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Washington Digest: Budget passes House, Senate Monday, Mar 17, 2008 By Tony Batt Stephens Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - After a marathon session that featured 44 votes cast in less than 24 hours, the Senate voted 51-44 last week to approve a $3 trillion federal budget for the next fiscal year. Sens. Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor, both D-Ark., voted for the budget. The House voted 212-207 to pass a similar budget, but there are still differences with the Senate version which must be resolved by negotiations between both chambers. Reps. Marion Berry, D-Gillett, Mike Ross, D-Prescott, and Vic Snyder, D-Little Rock, voted for the budget. Rep. John Boozman, R-Rogers, voted against it. The budgets reflected the priorities of the Democratic majorities for taxes and spending in the coming year. A key vote during the budget debate included a proposal to ban federal spending on local projects for one year. Advocates of the moratorium on so-called pork barrel spending said both parties were guilty of earmarking pet projects for political gain. Critics argued natural disasters and other unforeseen circumstances often require earmarks to help local communities recover. The Senate rejected the spending moratorium by a vote of 71-29. Lincoln and Pryor voted to continue earmarks. The moratorium was inserted in a Republican alternative budget plan which failed by a vote of 263-157. Berry, Boozman, Ross and Snyder voted against the GOP budget alternative. Terrorism surveillance passes After almost a month of charges by the White House that national security was being compromised, the House voted 213-197 for a controversial surveillance bill to prevent terrorist attacks. But President Bush still plans to veto the House bill because it does not provide full immunity for telecommunications companies that assist federal intelligence agencies in tracking conversations by suspected terrorists. At one point in the debate, House leaders agreed to a closed session to discuss sensitive parts of the surveillance program they did not want to disclose to the public. It was only the fourth closed House session since 1830. Supporters of the House bill said it would allow terrorism surveillance to continue without abdicating Constitutional safeguards. Opponents said the House should have adopted the Senate bill, which includes total immunity for telecommunications companies. Berry, Ross and Snyder voted for the House surveillance bill. Boozman voted against it. Interrogation method preserved The House voted 225-188 to ban the interrogation method of waterboarding, but the margin was about 50 votes short of the total need to overturn a presidential veto issued earlier this month. Backers of the ban equated waterboarding with torture because it makes detainees think they are drowning. Bush and other advocates of the interrogation technique said it has proven effective in the war against terrorism. Berry, Ross and Snyder voted to ban waterboarding. Boozman voted against the ban. Ethics group approved An independent office outside Congress would be established to investigate ethical violations by lawmakers, according to a 229-182 vote in the House. The bill would allow a panel of non-members to probe allegations and refer them to ethics committees in the House and Senate if warranted. Supporters of the bill said it would make Congress more accountable to voters, and remove the appearance that members protect each other. Critics argued Congress is obligated to govern itself and the bill is an overreaction to ethical lapses by a handful of members. Berry, Ross and Snyder voted for the independent ethics office. Boozman voted against it. |
