Copyright 2000 The Houston Chronicle Publishing Company
The Houston Chronicle
October 31, 2000, Tuesday 3 STAR EDITION
SECTION: A; Pg. 1
LENGTH:
914 words
HEADLINE: Budget deal in tatters; pay raise
is vetoed
SOURCE: Staff
BYLINE: KAREN MASTERSON, Houston Chronicle Washington
Bureau
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
BODY:
WASHINGTON - President Clinton escalated the
budget fight with congressional Republicans late Monday by vetoing legislation
that included a pay raise for lawmakers.
Clinton rejected the bill after
Republican leaders in the House pulled back on a tentative deal reached in the
pre-dawn hours Monday on spending for labor, education and social programs.
The veto, issued moments before the bill was to have become law at
midnight in Washington, increased the likelihood that Congress would remain in
session beyond Election Day.
"This is an open declaration of war against
Congress," Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, said before the veto, which White House
officials had been threatening for several days. In a message accompanying the
veto, Clinton said, "Congress' continued refusal to focus on the priorities of
the American people leaves me no alternative but to veto this bill."
The
president said he could not "in good conscience sign a bill that funds the
operations of the Congress and the White House before funding our classrooms,
fixing our schools and protecting our workers."
House Majority Whip Tom
DeLay, R-Sugar Land, cautioned earlier in the day that a veto of the pay-raise
bill would "just throw everything else out the window."
"We're standing
firm against their liberal principles," DeLay said. "We're standing firm on our
principles. And yes, we've had to compromise. But we will not respond to
ultimatums."
The bill Clinton vetoed was a $ 33 billion measure to
finance the Treasury Department for 2001. The legislation contained a $ 3,800
pay raise for members of Congress, which would have brought lawmakers' annual
salaries up to $ 145,100.
Also in the bill was a repeal of the 3 percent
telephone tax, which had been pushed by Republicans. The
measure also included funding for White House operations.
About midday,
an agreement on the $ 350 billion education and social spending measure was
rejected by House leaders who complained about a provision that would allow the
administration to impose regulations on workplace safety. The measure has long
been sought by unions and opposed by some business groups.
Clinton
blamed special-interest lobbyists for unraveling the compromise, even as the
White House and Congress appeared unwilling to budge on tax cuts, immigration
reform and increased Medicare funding for health maintenance organizations.
Negotiators hoped that by agreeing on two of the many unresolved issues,
the Democrats and Republicans would eventually work out their differences and
adjourn sometime this week. "Our team worked all weekend and . . . into the
early morning hours (Monday) to fashion a good-faith agreement with compromises
on both sides," Clinton said Monday. "Once again the Republican leadership has
let the whispers of the special interests drown out the voices of the American
people."
"No one has blown up any agreement," DeLay said, adding that
Republicans wanted to read what negotiators had worked out to make sure the deal
would work for the GOP.
Clinton said a $ 2.4 billion increase in
education funding - negotiated by the two parties - would lead to more teachers,
reduced class sizes, school repairs and modernizations, expanded after-school
programs, investments in teacher quality and more "accountability to turn around
failing schools."
"With the largest student enrollment in history, this
budget would have honored our obligation to our children," he said.
All
year, Clinton has asked that more money for education be added to the spending
bill for the departments of Labor, Education and Health and Human Services -
which is now the last of the 13 spending bills that Congress needs to finalize.
The deal struck by all-night negotiators would have settled another
point of disagreement in that spending bill: a GOP provision that would block
new employee protections against repetitive-motion injuries.
Republicans
on Monday had agreed to drop that provision and replace it with one that would
give the new president power to implement the rules - on the expectation that
GOP candidate George W. Bush would block them if he is elected.
But
Democrats were worried that interference from the conservative wing of the party
would kill the deal and lead to more "wasted time" working out compromises that
"go nowhere."
"This is not a do-nothing Congress," said House Minority
Leader Richard Gephardt, D-Mo. "This is a dysfunctional Congress."
The
U.S. Chamber of Commerce vehemently opposes the workplace rules because of the
burden they would place on businesses.
As the two sides grow more
entrenched in party warfare, the Nov. 7 elections draw near. Congress on Monday
passed another one-day spending measure to keep the government open as
negotiators try to work out their differences.
One analyst said that
because so much is at stake this election year - from control of the executive
branch and Congress to the makeup of the Supreme Court - both parties are better
off waiting until after the election to decide the more politically sensitive
issues.
"The parties are polarized," said Sarah Binder, a fellow at the
Brookings Institution, a political think tank.
"Historically, some great
decisions have been made in lame-duck sessions," she said of the few times
lawmakers have had to come back after elections to complete unfinished business.
"It's valuable because the competing (elections) are gone. Maybe that's the
environment you need to make tough decisions."
GRAPHIC: Photo: President Clinton pauses while
speaking to reporters Monday about his frustrations with the GOP-led Congress
over spending legislation. "Once again the Republican leadership has let the
whispers of the special interests drown out the voices of the American people,"
he said (p. 10); Associated Press
TYPE: -LINKS-
LOAD-DATE: November 1, 2000 
