We have

passed a continuing resolution to continue funding for

the government while we work to pass the appropriations

needed to run government. The legislative process starts

in House committees.

First, the House votes on a

bill. The Senate meanwhile works on its own version of

the bill. If both the Senate and the House pass the

bills, the bill is sent to a conference committee that

works out a compromise version. The Senate and the House

each vote on the conference bill. If it passes, the bill

is sent to the President to either be vetoed or signed

into law. It is a complicated process.

Here is the status of this

year's 13 appropriations bills:

Agriculture: The conference

bill has passed the House, but has not yet passed the

Senate.

Commerce, Justice and State

Department: Versions have passed the House and the

Senate, but the bill still has to go to conference.

Defense: Versions have

passed the House and the Senate, but the bill still has

to go to conference.

District of Columbia:

Vetoed by President Clinton.

Energy and Water: Signed

into law by President Clinton.

Foreign Operations:

Conference version of the bill must go to Senate and

House.

Interior: Versions have

passed the House and the Senate, but the bill still has

to go to conference.

Labor, Health and Human

Services and Education: No passage.

Legislative Branch: Signed

into law by President Clinton.

Military Construction:

Signed into law by President Clinton.

Transportation: Conference

version has passed House, but not the Senate.

Treasury: Signed into law

Veterans Affairs/Housing

and Urban Development: Versions have passed the House and

the Senate, but the bill still has to go to conference.

I have noticed a disturbing

trend in the conference bills. They are beginning to come

back from the conference loaded up with pork, and

millions, if not billions of dollars more expensive than

they were when I voted on the bills in the House. That is

why I voted against several of these conference bills.

Government simply has to learn to live within its budget

the same way all working families do.

Unborn Victims Act

I was a cosponsor of the

Unborn Victims Act, which makes it a federal crime to

harm an unborn child during the commission of a violent

criminal act. If a criminal's attack causes a mother to

lose her child, he will not be punished for that action.

Punishments are the same for physically attacking the

mother, with the exception of the death penalty.

There are cases where

people have assaulted expectant mothers with the aim of

causing her to lose her child. This law finally provides

just punishment for such a hate-filled action.

The only mystery to me in

this vote was that many of the child protection advocates

and the members of the Democratic Party who are against

violence to women, fought the law. The bill specifically

exempts lawful activity, such as abortion, yet the

pro-abortion forces are so ideological that they could

not make an exemption for a woman who wants her child,

and who loses that child because of a criminal assault.

What kind of choice is that?

Social Security Raid

You may have heard some

people saying the Republicans are going to spend Social

Security money. I'm not sure where that came from,

because Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert told me that

we will not spend a dime of Social Security. That has

been my position all along.

Tax money put into the

Social Security Trust Fund, should be spent for that

purpose alone. Spending that money on special programs is

a violation of the trust of all the people paying their

Social Security and Medicare taxes. I will not sit still

for a raid on people's Social Security. That is why the

tax relief vetoed by President Clinton ensured that every

dime paid in Social Security and Medicare went only for

those two programs.

Visitors Gary and Wilma

Rowe from Cherokee County; Marsha and Jim Watkins from

Marietta, and the Wegienkas of Hogansville dropped by the

Washington Office. Brenda Craven of Snellville, Linda

Parker and Tammy Parker of Fayetteville, Mary Tanner of

Sharpsburg, and Anne Sims of Carrollton also visited.

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