HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Extension of Jobless Benefits

The House appropriated $4 billion in immediate deficit spending to provide up to 26 weeks of additional unemployment checks for those who have exhausted their initial 26 weeks of benefits. The bill (HR 1335) was sent to President Clinton. It was all that he and congressional Democrats could salvage from a $19 billion-plus economic stimulus proposal that hours earlier fell victim to Republican opposition in the Senate.

Supporter Vic Fazio (D-West Sacramento) said Republicans who blocked the stimulus bill “are slapping the jobless in the face and slapping each other, giving each other high fives. It’s putting politics before people and I think that’s pathetic.”

Opponent Porter J. Goss (R-Fla.) said the $4 billion “should be paid for by cutting wasteful spending. In fact, many members have presented dozens of specific cuts . . . to save that $4 billion and tens of billions more.”

The vote was 301 for and 114 against. A yes vote supported $4 billion in deficit spending to provide checks to the long-term jobless.

How They Voted Yea Nay No vote Rep. Beilenson (D) x Rep. Dixon (D) x Rep. Harman (D) x Rep. Waxman (D) x

George Washington’s Birthplace

The House passed a bill (S 326) authorizing federal acquisition of 12 acres to be added to the park in Westmoreland County, Va., that commemorates George Washington’s birthplace. Taxpayers are to supply an estimated $50,000 to $100,000 for the land abutting Pope’s Creek Plantation, where the nation’s first President was born in 1732. Supporter Herbert H. Bateman (R-Va.) said the land acquisition will “ensure proper protection of this small but important part of America’s heritage.”

No one spoke against the bill. The vote was 314 for and 93 against. A yes vote was to pass the bill.

How They Voted Yea Nay No vote Rep. Beilenson (D) x Rep. Dixon (D) x Rep. Harman (D) x Rep. Waxman (D) x

Source: Roll Call Report Syndicate