House Votes $12.3-Billion Spending Bill to Operate Variety of Agencies
The House Thursday night approved a $12.3-billion appropriation bill to run a variety of federal agencies in the 1987 fiscal year while abolishing the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
The scaled-back appropriation to operate the departments of State, Justice, Commerce and related agencies passed on a 269-66 vote following lengthy debate. The bill now goes to the Senate.
Before adopting the bill, the House voted 213-125 to cut 5% from all programs covered in the appropriation, except the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The reduction was adopted after the House rejected a series of Republican amendments to cut programs such as the Legal Services Corp. and the Small Business Administration.
The bill stipulates that the $11.2 million earmarked for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights be used only to close down the agency by Dec. 31.
Civil rights groups and critics in Congress have feuded with the commission’s conservative majority, which reflects Reagan Administration opposition to affirmative action programs to end job discrimination.
House critics, who argue the 29-year-old commission has become a “political instrument” of the Reagan Administration, have proposed replacing it with a congressional civil rights office.
The House also agreed to cut the U.S. contribution to the United Nations from $298.1 million to $280.6 million.
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