Clinton Ponders A Highway Bill Veto
WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, April 23) -- President Bill Clinton has asked Democratic congressional leaders to determine if they have the votes to uphold a veto of the giant highway bill making its way
through Congress, administration and congressional sources tell CNN.
The White House has repeatedly labeled the $200 billion-plus bill a
budget buster, but it is difficult to fight in an election year because so many lawmakers have added pet projects to the measure.
Clinton raised the issue of a veto Monday during his meeting with House
Democratic leader Dick Gephardt and Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle,
according to several sources. They, in turn, promised to
canvass their membership to see how many Democrats would stand by the
president, the sources said.
In the meantime, Clinton is continuing a public effort to have the measure trimmed, warning that spending so much on highways will block spending in other areas such as child care, the subject of a White House event Thursday.
"I hope that as Congress continues to consider this and
determine how much money should be put in it, they will remember some other things," Clinton said. "We've got to build a lot of highways, or bridges if you will, to the 21st century."
Framing his budget priorities, the president said, "We have to have a road that will make Social Security strong in the 21st century. We have to have a road that will make our children's environment better in the 21st century. We have to have a road that will guarantee universal, high-quality, high-standards education in the 21st century ... Now there are choices to be made."
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