Super Collider

By a vote of 232 to 181, the House voted to kill the Superconducting Super Collider project under development at Waxahachie, Tex. This removed $450 million from a fiscal 1993 appropriations bill (HR 5373), leaving $34 million for shutting down the project. The issue is now before the Senate.

About $1 billion has been appropriated toward the estimated $8.3-billion final cost of the proposed 54-mile oval tunnel for breaking up atoms in high-speed collisions.

Rep. Dennis E. Eckart (D-Ohio), who sponsored the bill, said supporters of a balanced-budget constitutional amendment a week earlier had “an opportunity to put our votes where our voices were.”

Rep. Pete Geren (D-Tex.), who opposed the bill, said that if the Super Collider is killed, “not a single penny will be used for the deficit,” but savings will be spent elsewhere in the budget.

A yes vote was to kill the Super Collider.

How They Voted Rep. Beilenson (D): Yea Rep. Berman (D): Yea Rep. Gallegly (R): Nay Rep. Lewis (R): Yea Rep. Moorhead (R): Nay Rep. Thomas (R): Yea Rep. Waxman (D): Yea

Emergency Aid to Cities

By a vote of 249 to 168, the House sent the Senate a bill (HR 5132) providing $1.1 billion in urban aid that exceeds deficit limits. Nearly $600 million would help Los Angeles rebuild from recent riots and Chicago recover from downtown flooding. The rest would fund summer jobs, with the 75 largest cities getting priority.

The Senate sent the measure to the White House on a non-record vote. Because the bill violates the 1990 budget agreement, President Bush was prepared to declare an emergency to release the funding.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

How They Voted Rep. Beilenson (D): Yea Rep. Berman (D): Yea Rep. Gallegly (R): Nay Rep. Lewis (R): Yea Rep. Moorhead (R): Nay Rep. Thomas (R): Nay Rep. Waxman (D): Yea

‘Motor-Voter’ Bill

By a vote of 268 to 153, the House sent President Bush a bill (S 250) requiring states to make voter registration a voluntary part of applying for a driver’s license and certain other certificates, and to allow registration by mail. Rep. Al Swift (D-Wash.), who supports the bill, said it provides adequate protection against fraudulent registrations.

Minority Leader Robert Michel (R-Ill.) said, “Increasing voter participation at the expense of honest elections is, frankly, not worth the cost.”

A yes vote supported the bill.

How They Voted Rep. Beilenson (D): Yea Rep. Berman (D): Yea Rep. Gallegly (R): Nay Rep. Lewis (R): Nay Rep. Moorhead (R): Nay Rep. Thomas (R): Nay Rep. Waxman (D): Yea