The Nation - News from Oct. 9, 1989

Senate Democratic leaders seeking to expedite passage of a giant deficit-reduction bill expressed concern that a proposed expansion of child-care benefits might be lost in the process. The child-care issue apparently was the main one raised in a private bipartisan meeting of Senate leaders. But the only agreement was that meetings would resume Tuesday in an effort to see if hundreds of provisions unrelated to deficit reduction can be stripped from the bill. If the effort is successful, it likely will require that a new bill be originated to include the child-care initiative, an IRA expansion, dozens of other tax provisions and--if the Republicans have their way--a capital-gains tax cut. “Child-care legislation is of the highest priority in this Congress--a far higher priority than a capital gains tax cut,” Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell (D-Me.) told reporters.