WE ARE ALMOST THERE!!!!! The Senate passed, 92-8, its Appropriation bill (S. 1061) on 9/11. The Nays were: Ashcroft (R-MO) Coats (R-IN) Faircloth (R-NC) Gramm (R-TX) Helms (R-NC) Inhofe (R-OK) Sessions (R-AL) Smith (R-NH) The Udall bill, being an amendment (S.AMDT.1074), was therefore passed as well. Now the House must complete their work on H.R. 2264, their appropriation bill. A conference committee will then be chosen to iron out differences between the two versions of the bills. Constituents need to contact their Representatives on the Appropriation committee to urge them to accept the Senate version of the bill. I will repost an earlier message that lists all the members on the committee. Margaret Tuchman Happy in NJ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AAU Washington News Summary http://www.tulane.edu/~aau/LatestNews.html For the Week of September 6-September 12, 1997 Appropriations The House and Senate this week continued debating their FY'98 Labor/HHS/Education appropriations bills (H.R. 2264 and S. 1061). In the House, the debate was protracted by a group of about 20 GOP conservatives, who forced consideration of a long string of amendments as a means of protesting the large domestic-spending increase the bill contains. After many days of having their amendments defeated by large margins, the dissidents on 9/10 finally cut a deal on the remaining major issues, thus paving the way for final passage of that measure. However, the deal required action on a number of still-pending amendments, and the House did not complete that process this week. As has been noted above, final passage is now expected on or about next Tuesday. There was no such protest in the Senate, but the debate there was also lengthy. The Senate finally passed its bill 9/11 by a vote of 92-8. During its debate this week, the Senate: 9/8 adopted 84-4 an amendment by Jack Reed (D-RI) to restore $35 million for the State Students Incentive Grants (SSIG) program. 9/9 rejected 45-54 an amendment by John McCain (R-AZ) to repeal a reconciliation bill provision that offers incentives to medical schools nationwide to reduce the number of medical residents. 9/11 adopted 51-49 an amendment by Slade Gorton (R-WA) that would fold about $11 billion worth of major K-12 programs into a single block-grant program for local school districts. This amendment is highly controversial, and some are saying it could lead to a veto if it is retained in the final version of the bill. House Appropriations Chairman Robert Livingston (R-LA) and the panel's ranking member, David Obey (D-WI), 9/9 sent a letter to Appropriations Committee members saying they intend, if needed, to pass a clean continuing resolution that would run until 10/9 to give Congress time to complete all FY'98 appropriations. CongressDaily reported 9/11 that House Speaker Gingrich was urging key House and Senate players on the VA/HUD/Independent Agencies appropriations bill to settle their differences over Section 8 housing issues so the bill could move forward in conference. ====================================== DEFINITIONS CONFEREE is a congressperson named as a negotiator for his/her chamber in discussions with the other house. Formally known as "managers," the conferees meet in a conference committee to resolve differences on bills. A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION is used to take action or express opinion on behalf of both the House and Senate. It does not make law. Uses include fixing adjournment dates & setting the annual congressional budget. CONFERENCE refers to a series of formal meetings between House and Senate members. The purpose of a conference is to reconcile the differences between the two chambers' version of a bill. A CONFERENCE COMMITTEE is created to resolve differences between similar versions of a House and Senate bill. A CONFERENCE REPORT refers to the final version of a bill negotiated by House and Senate conferees. It also contains the "statement of managers," a section-by-section explanation of the agreement. A CONTINUING RESOLUTION, also known as a "CR," continues funding for a program if the fiscal year ends without a new appropriation in place. A "CR" provides temporary funding at current levels or less. Margaret Tuchman (55yrs, Dx 1980)- NJ-08540 [log in to unmask]