THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 15, 1996 TAG: 9603150659
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
A sharply divided House passed watered-down legislation Thursday to combat crime and terrorism, and President Clinton said he hoped the measure ``will be made much stronger'' before reaching his desk.
On a vote of 229-191, lawmakers cleared an election-year bill that would curtail protracted appeals by death row inmates and other convicts and require criminals to pay restitution to their victims.
The measure also would make it a crime to kill a federal employee because of his or her work, and would require inclusion of ``taggants'' in plastic explosives so they can be traced.
But approval came after conservatives of both parties, responding to pressure from the National Rifle Association and other groups, succeeded in stripping several other provisions on grounds they handed the government too much power.
House passage set the stage for difficult election-year compromise talks with the Senate, which passed its version of the measure last year, as well as with the White House. Speaker Newt Gingrich said he hoped the compromise could be reached before April 19.
That's the anniversary of the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City - the event that triggered Clinton's call for such a bill.
``The challenge of a free society is to have a government strong enough to protect itself from danger and carefully enough constrained to not itself be a danger,'' Gingrich, R-Ga., said in the closing moments of debate.
On final passage, 176 Republicans and 53 Democrats, mostly conservatives, voted in favor of the measure. Voting against were 132 Democrats and 58 Republicans, as well as one independent.
For his part, Gingrich said some of the material removed from the bill Wednesday would resurface in some form.
He cited a provision that had been intended to make it impossible for agents of groups such as Hamas - responsible for a wave of suicide attacks in Israel - to enter the United States and raise funds.
Other provisions deleted Wednesday would have made it easier to prosecute certain firearms cases and to use improperly obtained wiretap evidence.
Despite Gingrich's pledges, many Democrats said the bill had been so diluted that it was virtually worthless, and Clinton made his dislike plain.
``If we're going to have a bill we need a real bill,'' he told reporters aboard Air Force One as he flew home from an anti-terrorism trip to the Middle East.
``It needs to be a bill that will help us combat terrorism at home and abroad. . . . So I certainly hope that when this bill gets into conference it will be made much stronger,'' he said, referring to the compromise negotiations with the Senate.
Two days of House debate blurred the traditional lines between liberals and conservatives as lawmakers struggled to find the proper balance between the rights of individuals and the role of the government in fighting criminals and terrorists.
Rep. Mel Watt of North Carolina, whose district contains a majority of black voters, teamed with conservative GOP Rep. Helen Chenoweth of Idaho in seeking removal of the provisions many other lawmakers favor to expedite the death penalty.
Chenoweth, who has spoken in defense of private militia groups, said the provision would apply not only in death penalty cases, but also in those where ``citizens were wrongfully prosecuted for exercising their rights to bear arms.''
Their amendment failed, 283-135, shortly before final passage.
The outcome on the floor represented a victory for the NRA, which had lobbied heavily for the changes voted on Wednesday. Shortly after that vote, the NRA sent letters thanking the lawmakers. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
HOW THEY VOTED
A ``yes'' vote is a vote to pass the bill.
Herbert H. Bateman, R-Va. Yes
Owen B. Pickett, D-Va. No
Robert C. Scott, D-Va. No
Norman Sisisky, D-Va. Yes
Eva Clayton, D-N.C. No
Walter Jones Jr., R-N.C. No
by CNB