House Republicans are stamping their new, more moderate imprint on social spending, even as fraying election-year GOP unity has cost conservatives trying to rein federal efforts against workplace injuries.
In a marathon debate that stretched until nearly an hour after midnight, the House voted 216-209 Friday to approve a $65.7 billion measure for 1997 financing education, health, labor and other domestic programs. The Senate has yet to write its own version of the bill, one of the biggest of Congress' 13 annual spending measures.Because the bill provides $7.8 billion less than President Clinton wants, it has drawn a White House veto threat. But the measure perfectly illustrates this year's GOP drive to abandon some of the deep cuts sought a year ago and to emphasize programs the party is seeking to expand, such as initiatives for preventing violence against women.
"While we move toward balancing the budget," the GOP will "maintain our commitment to some of the most vulnerable people we have," said Rep. Susan Molinari, R-N.Y., at a news conference where several Republicans sounded themes that could have come from Democrats.
As the GOP tries to distance itself from the "extremist" label Clinton and Democrats have sought to attach to them, some conservative goals have suffered.
One fell by the wayside Thursday as the House voted to let the Occupational Safety and Health Administration take actions to prevent repetitive stress injuries, one of the American workplace's fastest growing health hazards.
By a 216-205 roll call, the House rejected a conservative provision in the bill that would have forbidden OSHA from collecting data on such injuries and preparing guidelines to prevent them. Rep. Henry Bonilla, R-Texas, who sponsored the expunged language, said the regulations would cost jobs and cut business profits, and said companies could protect their workers by themselves.
"I wish they understood the interests of small business," Bonilla told reporters after the vote, referring to the 35 Republicans who opposed his language. He attributed the vote to "members who feared the strong arm of labor."