NATION/WORLD
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Wednesday, April 10, 1996
7A
Clinton approves budget bill
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — In a dramatic shift of purse-string power, President Clinton signed a line-item veto bill sought by presidents since Ulysses S. Grant. He promised unprecedented scrutiny of the darkest corners of the federal budget.
Bill Clinton
But opponents accused Congress of surrendering a precious piece of its constitutional prerogative to spend the people's money. Federal employees immediately filed a court challenge.
Tipping his hat to Republican and Democratic predecessors, Clinton kept four pens used in yesterday's signing and dispatched them to former Presidents Reagan, Ford, Carter and Bush — all of whom had pleaded for the power to cut specific provisions from spending bills.
"Their successors will be able to use this power that they long sought
to eliminate waste from the federal budget," said Clinton, who won't be able to use the line-item veto unless re-elected.
Clinton, who seldom used the lineitem veto as Arkansas' governor, said that 43 of the nation's 50 governors could carve away at budget bills. "They have used it well and without any upsetting of the constitutional framework," Clinton said.
The bipartisan bill will be a fixture in the presidential election, with Clinton and Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole both claiming credit. "It will help put Washington on a pork-free diet," Dole said yesterday.
Under the new law, presidents can sign spending bills and — within five days — cancel specific items, including appropriations, narrowly targeted tax breaks covering 100 or fewer people and new or expanded entitlements.
It does away with a requirement, in place since the nation's founding, that a president must approve or reject legislation in its entirety.
Congress still gets the last word on spending: A line-item veto can be overridden by a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress.
The bill, part of the GOP Contract
successors will be able to use this power that they long sought to eliminate waste from the federal budget. "
With America, passed Congress easily despite a history of failure.
Congress has jealously guarded its spending powers, turning back more than 200 attempts in the last 120 years to give presidents a line-item veto.
Bill Clinton President
Rep. Marge Roukema, R-N.J., said
the bill would prompt more partisan bickering, legislative horse-trading and more pork-barrel spending.
She noted that a line-item veto could be sustained with the support of just 34 senators. "In the real world of Washington politics, this gives the president a new tool to punish and reward lawmakers by threatening to line-item veto spending in their districts." Roukema said
Federal judges are concerned the courts would have no recourse if the president vetoed their budget. The judges say that would improperly weaken the judiciary's standing among the federal government's three branches.
And a federal employees union said it feared a hostile president would veto pay raises for bureaucrats. The National Treasury Employees' Union filed suit in U.S. District Court, calling the law a device that subverted the Constitution's separation of powers.
Clinton said Congress' power to override line-item vetoes would protect against a president abusing the new tool. Presidents also will be wary of the public scrutiny that comes with the issuance of a veto, he said.
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The University of Kansas School of Fine Arts 1996-97 Lied Center Series Season You Come First: Single tickets on sale now to students
Lighting Up Kansas with the Power of the Arts
CONCERT SERIES
THE PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY
with ANDRE PREVIN
October 6, 1996, 7:00 pm
QUEENSLAND BALLET
WITH THE KANSA S CITY
SYMPHONY IN PIRATEI
October 25, 1986; 8:00 pm
DAWN UPSHAW, Soprano and RICHARD GOODE, Piano February 25, 1997, 8:00 pm
NEW YORK CITY OPERA
NATIONAL COMPANY
in LA BOHÉME
March 7 & 8, 1997; 8:00 pm
NEW DIRECTION SERIES
RUSSIAN VILLAGE FESTIVAL April 9,1997,8:00 pm
SANKAI JUKU
in Yuriqi in A Space of
Perpetual Motion
October 22, 1996, 8:00 pm
NATIONAL SONG & DANCE
ENSEMBLE OF TIBET
November 2, 1996, 8:00 pm
STOMP
MERCE CUNNINGHAM
DANCE COMPANY
January 28,1997,8:00 pm
February 21-22, 1997, 8:00 pm
February 23, 1997, 7:00 pm
STREB/RINGSIDE
SWARTHOUT CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES LIED BASILY SERIES
CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY OR LINCOLN CENTER
November 10, 1996, 3:30 pm
BEAUX ARTS TRIO
October 1, 1996, 8:00 pm
NEW EUROPEAN STRINGS
CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
February 16, 1997, 3:30 pm
YING QUARTET
April 6, 1997, 3:00 pm
SOUND OF MUSIC
March 2, 1997, 2:00 pm
& 7:00 pm
BLARIR STRING QUARTET
with BELA FLECK, Banjo
April 20, 1997, 3:30 pm
CAROUSEL
BROADWAY SERIES
February 7, 1997; 2:00 pm
February 8, 2:00 pm & 8:00 pm
February 9, 2:00 pm & 7:00 pm
The Who's TOMMY November 15 & 16, 1996, 8:00 pm each evening
SEATTLE MIME THEATRE
Saturday, 10, 1994, 8:00
September 19, 1996, 8:00 pm
Adult Performance
September 19, 1996, 8:00 pm
September 22, 1996, 2:00 pm Children's Performance
THE SLEEPING BEAUTY ON ICE
featuring ST. PETERSBURG
STATE ICE BALLET
December 14 & 15, 1996
2:00 pm & 7:00 pm each day
THEATRE SANS FIL
in THE CROWN OF DESTINY April 13, 1997, 2:00 pm
Don't miss a moment of next year's great season. Single tickets for students and all season tickets are on sale now.
Single Tickets on sale June 10 for the general public. Call the Lied Center box office at 913/846-2787 for ticket informa-