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| November 19, 1999 | |||
Clinton/Gore Agenda Thwarted
GOP Congress Stands Up for America
As the first session of the 106th Congress comes to completion, its major achievements will surely include the initiatives it did not pass. Many ill-considered policy proposals that would have made Americans less free and less safe -- proposals that would have been enacted into law if the Clinton/Gore Administration and Capitol Hill Democrats had had their way -- were stopped cold by Republican votes. Some of these are described briefly below.
Democrat Proposals Thwarted by Republicans
Gutting Flexibility for Local Schools. A Democrat amendment to a Republican education bill (S. 280, the Education Flexibility Partnership Act, "Ed-Flex") would have severely limited which schools could exercise greater control over educational decisions. The result would have been keeping schools out of the Ed-Flex program -- and instead remaining under the thumb of the Washington educationist bureaucracy. The amendment was defeated, with 100 percent of Republicans voting against it -- and for local schools (Recorded Vote Analysis No. 30, 3/3/99).
Gutting Flexibility for Local Schools -- Second Try. Having failed to gut Ed-Flex by exempting schools, the Democrats tried next to exempt specified federal programs. The result -- if Democrats had been in charge -- would have been the same: less local flexibility, more federal control. But this amendment was defeated too, with 100 percent of Republicans voting against sacred-cow education programs and for local school flexibility (RVA No. 47, 3/11/99).
Keeping Taxes Higher, Mandating More Federal Spending. A Democrat amendment to the FY 2000 Budget Resolution (S. Con. Res. 20) would have withheld $64.224 billion in tax relief in favor of federal pork projects. Republicans (93 percent) voted to return this money to the people to whom it belongs: the taxpayers (RVA No. 69, 3/25/99).
Creating New Hurdles to Private Gun Sales Between Law-Abiding Citizens. In their never-ending quest to abolish the rights of American citizens to keep and bear arms pursuant to the Second Amendment, Democrats supported a Lautenberg amendment to the juvenile justice reform bill that effectively would have banned gun shows. With the support of 89 percent of Republican Senators, this Democrat effort to target honest citizens instead of criminals was defeated (RVA No. 111, 5/12/99). (NOTE: While the Lautenberg language later passed the Senate only with a tie-breaking vote cast by Al Gore (RVA 134, 5/20/99), it is not expected to be included in the final juvenile justice bill.)
Mandating New Federal Spending to Hire More School Social Workers. A Democrat amendment to the juvenile justice reform bill would have mandated the outlay of $340 million to create a new federal program to hire public school counselors, psychologists, and social workers. The money could not be used either for increased school security or for teachers, books, or other items directly related to education. With 100 percent of Republicans voting against it, the amendment went down to defeat (RVA No. 128, 5/19/99).
Demanding Racial Quotas for Youth Criminality. Democrats supported an amendment to a juvenile justice bill that would have made a state's receipt of funds contingent on reducing the "disproportionate" number of minority youth under process in the justice system. In effect, the states would have to adopt an affirmative-action approach to arresting and punishing juvenile offenders according to racial quotas -- or lose federal funds on account of their presumed "racism." Republicans (95 percent) put an end to this outrageous idea (RVA No. 130, 5/12/99).
Requiring Military Hospitals to Become Abortion Clinics. A Democrat amendment to the defense authorization bill would have removed the ban on use of overseas federal military facilities for performing abortions. With 89 percent of Republicans opposed, military hospitals will remain medical facilities, not abortion facilities (RVA No. 148, 5/26/99).
Mandating Unilateral Destruction of U.S. Nuclear Deterrent. Democrats tried to pass an amendment to the defense authorization bill mandating the destruction of certain nuclear missiles below the limits of applicable arms control agreements. This amendment went down to defeat, with 95 percent of Republicans voting to preserve the integrity of America's deterrent capability (RVA No. 149, 5/26/99).
Imposing Regulations, Costing Millions of Americans Their Health Insurance. A Democrat amendment would have imposed costly mandates on health care providers and enabled new lawsuits against employers, resulting in millions of Americans losing their health insurance coverage and increasing premiums for virtually everyone. Republican votes (96 percent) ensured that Americans would keep health care access (RVA No. 182, 6/22/99).
Federalizing Health Care and Increasing Costs. In a series of amendments, Democrats attempted (1) a federal takeover of health insurance regulation (traditionally a state responsibility), (2) enriching trial lawyers at the expense of patients and employers, and (3) writing a definition of "medical necessity" into federal law -- putting federal bureaucrats and lawyers between patients and their doctors. Each of these Democrat big-government measures that would have increased health insurance costs, limited choice, and deprived millions of Americans of their insurance was defeated by solid (at least 95 percent) Republican opposition (RVA Nos. 198-210, 7/13-15/99).
Stopping Mining on Federal Lands, Killing Jobs. A Democrat amendment to the Interior appropriations bill legislatively would have ratified an ill-advised bureaucratic redefinition of what constitutes a "mill site" in a manner that would have barred almost all mining operations from federal lands -- and thrown tens of thousands of workers out of their jobs and devastated hundreds of communities. Republicans (83 percent) gave this amendment the shaft and preserved the jobs of American mining workers (RVA No. 223, 7/27/99).
Stopping Timber Harvests on Federal Lands, Killing Jobs. Another Democrat amendment would have facilitated the federal bureaucracy's use of an injudicious and overly restrictive standard (invented by two federal judges) for timber harvesting permits on federal land. With 92 percent of Republicans opposed, supporters of this amendment got taken to the woodshed (RVA No. 266, 9/9/99).
Stopping Grazing on Federal Lands, Killing Jobs. A Democrat amendment would have created a major obstacle to renewal of grazing permits on federal land, which would cripple ranching -- a vital part of the economy of several Western states. Republicans (92 percent) voted to hogtie bureaucrats, not ranchers -- and to preserve grazing access (RVA No. 269, 9/9/99).
Throwing More Money at Liberal Taxpayer-Subsidized Broadcasting. Democrats proposed an amendment to the labor/education appropriations bill that would have increased by 40 percent the level of tax dollars going to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which is known for its far-left political bias. In addition, earlier this year it was discovered that 53 CPB affiliates had made their donor lists available to Democrat political organizations. The additional funds were denied, with Republicans (100 percent) voting against it (RVA No. 301, 9/30/99).
Seating a Pro-Criminal Judge on the Federal Bench. A Clinton/Gore nominee for a seat on the federal bench, Ronnie L. White, is notorious among law enforcement officers in his home state of Missouri for his decisions favoring murderers, rapists, drug dealers, and other heinous criminals. Republicans voted 100 percent (versus a unanimous Democrat vote in his favor) to deny White the federal judgeship (RVA No. 307, 10/5/99).
Committing the United States to a Flawed Treaty. The Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty sent to the Senate for advice and consent by the Clinton/Gore Administration fails every standard by which a treaty is judged to be in the national interest. In a historic rejection, Republicans (93 percent) voted down this unilateral, unenforceable, and unverifiable treaty -- for which every single Democrat Senator voted! -- and to preserve the integrity of the U.S. nuclear deterrent (RVA No. 325, 10/13/99).
Limiting Political Expression in the Name of Campaign "Reform." An amendment supported by the Clinton/Gore Administration and Congressional Democrats would abridge citizens' right to contribute to political parties with whose views they agree while magnifying the clout of labor unions and liberal media. Republicans (85 percent) voted to preserve political free expression and oppose federal government control of politics (Vote No. 331, 10/19/99).
Note on Methodology: The RVAs noted above include only votes on which the measure in question enjoyed over 50 percent Democrat support, and at least 75 percent of Republicans voted against it.
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