helms Yes
Faircloth Yes
Budget issue: By a vote of 68 for and 27 against, the Senate tabled (killed) a proposal to add constitutional language protecting crime-fighting funds from the massive cuts that will be needed to balance the federal budget by 2002. The vote occurred as the Senate completed its fourth week of debate on a proposed balanced budget constitutional amendment (HJR 1).
A yes vote opposed constitutional language to protect funding to fight violent crime.
Warner Yes
Robb Yes
Helms Yes
Faircloth Yes
c. Thomas Reports Inc. by CNB