ustxtxb_obs_1993_01_29_50_00004-00000_000.pdf

Page 23

by

Krueger’s Record Revisited E’S NEITHER A MODERATE, as WO he claims, nor really even a Democrat,” said a Carter White House staffer discussing Bob Krueger with The Observer in 1978. The best and fairest assessment of Krueger and unfortunately the best predictor of how he will vote in the U.S. Senate is an examination of his record in the U.S. House, where he served from 1975, when Congressional Quarterly named him as the eighth-most conservative freshman in the 94th Congress, until 1979, when he lost in a bid to unseat Texas Senator John Tower. Krueger’s voting record as a member of Congress is more germane to a Senate campaign than is his record on the Railroad Commission, where he has served for the past two years. Unfortunately, that House record hasn’t changed since 1984, when, as part of the editorial coverage of the Senate primary contest that Krueger lost to Lloyd Doggett, it was thoroughly discussed in The Observer. A number of the issues The Observer considered in the Doggett-Krueger race were also issues central to the ClintonGore campaign. What follows are excerpts of the Observer of January 27, 1984: When the forerunner of the Reagan economic package emerged in a 1976 substitute amendment to the House resolution setting budget targets for fiscal year 1977, Krueger supported it. The amendment, introduced by Rep. Delbert Latta, an Ohio Republican, proposed $10.9 billion in tax cuts and spending cuts in domestic programs. The amendment was rejected by a 145-320 vote. Krueger was among the 35 Democrats voting for the amendment. Krueger also voted in favor of amendments to the budget bill which would have eliminated $50 million for a full employment measure and $50 million for a national health insurance bill. These amendments were defeated by solid Democratic blocks from which Krueger had strayed. … In similar votes the year before, Krueger had voted with 30 Democrats to cut $259,380,000 from appropriations for fiscal year 1975 for programs of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. … Krueger also voted against a bill the following year to establish a conservation corps and to employ young adults. The bill passed 291-70, with only 30 Democrats, including Krueger, opposed. But why should Krueger be concerned about a conservation corps if he votes against tighter clean air controls? Krueger voted against a 1976 emission standards and air pollution regulations. The bill passed, 324-68, with Krueger among the 30 Democrats opposed. But Krueger did support an amendment to the bill, which passed, that delayed final auto emission control standards from 1978 to 1982. The following year, Krueger voted against H.R. 6161, regulating “stationary and mobile sources of pollution,” which passed 326-49. He again sdpported suc cessful amendments that weakened the bill. … In 1975, he voted against H.R. 7575, proposed to create a federal Consumer Protection Agency. The bill passed, 208199, but was never signed. In 1978, Krueger voted against a Carter-supported Office of Consumer Representation, which was defeated 189-227…. When President Carter introduced his hospital cost control plan in 1977, setting a 9 percent annual limit on hospital revenue increases, Krueger played a significant role in defeating it. Krueger was a member of the House Commerce Committee that, in a 22-21 vote in 1978, substituted a bill by Republican James Broyhill of North Carolina for Carter’s -initiative. The Broyhill bill called for a voluntary hospital effort FILE PHOTO An earlier Bob Krueger to cut back costs 2 percent per year, deleting all mandatory federal regulation of hospital revenue. … According to Congressional Quarterly of July 22, 1978: “The president of the Texas hospital association sat in on every markup session, committee sources said. \(Two Texas Democrats on the committee, Robert `Bob’ Krueger and Bob Gammage [now associate justice on the Texas Supreme Court], were consistently on the opposite side from the adminKrueger’s voting record does not show evidence of a commitment to educational opportunity that one might expect from an educator. In 1975, he voted against a bill authorizing a substantial increase in the federal money to educate handicapped children. The,bill passed, 375-44, with eight Democrats, including Krueger, opposed. When the conference report on the bill was presented to the House, Krueger was one of only three Democrats opposed. It passed 404-7, with even [Republican Senator John] Tower voting for the conference report in the Senate. The following year, Krueger was one of 24 Democrats voting against an amendment to an appropriations bill, adding $60 million for education for the handicapped and $315 million for Basic Education Opportunity Grants. The amendment passed, 318-68. In 1975, Krueger joined three other Democrats in voting against an action to override President Ford’ s veto of an extension of school-lunch and child-nutrition programs. The veto was defeated handily with 397 votes in favor of overriding and 18 votes opposed. … In the area of foreign affairs, Krueger has shown a marked lack of concern for human rights. In 1975, he voted against the [then-U.S. Rep. Tom] Harkin amendment to the foreign aid bill, which denied aid to countries whose governments consistently violated the human rights of their citizens. The amendment passed, 238144. In 1976, and 1977, Krueger voted in favor of continuing military aid to Chile, Argentina and Somoza’ s Nicaragua. In 1976, Rep. Michael Harrington introduced an amendment to the foreign military aid bill which would cut off the provision of $122 million in military sales to Chile. The amendment was defeated, 139-266, with Krueger voting against it. In 1977, Krueger paired for an amendment to the 1978 foreign aid bill restoring $3.1 million in military assistance to the Somoza government in Nicaragua…. And there’s more. Krueger voted for a food stamp reduction, for termination of veteran’s education benefits, and against an appropriation for a national women’s conference. He voted against appropriations for the Consumer Products Safety Commission, against the common-site picketing bill, for a limitation of nuclear industry liability in the event of a nuclear accident, and against the indexing of the minimum wage. In 1993, the standard apologia for that record begins with a reminder that Krueger represented a conservative district, which included San Antonio suburbanites, Hill Country faimers, West Texas ranchers, Rio Grande farmers, more cattle than people, and so on. And, that as a U.S. Senator, Bob Krueger will vote as a representative of a broader and more diverse constituency. It is the same argument once made by the managers of Jack Hightower’s campaign for the Texas Supreme Court, and Hightower’ s record on the court remains consistent with ‘the voting patterns he established as a West Texas Democratic Congressman. “Let the people decide, stupid,” reads the sign on the chalkboard hanging in the headquarters of what is thus far the “pre-campaign” of former Attorney General Jim Mattox. Granted, it doesn’t resonate quite like Bill Clinton’s “The economy, stupid.” But Bob Krueger is anything but a people’s candidate for the Senate and all the name-recognition polls conducted by the Bentsen-Richards wing of the Democratic party could never make him one. L.D. 4 JANUARY 29, 1993 Nt 1.1.0.0,….,”,10…4..