Ehrlich on Washington column, July 27, 1997

( 1407 York Road, Suite 304 Lutherville, Maryland 21093 NEWS FROM Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. Second Congressional District of Maryland 3 1 5 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 1 EHRLICH ON WASHINGTON By Congressman Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. Week of July 27, 1997 CONGRESS NEEDS TO MAKE THE TOUGH CHOICES Ten or twenty years ago, a member of Congress could best gain the favor of constituents by informing them about the specific “pork barrel” projects or federal programs he or she supported which would benefit their interests. Now, however, the political climate in Washington has changed. Instead of preaching the merits of a specific federal project or program, most of my colleagues and I want to achieve two larger objectives: balancing the budget and cutting taxes for working families. That means backing up vague promises of “smaller government” with specific votes to cut spending on some popular programs. Well, that is the way it is supposed to work. Too often, members of both parties will talk the talk, but fail to follow through with the votes needed to implement their rhetoric. During last year’s appropriations process, for example, I was angered and frustrated by the fact that Republicans caved into pressure to restore funding for the bureaucratically-inefficient Legal Services Corporation, rather than stick with their plans to replace it with legal aid block grants administered by the states. Unfortunately, that was not an isolated occurrence. A few months ago, the House overwhelmingly passed legislation increasing funding for the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program by an additional $76 million for the period ending September 30, 1997 — this