by Archana Subramaniam by CNB
Roanoke Times Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc. DATE: FRIDAY, March 12, 1993 TAG: 9303120025 SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO SOURCE: Associated Press DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short
AIDS BAN PASSED EASILY BY HOUSE; CLINTON TO GIVE IN
The House overwhelmingly endorsed a ban on AIDS-infected immigrants Thursday, handing President Clinton his second lopsided defeat on the issue. The White House appeared ready to surrender."Congress' intent on this is becoming clear," White House spokeswoman Dee Dee Myers acknowledged before the House voted 356-58 to express its support for the ban.
"The president has to work with Congress. He can't act unilaterally on issues like this," Myers said, indicating the White House was ready to give in, even though Clinton doesn't think immigrants or refugees should be turned away simply because they're infected with HIV.
All 11 of Virginia's representatives voted for the ban, except for Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, who did not vote.
Last month, the Senate added the AIDS ban to a spending bill for the National Institutes of Health.
The House did not include the ban in its version of the NIH bill. But the vote Thursday directed House negotiators, who will work out differences on the NIH bill with the Senate, to accept the Senate version on the AIDS-immigrant issue.
The overall bill passed the House Thursday by a 283-131 vote.
Supporters of the ban hoped to gain some leverage over Clinton by linking the measure to the NIH bill. Clinton repeatedly campaigned for the NIH funding, and criticized former President Bush for vetoing the bill for political reasons.
The White House had indicated that Clinton would not likely veto the legislation.