Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, May 13, 1994                   TAG: 9405130112
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

IN THE NATION

WASHINGTON - Congress gave final approval Thursday to President Clinton's 1995 budget as majority Democrats hailed the $1.51 trillion spending plan as a road map for more economic growth and smaller federal deficits.

``The progress is real,'' said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Jim Sasser, D-Tenn., before the Senate completed action with a 53-46 roll call.

``The American people can feel it. They can feel it in an improved domestic economy. They can feel it in an improved international standing.''

The measure, approved by the House last Thursday, does not need the president's signature.

The blueprint for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, a compromise between the House and Senate, calls for further defense reductions and more money for education and road-building programs.

The measure imposes $13 billion more in five-year spending cuts than Clinton wanted. It would also compress next year's federal deficit to $175.4 billion - the least red ink since 1989.

- Associated Press

Anti-smoking bill clears key panel

WASHINGTON - In a significant defeat for the tobacco industry, legislation that would prohibit smoking in public places nationwide cleared what was expected to be its most difficult congressional hurdle Thursday, passing a key House panel by a comfortable margin.

The health subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, whose members have stalled or defeated previous tobacco-related measures, approved the bill 14-11.

The legislation, which would not pre-empt state laws, would ban or restrict smoking in most indoor environments used by the public, such as malls, schools and hospitals.

The measure was substantially weakened, however, by amendments that would exempt from its provisions all restaurants, bars, prisons, tobacco stores and private clubs.

Rep. Thomas Bliley, R-Richmond, the subcommittee's ranking Republican and leader of its pro-tobacco forces, called the legislation ``the ultimate Big Brother.''

- Los Angeles Times