[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 50 (Friday, March 17, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4133-S4134]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             LINE-ITEM VETO

  Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, on Monday we are going to move to the line-
item veto. I want to congratulate Senators McCain, Coats, Domenici, 
Lott, Stevens, and members of my staff and others who have been working 
trying to bring us together on the Republican side. I think now that we 
are in fair agreement on this side.
  I want to congratulate my colleagues, particularly Senators McCain 
and Coats, who have been at this year after year after year, for their 
efforts. They have not given up and they have stuck to it and have hung 
in there. Now we may be able to pass this legislation.
  Just as we had the debate on the balanced budget amendment which lost 
because six of my colleagues on the other side, who voted for a 
balanced budget amendment 1 year, voted against the identical--or 
almost identical--bill the next year.
  This line-item veto has the overwhelming support of the American 
people. It will receive the overwhelming support of Republicans on this 
side of the aisle. I know that this legislation is opposed by some and 
by many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. I know that 
they will do what they can within the rules to block passage.
  But let me say that the line-item veto, in my view, is a little 
different than the constitutional amendment for a balanced budget. In 
the House, it passed by a vote 294 to 134. Strong bipartisan support. 
It has also been voted on a number of times in the Senate over the past 
years. We have had support from Republicans and Democrats, including 
Senator Biden, Senator Exon, Senator Heflin, Senator Hollings, Senator 
Kennedy, Senator Leahy, Senator Nunn, and Senator Pell.
  The bottom line is that here in the Senate a vote will be taken, and 
the American people will know where we stand. That is how this process 
works.
  But will they know where President Clinton stands? That is the big 
question. Where does President Clinton stand?
  For a long time, it was hard to tell where he stood on the balanced 
budget amendment. It was not until the final weeks of the debate that 
he finally did what he could to defeat the amendment, although he 
continued to say he understood why Americans so strongly supported it. 
About 80 percent supported it.
  [[Page S4134]] As a Governor and a candidate for President, he said 
on countless occasions that he supported the line-item veto. But 
lately, the President seems intent on opposing anything that comes out 
of the Republican Congress.
  It is a right he has. It is a right he has, but I am not certain how 
he explains it to the American people or how he can say in one breath 
he supports the line-item veto and maybe in another breath say, ``Oh, I 
have doubts about it.''
  So I guess if given the choice between passing something he has 
always supported, or denying Republicans a legislative victory, then 
the line-item veto will probably be sacrificed on the altar of 
politics.
  If that happens, there is not much we can do about it on this side. 
As long as we furnish the votes to shut off debate--and I think we will 
have every vote on this side of the aisle, so we only need 6 out of 46.
  So I think if the President truly supports the line-item veto, he 
should not wait any longer and let the American people know. I know he 
is struggling to be relevant in the process of things. But he can be 
relevant in this process. He does not have to stand in a schoolyard 
door or to some school lunch meeting to show how compassionate and how 
sensitive he is; or how he has, in effect, given up any effort to 
provide us any leadership in deficit reduction.
  I hope the President would let our colleagues on both sides of the 
aisle know that he feels strongly about the line-item veto, just as 
strongly as he did when he was running for President and when he was 
Governor. If he does that, we will have a big, big bipartisan victory. 
And the President can certainly claim all the credit, he and my 
colleagues on the other side, and we will be happy to join with them in 
a celebration for the American people.
  We debated this issue time after time after time. We have had 
hearings time after time after time.
  So this is not going to be one of these 20-day procedures in the 
Senate. This is going to happen, if we can make it happen, next week. 
We have had plenty of debate on this issue. We do not need 300 
amendments from the other side. We are going to do our best to shut off 
debate. We believe the American people expect us to shut off debate. 
They are frustrated, our colleagues are frustrated, and I know maybe 
even it is time the leader gets a little frustrated. Maybe the 
Democratic leader gets frustrated, too.
  But I would just challenge the President. I would say:
  Mr. President, you can do this today. You can make this so easy. This 
bill will disappear next week. It will pass with a big margin, if you 
really believe what you have been telling the American people you 
believe for the last 2 years. If you do not believe it, well, tell us 
that, too. But if you do believe it, Mr. President, now is the time to 
speak up. Do not wait until the last minute. Do not wait until next 
Friday or next Thursday or next Wednesday. Do it this weekend. Make the 
American people feel good this weekend for a change. Let the American 
people know that you support what 75 to 80 percent of them support, to 
give you, Mr. President, not us, but to give you, the authority and the 
power, Mr. President, that if Bob Dole or somebody sticks something in 
a bill that does not belong there, you could take it out.
  We are giving the power to a Democratic President, a Republican 
Congress. Some say we ought to have our heads examined. But we are 
prepared to do that because we believe it is good policy. It is good 
policy.
  If the Democrats do not trust their President, I cannot help that. If 
they do not trust a Democratic President, that is their problem.
  We are prepared to trust President Clinton with this authority. And 
if we are defeated by Democrats in the Senate with a Democrat in the 
White House, that is going to be hard to explain. Now, some liberal 
media will figure out a way to do it, but not many. That is a hard one. 
I do not know how I would explain that. I would have to think about it 
a lot.
  So, Mr. President, we are Republicans. We are prepared to give you 
this authority, but we are afraid, without your strong support, it is 
not going to happen.
  Mr. DASCHLE addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic leader.
  

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