Copyright 1999 The Seattle Times Company
The
Seattle Times
August 05, 1999, Thursday Final Edition
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A16
LENGTH: 276 words
HEADLINE:
SENATE REJECTS MEASURE TO KILL ARTS ENDOWMENT
DATELINE:
WASHINGTON
BODY:
WASHINGTON - The Senate rejected a
conservative effort to kill the National Endowment for the Arts today as
Congress tries to wrap up some of its spending work before embarking on its
August recess.
Sen. Bob Smith, I-N.H., proposed eliminating the entire $
99 million provided for the endowment in a Senate bill, but was defeated 80-16.
Sens. Slade Gorton, R-Wash., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., both voted in favor of
killing Smith's proposal.
Though some of the controversial arts projects
the endowment has financed over the years have made it a perennial target of
conservatives, today's vote underlined how the Senate has long looked favorably
at the agency.
The vote came as the Senate resumed debating a $ 14.1
billion measure financing the Interior Department and cultural programs. That
measure has become a battleground over mining and other issues pitting industry
against environmental concerns.
The House also planned to continue
considering a $ 37.7 billion measure today that would finance the departments of
Justice, State and Commerce and smaller agencies for the coming fiscal year.
The House Commerce-Justice measure had contained $ 141 million for the
Legal Services Corp., which provides free legal representation
in civil cases for the poor. But in an alliance of Democrats and moderate
Republicans, the House voted 242-178 yesterday to boost that figure to $ 250
million.
The overall Commerce-Justice bill faces a White House veto
threat because the measure provides less than Clinton wants for legal aid,
hiring local police officers, protecting endangered species and U.S. payments to
international organizations.
LOAD-DATE: August 6, 1999
