DATE: Tuesday, September 30, 1997           TAG: 9709300217

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B7   EDITION: FINAL 

                                            LENGTH:  125 lines

ROLL CALL: HOW MEMBERS OF CONGRESS VOTED

Here's how area members of Congress were recorded on major roll call votes in the week ending Sept. 26. HOUSE Congressional Pay: Voting 229-199, the House approved a procedural motion that was interpreted as endorsing a congressional pay raise. The vote gave a green light to a scheduled 2.3 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) that would raise House members' and senators' pay by $3,073 to $136,673. ``This is the key vote,'' said pay-raise supporter Vic Fazio, D-Calif. Had foes been able to defeat this motion, they would have had parliamentary standing to offer a motion killing the increase. They adopted a procedural blocking strategy after House leaders on at least two occasions averted direct, up-or-down votes on the merits of the raise.

Mark Neumann, R-Wis., objected that no direct vote was allowed ``on this very, very important issue. This . . . is what makes our constituents back home so angry, the idea that we are going to try and slide something through with people unaware. That is what makes the American people angry and that is why I am rising to speak today.''< A yes vote endorsed a 2.3 percent cost-of- living increase in lawmakers' salaries.

Bateman yes Pickett yes

Scott yes Sisisky yes

Clayton yes Jones no

Capitol Hill budget: Voting 309-106, the House approved a $2.25 billion legislative branch budget (HR 2209) for fiscal 1998, up about 3 percent over the comparable 1997 spending bill for the House, Senate and congressional agencies. The bill increases the House budget by 3.6 percent to about $709 million, with committee spending raised by $104 million or 7 percent, Republican and Democratic leadership accounts increased by $12.3 million or 6 percent, and allowances for members' general expenses and staff salaries boostedby $379.8 million or 5 percent.

The bill sets Senate spending at about $513 million, about 3 percent above 1997, with staff salary raises accounting for much of the increase. The remainder the bill is for support agencies such as the Library of Congress, General Accounting Office, Architect of the Capitol and Government Printing Office. House members' and senators' salaries are funded by separate legislation.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Bateman yes Pickett yes

Scott yes Sisisky yes

Clayton yes Jones no

Legal fees: The House voted, 340-84, to allow defendants who prevail in federal criminal prosecutions to recover some legal costs unless the government can show the case was properly brought. Under the amendment to a pending appropriations bill (HR 2267), successful defendants including members of Congress can claim reimbursement of up to $125 an hour in legal fees if the prosecution was deemed substantially unjustified by the judge who heard the case.

A yes vote was to adopt the amendment.

Bateman yes Pickett yes

Scott yes Sisisky yes

Clayton yes Jones yes

Defense budget: Voting 356-65, the House approved the conference report on a $247.7 billion Pentagon budget for fiscal 1998, up less than 2 percent from the comparable 1997 legislation. The bill (HR 2266) thwarts an earlier House vote for construction of 20 additional B-2 bombers. It clears the way for the Pentagon to spend its entire B-2 appropriation of $331 million on upgrading the existing fleet. The bill funds a 2.8 percent military pay raise, sets a July 1, 1998, deadline for withdrawing American troops from Bosnia, appropriates $3.7 billion for developing anti-missile defenses, and provides $2.3 billion for building a Seawolf nuclear attack submarine at Groton, Conn., and Norfolk shipyards.

Randy Cunningham, R-Calif., called it ``amazing'' that some critics of defense spending ``have never served in the armed services and seen hostility or even seen the odd end of a weapon. . . . '' He added that Bosnian operations are costing $12 billion. ``Does it come out of social programs? No, it comes out of the already limited (defense) budget. . . . ''

Barney Frank, D-Mass., said the bill was too costly. ``Roughly 50 percent of discretionary spending allowed to the federal government under the recently signed budget deal will be consumed by the military and related intelligence functions. Every other function . . . environment, public safety here at home, transportation, they are all going to suffer increasingly from inadequate funding.''

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Bateman yes Pickett yes

Scott yes Sisisky yes

Clayton yes Jones yes SENATE

Regulating drugs: Voting 98-2, the Senate passed a bill (S 830) to speed Food and Drug Administration review of new drugs and medical devices and make experimental drugs more widely available to the terminally ill. The legislation enables pharmaceutical companies to promote their drugs to doctors for uses in addition to the use approved by the FDA; renews a system in which drug companies pay the FDA a user's fee to obtain expedited reviews, and allows private companies under FDA supervision to conduct certain reviews of medical devices. To further speed the marketing of devices, the bill limits the scope of FDA scrutiny to the purpose cited by the manufacturer. Critics said this could result in devices being sold for a legitimate purpose and then misused with harmful results.

Supporters hailed the bill as long-overdue regulatory reform, while critics said it could allow unsafe products to be marketed.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Robb yes Warner yes

Helms yes Faircloth yes

Conflict of interest: Voting 40-59, the Senate rejected an amendment concerning conflicts-of-interest by private contractors who are hired by the Food and Drug Administration to review new medical devices. The underlying bill (S 830, above) gave the FDA 180 days to draft rules banning financial ties between private personnel and the companies they are reviewing. This amendment sought to go further by putting rules against conflicts directly into the new law, subjecting private contractors to the same conflict-of-interest rules that apply to FDA employees. The proposed language would have banned private contractors from receiving gifts from the company whose product they are reviewing, owning stock in the company, or having an employment link to the company.

A yes vote was to write conflict-of-interest language into a pending FDA bill.

Robb yes Warner no

Helms didn't vote Faircloth no ILLUSTRATION: Photos of area members of Congress

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu