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2000 Summer Session
Required and elective courses, short courses,seminars,
and workshops begin throughout the summer.
Summer Session begins June 19. Duck Call starts May 1. The I/O
Summer Session Catalog will be available in early April. You can
speed your way toward graduation by taking required courses
during summer.
2000 Summer Schedule
First four-week session: June 19-July 14
Second four-week session: July 17-August 11
Eight week session: June 19- August 11
Eleven week session: June 19-September 1
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GOP still struggling to
finish spending bills
By Alan Fram
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Dis
putes over everything from family
planning to NASA have dashed
any hope Congress’ Republican
leaders had of keeping their
pledge to complete spending bills
before Friday’s start of fiscal 2000.
Already planning to violate a
second promise to honor 2-year
old spending limits, Republicans
are using accounting gimmicks to
claim they are holding to a third
promise: that they will not use So
cial Security surpluses to pay for
federal spending.
Though most Americans pay
little attention to the government’s
fiscal calendar or spending limits,
polls show they are attuned to
both parties’ pledges to protect So
cial Security’s huge trust funds.
Violating these promises can be
particularly harmful to the GOP
because its core conservative sup
porters care deeply about their
party s efforts tor tiscal austerity.
“What Republicans have most
to worry about is losing their cred
ibility on fiscal responsibility,”
said Marshall Wittmann, the con
servative Heritage Foundation’s
director of congressional affairs.
GOP leaders insist they will not
spend Social Security funds.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R
111., said on television Sunday that
that is the GOP’s “intent.”
To make that claim, Republi
cans are relying on gimmicks such
as postponing billions in spending
into 2001 and beyond, and chang
ing the official spending estimates
used by Congress.
But moderate Republicans ea
ger to protect some programs and
for Congress to turn its attention to
other issues want party leaders to
cut a spending deal with President
Clinton, even if it means eating
into Social Security.
“They will have to sit at a table
and talk to one another,” said Rep.
Ray LaHood, R-Ill. “Both sides are
going to have to share the blame
for that, if and when it happens.”
Eager to complete as many of
the 13 annual spending bills as
possible by Friday, the House vot
ed 327-87 Monday to approve a fi
nal version of a $21 billion mea
sure financing energy and water .
projects. Senate approval — ex
pected Tuesday — would make it
the fifth spending measure for
2000 that lawmakers have
shipped to the White House. Clin
ton is expected to sign it.
That bill’s completion demon
strated the GOP’s eagerness to
complete whatever work they can.
To finish, Republicans agreed to
drop language from the measure
that would have let developers or
local governments file earlier
court appeals when the Army
Corps of Engineers blocks them
from building on wetlands. The
White House opposed the provi
sion on environmental grounds.
A subcommittee of the Senate
Appropriations Committee also
approved a $324 billion measure
for health, education and labor •
programs for the coming year. The
Senate measure would add $500
million to Clinton’s $34.7 billion
request for education, but. it re
duces his proposals for hiring new
teachers, adult education and sev
eral other programs.
Clinton has already threatened
to veto a more austere House ver
sion of that bill because it provides
less than he wants for after school,
worker safety and other programs.
“It is wrong to blame the kids and
it’s wrong not to give the schools a
chance,” Clinton said in New Or
leans on Monday, referring to GOP
cuts in his education budget.
Clinton also announced that he
now expects the surplus for fiscal
1999—which ends Thursday night
— will be at least $115 billion, $16
billion more than the last White
House projection. But that will have
little effect on the fight over next
year’s bills.
Despite the slow pace of work
and the seven veto threats the ad
ministration has issued, no federal
shutdown is imminent. Congress
plans to send Clinton legislation as
early as Tuesday keeping agencies
functioning through Oct. 21 while
work on remaining bills continues.
White House budget chief Jacob
Lew said Monday that Clinton
would sign the stopgap measure,
but warned that Republicans
should be under “no illusion” that
he would sign numerous short
term measures.
Of the eight unfinished spend
ing bills, many are mired in dis
putes among Republicans.