THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, June 10, 1996 TAG: 9606100066
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: 140 lines
Welfare: Voting 289 for and 136 against, the House passed a bill (HR 3562) allowing Wisconsin to begin overhauling federally funded public assistance including Medicaid, food stamps and Aid to Families With Dependent Children (AFDC). The bill waives more than 80 regulations standing in the way. President Clinton endorsed the plan but has not waived U.S. rules so Wisconsin can proceed. Wisconsin would require most able-bodied recipients of benefits to earn a paycheck in the private sector or a government-funded job. Medicaid is to be replaced with a statewide Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) system that would charge according to ability to pay.
Bill Archer, R-Texas, said President Clinton endorsed the Wisconsin plan ``with great speed'' on nationwide radio and ``now we are giving him the opportunity to personally approve it by signing this bill.''
Gerald Kleczka, D-Wis., said the bill was about ``sticking it to the president. . . . This isn't about helping people. This isn't about reforming the welfare system. This is about presidential politics, pure and simple.''
A yes vote was to force the administration to approve Wisconsin's welfare overhaul.
Bateman Yes Pickett Yes
Scott No Sisisky Yes Clayton No Jones Yes
Foreign aid: The House rejected, 184 for and 233 against, an amendment to cut fiscal 1997 operating expenses for the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID) by 10 percent to about $418 million. This was a bid to reduce overhead at the agency that distributes U.S. economic and military grants around the globe, not to reduce aid levels for individual countries. The vote occurred during debate on an $11.9 billion foreign aid bill for fiscal 1997 (HR 3540) that remained in debate.
Dan Burton, R-Ind., noted that AID has cut only 200 employees or one-quarter of one percent of its work force. He said: ``The fact of the matter is that 200 people out of 8,000 is nothing. That bureaucracy is top-heavy over there. We need to cut it to the bone.''
Sonny Callahan, R-Ala., said: ``I agree . . . there is great room for improvement in U.S. AID, and I have banged on their heads. . . . However, there is a limit beyond which any account that funds personnel can be cut before you totally disrupt agency operation.''
A yes vote was to cut AID operating expenses by 10 percent.
Bateman No Pickett No
Scott No Sisisky No
Clayton No Jones Yes
Military aid: By a vote of 240 for and 181 against, the House cut $1.53 million from a $45 million account that provides specialized military training to some 5,000 officers in 120 countries. Backers said U.S. taxpayers should not have to support well off countries like Austria and Singapore, while opponents said America secures itself by cultivating military ties with allies of all economic levels. The amendment was offered to an $11.9 billion foreign aid bill for 1997 (HR 3540) that remained in debate.
Amendment sponsor David Obey, D-Wis., said ``a number of these countries spend a much smaller share of their gross domestic product on military expenditures than we do . . . (and) are knocking our socks off on trade.''
Doug Bereuter, R-Neb., noted that the program trains officers in human rights as well as in military areas. He called it ``a very good investment that we make in our foreign policy and in our military-to-military relationships.''
A yes vote was to cut the International Military Education and Training program by more than 3 percent.
Bateman No Pickett No
Scott No Sisisky No
Clayton Yes Jones Yes
India: The House refused, 127 for and 296 against, to limit aid to India in response to human rights abuses, reportedly by the government, against Sikhs in states such as Punjab and Kashmir. The amendment sought to freeze fiscal 1997 economic aid at the 1996 level of $48.7 million, blocking an increase of $8.3 million proposed in HR 3540 (above).
Amendment sponsor Dan Burton, R-Ind., said he has evidence that ``they drained some canals in Punjab and Kashmir and they found hundreds of bodies . is not allowed in there. Other human rights groups are not allowed in there.''
Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said ``India's human rights record is steadily improving. An independent National Human Rights Commission with unprecedented powers has been established.'' He called the amendment ``a symbolic slap on the wrist that this emerging country clearly does not deserve.''
A yes vote was to penalize India for its human rights record.
Bateman No Pickett No
Scott No Sisisky No
Clayton No Jones Yes Senate
Balanced budget: The Senate failed, 64 for and 35 against, to achieve the two-thirds majority (67 votes) required to send a balanced budget constitutional amendment to the states for ratification. In part, the measure (HJR 1) states that by 2002, deficit spending in any fiscal year will be prohibited unless voted by three-fifths majorities of the entire House and Senate memberships.
Majority Leader Bob Dole, R-Kan., said: ``It's no small accomplishment that almost all of us in this chamber now agree that the budget ought to be balanced by the year 2002. That's a big change since last March. It's just not Republicans saying it now, but all of us . . . and that in itself is good news for America. . . . But talk is not enough. . . . We haven't balanced the federal budget since 1969, and we've passed no less than 17 different laws with balanced budget requirements.''
Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., said: ``What the proponents of this fiscal monstrosity fail to acknowledge is that the amendment itself will not make these difficult choices'' on cutting spending. ``On the contrary, we in Congress still will have to make and legislate choices regarding which programs will be cut and which will be raised as a way of bringing about a balanced budget.''
A yes vote was to amend the Constitution to require balance in each year's U.S. budget.
Robb Yes Warner Yes
Faircloth Yes Helms Yes
Missile defense: The Senate failed to end a Democratic filibuster against a GOP missile defense bill (S 1635). The vote of 53 for and 46 against fell short of the supermajority needed to begin debating the measure. In part, the bill requires deployment by 2003 of the first phase of an umbrella against incoming ballistic missiles. The cost is projected to reach $60 billion by 2010. The bill calls for the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty with the former Soviet Union to be renegotiated or abandoned.
Jesse Helms, R-N.C., said China recently issued ``thinly veiled threats . . intervened on behalf of Taiwan.'' He said that was ``made possible by the fact that a band of latter-day Luddites here in Washington have consistently refused even to consider building the very strategic missile defenses necessary to protect the American people from such an attack.''
Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., said ``the Senate is revisiting the `star wars' system of the 1980s, renamed for the 1990s as the Defend America Act. It was a bad idea then and it is a bad idea today. . . . The secretary of defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff state that now is not the time to deploy a national missile defense, but the Republicans reject that advice and want to rebuild this wasteful system.''
A yes vote was to advance the missile defense bill.
Robb No Warner Yes
Faircloth Yes Helms Yes ILLUSTRATION: ROLL CALL: How area members of Congress voted for the
week ending June 7.
[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