DATE: Monday, October 13, 1997              TAG: 9710130047

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

DATELINE: WASHINGTON                        LENGTH:  162 lines

ROLL CALL: HOW AREA MEMBERS OF CONGRESS VOTED.

Here's how area members of Congress were recorded on major roll call votes in the week ending Oct. 10. HOUSE

National monuments: The House voted, 222-202, to give Congress, not the president, authority to designate national monuments on federal land if the area is larger than 50,000 acres. This occurred during debate on a bill (HR 1127) which, as later passed, would supplant a 91-year-old law empowering presidents to give immediate federal protection to important natural, historic or scientific resources on public land. Under the 1906 Antiquities Act, Congress can only review White House decisions after the fact. Debate centered on President Clinton's designation, during the 1996 presidential campaign, of a 1.7 million-acre national monument in Utah.

Chris Cannon, R-Utah, said the bill was needed because of actions like Clinton's setting aside a large part of southern Utah as a national monument. ``Utah paid a price for being in the way of a president's political agenda,'' he said.

Bruce Vento, D-Minn., said the bill ``would remove an important tool from . public's land.''

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Bateman Yes Pickett Yes

Scott No Sisisky Yes

Clayton No Jones Yes

American sites: Voting 236-191, the House passed a bill (HR 901) to ensure the sovereignty of American land in the context of United Nations-backed programs for recognizing natural sites, cultural monuments and biological resources around the globe. In part, the bill targets a ``world heritage'' agreement, ratified by the Senate, under which America and other signatories pledge to protect sites of exceptional value against despoilment. It also takes aim at U.S. and U.N. ``biosphere'' programs that promote conservation of biological resources and ``environmentally sound'' economic growth. The bill requires congressional approval before a property in the United States can be listed in such programs.

Dave Weldon, R-Fla., said that under the Constitution, Congress has power to ``make all rules and regulations over federal lands. . . . The Constitution does not give this authority to the United Nations. . . or any other body.''

George Miller, D-Calif., said the bill ``is not about sovereignty, this is about extremism run amok.'' He said objections have been raised to naming the Everglades as a heritage site alongside the Sphinx, the Taj Mahal, and the Grand Canyon.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Bateman Yes Pickett Yes

Scott No Sisisky Yes

Clayton No Jones Yes

D.C. budget: Voting 203-202, the House approved a District of Columbia budget (HR 2607) disliked by many Democratic lawmakers and city officials because of Republican policies it imposes on the federal city. Most disputed was a voucher program under which 2,000 public education students from poor homes would receive scholarships for attending private and parochial schools in the metropolitan area. Overall, the bill sets a $4.76 billion D.C. budget for fiscal 1998, most it funded by local taxes. It increases congressional management of municipal affairs at the expense of the D.C. Financial Control Board, mayor, council, and school board.

In part, the bill strips the National Education Association of a property tax exemption worth $1.3 million annually to the teachers union; reopens Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House to vehicular traffic by removing security barriers erected after the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing; bans funding for abortions except in cases of rape or incest or to save the life of the mother; denies funding of a D.C. law that qualifies unmarried partners of city employees to receive taxpayer-funded benefits; closes the University of the District of Columbia Law School; and limits doctors' liability for medical malpractice.

Voucher advocate Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., the House speaker, said ``what this vote is about is whether 2,000 children have a chance to go to college (or) jail.''

Julian Dixon, D-Calif., said ``this bill takes the District of Columbia from home rule back to a plantation of 600,000 residents.''

Albert Wynn, D-Md., said vouchers take money away from 76,000 students in D.C. public schools who need ``new textbooks . . . technological improvements

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Bateman Yes Pickett No

Scott No Sisisky No

Clayton No Jones Yes SENATE

Union dues: By a vote of 52-48, the Senate failed to end a filibuster against an amendment by Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., to pending campaign finance legislation (S 25). A three-fifths majority - 60 votes - was needed to end debate on the provision.

The vote kept alive what critics said was a ``poison pill'' amendment. It gives union members power to keep their dues from being spent politically. Before using any part of a member's dues for political advocacy, the union would have to obtain permission in writing. The anti-union amendment was viewed as fatal to S 25 because it would cause many pro-union senators to turn against the legislation.

Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., said Lott had ``magnanimously'' allowed the campaign finance bill to reach the floor, and ``now proposes to kill it with an amendment affecting the use of labor union dues for political purposes. . defeated, but he won't have been the one to have done it.''

Lott said accepting his dues provision was ``the price of admission'' to the debate. ``If a senator is willing to free employees and union members from that compulsory contribution of their hard-earned wages to political campaigns, then I can accept that senator as a legitimate participant in the campaign reform debate.''

A yes vote supported the Lott amendment.

Robb No Warner Yes

Helms Yes Faircloth Yes

Campaign finances: By a vote of 53-47, the Senate failed to advance a bill (S 25) restricting the way campaign funds are raised and spent by congressional candidates, political parties and private organizations including business, labor and interest groups. The tally fell short of the three-fifths majority - 60 votes - that advocates of the bill needed to end a Republican filibuster against it. Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., then pulled the bill from the floor, signaling its demise in the remaining weeks of the 1997 session.

All 45 Democrats and the following eight Republicans voted to advance the bill: John Chafee of Rhode Island, Susan Collins of Maine, Tim Hutchinson of Arkansas, James Jeffords of Vermont, John McCain of Arizona, Olympia Snowe of Maine, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Fred Thompson of Tennessee.

In part, the bill would ban the use of unregulated ``soft money'' in federal races; prevent independent groups from airing ``issue advocacy'' ads in the final two months that promote or denounce candidates by name; require the Federal Election Commission to publish candidates' campaign finance reports on the Internet within 24 hours of their filing at the FEC; give wealthy candidates financial incentives to spend no more than $50,000 of their own money on their campaigns, and codify a U.S. Supreme Court decision under which union members can get refunds of union dues spent for political purposes.

Present law does not limit soft money expenditures. But it requires that the unregulated contributions be used only for pro-democracy activities such as party-building and voter registration. But loopholes allow large sums of soft money to be spent systematically to benefit specific candidates. Critics say this gives well-heeled interests undue influence in electing candidates and shaping public policy. By contrast, ``hard money'' donations, which go directly and legally to specific candidates, are tightly regulated in terms of the amount and source of the contribution.

John McCain, R-Ariz., who voted to advance the bill, said federal elections ``need to be regulated. We do not want corporations, unions, or wealthy individuals to buy and sell elections. This is not a country where a royal class controls the government. . . . There is a role for some regulation and restraint in order to protect the greater public good.''

Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he agreed with the American Civil Liberties Union that the bill was unconstitutional in restricting broadcast of independently financed ads that mention specific candidates. He said such electoral speech lies ``at the very core and the meaning of the First Amendment . . . totally outside the permissible area of government regulation.''

A yes vote was to advance campaign finance legislation to a direct vote on its merits.

Robb Yes Warner No

Helms No Faircloth No ILLUSTRATION: [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.

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