THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 27, 1994 TAG: 9408270003
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
I am appalled but not surprised that the Democratic congressmen from this area, Owen Pickett and Norman Sisisky, voted against the crime bill and thereby voted against the leader of their party, the president, and the Democratic leadership of the House.
Pickett and Sisisky each year are ``shocked,'' as the inspector said when he found gambling going on in Rick's Cafe in Casablanca, that the Lake Gaston pipeline project, vital to this area, every year goes back for endless environmental studies by dozens of commissions and study groups appointed by the same administration they regularly oppose on key votes.
Seven of the eight North Carolina Democrats who voted on the crime bill voted yes, thus supporting the leader of the Democratic Party and the Democratic House of Represenatives leadership.
Perhaps your newspaper could find out if the North Carolina congressman from the Lake Gaston area voted yes or no on the bill. I would expect he voted yes and that the Lake Gaston pipeline will be on the back burner for years.
The late Sam Rayburn, the famous speaker of the House, would tell new members, ``If you want to get along, go along.'' This does not mean a member can't get a ``pass'' to vote against legislation which is very unpopular in his district. This is not true on key votes such as the crime bill, where if the member wants future favors he is expected to ``go along.''
Additionally Pickett and Sisisky caved to the powerful National Rifle Association lobby while the majority of their constituents favor gun control, tired of the rampant killing that goes on here. I read in your paper recently that this area is No. 1 one in drive-by shootings, certainly not done by .22 caliber pistols. When a maniac kills a dozen people in a fast-food restaurant or in his former place of employment, he invariable uses the type of assault weapons with large-capacity magazines that the crime bill bans.
The Norfolk Naval Base was saved, despite furious lobbying by Charleston, S.C., for two reasons - it made sense to keep it and Sen. John Warner, ranking minority member of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee, who works closely in a bipartisan manner with Chairman Sam Nunn, intervened. Pickett, Sisisky and ineffectual Sen. Chuck Robb, who has absolutely no influence with the administration (remember - he voted to confirm Clarence Thomas, arguably the worst Supreme Court justice ever appointed, whose early supporters have now repudiated him for his stance against voting districts that give blacks a fair representation) had nothing to do with it.
Two more defense cuts are on the table for this area next year - Oceana Naval Air Station and the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. Logic dictates that both these military installations should be kept, but, as usual, politics will have the last word. I wonder how the North Carolina congressman who represents Cherry Point, projected to replace Oceana, voted on the crime bill. I know how the Democratic congressman from Portsmouth, N.H., proposed to replace our Portsmouth Naval Shipyard voted: Yes.
Don't be ``shocked,'' Pickett, Sisisky and Robb, when we lose both.
BRIAN BELL
Virginia Beach, Aug. 23, 1994 by CNB