The House : Funding Curb

By a vote of 209 for and 216 against, the House rejected an amendment to freeze spending for the National Endowment for Democracy, blocking a proposed 58% budget hike. This left intact legislation to raise the endowment’s $15.8-million budget to $25 million next year. The vote occurred as the House sent to the Senate a bill authorizing $4.9 billion for the State Department in fiscal 1990.

The endowment sends federal appropriations to the Republican and Democratic parties, the AFL-CIO and the Chamber of Commerce, which use the money primarily to promote democratic reform around the world.

John Conyers (D-Mich.) said the endowment “has become a pseudo entity of the U.S. government . . . often embarrassing our government.”

Henry Hyde (R-Ill.) who opposed the amendment, said “anything that advances the cause of democracy in places that are inhospitable to democracy . . . is money well spent.”

Members voting yes wanted to block a 58% spending increase for the National Endowment for Democracy.

How They Voted Yea Nay No vote Rep. Beilenson (D) x Rep. Berman (D) x Rep. Dixon (D) x Rep. Levine (D) x Rep. Waxman (D) x

Contra Aid

The House passed, 309 for and 110 against, a bill putting into effect the new Nicaraguan policy of the Bush Administration and the Democratic-led Congress. The package includes nearly $50 million in non-military aid to keep the Contra rebels assembled in Honduras until it becomes known whether Nicaragua’s Marxist government will keep its promise to hold elections next February. It could lead to the contras being disbanded.

Supporter Matthew McHugh (D-N.Y.) said: “This new policy recognizes that the Contra war is over.”

Opponent Dan Burton (R-Ind.) said: “If we don’t vote for this package, the freedom fighters die now. If we do vote for it, they die in seven months.”

Members voting yes supported the new U.S. policy toward Nicaragua.

How They Voted Yea Nay No vote Rep. Beilenson (D) x Rep. Berman (D) x Rep. Dixon (D) x Rep. Levine (D) x Rep. Waxman (D) x