THE HOUSE

Israeli Settlements

By a vote of 44 to 378, the House refused to penalize Israel for its policy of settling areas of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The rejected amendment sought to reduce U.S. aid to Israel by $82.5 million, the amount the State Department estimates Israel spends annually to expand into the West Bank and Gaza. The vote occurred as the House sent a fiscal 1992 foreign aid bill (HR 2508) to the Senate.

Sponsor John Bryant (D-Tex.) said Israel’s expansion “can no longer be sanctioned by the studied and timid silence of this House due to our concerns about domestic politics.”

Opponent James H. Saxton (R-N.J.) said House members “should not try to impose your will on our only democratic ally in the Middle East.”

A yes vote was to penalize Israel financially for its settlements policy.

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

Aid to the Soviets

By a vote of 386 to 29, the House adopted an amendment to HR 2508 prohibiting aid to the Soviet Union as long as it continues to provide military aid to Cuba. The vote had little financial impact, because the bill’s only aid to the Soviet Union is $15 million for non-governmental organizations and democratically elected local governments. But it gave lawmakers a platform for denouncing Cuban Premier Fidel Castro.

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) said: “The United States should not indirectly underwrite this murderous thug (Castro).”

No member spoke against the amendment.

A yes vote opposed U.S. aid to the Soviet Union if it continues to aid Cuba.

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

Restoring Oversight Money

By a vote of 341 to 52, the House restored $105 million to launch the Chief Financial Officers Act, an anti-fraud measure passed last year to prevent recurrences of executive branch financial scandals such as the one at HUD in the 1980s. The vote occurred during debate on the fiscal 1992 appropriations bill (HR 2622) for the Treasury Department, White House and other units.

Under the act, each department and major agency would get a controller charged with modernizing financial systems and establishing and policing safeguards against fraud.

“The U.S. government is a $1.4-trillion enterprise,” said sponsor John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.). “We cannot afford not to have a controller minding the store.”

Opponent Jamie L. Whitten (D-Miss.) said the act gives too much power to the Office of Management and Budget, which would administer it.

A yes vote was to fund the Chief Financial Officers Act.

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

Source: Roll Call Report Syndicate