Children's Defense Fund Update May 15, 1998 In This Issue: -- Important Senate Vote on Child Care Next Week -- -- Success on Food Stamps / Campaign Shifts to the House -- -- Senate Debate on S.10 -- -- People vs. Highways -- *** Late Breaking Child Care Developments *** Senators Kerry and Bond To Offer Child Care Amendment to Tobacco Bill-- Urgent Calls Needed! We've just learned that Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Kit Bond (R-MO) will introduce a child care amendment to Senator McCain's (AZ) tobacco bill which will be debated early next week by the U.S. Senate. The Kerry-Bond amendment will contain language that dedicates specific funds for child care from tobacco revenues. We expect this child care amendment to have strong bipartisan support when the vote happens as early as Tuesday, May 19th. However, your continued work is critical to our efforts to get a major investment in child care this year. Already, your calls have made a huge impact as child care continues to build momentum in the Senate. Call your Senators immediately with the following message: "Please support the Kerry-Bond child care amendment which dedicates funds for child care from tobacco revenues." Call your U.S. senators toll-free. Dial 1-888-387-8263 (1-888-38 STAND UP) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Time. (This free service is available between May 11 and June 12). You will hear a short general message about child care and then be transferred to the U.S. congressional switchboard. This free service is brought to you courtesy of Working Assets Long Distance. PLEASE URGE CO-WORKERS, FRIENDS AND FAMILY TO CALL TODAY! ** SENATE PASSES FOOD STAMP RESTORATIONS FOR LEGAL IMMIGRANTS! ** The Senate has passed, by a vote of 92-8, the Agricultural Research Conference Report, including $818 million in food stamp restorations for legal immigrants. Senators opposing the bill were: Gramm (R-TX); Kyl (R-AZ); Sessions (R-AL); Gregg (R-NH); Smith (R-NH); Inhofe (R-OK); Nickles (R-OK); and Helms (R-NC). The Senate had earlier rejected, by a 23-77 vote, an attempt by Sen. Gramm (R-TX) to send the conference report back to the conference committee with instructions to limit the refugee exemption to those refugees in the United States prior to August 22, 1996. This motion would have effectively killed the bill. Senators voting in support of Sen. Gramm's motion were: Republicans: Faircloth (NC); Shelby (AL); Thompson (TN); McCain (AZ); Gregg (NH); Kyl (AZ); Hutchinson (AR); Allard (CO); Sessions (AL); Nickles (OK); Thurmond (SC); Smith (NH); Helms (NC); Hutchison (TX); Ashcroft (MO); Lott (MS); Abraham (MI); Inhofe (OK); Thomas (WY); Enzi (WY); Snowe (ME); and Democrat Hollings (SC). In a May 12th statement, President Clinton praised the Senate's passage of the Ag. Research bill: "I am very pleased that the Senate today passed with an overwhelming majority the bipartisan conference report on the agriculture research bill. This vital legislation makes needed reforms and provides funding in several areas that are priorities for my Administration. The legislation provides important benefits to America's farmers and to those who have come to this country seeking a brighter future....The last hurdle that remains for this bill is for the House of Representatives to pass the conference report. I urge the House to act quickly on this legislation." Congratulations to all who worked tirelessly in this effort! On to the House! CAMPAIGN SHIFTS TO THE HOUSE! Following the resounding Senate approval of the Ag. Research bill, advocates are now shifting attention to the House of Representatives. House leadership has not yet announced timing of the House vote. Message: Ask moderate Republican House Members to urge the House leadership to move the conference report to the House floor immediately for final passage. Urge all Democratic House Members to support the conference report. At stake is $818 million over five years for legal immigrant food stamp restorations, including: 1) extending the refugee exemption from 5 to 7 years; and 2) restoring benefits to Hmong persons, cross-border Native Americans, persons who are or who become disabled who entered the U.S. before 8/22/96, persons who were 65 and in the country on 8/22/96, and children under 18 who were in the country on 8/22/96. To help share information on Campaign efforts around the country, please send information to Food Research and Action Center. Telephone: 202-986-2200 (x3016 for Ellen Vollinger, x3020 for Carrie Lewis); Fax: 202-986-2525. E-mail: evollinger@frac.org or clewis@frac.org. Prepared by Food Research and Action Center, 1875 Conn. Ave. NW, Washington, D.C.. 20009; 202-986-2200; 202-986-2525 (FAX); E-MAIL: foodresearch@frac.org ** Senate Debate on S. 10 ** In less than three weeks, on June 4, 1998, the United States Senate will begin debating S. 10, the Violent and Repeat Juvenile Offender Act. In order to debate the bill, there must be 60 senators who vote to proceed to the bill. Because of your hard work, supporters of S.10 so far have not been able to bring the bill to the floor -- you have made it too controversial to allow children to be incarcerated with adults; to protect guns rather than our children; to build prisons to house our children rather than fund after-school and summer activities that will keep them safe and out of trouble; and to require that juvenile records be kept in the FBI's computer system and trail a person for life, shutting doors of opportunity along the way. We must continue our fight against this attack on our children and make sure that the S.10 supporters fall short of the 60 votes. Call your Senators at 202/224-3121 and tell them to vote NO on bringing S. 10 to the floor. ** TRANSPORTATION BILL CONFEREES TO DECIDE WHETHER TO PROTECT ESSENTIAL SERVICES AND HELP FAMILIES FIND A ROUTE OFF WELFARE ** Conferees working out the details of the $200 + billion transportation bill (known as ISTEA, or Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act) are about to agree upon substantial increases for highways and some increases for mass transit. As of now, there is a genuine risk that those increases will come at the expense of services crucially necessary for children, including the Social Services Block Grant (Title XX), Medicaid, or Food Stamps. The Clinton Administration has opposed cuts in such programs in order to fund more transportation projects, and is proposing alternatives that would still allow growth in transportation spending while protecting needed services. The conferees are also deciding whether to include $250 million a year for five years for new Access to Jobs and Reverse Commute programs, both of which will provide grants to localities to enable welfare participants and other low income people to get the transportation help they need to work. Only 6 percent of families on welfare have cars, and many live in areas, rural or urban, where there is no public transit to the high job-growth locations in the suburbs. TELL THE CONFEREES TO REJECT ANY TRANSPORTATION BILL THAT FORCES CUTS IN NEEDED SERVICES FOR CHILDREN, FAMILIES, AND SENIOR CITIZENS, AND TO SUPPORT THE MODEST INCLUSION OF ACCESS TO JOBS PROGRAMS ENABLING WELFARE RECIPIENTS TO FIND AND KEEP JOBS. ISTEA CONFEREES HR.2400 House Conferees: 1. Shuster (R-PA) 2. Young (R-AK) 3. Petri (R-WI) 4. Boehlert (R-NY) 5. Kim (R-CA) 6. Horn (R-CA) 7. Fowler (R-FL) 8. Baker (R-LA) 9. Ney (R-OH) 10. Metcalf (R-WA) 11. Oberstar (D-MN) 12. Rahall (D-WV) 13. Borski (D-PA) 14. Lipinski (D-IL) 15. Wise (D-WV) 16. Clyburn (D-SC) 17. Filner (D-CA) 18. McGovern (D-MA) 19. Bliley (R-VA) 20. Bilirakis (R-FL) 21. Dingell (D-MI) 22. Tauzin (R-LA) 23. Sensenbrenner (R-WI) 24. Morella (R-MD) 25. Brown (D-CA) 26. Nussle (R-IA) 27. Hulshof (R-MO) 28. Rangel (D-NY) 29. Parker (R-MS) 30. Radanovich (R-CA) 31. Spratt (D-SC) S.1173 Senate Conferees: 1. Chafee (R-RI) 2. Warner (R-VA) 3. Smith (R-NH) 4. Kempthorne (R-ID) 5. Inhofe (R-OK) 6. Thomas (R-WY) 7. Bond (R-MO) 8. Hutchinson (R-AR) 9. Allard (R-CO) 10. Sessions (R-AL) 11. Baucus (D-MT) 12. Moynihan (D-NY) 13. Lautenberg (D-NJ) 14. Reid (D-NV) 15. Graham (D-FL) 16. Lieberman (D-CT) 17. Boxer (D-CA) 18. Wyden (D-OR) 19. Roth (R-DE) 20. Grassley (R-IA) 21. Hatch (R-UT) 22. Breaux (D-LA) 23. Conrad (D-ND) 24. D'Amato (R-NY) 25. Gramm (R-TX) 26. Shelby (R-AL) 27. Sarbanes (D-MD) 28. Dodd (D-CT) 29. McCain (R-AZ) 30. Stevens (R-AK) 31. Hollings (D-SC) 32. Domenici (R-NM) 33. Nickles (R-OK) 34. Murray (D-WA) ************************************************************************ -- OUR STRENGTH IS IN OUR NUMBERS -- SHARE THIS LEGISLATIVE UPDATE WITH YOUR FRIENDS!!! Our typical email is about a page or two long and generally comes once a week. To join our legislative update email list, sign-up on our website or send an email to: and write in the body of the message: subscribe cdfupdate PLEASE NOTE: WHEN SUBSCRIBING OR CANCELING YOUR SUBSCRIPTION, PLEASE DO NOT SURROUND YOUR ADDRESS WITH BRACKETS. Kimberly Taylor Children's Defense Fund 25 E Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 202/662-3540 (fax) CDFupdate@childrensdefense.org "What is done to children, they will do to society." --Karl Menninger