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May 07, 2000, Sunday 4 STAR EDITION

SECTION: A; Pg. 25

LENGTH: 740 words

HEADLINE: How Texans voted

SOURCE: Roll Call Report Syndicate

DATELINE: WASHINGTON

BODY:
WASHINGTON - How the Texas congressional delegation voted on selected issues last week:

Senate

1. Nuclear Waste Veto: Failed, 64-35, to override President Clinton's veto of a bill (S 1287) to permanently store the nation's nuclear waste near Yucca Mountain, Nev., 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Supporters needed 67 votes to defeat the veto and pass the bill. Under the bill, more than 4,250 metric tons of spent fuel, now in surface storage at power plants and defense facilities, would be transported by rail and train to the Nevada site for temporary storage above ground and then permanent burial by 2007. A yes vote was to enact the bill.

2. Democratic Plan: Rejected, 54-45, a Democratic plan for renewing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), which is the main statute for federal funding of K-12 education. The underlying GOP bill (S 2), which remained in debate, would convert most categorical grants into block grants that states could spend with minimal oversight if they meet broad objectives. In part, Democrats sought to kill a GOP school voucher proposal. Also, they sought to preserve the existing categorical grant structure for distributing approximately $ 14 billion annually through the ESEA, about $ 8 billion of which goes to the nation's poorest districts. A yes vote backed the Democratic alternative.

3. Merit Pay: Adopted, 54-42, an amendment to S 2 (above) enabling states and localities to use federal education grants to implement teacher testing, merit pay and tenure reform programs. Over objections from Democrats and the National Education Association, the GOP amendment authorizes these initiatives along with other "teacher empowerment" programs at a cost of $ 2 billion annually. A yes vote backed the teacher testing and merit pay initiative.

4. Teacher Hiring: Defeated, 53-44, a bid by Democrats to fund the third year of President Clinton's class-size reduction program, which is helping local districts hire 100,000 elementary school teachers over six years. About 29,000 have been hired to date. The underlying GOP-drafted bill (S 2) shifts targeted funding of $ 1.7 billion from the hiring program to a block grant that could fund programs such as merit pay, tenure reform and teacher testing (preceding issue). A yes vote was to continue the Democrats' class-size reduction categorical grant.

   1   2   3   4

Gramm(R)College Station   Y   N   Y   N

Hutchison(R)Dallas   Y   N   Y   N

House

1. Trade With Africa: Approved, 309-110, the conference report on a bill (HR 434) providing increased access to U.S. markets to apparel and other goods manufactured in sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean Basin and Central America. The bill waives or lowers U.S. duties and quotas for products from more than 70 countries, with its greatest benefits going to manufacturers who use U.S. raw materials to make their clothing. By 2008, African apparel exports to the United States are projected to increase seventeen- fold under the free-trade measure, to $ 4.2 billion annually. A yes vote was to approve the trade bill.

2. Charter Schools: Approved, 397-20, a nonbinding measure (H Con Res 310) to declare a National Charter Schools Week. Charter schools are federally funded, K-12 institutions that operate with a large degree of autonomy within public systems. A yes vote was to boost the charter school movement.

   1   2

Archer(R)Houston   Y   Y

Armey(R)Irving   Y   Y

Barton(R)Ennis   Y   Y

Bentsen(D)Houston   Y   Y

Bonilla(R)San Antonio   Y   Y

Brady(R)The Woodlands   Y   Y

Combest(R)Lubbock   Y   Y

DeLay(R)Sugar Land   Y   A

Doggett(D)Austin   Y   Y

Edwards(D)Waco   Y   Y

Frost(D)Dallas   Y   Y

Gonzalez(D)San Antonio   Y   Y

Granger(R)Fort Worth   Y   Y

Green(D)Houston   N   Y

Hall(D)Rockwall   Y   Y

Hinojosa(D)Mercedes   Y   Y

Jackson Lee(D)Houston   Y   Y

Johnson(D)Dallas   Y   Y

Johnson(R)Plano   Y   Y

Lampson(D)Beaumont   Y   Y

Ortiz(D)Corpus Christi   Y   Y

Paul(R)Surfside   N   Y

Reyes(D)ElPaso   Y   Y

Rodriguez(D)San Antonio   Y   Y

Sandlin(D)Marshall   Y   Y

Sessions(R)Dallas   Y   Y

Smith(R)San Antonio   Y   Y

Stenholm(D)Abilene   Y   Y

Thornberry(R)Clarendon   Y   Y

Turner(D)Crockett   Y   Y

Key: N=No; Y=Yes; P=Present; A=Absent or did not vote.

NOTES: Copyright 1998, Thomas Reports, Inc.

LOAD-DATE: May 8, 2000

Document 65 of 240.


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