THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, April 29, 1996 TAG: 9604290057
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Long : 128 lines
Wildlife preserves: The House passed, 287-138, a bill (HR 1675) to allow increased hunting, fishing and boating in the National Wildlife Refuge System, which consists of 508 refuges covering 92 million acres. While those activities now are permitted in much of the system, they take a back seat to environmental and habitat protection. This bill gives equal weight to environmental and recreational goals when the Interior Department rules on how a refuge is to be used.
Sponsor Don Young, R-Alaska, said the bill protects ``essential habitats'' while giving the public ``an opportunity to fully utilize those federal lands that are paid for with their tax dollars, their entrance fees and from purchases of duck stamps.''
George Miller, D-Calif., said the bill ``is an attempt to fix a problem that does not exist'' because recreational access already is widely permitted, and is ``ultimately bad for the sportsmen and sportswomen whose activities depend on abundant wildlife populations.''
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Bateman Yes Pickett Yes
Scott No Sisisky Yes
Clayton No Jones Yes
1996 Budget: Voting 399-25, the House approved the conference report on a bill (HR 3019) to provide about $160 billion for nine Cabinet departments and dozens of agencies that have coped with temporary budgets since fiscal 1996 began last October. The Senate (below) and President Clinton also cleared the measure, ending a prolonged standoff that caused two federal shutdowns and forced Congress to pass 13 stopgap funding bills. Closure on the 1996 budget came as the House braced for early May debate on the fiscal 1997 budget blueprint.
Both sides declared victory. Republicans took credit for killing or reducing hundreds of domestic programs and cutting discretionary spending by about $23 billion below 1995 levels. Democrats claimed success in protecting major education, environmental protection, child care, national service, community policing and housing programs from the GOP knife while also trimming the deficit.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Bateman Yes Pickett Yes
Scott Yes Sisisky Yes
Clayton Yes Jones No SENATE
Term limits: The Senate shelved a proposed constitutional amendment limiting senators to two six-year terms and House members to six two-year terms. GOP sponsors failed, 58-42, to silence a Democratic filibuster against the legislation. A three-fifths majority, 60 votes, was needed to end the filibuster and move to a final vote on limiting future U.S. lawmakers to 12 consecutive years in office. Constitutional amendments need 67 votes for Senate approval. The House last year also rejected term limits, a key plank in the GOP Contract With America.
Dan Coats, R-Ind., said term limits ``serve two very important purposes - they rotate politicians back into the private sector to labor under the results of their work, and they create more opportunity for people of broad experience to come to Washington with the practical knowledge and innovative ideas (of) the private sector. . . ''
Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., advised senators to ``go beyond the rhetoric, the political posturing and pandering and the 30-second sound bites that have enveloped this issue. . . another quick fix in the growing list of quick fixes which have been advocated by those who seek easy answers to our nation's complex problems.''
A yes vote was to move to a final vote on the term limits measure.
Robb No Warner Yes
Helms Yes Faircloth Yes
To complete budget: By a vote of 88 for and 11 against, the Senate gave final congressional approval to legislation (HR 3019) completing the fiscal 1996 budget (see House issue above). President Clinton then signed the $160 billion spending measure. It provides the District of Columbia, dozens of agencies and the departments of Commerce, Justice, State, Interior, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development with their first regular budgets since last September.
A yes vote was to pass the budget bill.
Robb Yes Warner Yes
Helms No Faircloth No
Mental health: On a 30-68 vote, the Senate included mental health coverage in a pending bill (S 1028) to make medical insurance more available to families, individuals, small businesses and the self-employed. The vote required insurers to cover serious mental disabilities just as they do physical conditions. The overall bill, passed 100-0, requires health insurance companies to continue covering most individuals who lose or change jobs or have pre-existing ailments, raises from 30 to 80 percent the tax-deductibility of premiums paid by the self-employed and enables small businesses to form pools for buying lower cost medical insurance.
A yes vote opposed requiring insurers provide essentially the same coverage in mental and physical health insurance policies.
Robb No Warner No
Helms No Faircloth Yes
Immigration cut: The Senate rejected, 20-80, a bid to cut immigration by legal residents' family members by at least 10 percent annually over the next five years. Under the amendment, spouses and dependent children of legal immigrants were to have precedence over adult children and other relatives, with the current annual cap of 480,000 family-sponsored immigrants strictly enforced. Currently, there is no limit on entry of spouses and minor children, and the family cap may be exceeded by legal immigration from other categories. The vote occurred during debate on a bill (S 1664) to curb illegal immigration that remained in debate.
Even with the curbs, said sponsor Alan Simpson, R-Wyo., ``we will continue to have the most open door of any country in the world,'' while failure to control legal immigration ``will contribute even more to the general cynicism about Congress.''
Spencer Abraham, R-Mich., said defeat of the amendment ``is a big victory for those who view legal immigrants as overwhelmingly law-abiding and hard-working people who contribute to our economy and our society, a people who play by the rules.''
A yes vote was to reduce immigration by legal residents' family members.
Robb No Warner No
Helms No Faircloth Yes ILLUSTRATION: ROLL CALL: How area members of Congress voted for the week
ending April 26.
[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.
by CNB