Budget Bills in Danger of Veto Over Extra Items
President Reagan told Republican senators Wednesday that he will veto tax and spending bills pending before Congress unless lawmakers remove items that he says violate the budget pact negotiated last month, the senators said.
“There is a real attempt . . . to load up the (two bills) with extraneous matters that are totally unacceptable,” Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Tex.) said after a meeting at the White House.
The lawmakers urged Reagan to veto the two bills unless unrelated, non-spending items are removed. The President’s response, Gramm said, was “he’s going to do it.”
Item on Immigration Law
Among the non-spending provisions in the $587-billion appropriations bill passed by the House last week are items to alter the new immigration law and to restore the Fairness Doctrine that once required broadcasters to cover important issues by providing equal time for all viewpoints.
A similar legislative package is scheduled to come before the Senate later this week.
But first, the Senate expects to work on a related package that includes provisions to raise $9 billion in new taxes in fiscal 1988, which began Oct. 1.
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