The House

Military Malpractice

By a vote of 312 to 61, the House passed and sent to the Senate a bill (HR 1054) enabling active duty military personnel to sue the government for up to $300,000 in damages caused by medical or dental malpractice by service hospitals.

Active duty personnel now can turn only to the Veterans Administration for compensation in such cases, in keeping with a 1950 Supreme Court decision that this bill would negate.

Supporter Tony P. Hall (D-Ohio) complained that “even federal prisoners can sue for medical malpractice in government-operated facilities.”

Opponent William L. Dickinson (R-Ala.) said, “There is no reason to impose this additional burden on the military at a time when the Department of Defense and the defense dollar (are) under attack.”

Members voting yes supported the bill.

How They Voted Yea Nay No vote Rep. Moorhead (R) x Rep. Roybal (D) x Rep. Waxman (D) x

Dial-a-Porn

By a vote of 200 to 179, the House endorsed the less rigid of two pending legislative approaches to “dial-a-porn,” the 976 number service providing explicit sexual commentary to children and other callers.

This vote occurred as the House looked ahead to a House-Senate conference on a massive school aid bill (HR 5).

At issue was whether to accept Senate language to repeal what Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) and others argue is authority in the 1934 Communications Act for dial-a-porn.

This contested vote on a parliamentary issue cleared the way for the House to unanimously instruct its conferees to bypass the Helms approach as possibly unconstitutional and support in its place a more flexible proposal by Rep. Edward R. Madigan (R-Ill).

Members voting yes endorsed Madigan’s motion giving House conferees on HR 5 flexibility in seeking “a solution to the dial-a-porn problem.”

How They Voted Yea Nay No vote Rep. Moorhead (R) x Rep. Roybal (D) x Rep. Waxman (D) x