The House

Free-Mail Issue

By a vote of 174 to 231, the House defeated legislation (HR 1149) allowing members of Congress to mail copies of the Constitution bearing their name to all households back home. The bill sought to ease franking, or free-mail, rules to permit the onetime mass mailing at a projected cost of $10 million.

Supporter Lindy Boggs (D-La.) said the mailing would be “a great service to all of the people of the United States” in this bicentennial year of the Congress.

Opponent Bill Frenzel (R-Minn.) called the bill “another congressional boondoggle . . . another chance to make ourselves look good at our constituents’ expense.”

Members voting yes supported the bill.

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

The 1990 Budget

By a vote of 263 to 157, the House approved a fiscal 1990 congressional budget resolution that envisions $1.17 trillion in spending, $1.07 trillion in revenues and a deficit of about $99.7 billion.

The measure (HR 106) will guide House and Senate action on individual spending bills for the year beginning Oct. 1, and prod Congress toward Gramm-Rudman-Hollings deficit reduction goals. It also states congressional and presidential priorities for defense, foreign and domestic programs.

Lacking major tax increases or spending cuts, the House budget was widely viewed as a status quo plan that repeats the congressional pattern of pushing tough fiscal decisions into the next year.

Dan Rostenkowski (D-Ill.) voiced support of the measure even though “we lacked the political will on both sides of the aisle to bite the bullet.”

Opponent Bill Schuette (R-Mich.) called the plan “a coverup for inaction, postponing for tomorrow . . . real deficit reduction.”

Members voting yes supported the fiscal 1990 budget plan.

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

Budget Freeze

By a vote of 30 to 393, the House rejected a budget substitute seeking greater deficit reduction primarily at the expense of domestic programs. The amendment by Rep. John Kasich (R-Ohio) sought a 1990 deficit of $91.1 billion rather than the $99.7 billion targeted by the congressional budget resolution (above). It sought to curb Medicare outlays and block inflation-adjusted increases in certain non-entitlement domestic programs, and reaffirmed the defense spending freeze already a part of the resolution.

Members voting yes supported the substitute.

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

Oil Import Fee

The House voted 49 to 373 to reject an alternative fiscal 1990 budget, proposed by Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.) that sought to increase federal revenue by $9 billion annually by levying a fee on imported oil. About $3.2 billion of the yield was to have been applied to deficit reduction and the remainder to domestic initiatives such as anti-drug and anti-poverty programs.

Members voting yes supported a federal fee on imported oil.

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