Freshman Rep. John Thune, R-S.D., in a "Dear Colleague" being sent out today, called on the House to adopt the so-called automatic continuing resolution provision -- now contained in the fiscal 1997 supplemental appropriations package -- as a stand-alone bill.
Thune, who backs the automatic CR but represents flood- ravaged South Dakota, wrote, "The people impacted by disasters care little about an `automatic CR' when they are displaced from their homes and their livelihoods hang in the balance."
Thune's comments came as House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., predicted House approval of the automatic CR provision, setting the stage for a possible presidential veto.
"I'm very surprised the president wants to reserve the right to close the government," Gingrich told the Associated Press. Public opinion polls show Americans blamed Republicans in Congress for the 1995-96 shutdowns more than the president. "We've learned that lesson," Gingrich said.
On Thursday, the Senate completed work on its version of the $8.4 billion supplemental, which includes language to fund government agencies at 100 percent of FY97 levels -- up from the initial proposal of 98 percent -- into FY98 if new spending levels are not set by the start of the next fiscal year.
The White House has threatened to veto the supplemental if it includes the current CR language, insisting that any CR be set at the fiscal 1998 spending levels in the budget agreement. A meeting set for today between White House officials and the Senate sponsors of the CR -- Senate Commerce Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas -- was canceled by the administration, but is expected to be rescheduled for next week.
Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., said today he is not "putting anything off the table" in negotiations with the White House over funding levels in the automatic CR.
In the House, where the bill is slated for floor action Wednesday, a spokesman said Rep. George Gekas, R-Pa., the House sponsor of the CR amendment, "has no problem with a 100 percent CR" -- although he may offer other amendments with different funding levels at Tuesday's Rules Committee meeting.
Gekas intends to offer his amendment to the bill, which was reported out of the House Appropriations Committee without a CR provision, with the blessing of the leadership and strong support of the House Conservative Action Team. The CATs have said they will not vote for the supplemental without the CR.
An aide to a GOP conservative said the CATs would not overwhelmingly oppose a 100 percent CR, but would also not go for a CR at the FY98 budget deal numbers. The aide said the CATs are committed to attaching the CR to a "must-pass" bill such as the supplemental, and said of Thune's desire to do it separately, "I wish he would realize it has zero chance of being enacted into law if it's a free-standing bill."
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