Family Leave Bill Veto Is Upheld : Legislation: Override effort for measure requiring unpaid time off falls 27 votes short in the House. The President retains his perfect record on vetoes.

A sharply divided House upheld President Bush’s veto of the politically sensitive family leave bill Wednesday, falling 27 votes short of overriding his rejection of the measure that has been embraced by his Democratic opponent, Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton.

The action doomed the legislation for this year, but the controversy appeared certain to grow in the final weeks of the presidential campaign, especially if Bush and Clinton meet in face-to-face debates.

Proponents needed 285 votes to enact the law over the veto, but the vote was 258 to 169. By failing to come up with the required two-thirds majority needed to override, the House enabled Bush to retain his perfect veto record. He has vetoed 35 bills and Congress has been unable to overturn any of them.

Family leave proponents declared they would renew the battle in the new Congress and predicted that Clinton would sign a bill with even stronger protections if he wins the White House on Nov. 3.

“The President has made a very bad mistake,” said Speaker Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.). “It is one of the things that the Clinton campaign is committed to change and that the Congress in great majority is committed to support.”

But the President’s allies said it was wrong to impose new federal regulations on business.

“This is social engineering at the expense of job creation,” said Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) in summing up his objections to the legislation. “We can’t legislate family values in this country.”

The bill would have required firms with 50 workers or more to grant unpaid leave of up to 12 weeks for childbirth or adoption, for illness or to care for a sick child or dying parent. The firms would have been required to continue health insurance for workers on leave and guarantee them the same or an equivalent job when they returned.

The Democratic-controlled Congress and the President squared off in several other veto battles as well:

* The House voted 345 to 74 to override Bush’s veto of a bill that would deny China most-favored-nation trading advantages unless it met specific conditions on human rights, trade and weapons proliferation. The outcome of the vote scheduled for today in the Senate was uncertain.

* The House pushed through a bill, by voice vote, that would authorize $800 million for innovative education programs in school districts selected by state and local authorities. While it incorporates some proposals by the President, the Administration’s objections to other provisions could block passage of the bill in the Senate. Bush also may veto it to underscore Congress’ refusal to include his “school choice” plan, which would provide federal subsidies for parents who send their children to private or parochial schools.

* Backing down after Bush used his 35th veto to reject a bill that would have allowed the local government of Washington, D.C., to use local tax revenues to pay for abortions for poor women, the House and Senate quickly removed the offending provision and sent the D.C. appropriations bill back to the President. The House voted 230 to 160 for the revised bill and the Senate approved it by voice vote.

Bush recently proposed an alternative to the family leave measure that would provide tax credits of up to $1,200 per employee to firms that adopt similar family leave policies voluntarily. His allies in Congress said the plan would include many more workers in smaller firms.

Rep. Patricia Schroeder (D-Colo.), an original sponsor of the bill, derided Bush’s last-minute move, saying: “The President’s bill is nothing but asbestos underwear . . . to cover his backside during a campaign.”

Another leading proponent of the family leave bill, Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), said that the demise of the measure at this session did not mean the fight was over.

“We may have lost the battle, but we have not lost the war,” Dodd said in a statement after the House vote. “We are closer than ever before to ensuring that guaranteed family leave is the law of the land.”

Although the measure, long advocated by women’s groups and organized labor, failed in the House, the Senate last Thursday achieved the required margin for an override in a 68-31 roll call vote. It marked the first time the Senate voted to override since the President took office.

In the 258-169 House vote Wednesday, 219 Democrats, 38 Republicans and one independent opposed Bush while 127 Republicans and 42 Democrats sided with the President.

While Democrats and the President differ strongly over many measures, very few carry such an emotional wallop as the family and medical leave bill that has been under consideration on Capitol Hill for seven years.

Democratic leaders delayed final passage of the latest version of the bill until September, knowing that the President would have to veto it during the election campaign and take any political fallout that resulted.

In one of the more biting commentaries, Rep. Joseph Kennedy said: “It’s ironic that with a veto like this, his (Bush’s) family will soon be leaving.”

“He’s now known as the Godfather of the Capitol--Veto Bush,” said Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. (D-Ohio). “Override the President’s veto and let’s keep his word that he’s pro-family.”

Advocates of the legislation insisted that it was designed to deal with real-life problems, not make political points for either Democrats or Republicans.

“As long as workers continue to lose their jobs during family and medical emergencies--the very times when they are most vulnerable and most need economic security--we will continue the fight to enact this bill,” said Judith L. Lichtman, chairwoman of the national family and medical leave coalition.

“As long as workers are forced to choose between their families and their jobs, this issue won’t go away,” Lichtman added. “Neither will we. We will build on the enormous strides made in this congressional session to ensure that job-guaranteed family and medical leave soon becomes the law of the land.”

Opponents were just as adamant about what they termed a “one-size-fits-all” family leave plan that would impose additional government requirements on businesses without consideration of the cost or of their employees’ wishes.

“Sometimes a single issue illuminates an entire (election) campaign,” said House Minority Leader Robert H. Michel (R-Ill.), arguing that family leave was a good practice but was a matter to be worked out between each business and its employees.

Rep. Dick Armey (R-Tex.) supported the veto, saying the bill “would reduce the freedom of working people to exercise their rights” by imposing a benefit that they might not want and thus prevent them from obtaining other benefits they might prefer, such as life insurance or additional paid time off.

Proponents of the vetoed bill agreed that the issue would frame the 1992 presidential campaign but differed on how voters would react.

Speaking before the override vote, Rep. Barbara Boxer (D-Greenbrae) said: “Today . . . we’re going to find out who’s for kids and who’s just kidding; who’s for families and who’s just faking it.”

And the floor manager of the bill, Rep. William D. Ford (D-Mich.), reacted angrily to the House’s failure to override Bush’s veto.

“If I’m reelected (and remain as chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee), I’ll put a good bill on President Clinton’s desk and he’ll sign it,” Ford asserted.

Despite the many confrontations over the bill, the outcome of Wednesday’s vote indicated that few minds have been changed on the issue since Bush vetoed an earlier version of the legislation two years ago.

Proponents have been able to get a strong majority for family leave bills and several Republicans who opposed the previous measure became supporters this time around. But a veto-proof majority remains elusive since 42 Democrats have ignored leadership pleas to vote to override, even though many of them hold second-level leadership positions.

Vote on Family Leave Veto

Here is how members of the California delegation voted in an effort to override President Bush’s veto of the family and medical leave bill:

Democrats for overriding the veto--Anderson, Beilenson, Berman, Boxer, Brown, Condit, Dellums, Dixon, Dooley, Edwards, Fazio, Lantos, Lehman, Levine, Martinez, Matsui, Miller, Mineta, Panetta, Pelosi, Roybal, Stark, Torres, Waters, Waxman.

Republicans for--Campbell.

Democrats against--None.

Republicans against--Cox, Cunningham, Dannemeyer, Doolittle, Dornan, Dreier, Gallegly, Herger, Hunter, Lagomarsino, Lewis, Lowery, McCandless, Moorhead, Packard, Riggs, Rohrabacher, Thomas.

Democrats not voting--Dymally.

The Veto Count: How Bush Compares

President Bush has vetoed 35 bills during his presidency; none has been overridden by Congress. Here is how he compares to other recent presidents:

Vetoes Overridden Years in office Bush 35 None 3 Reagan 64 9 8 Carter 31 2 4 Ford 66 12 2 1/2 Nixon 43 7 5 1/2 Johnson 30 None 5 Kennedy 21 None 3

Most vetoes: Franklin D. Roosevelt vetoed 635 bills and had nine overridden during his 12-year term.

Fewest vetoes: The following presidents vetoed no bills during their terms: James Garfield, Millard Fillmore, Zachary Taylor, William Henry Harrison, Martin Van Buren, John Quincy Adams, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams.

Source: Senate Library