Space Station

By a vote of 237 to 181, the House refused to go along with an effort to kill the manned space station Freedom by eliminating its funding from a fiscal 1993 appropriations bill (HR 5679). The vote preserved $1.73 billion for the project. About $10 billion has been spent to date toward the estimated $30-billion-plus cost of putting the station in operation by the end of the century.

Amendment supporter David Obey (D-Wis.) called Freedom “a flying pork machine” that is politically popular because NASA put space station contracts in a majority of congressional districts.

Opponent Mary Rose Oakar (D-Ohio) said: “Either we maintain our industrial and technological base, or we lose it. Japan and France are waiting in the wings to take over another industry of ours.”

A yes vote was to eliminate funding for the space station.

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

To Fund TV Marti

By a vote of 215 to 181, the House refused to kill a United States Information Agency television station, TV Marti, that seeks to undermine Cuban Premier Fidel Castro with broadcasts to Cuba. Cuba jams the signal most of the time. The rejected amendment sought to remove $13 million for TV Marti from a fiscal 1993 appropriations bill (HR 5678).

Supporter Chester Atkins (D-Mass.) said, “TV Marti is the Peter Sellers-inspired plan to overthrow Cuba by broadcasting TV sitcoms between 3:30 and 6 in the morning.”

Opponent Larry Smith (D-Fla.) said the Cuban people “will get up at any time of the day or night, as we learned in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, to get the truth about what is going on in the rest of the world.”

A yes vote was to pull the plug on TV Marti.

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

To Reject Spending Cut

By a vote of 290 to 95, the House refused to trim $587 million in non-entitlement spending from fiscal 1993 appropriations for the departments of Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services. This $244.1-billion measure (HR 5677) is the second-most-costly of the 13 regular appropriations bills, ranking behind the defense budget. About 74% of its spending is on entitlements such as Social Security and Medicaid, which are protected by law against cuts.

Sponsor Dan Burton (R-Ind.) said, “We are $4 trillion in debt . . . and by the year 2000 . . . we are going to be over $13 trillion in debt--probably more like $15 trillion.”

Opponent William Natcher (D-Ky.) said the cut would harm programs for job training, AIDS research, tuberculosis treatment and childhood immunization, among others.

A yes vote supported the spending cut.

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