Missouri's two U.S. senators weighed in on opposite sides of a vote on affirmative action.

Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond voted with Democrats and a minority of Republicans last week to uphold a program that steers billions of dollars in federal highway projects to companies owned by minorities and women.

The program is included in the new federal highway bill being considered by Congress.

Missouri's senior senator voted against conservative efforts to eliminate the affirmative action program out of concern that it could have led President Clinton to veto the highway bill.

Sen. John Ashcroft voted for the amendment, which would have eliminated the affirmative action program. Ashcroft said contracts shouldn't be awarded on the basis of race or gender.

Bond viewed the vote differently. "Sen. Bond did not want to jeopardize $3.6 billion in highway funds for Missouri over six years," said Leanne Jerome, Bond's communications director.

Jerome said President Clinton had indicated he would veto any highway bill that eliminated the affirmative action program.

But Steve Hilton, Ashcroft's spokesman, said Tuesday that his boss voted solely on the merits of the issue.

In Senate debate last week, Ashcroft argued against awarding construction contracts on the basis of race. "You don't end racial discrimination by promoting racial discrimination," he said.

Ashcroft said the U.S. Supreme Court has declared such set-asides "constitutionally suspect."

The Supreme Court's decision in a 1995 case involving federal highway funds was followed up last June by a federal district court ruling. The district court ruled that race-based set-asides were unconstitutional, Ashcroft said.

Hilton said Ashcroft wants Missouri to get its share of federal highway dollars. But the senator doesn't believe that "rumors of a possible veto" should control the legislative process, Hilton said.

Voting against a measure over fear of a veto puts the president in charge of the legislative process, Hilton said.

"If you take that approach, then aren't you really telling the president to go ahead and write the bill, and we will vote for it?" Hilton said.

Bond has been a strong proponent of the new, $173 billion highway bill. It would provide $200 million more annually in federal highway money for Missouri. On average, Missouri would get $600 million in each of the next six years.

Federal funding for highway projects in Missouri would be boosted by the highway bill.

Missouri currently receives about 80 cents of each federal gas-tax dollar paid by the state's motorists. The new highway bill would give Missouri 92 cents of each tax dollar, Jerome said.

Senators voted 58-37 to reject a conservative effort led by Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to eliminate the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program from the highway bill. The program was enacted in 1983. It encourages the awarding of 10 percent of federal highway construction spending to companies owned by minorities and women.

In place of the set-aside program, McConnell proposed an outreach program to help emerging small businesses.

Forty-three Democrats and 15 Republicans voted to reject McConnell's amendment. Thirty-six Republicans and one Democrat voted for it.

It was the first vote testing the sentiment of the 105th Congress on affirmative action.

Some conservatives have accused the 15 Republicans of being unprincipled for voting to retain the affirmative action program. Six of the 15 Republicans are up for re-election this fall.

But Jerome said Bond's vote had nothing to do with his re-election effort. She said the senator's priority has been to secure more federal highway dollars for Missouri.

Jerome said Bond believes the Senate should take up affirmative action as a separate issue apart from the federal highway bill.

Bond wants the Senate to debate a broader bill by McConnell that deals with set-asides in various federal programs.

"If you look at the whole issue of set-asides in federal programs, you have a different situation in almost every program," Jerome said. "There is no sort of universal rule for federal contracts."

Jerome said Bond has opposed hiring quotas in the past but supported funding for some set-aside programs.

The overall issue of affirmative action remains a topic of debate in Congress.

"I think the issue is going to come up again," Jerome said.