THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, November 6, 1995 TAG: 9511060119
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Long : 149 lines
Bosnia: Voting 315-103, the House advised President Clinton to obtain a green light from Congress before sending U.S. ground troops to Bosnia-Herzogovina. The non-binding resolution (H Res 247) was debated as Bosnian, Serb and Croat leaders prepared for talks in Ohio aimed at ending their civil war. Although the three sides and the administration say U.S. troops are needed to secure peace, the House with this vote said nobody should presume they will go.
Supporter Gerald Solomon, R-N.Y., said: ``Once again, this administration stands on the verge of putting young men and women in harm's way in this Balkan conflict in which America does not have a vital national interest.'' He called it an ``ill-advised, poorly defined mission.''
Opponent Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., said: ``On the eve of delicate negotiations . . . this resolution would say to the Serbs and the Moslems: Our negotiations do not have the support of the Congress or the country. . . . How can we possibly tie America's hands at the very moment when peace is within reach?''
A yes vote was to challenge the deployment of U.S. troops to the Balkans.
Bateman Yes Pickett No
Scott No Sisisky No
Clayton No Jones Yes
Abortion: Voting 288 for and 139 against, the House sent the Senate a bill (HR 1833) making it a crime for doctors to perform so-called ``partial birth'' abortions, used for late-term pregnancies when the mother's life is endangered and/or the fetus is severely malformed. The fetus is partially delivered before being terminated. Doctors performing the procedure would face up to two years in prison and civil liability unless they demonstrated ``reasonable belief'' that it was necessary to save the mother's life.
Supporter Henry Hyde, R-Ill., called the procedure ``this macabre, gruesome, Auschwitz-like operation, this butchery in the service of infanticide. I am stunned that people are not running from defending this. . .
Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, said ``I have yet to find a physician anywhere who ever heard the term `partial-birth abortion' until this bill came out. . . . It's a public relations term . . . to describe a procedure that's used in the rarest of circumstances when a woman's life is at stake.''
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Bateman Yes Pickett No
Scott No Sisisky Yes
Clayton No Jones Yes
Environment: Members voted, 227-194, to preserve Environmental Protection Agency power in 17 areas targeted by the GOP leadership's regulatory rollback. This occurred during debate on a fiscal 1996 appropriations bill (HR 2099) for the EPA and other agencies. The non-binding vote urged that money be spent to enforce the disputed regulations, which affect areas such as pesticides, oil refinery discharges, wetlands, stormwater runoff and sewage treatment.
Sponsor Sherwood Boehlert, R-N.Y., said that while the GOP receives plaudits for handling the economy ``our score card is getting low marks with respect (to) . . . the environment. . . . We have to give an accounting of our stewardship.''
Joe Knollenberg, R-Mich., said ``this may be the feel-good environmental vote of the year, but I ask you, is it really worth it to sell out . . . for a press release? . . . We need to reject the easy vote and cast the right vote.''
A yes vote was to preserve EPA regulatory authority in 17 areas targeted.
Bateman No Pickett No
Scott Yes Sisisky No
Clayton Yes Jones No
School vouchers: The House voted, 241-177, to use public funds for sending a limited number of poor youths in D.C. schools to other schools in the metropolitan area. The amendment was attached to the fiscal 1996 D.C. appropriations bill (HR 2546). It would provide up to $5 million for tuition scholarships of $3,000 to enable students to leave D.C. schools for private schools throughout the capital region or public schools in nearby Maryland and Virginia.
Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., said opposition ``comes from the bureaucrats who don't want to have to change . . . the tenured teachers who don't want to be challenged. We should quit requiring the children of D.C. to go to violent schools, drug-ridden schools and schools that are dens of illiteracy and dens of ignorance, and we should give them a chance to have a scholarship.''
Opponent Gene Green, D-Texas, expressed concern about the separation of church and state, adding that the system would lead to ``picking good students out of the D.C. school district. . . . We need those children in the public schools'' to prevent further quality deterioration.
A yes vote supported the use of private school vouchers in D.C. public education.
Bateman No Pickett No
Scott No Sisisky No
Clayton No Jones Yes
Tax issue: Voting 213-210, the House refused to require the National Education Association to pay District of Columbia property taxes. This occurred during debate on the fiscal 1996 D.C. appropriations bill (HR 2546). NEA is exempt from the taxes because it received a federal charter in 1906. It has kept the benefit - saving some $1.4 million annually - even though the IRS classifies it as a non-tax-exempt union. No favorite of the GOP, the NEA usually sides with Democrats on policy issues.
Supporter Jack Kingston, R-Ga., said the NEA ``is clearly in violation of their original intended purpose when their tax exemption was granted. . . . The city needs the revenue and needs the money.''
Opponent Gerald Kleczka, D-Wis., said that if Congress ``deleted the tax exemption of every organization that lobbied us, . . . we would raise billions of dollars and we would never see anyone in the halls of Congress or in or offices.''
A yes vote was to end the exemption.
Bateman Yes Pickett Yes
Scott No Sisisky No
Clayton No Jones Yes Senate
Transportation: Voting 87-10, the Senate gave final congressional approval of a bill (HR 2002) appropriating $13.1 billion in fiscal 1996 for the Department of Transportation and related agencies, an increase of 13 percent from 1995. Counting trust fund releases, the bill spends about $35 billion, about half for road projects. It abolishes the Interstate Commerce Commission, sharply cuts Amtrak and mass transit operating subsidies, modestly cuts the Coast Guard and increases spending for road building and Federal Aviation Administration operations. It ends the practice of senior lawmakers ``earmarking'' funds for pet road projects back home, but permits certain members to earmark more than $1 billion for favored rail and bus projects.
Supporter John McCain, R-Ariz., said: ``In past years, the transportation appropriations gill has been riddled with earmarks and pork. I am pleased that this year's bill contains substantially fewer earmarks. . . . On the whole, the bill deserves our praise and support.''
Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., said the ``sheer hypocrisy'' of ending highway but not rail and bus earmarks will harm rural states whose economies depend on good roads. ``Perhaps I should invite some of the opponents of highway money to ride along with me so that they might enjoy the full flavor of unimproved two-lane mountain highways'' in West Virginia, he said.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Robb Yes Warner Yes
Helms Yes Faircloth Yes ILLUSTRATION: ROLL CALL: How area members of Congress voted for the week
ending May 19.
[Photos, telephone numbers and addresses of senators and
representatives from Virginia and North Carolina.]
To reach any representative or senator on any issues that concern
you, call (202) 224-3121.
by CNB