WASHINGTON WATCH: CONTRACT SUCCESSES KEEP COMING

Activity remains fast-paced in Washington as Republicans continue to push ahead in passing major elements of their Contract With America.Last week the House of Representatives approved sweeping welfare legislation that would create block grants for state welfare programs, impose a five-year limit on cash benefits, ban cash aid to unmarried parents under age 18 and repeal the automatic guarantee to benefits for low-income mothers and their children. The legislation goes to the Senate where a bitter debate is expected. President Clinton, who once promised "to end welfare as we know it," has hinted he would veto the current legislation unless significant changes are made.

Line-item veto

On Thursday the Senate passed its version of the line-item veto, co-sponsored by Sen. John Ashcroft of Missouri. The legislation, long-favored by Republican politicians, vastly expands presidential powers to cut individual items of congressional spending. Ashcroft praised the 69-29 vote as an important step in getting the budget under control.

"Last month's defeat of the balanced budget amendment, which will be revisited, was a tragedy," said Ashcroft. "But it was not end of the war to get spending under control. Right now the federal government is mortgaging the future of the next generation. We need a strong country that will provide the foundation for our children to be prosperous. The line-item veto will help do just that."

The legislation goes to a conference committee, where differences with a bill already passed by the House must be ironed out. President Clinton is expected to sign the final legislation.

Unfunded mandates

Another element of the contract that saw action last week was a bill prohibiting Congress from mandating state or local programs without paying for them. Passed the previous week by both chambers of Congress, President Clinton signed the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act into law on Wednesday. The law will apply only to future mandates, leaving in place provisions of the Clean Water Act, the motor-voter law and other controversial measures passed in the last few years.

Family tax cuts

Although it has yet to be debated outside of committee, a tax-cut bill passed by the House Ways and Means committee met opposition from some Republican legislators last week. At last count 109 members of the GOP, including Rep. Bill Emerson of Cape Girardeau, had signed a letter to the Rules Committee asking it to allow an amendment to the bill lowering eligibility for a $500 per-child tax credit to families earning no more than $95,000, rather than the $200,000 as promised in the Contract With America. While Republican leaders defended the original eligibility level, the drafters of the letter maintained that the change would save $12 billion to $14 billion while also addressing Democrats charges that the tax cut was a giveaway to the rich.

Term limits

The main legislative topic this week will be a constitutional amendment establishing term limits for members of Congress. Debate began in the House of Representatives yesterday and is expected to last until the end of the week. While the issue has considerable public support, Republicans in Congress will not only have to convince a sizable number within their own ranks to reverse their positions, but they will have to persuade at least 70 Democrats to join the cause as well. There are four major versions of the term-limits legislation, each with its own champions. The matter promises to be a tricky challenge for Newt Gingrich, who has made term limits a high priority after originally wavering on the issue

A bellwether for how the argument is going might be Cape Girardeau's Emerson, who has been opposed to term limits in the past but has reserved final judgment until hearing a full debate on the matter. Past Congresses, controlled by Democrats, did not allow term-limits legislation to come to the House floor, so there has been no significant congressional debate on the matter previously. A report in the Washington Times last Wednesday that Emerson could announce his support for term limits "as early as today" was discounted by his press secretary as the ploy of a term limits advocacy group.Jon K. Rust is a Washington-based writer for the Southeast Missourian.