THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 25, 1995 TAG: 9509250098
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Long : 119 lines
A yes vote was to preserve national speed limits.
Bateman No Pickett No
Scott Yes Sisisky Didn't vote
Clayton Yes Jones No
Drunken driving: By a vote of 223 for and 203 against, the House required a stricter definition by states of what constitutes drunken driving by youths under 21. The amendment to HR 2274 (above) withholds highway funds from states that fail to impose ``zero-tolerance'' blood alcohol levels on young drivers. It closes a loophole that lets minors in many states drive legally with low blood-alcohol levels (under 0.02 percent) at the same time they are too young under state law to buy alcohol.
A yes vote supported the ``zero-tolerance'' amendment.
Bateman No Pickett No
Scott Yes Sisisky Didn't vote
Clayton No Jones Yes
Cuba: By a vote of 294 for and 130 against, the House sent the Senate a bill (HR 927) toughening U.S. policy toward Cuba and the Fidel Castro regime. The measure seeks to block international investment in Cuba by denying U.S. visas to businessmen who invest there. It tightens the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba and urges President Clinton to recruit other nations to participate in it. The bill authorizes the White House to begin planning U.S. support of a post-Castro democratic government.
Sponsor Dan Burton, R-Ind., said Castro ``is desperately trying to survive today, and we should not throw him a lifeline. . . .We want liberty and freedom for the Cuban people, and this is the way to do it, to deny Castro his lifeline and the hard currency that he . . . needs.''
Opponent Gene Taylor, D-Miss., said: ``I think we ought to lift the embargo. It is not working. I think the sooner the Cuban people can interface (with) the Americans, the sooner we. . . show them what our life is like. . . and I guarantee. . . within two years Castro is gone. . . but in a peaceful manner rather than in the chaos that I think some people want to see happen.''
A yes vote was to increase economic pressure on Cuba.
Bateman Yes Pickett Yes
Scott Didn't vote Sisisky Didn't vote
Clayton No Jones Yes
Medical trade: By a vote of 138 for and 283 against, the House refused to make an exception in the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba to permit the sale of U.S. medicine, medical supplies and food staples such as rice to the Cuban people. Charitable donations of those items are permitted by terms of the embargo. The amendment was proposed to HR 927 (above).
Sponsor Jim McDermott, D-Wash., termed it ``indefensible'' for ``the bastion of democracy and humanitarianism'' in the world ``to withhold from people the ability to take care of their children and members of their family.''
Opponent Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., said ``there is no prohibition on food and medicine going from the United States to Cuba. Also, Castro can get anything he wants. . . from every other country in the world anyway.''
A yes vote was to permit the U.S. to trade medicine, medical supplies and food staples to Cuba.
Bateman No Pickett No
Scott Yes Sisisky Didn't vote
Clayton Yes Jones No SENATE Welfare overhaul
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Supporter Bob Dole, R-Kan., said ``nothing could be more harsh on American men and women and children in need than to continue with the system that has failed them. . . .It is common sense to require welfare recipients who are actually able to work to do just that.''
Opponent Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y., said: ``The one thing not wrong with welfare was the commitment of the federal government to help with the provision of aid to dependent children. We are abandoning that commitment today.''
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Robb Yes Warner Yes
Helms Yes Faircloth No
Foreign aid: By a vote of 91 for and nine against, the Senate sent to conference with the House a bill (HR 1868) that appropriates $12.4 billion in foreign aid for fiscal 1996, a drop of about 11 percent from 1995. Israel at $3 billion and Egypt at $2.1 billion are the two largest recipients of U.S. aid.
Supporter Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said: ``Foreign assistance is only a minute fraction of the federal budget - less than one penny of every dollar. slashing foreign assistance are simply wrong.''
Opponent Jesse Helms, R-N.C., faulted the bill for failing to reorganize the State Department and eliminate agencies such as the United States Information Agency, saying, ``It is time to shed ourselves of these archaic, anachronistic institutions so that we may enter a turbulent 20th century with a more effective State Department and a more coherent foreign policy. . . .''
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Robb Yes Warner Yes
Helms No Faircloth No ILLUSTRATION: Photos
Graphic
Speed Limits
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Sponsor Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., said repealing the national limit
``would turn our highways into killing fields. . . .This is not a
matter of states' rights, it is a matter of human rights. . . .We
are talking about a federal responsibility here.''
Thomas Petri, R-Wis., said that by removing the national limit
``we will not find ourselves with no speed limits on any roads. . .
.The states will step in and take up this responsibility, which is
the way it should be done. . . .they will act responsibly and in the
best interests of motorists.''
KEYWORDS: CONGRESS by CNB