Bush Seeks Senators’ Support on Budget

With all but the final touches completed, President Bush launched a concerted effort Tuesday to win congressional approval of the revised $1.16-trillion budget that he will unveil Thursday night in a nationally televised speech to Congress.

Traveling to the Capitol to meet first with Republican senators and then with Democrats, Bush pledged “a strong beginning” in meeting his campaign commitments to boost governmental support for education, the environment and anti-narcotics programs. But he warned that his proposals “won’t make everybody happy.”

At the same time, William J. Bennett, Bush’s nominee to be federal drug czar, signaled that the President will restore funds cut in Ronald Reagan’s Administration for state and local anti-drug initiatives. He indicated that the budget will contain a significant increase over the $5.14 billion proposed by Reagan for federal drug programs in the 1990 fiscal year.

“Take a look at the budget,” Bennett told reporters after an appearance before the U.S. Conference of Mayors. “I think you’ll see that the President is very sensitive to this and very responsive.”

Bush’s decision to meet with senators on their own turf, instead of summoning them to the White House, reflected a continuing effort to woo support from both parties. The President appeared to be trying to avoid the confrontational relationship that developed between Reagan and Congress. Lacking the communications skills that enabled Reagan to mobilize public support for his programs, Bush instead has adopted a strategy of going straight to Congress to seek its backing.

After lunch with the Republican senators, Bush strolled, without considerable advance notice, to a nearby meeting of the Democratic senators.

“When I say to the leaders that I would like to hear your proposals and I want to do some serious negotiating, I mean it,” he told them.

He expressed appreciation for the initial support that greeted the proposals he announced Monday to resolve the crisis among the nation’s savings and loan industry. But, displaying a well-developed sense of lowering expectations, he added: “I’m not sure the proposals I make Thursday night will receive the same generous reception.”

After Bush met during the morning with Vice President Dan Quayle, Treasury Secretary Nicholas F. Brady, Budget Director Richard G. Darman and Michael J. Boskin, his chief economic adviser, Fitzwater said: “All of the major decisions on the budget have been made, most of the smaller ones as well.”

In the area of the environment, which Bush stressed during the presidential campaign, knowledgeable sources said this week that they expect no major new program. Instead, they said, Bush is likely to reiterate his hope that an international conference will be convened to address the world’s environmental issues.