The House passed two of the thorniest appropriations measures Tuesday, but not before some nail biting among Republican leaders who were uncertain they had the votes needed to pass the Treasury-Postal conference report and the House version of the Commerce-Justice-State funding bill.
In the end, both bills passed. Meanwhile, the Senate unanimously passed the continuing resolution to keep the federal government operating while Congress continues to slog through the appropriations bills.
GOP leaders were caught from both sides on the Commerce- Justice-State bill, with Democrats opposing the measure because it prohibits sampling in the 2000 census and conservative Republicans fighting the measure because of a floor amendment adding more than $100 million in legal services funds.
Asked in the middle of the afternoon if he had the votes to pass the bill, House Deputy Majority Whip Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., said, "We're working on it."
The House ensured widespread Democratic opposition by voting, 228-197, against a plan that would have allowed sampling in the 2000 census. The House then passed the bill, 227-199.
The House also approved the Treasury-Postal appropriations conference report, 220-207, but not before some tense moments on the floor. House Democratic and Republican leaders were seen negotiating for several minutes on the Democratic side of the House just before the vote; the report contains no language prohibiting a cost-of-living increase for members of Congress. Sources said Democratic and Republican leaders had said both parties would need to deliver a majority of their caucuses in favor of the bill in an effort to ensure that neither party was held responsible for the pay raise issue.
"The Democratic leadership was making the point to the Republican leadership," Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y. said.
Sources indicated that at the last minute, Republican leaders passed the word that some Republicans had decided to vote against the Treasury-Postal bill for reasons unrelated to the pay issue, a development that upset Democratic leaders.
Indeed, some conservative House Republicans were unhappy that the conference report included increased funding for the IRS while Republicans were blasting the IRS for abuses, said Rep. Joseph Scarborough, R-Fla.
Minority Leader Gephardt and Minority Whip Bonior voted against the conference report.
Gephardt voted against it "to make a point, that you can't make a deal and go back on it," a Democratic aide said.
As it turned out, 107 Republicans voted for the conference report and 118 voted against it; 113 Democrats supported it and 88 opposed it.
In other appropriations news, the Senate followed the House lead Tuesday and passed by a 99-0 vote a continuing resolution to fund programs that have yet to receive their FY98 appropriations.
The stopgap spending measure was sent to President Clinton, who signed it later Tuesday evening, ensuring that government operations will continue as Congress and the White House grapple with the ten remaining appropriations bills.
And, adding another wrinkle of complexity to passing the spending bills, House Appropriations Chairman Livingston Tuesday said he would raise Israel's refusal to extradite a Maryland murder suspect as an issue during the House-Senate conference on the Foreign Operations appropriations bill.
Livingston said he was disturbed that Israel is refusing to extradite Samuel Sheinbein, who along with another teenager is charged with burning and dismembering a 19-year old in Montgomery County.
"It is an outrage that Israeli authorities are refusing to extradite Sheinbein and I respectfully request that you intercede in this case," Livingston said in a letter to Secretary of State Albright.
He concluded his letter, "In the absence of a resolution, I intend to introduce this issue into consideration of the foreign operations spending bill."
House leaders still face some difficult struggles to pass remaining appropriations bills.
Conferees on the contentious Labor-HHS appropriations measure had hoped to meet today to discuss issues, but that meeting has been postponed until next week.
The conferees face particularly difficult issues on national testing and converting many elementary and secondary education programs into block grants.
House leaders also will have to try to pass an Interior appropriations conference report that contains $98 million for the National Endowment for the Arts.
The House has remained badly divided over federal arts funding contained in the Interior bill.
The House bill contained no funding for the NEA, but the House, on a voice vote last week, directed its conferees to support the Senate position of providing funding for the arts.
Asked if he can pass the conference report, House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Ralph Regula, R-Ohio, said, "I have no idea."
Regula said the Senate was on record in several votes to support NEA funding.
"This is the best I could possibly do with the Senate," Regula said Tuesday.
In return for House agreement on NEA funding, which is only $2 million less than the proposed Senate funding level, senators agreed to several conditions that would dramatically change the way the agency spends and allocates its money, LEGI-SLATE News Service reported.
For instance, the NEA would be allowed and encouraged to seek and invest money from private sources, and the agency must increase the percentage of money going directly to the states to 40 percent from the current 35 percent.
The NEA Council would have three senators and three representatives as members, under the legislation.
In addition, a 15 percent cap would be placed on grants that may be directed to any single state, with exceptions for arts that have a national scope, such as the opera, among other things.
The Interior appropriations conference committee took on a hostile tone Tuesday when Rep. George Nethercutt, R-Wash., suggested that funding for separate projects requested by Rep. Sidney Yates, D-Ill., and Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., two longstanding supporters of the NEA, be financed through a reduction in the NEA's operating budget.
This prompted an emotional outburst from House Appropriations ranking member David Obey, D-Wis., who said he was "offended" and "outraged" by the suggestion.
"I deeply resent that Mr. Yates, after his 40 years of service, should be dragged around like a puppy!" Obey bellowed.
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