"And [the foreign aid bill] would provide up to $100 million in aid for
Serbia. After next March 31, the money would stop unless officials there
cooperate with efforts to prosecute war criminals."

=======================================
Congress To Vote on Abortion Aid

By Alan Fram
Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2000; 2:10 a.m. EDT

WASHINGTON -- Congress appears ready to approve lifting the ban
on U.S. aid for groups performing abortions overseas, a move that
lawmakers on both sides of the issue say is a pre-election victory for
abortion-rights advocates.

The abortion provision was included in a $14.9 billion foreign aid bill that
the House and Senate planned to vote on Wednesday and that President
Clinton was expected to sign into law. The measure also contained aid to
help some of the world's poorest countries reduce their international debt,
and assistance for Serbia in the wake of the overthrow of President
Slobodan Milosevic.

Agreement on the measure by House-Senate bargainers on Tuesday left
just two of the 13 annual spending bills for the new fiscal year still mired
by disputes over school spending, immigration policy and other issues.
Republican leaders hope Congress will complete all remaining measures
by week's end and adjourn for the year - four weeks after the Oct. 1 start
of fiscal 2001, and less than two weeks from Election Day.

In the perennially bitter fight over U.S. abortion policy overseas, the two
sides agreed to end a ban enacted last year on giving taxpayer dollars to
organizations using private funds for abortions overseas or advocating
liberalized abortion laws there. President Reagan first imposed the
restriction in 1984, only to see Clinton erase it in 1993.

Negotiators also agreed to provide $425 million to overseas family
planning programs, up from last year's $385 million and the first increase
since Republicans took control of Congress in 1995.

"This was a great victory for women, a great victory for democracy," said
Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., an abortion-rights advocate.

But the provision also gives anti-abortion groups a win, forbidding the
expenditure of any of the money until Feb. 15. That would in effect leave a
decision on spending the money to either Republican Gov. George W.
Bush or Democratic Vice President Al Gore, the two presidential
contenders.

Even so, anti-abortion leader Rep. Christopher Smith, R-N.J., conceded
the language was at least a temporary defeat that would probably become
law because of the GOP's rush to finish Congress' work without sparking
controversy.

"We're going to try to make the best of it," he said, adding, "The real
outcome will be decided on November 7," which is Election Day.

Clinton signed the prohibition into law last year as the price for winning
$926 million to pay U.S. dues owed to the United Nations. Though he
waived enforcement of the ban, as permitted by law, his signature enraged
many abortion-rights lawmakers and advocacy groups, and the president
promised he would not renew the prohibition again.

The foreign aid bill also contains $435 million to help relieve the more than
$100 billion in international debt owed by about three dozen poor
countries. That initiative is backed by Clinton, many conservatives and
others from Pope John Paul II to the rock star Bono.

And it would provide up to $100 million in aid for Serbia. After next
March 31, the money would stop unless officials there cooperate with
efforts to prosecute war criminals.

The measure also formally raises this year's discretionary spending -
covering everything but automatic benefits like Social Security - to $637
billion, or about one-third of the $1.8 trillion federal budget.

That would be nearly $40 billion more than the GOP-written budget
promised last spring, $13 billion more than Clinton requested and $50
billion more than was spent in fiscal 2000 - all of which makes many
conservatives cringe.

With the budget fight in the fourth week of the fiscal year, Clinton was
hoping to boost pressure on Congress by refusing to sign any more
stopgap bills keeping government agencies open more than a day at a
time.

That would give Clinton a daily, campaign-season opportunity to accuse
the GOP-controlled Congress of not finishing its must-pass budget
business or attending to the nation's education needs. GOP leaders say
they will send Clinton daylong extensions until the work is finished.

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On the Net: Congress: http://thomas.loc.gov

© Copyright 2000 The Associated Press