House votes to keep government open

With the end of the fiscal year looming on Saturday, the House voted Tuesday night to approve a continuing resolution to keep federal agencies open through Oct. 6. The Senate is also expected to approve the bill and send it to President Clinton. House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, predicted that the continuing resolution should buy enough time for Congress to "clean up most of the work" by next week. Asked if Congress could realistically meet that deadline, Armey replied, "Hope springs eternal, doesn't it?" He said in the event Congress is not ready to adjourn, "We'd give ourselves another full week to complete the work" through an additional continuing resolution. Armey said GOP leaders would adhere to their commitment to dedicate 90 percent of this year's budget surplus to debt reduction and said the remaining 10 percent likely would be divided equally between taxes and spending, with $14 billion dedicated to each. The on-budget surplus for this year is $268 billion. Armey said he expected the House to take up the fiscal year 2001 Interior appropriations conference report Wednesday and another package including the Energy and Water and VA-HUD spending bills later in the week. The Transportation appropriations conference report would likely move next.