Rave Radio: Offline (0/0)
Email: Password:
Anonymous
New Account
Forgot Password
News (Media Awareness Project) - US TX: How Texans Voted
Title:US TX: How Texans Voted
Published On:1997-03-25
Fetched On:2008-09-08 20:55:27
Contact Info for The Houston Chronicle
Computing dwight.silverman@chron.com
Content Manager jim.townsend@chron.com
Content Coordinator mike.read@chron.com
Community Content susana.melton@chron.com
Daily Content david.galloway@chron.com
FAX: HOUSTON CHRONICLE HOUSTON TX 17132207171;

WASHINGTON How the Texas congressional delegation voted
on selected issues last week:

Senate 1. Campaign Finance: Defeated, 6138, a proposed
constitutional amendment enabling Congress and the states
to set campaign spending and contribution limits. The
measure (SJ Res 18) was aimed at a 1976 U.S. Supreme Court
ruling, Buckley vs. Valeo, which held that spending on
campaigns is political speech and thus protected by the
First Amendment. A yes vote was to amend the Constitution
to allow limits on campaign spending.

2.Independent Counsel: Voted, 5544, to urge Attorney
Gen.

Janet Reno to appoint an independent counsel to probe
Democratic Party fundraising for President Clinton's 1996
reelection campaign. The Republican measure (SJ Res 22)
is not binding on Reno. A yes vote was to urge appointment
of an independent counsel.

3. Congress: Killed, 5841, a Democratic proposal (SJ
Res 23) that Atty. Gen. Janet Reno use her own ""best
professional judgment'' on whether an outside counsel is
needed to investigate 1996 campaign fundraising. The
measure said any such probe should cover members of
Congress as well as the ClintonGore ticket. A yes vote
opposed including Congress in any campaign fundraising
probe by an independent counsel.

4. Mexico: Approved, 945, a measure (HJ Res 58) that,
in effect, upholds President Clinton's recent
""certification'' of Mexico as a worthy partner in the
international war against drugs. At the same time, the
measure criticizes Mexico's antidrug efforts and sets
specific goals for improvement.

Avoiding ""decertification""enables Mexico to continue
receiving full economic aid from the United States and
certain international development banks. A yes vote was to
allow Mexico to continue as a ""certified'' partner in the
war against drugs.

1 2 3 4. Gramm(R)College Station N Y Y Y

Hutchison(R)Dallas N Y Y Y.

House 1. 'Comp Time': Passed, 222210, a bill (HR 1)
allowing private sector employers to provide compensatory
time off, in place of overtime pay, to nonprofessional
employees. Present law requires that workers be paid
timeandahalf for overtime. Under the bill, they could
choose either the extra pay or ""comp time'' at a rate of
1.5 hours for each hour above 40. The measure applies to
nonunion shops. A yes vote was to pass the bill.

2. Democratic Plan: Rejected, 237193, wholesale changes
in a Republican bill granting compensatory time off in
place of overtime (HR 1, above). The Democratic substitute
provided workers with many more rights at the expense of
employers, including power to schedule their compensatory
days off, protections for parttime workers, guarantees
that ""comp time'' be credited toward Social Security and
pensions, and suretybond protections for accrued wages and
time off in the event of employer bankruptcy. A yes vote
backed the Democratic version of the bill.

3.Abortion: Passed, 295136, a bill (HR 1122) making it
a federal crime for doctors to perform a lateterm abortion
in which they partially deliver the fetus and then
terminate it. Critics call this infanticide, while
defenders say the procedure, however gruesome, sometimes is
necessary to save the mother's life or protect her
longterm health. The bill passed Congress last year but
was successfully vetoed by President Clinton. A yes vote
was to pass the bill.

1 2 3

Archer(R)Houston Y N Y

Armey(R)Irving Y N Y

Barton(R)Ennis Y N Y

Bentsen(D)Houston N Y N

Bonilla(R)San Antonio Y N Y

Brady(R)The Woodlands Y N Y

Combest(R)Lubbock Y N Y

DeLay(R)Sugar Land Y N Y

Doggett(D)Austin N Y N

Edwards(D)Waco N Y N

Frost(D)Dallas N Y N

Gonzalez(D)San Antonio N Y N

Granger(R)Fort Worth Y N Y

Green(D)Houston N Y N

Hall(D)Rockwall Y N Y

Hinojosa(D)Mercedes N Y Y

Johnson(D)Dallas N Y N

Johnson(R)Plano Y N Y

Lampson(D)Beaumont N Y Y.

Lee(D)Houston N Y N

Ortiz(D)Corpus Christi N Y Y

Paul(R)Surfside Y N Y

Reyes(D)ElPaso N Y Y

Sandlin(D)Marshall N Y Y

Sessions(R)Dallas Y N Y

Smith(R)San Antonio Y N Y

Stenholm(D)Avoca Y N Y

Thornberry(R)Clarendon Y N Y

Turner(D)Crockett N Y Y .

Key: N=No; Y=Yes;
P=Present; A=Absent or did not vote.
Member Comments
No member comments available...