HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Replacements for Striking Workers

The House passed and sent to the Senate a bill (HR 5) to prohibit employers from hiring permanent replacements for workers who are striking over economic issues or working conditions. The bill is the AFL-CIO’s top legislative priority and is opposed by business groups such as the National Assn. of Manufacturers.

Sponsor William L. Clay (D-Mo.) said the bill is needed because employers “attempt to bust workers’ unions by forcing labor disputes into the streets.”

Opponent Richard Armey (R-Tex.) said the bill would spawn “a wave of strikes that will disrupt the economy on a large scale.”

The vote was 237 for and 151 against. A yes vote supported the bill.

How They Voted Yea Nay No vote Rep. Dreier (R) x Rep. Kim (R) x Rep. Martinez (D) x Rep. Moorhead (R) x Rep. Torres (D) x

Proposal to Eliminate Aid to Russia

The House rejected an amendment to eliminate $1.6 billion for Russia from a bill (HR 2295) appropriating more than $13 billion in U.S. economic, military and humanitarian aid to countries around the globe.

Conservative backers of the amendment said Russian aid should be conditioned on Moscow advancing U.S. interests in hostile nations like Cuba, and collateralized by Russia’s mineral wealth. Many liberals objected to helping Russia at the expense of important social initiatives at home.

Amendment foe David R. Obey (D-Wis.) said “we are finally at the point where it may be possible to finish the job as far as the old Soviet Union is concerned, and we owe it to every person who died in World War II, the Korean War and in Vietnam” to provide the aid.

The vote was 140 for and 289 against. A yes vote was to strip $1.6 billion in Russian aid from a fiscal 1993-94 foreign aid bill.

How They Voted Yea Nay No vote Rep. Dreier (R) x Rep. Kim (R) x Rep. Martinez (D) x Rep. Moorhead (R) x Rep. Torres (D) x

Agency That Distributes Foreign Aid

The House derailed an attempt to terminate the Agency for International Development in September, 1994, and then distribute U.S. aid through a new structure to the 50 countries where it best serves American interests. The vote instead gave the Clinton Administration 60 days to propose its own overhaul of the agency. Lee H. Hamilton (D-Ind.) said “the Administration is clearly committed to reform. . . . To get reform, we have to work with the Administration. We cannot dictate to it.”

Benjamin A. Gilman (R-N.Y.) said Congress should close “a demoralized, discredited agency and replace it with a structure that meets our foreign assistance objectives in the post-Cold War era.”

The vote was 246 for and 186 against. A yes vote opposed terminating the Agency for International Development.

How They Voted Yea Nay No vote Rep. Dreier (R) x Rep. Kim (R) x Rep. Martinez (D) x Rep. Moorhead (R) x Rep. Torres (D) x

Source: Roll Call Report Syndicate