White House on 2000 priorities: Gun Safety

["Stephen Cooke" <scooke@uidaho.edu>]

FYI

Steve

PRESIDENT CLINTON AND DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSIONAL
                 LEADERS LIST PRIORITIES FOR 2000


We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and best wishes for the
New
Year. 

As we begin to develop our budget priorities for FY2001, it is
important to monitor what Congress and the Administration see as
important issues in the upcoming session of Congress. On
Tuesday,
January 5th, the White House issued a press release indicating that
President Clinton met with Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle
and
House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt to develop their priority
issues for the coming year.  The following are the priority areas
listed by the Administration and a summary of each issue as
provided
in the White House Press Release.    Using the language from the
White
House Press Release allows you to see where opportunities for the
system may exist or disagreements may develop between the
Administration and Congress that could cause appropriation
process
problems similar to last session.  Please let us know if you have
any
questions or concerns.

                      An Agenda For Progress In 2000


-     Repairing, Renovating and Renewing Our Schools

-     Cutting Taxes While Maintaining Fiscal Discipline

-     Modernizing Medicare, Including A Voluntary Prescription
      Drug Benefit

-     Strengthening Social Security

-     Enacting A Real Patients' Bill Of Rights

-     Passing Common Sense Gun Safety Legislation

-     Raising The Minimum Wage

-     Passing Legislation To Fight Hate Crimes




Repairing, Renovating and Renewing Our Schools

It is incomprehensible that during one of the greatest periods of
economic prosperity in our history, the Congressional Majority has
refused to act on a tax proposal to provide for school construction
and modernization.  Many schools are crumbling.  And in many
other
communities, new schools are needed to give exploding student
populations a decent place to learn.  This year, the President and
Democrats are united in an effort to seek bipartisan support for
measures aimed at dealing with this crisis in education.


Cutting Taxes While Maintaining Fiscal Discipline

Last year, the President's budget proposal included targeted tax
cuts
and a substantial tax cut to promote retirement savings as part of a
framework to maintain fiscal discipline and extend the life of Social
Security and Medicare.  While the President's tax proposals are
still
being finalized, the President plans to announce a similar-sized
targeted tax cut during his State of the Union speech later this
month. The President's tax cuts will help people save for retirement,
continue to reward work for hard-pressed families, encourage
investment in poorer communities, help expand health coverage,
and
provide middle-class tax relief.


Modernizing Medicare, Including A Voluntary Prescription Drug
Benefit

Three out of four seniors are without dependable, affordable
prescription drug coverage.  Last year, the President laid out a
serious plan to reform and modernize Medicare, including the
creation
of a voluntary prescription drug benefit.  In the coming year, the
President and Democrats will continue to push for bipartisan
Medicare
reform that meets the health, demographic, and financing
challenges of
the 21st century.


Strengthening Social Security

Last year, the President put forth a specific proposal to use the
benefits of fiscal discipline and debt reduction to strengthen Social
Security, extending its solvency from 2034 to 2050.  This would be a
down payment on truly saving Social Security.  The Republican
so-called "lockbox" legislation would not add a single day to the life
of Social Security.  The President and Democratic Leaders will work
again this year to enact legislation to truly strengthen Social
Security.


Enacting A Real Patients' Bill Of Rights

Americans who receive their health care through managed care
organizations lack adequate protections.  They are not ensured access
to specialists.  They can be forced to change doctors in
mid-treatment. They do not have adequate recourse when a health plan
provides less than adequate care.  Last year, the President and
Democrats supported a real, bipartisan "Patients' Bill of Rights" bill
that addressed all of these problems.  That bill passed overwhelmingly
in the House.  In the Senate, Democrats unanimously rejected the
unacceptably flawed Senate version of the bill.  The President and
Democratic Leaders will work to insure that a strong, enforceable,
bipartisan, Patients' Bill of Rights is signed into law this year.


Passing Common Sense Gun Safety Legislation

After a number of tragic school shootings across America, the
President and Democratic Leaders finally persuaded Republicans in the
Senate to pass common-sense, bipartisan gun measures to keep guns out
of the hands of children and criminals.  Unfortunately, the House
defeated similar gun safety provisions.  This year, the President will
work with Democratic Leaders to enact common-sense gun measures in
Congress, like closing the gun show loophole.  In addition, the
President has made clear that he will search for other ways, including
through Executive actions, to reduce gun violence.


Raising The Minimum Wage

We have the best economy in a generation.  And yet there are too many
families working full-time, 50 weeks a year that don't earn enough to
support a family.  Currently, a person working full-time and earning
the minimum wage receives only $10,300 -- not enough to move families
from dependency to self-sufficiency.  Last year in his State of the
Union Address, the President called on Congress to pass the
Kennedy-Bonior proposal to raise the minimum wage by $1 over two
years, from $5.15 to $6.15 an hour.  The President and Democratic
Leaders will work enact bipartisan legislation -- and defeat attempts
to prevent a minimum wage hike through "poison pill" amendments by
opponents.


Passing Legislation To Fight Hate Crimes

In 1998, almost 8,000 hate crime incidents were reported -- nearly one
per hour.  Since 1997, the President and Democratic Leaders have been
working to pass the Hate Crimes Prevention Act.  There is bipartisan
support for the bill and broad public support.  This year, the
President and Democratic Leaders will work to insure that this measure
in enacted and signed into law.

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    >>>End...for now! <<<


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