Senate outspends President Clinton on education

On June 30, by a vote 52 to 43, the Senate approved the $354.6-billion Labor/HHS/ Education appropriations bill (HR 4577). The bill, which would fund three federal departments, included only $99.8 billion of "discretionary spending;' which meant that most of the spending was for entitlement programs mandated by previous congressional action. This year's bill increased funding by 13% for the Department of Education-a bigger raise than the President had requested. HR 4577 also included a 12% hike for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and a 19% increase for Head Start.

Yet some Liberal Democrats opposed the bill because it did not spend enough. Sen. Patty Murray (D: Wash.) said, "While I am pleased with some parts of this bill, I am voting against it because it does not make the necessary commitments to public health, worker safety, and reducing class sizes. We have a surplus and we can invest in key programs like education, health care, job training, and work place, but instead we are guided by a spending plan that places a greater emphasis on irresponsible tax cuts."

Some of the most conservative Republicans, including Sen. Jessie Helms (R: N.C.) end Sen. Bob Smith (R: N.H.), opposed the bill. Other conservatives, such as Sen. Jon Kyl (R: Ariz.), worried about the high price tag but voted to pass it, anyway. Kyl warned, "The sky is not the limit here. 1 am going to support this bill today to get it to conference, but I am not inclined to support a dollar more in the conference report. We have got to do a better job of prioritizing, or we will soon find Congress once again raiding the Social Security surpluses to pay for other government programs:'

A "yes" vote was a vote to pass the $354.6billion spending bill for the Department of Labor, health and Human Services and Education. A "no" vote was a vote against the spending bill.

FOR THE BILL: 52

REPUBLICANS FOR (44): Abraham, Ashcroft, Bennett, Bond, Burns, Campbell, Chafee, Cochran, Collins, Goverdell, Craig, Crapo, DeWine, Domenici, Enzi, Fitzgerald, Frist, Gorton, Grassley, Gregg, Hagel, Hutchinson (Ark.), Hutchison (Tex.), Inhofe, Jeffords, Kyl, Lott, Lugar, Mack, McCain, McConnell, Murkowski, Roberts, Roth, Santorum, Shelby, Smith (Ore.), Snowe, Specter, Stevens, Thomas, Thompson, Thurmond and Warner.

DEMOCRATS FOR (8): Breaux, Byrd, Cleland, Harkin, Hollings, Kerrey (Neb.), Kohl and Lincoln.

AGAINST THE BILL: 43

REPUBLICANS AGAINST (10): Allard, Brownback, Bunning, Gramm (Tex.), Grams (Minn.), Helms, Nickles, Sessions, Smith (N.H.) and Voinovich.

DEMOCRATS AGAINST (33): Akaka, Baucus, Bayh, Biden, Bingaman, Bryan, Conrad, Daschle, Dodd, Dorgan, Durbin, Edwards, Feingold, Feinstein, Graham (Fla.), Johnson, Kennedy, Kerry (Mass.), Landrieu, Lautenberg, Levin, Lieberman, Mikulski, Murray, Reed (R.I.), Reid (Nev.), Robb, Rockefeller, Sarbanes, Schumer, Torricelli, Wellstone and Wyden.

NOT VOTING (5): Boxer, Hatch, Inouye, Leahy, Moynihan.

Copyright Human Events Publishing, Inc. Sep 1, 2000
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