Legislation United States

The debate in Congress about proposed civil rights legislation reflects a wide-ranging struggle--between Republicans and Democrats, minorities and whites, liberals and conservatives, and women and men. On an abstract level, the question centers on whether businesses should be color blind in their hiring or attempt to remedy past injustices by hiring and promoting women and minorities at the expense of white males. It engenders impassioned arguments.

Looking for a new car and you want to buy American? Good luck. Buyers have long been confused about what actually constitutes an "American" car. Is a Pontiac Firebird made in Canada with a U.S.-built engine more American than a Nissan Altima made in Tennessee with an engine from Japan? Such questions have only gotten harder to answer as the auto industry becomes more global, foreign auto makers move more production to the United States and trade tensions periodically erupt.

With the 106th Congress nearing adjournment, a final burst of negotiations has produced only modest deals to ease immigration restrictions. The agreements are a far cry from sweeping reforms that President Clinton and congressional Democrats were pushing before the Nov.

No doubt about it, Dick Cheney, the Republican vice presidential candidate, had one of the most conservative voting records of any member of Congress during his five terms in the House. Most of the time, on issues from environmental safety to gun control, the former Wyoming congressman was marching in lock-step with President Reagan, if not always with fellow Republicans.

Republican leaders denounced the Democratic approach to health reform Monday night in a nationally televised policy forum amid an intense behind-the-scenes debate over what strategy the GOP should pursue on the issue that now dominates the national political landscape. The hourlong program, carried live by C-SPAN and various satellite links around the country, was heralded as an attempt to show Americans that the GOP has its own solution to the nation's health care problems.

Overshadowed by the major political battles of 1996, a host of new federal policies quietly goes into effect today that will make a difference in the health and livelihoods of several segments of the U.S. population--particularly those who work for small businesses, are stay-at-home spouses or have an elderly relative who will need nursing home care.

Frank Sinatra Jr. was only 19 when he was kidnapped, held hostage and released after his famous father paid a $240,000 ransom. Now the entertainer is trying to prevent his kidnappers from making a much greater windfall from the story of the crime. Sinatra's success will depend on how the California Supreme Court, and possibly the U.S. Supreme Court, decides a constitutional challenge to the state's so-called "Son of Sam" law, named after the serial killer who terrorized New York in 1977.

Vice President Dick Cheney cast his first tie-breaking vote in the Senate on Tuesday, rescuing President Bush's budget plan from a Democratic effort to scale back the administration's $1.6-trillion tax cut proposal in order to increase funding for a new Medicare prescription drug benefit. Cheney cast his vote during debate on a budget resolution that includes the outlines of Bush's fiscal policy, including his tax cut plan.

A veteran lawmaker calls the infraction DWB: driving while black. And this year, most members of the House sent a clear signal of concern about discriminatory traffic stops by police. But the bill that sailed through the lower chamber has run into trouble in the Senate. Because of the protests of police organizations, the bid to get the Justice Department to collect racial and ethnic statistics on traffic stops appears buried. Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.

Senate Republicans were in a quandary: A powerful Senate committee had overwhelmingly approved a bill to crack down on teen smoking and raise cigarette taxes, moves attracting strong political support. But influential Republicans despised the measure. As GOP senators met over lunch one day to plot their course, it was a seminal moment for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who had worked hard to produce the bill and was laboring to rally his party behind it.

President Bush urged the Senate on Saturday to move swiftly to approve legislation that would expand his authority to negotiate international trade agreements. In his weekly radio address, Bush said the trade promotion authority "would give me the flexibility to negotiate with other countries to open their markets and get the best deals for American producers and workers." The president also signaled support in principle for providing help for U.S.

A campaign by airline pilots to carry guns in cockpits has gained the support of two key House Republicans despite the opposition of Bush administration officials. House aviation subcommittee chairman John L. Mica of Florida and House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chairman Don Young of Alaska are scheduled to introduce legislation Tuesday to allow trained pilots to carry guns.

At a time when Congress is stalemated on a spate of issues, one measure is an eye-catching exception: a major rewrite of federal farm policy. While most other major legislation seems doomed to election-year oblivion, congressional negotiators put the finishing touches Friday on a bill that would increase agriculture subsidies a staggering 70% over the next decade.

The Senate approved a bill Thursday that would revamp the nation's energy policy, paving the way for talks with the House on one of President Bush's domestic priorities. The bill is a mix of relatively modest steps geared more toward promoting conservation and the use of alternative power sources. The House bill, taking its cue from Bush, is tilted more toward increasing production.

Breaking a stubborn impasse, House and Senate negotiators reached agreement Thursday on the outlines of a farm bill that would vastly increase federal spending on crop subsidies and conservation programs. The breakthrough came a day after President Bush traveled to South Dakota and called on Congress to reach a quick compromise on the legislation, which passed the House and Senate in significantly different forms.

The House is poised this week to approve legislation that would ease donation-reporting rules for a broad class of political groups, opening a new front in the campaign finance debate. Critics say the measure, coming just weeks after the enactment of a landmark law to limit donations to national political parties, could encourage certain groups to receive huge contributions from wealthy donors while escaping effective scrutiny.

Five years ago, a conservative analyst named David M. Mason penned a critique of the campaign reform movement titled "Why Congress Can't Ban Soft Money." Earlier this year, as lawmakers sought to prove him wrong, he attacked elements of their reform bill as "unworkable or unenforceable."

As taxpayers approach their annual day of reckoning, House Republicans plan to act on two bills in the next two weeks that would bolster taxpayer rights and make permanent last year's major tax cuts. The votes, on either side of April 15, will enable the GOP to spotlight its stance on taxes in an election year when many voters are worried about a still-fragile economy. Both bills are favored to win approval in the Republican-led House, though the vote on tax cuts could be close.

While Democrats launched a final push Monday for legislation to limit the influence of big-money donors, party officials said one contributor has given several million dollars this year to help build a national Democratic headquarters. The gift, when confirmed in federal disclosure reports due to become public next month, will apparently be the largest of the past decade to either of the major national parties.

For weeks, President Bush and Democratic leaders have framed the energy legislation pending in Congress this week as a form of homeland defense: a way to reduce America's reliance on oil from the turbulent Middle East. But now, the Senate appears poised to reject the principal ideas of each side for maximizing America's energy independence. In a form of mutually assured destruction, the central proposals for increasing both domestic energy production and conservation look doomed.