Negotiating the Congressional labyrinth
Advocates intervene in each stage of the process and use
procedure to their advantage whenever they can
BY LAURA MARKOWITZ
CHAI FELDBLUM .' providing that no money could be used for the
distribution of clean needles or bleach to IV
drug users. This was attached to a Senate
olitics, process and procedure always
provision that allowed Medicaid funding for
come together in strange ways during
in the case of pregnancies resulting
Congressional action, but never more so than abortions
from
rape
or incest
in the appropriations process, in which
This Senate abortion provision was the
millions of AIDS dollars are at stake.
single
item on which the House-Senate
Every program authorized by Congress,
conference reached no compromise, and so
including AIDS programs, gets money
the provision went back to each House of
through appropriations bills. Congress is not
Congress
for a vote. Unfortunately, the
supposed to use appropriations bills to
restrictive needles and bleach amendment
legislate policy, but members from both ends
went with it
of the spectrum, including right-wing
There was no way, procedurally, to
conservatives, have traditionally used
separate the two provisions. Civil rights
appropriations bills to advance their policy
groups
wanted to support the important pro-
views on AIDS.
choice provision, but the vote had to be at the
The appropriations process began last
expense of passing the needles and bleach
April and came to its final conclusion in
restriction as well. Procedure had created an
November, in the waning days of the first
unfortunate dilemma.
session of the 101st Congress. Advocates
The House of Representatives passed the
intervened in each stage of the process to try
provision
with a margin of 16 votes, giving
to keep out anti-gay amendments and to make
pro-choice advocates their first abortion vote
sure AIDS programs got the money they
victory in years. The Senate passed the
needed; they also used procedure to their
provision as well, and the bill was sent to the
advantage whenever they could.
president
The infamous, anti-gay Helms education
That would have been the end of the story,
amendment has traditionally been offered to
but the nation’s highest-ranking pro-life
the AIDS appropriations bill. It provides that
supporter, George Bush, vetoed the bill.
no AIDS educational materials developed
The bill then went back to Congress.
with federal funds can promote or encourage
While this was bad news for the pro-choice
homosexuality. A pre-emptive strike strategy
lobby, it did give AIDS advocates a chance to
was used successfully last year to defeat this
fix the needles and bleach provision.
amendment, and was also successful this year.
The House passed a new bill that had no
By offering this amendment before Helms
restriction on funding for needles or bleach,
offered one, Senator Alan Cranston (D, CA)
but Armstrong convinced the Senate to again
used Senate procedure to silence Helms since
restrict such funding. Procedurally, the House
Cranston’s amendment could not be further
and Senate had to end up in agreement over
amended under the Senate rules. The strategy
exactly the same bill, so the bill went back
was sound in terms of Senate politics as well,
over to the House for another vote.
since Cranston’s amendment addressed the
In the House, there was one last effort to
Senate’s concern (but without a “gay
remove the bleach restriction. Congressmen
bashing” component), providing that no AIDS
Steny Hoyer (D, MD) and Henry Waxman (D,
educational material developed with federal
CA), leading advocates on AIDS policy,
money could be designed to promote any
asked Chairman William Natcher (D, KY),
sexuality in AIDS educational materials. This
who was managing the bill, to drop the
amendment passed unanimously, and the
restriction
on bleach. To the great delight of
opposition was more or less co-opted.
the lobbyists who had been working on this
The Capitol Hill adage, “It’s not over until
issue, including the ACLU, the AIDS Action
it’s over” proved true as the appropriations
Council and the American Psychological
bill moved through the eight-month process.
Association, Natcher agreed. The Senate
On the Senate floor. Senator Gordon
ultimately
accepted the House’s new
Humphrey (R, NH) successfully offered an
provision, the president signed on, and AIDS
anti-gay amendment that said that materials
funding for fiscal year 1990, including money
designed for schoolchildren could not
for bleach distribution, became law.
promote or encourage homosexuality, or use
For those who enjoy this type of game, the
the words “normal,” “natural” or “healthy” to
appropriations season starts every April and
describe homosexuality. But the Senate floor
usually ends in October or November.
is not the last word on what becomes law.
With the help of sympathetic House members,
lobbyists helped get the amendment dropped
Laura Markowitz is an editor of a national
during negotiations in the House-Senate
magazine for family therapists and a lesbian
conference.
activist.
Procedure almost defeated AIDS activists
Chai Feldblum is an attorney for the
on another issue. On the Senate floor. Helms
American Civil Liberties Union AIDS Project.
got the Senate to adopt an amendment
and
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