James M. Jeffords: “I rise in favor of that amendment. Like many of my colleagues, I thought we had put this issue to bed last year when…”

“I rise in favor of that amendment. Like many of my colleagues, I thought we had put this issue to bed last year when both the House and Senate considered S. 55 and it was rejected, or never even left the desk in the Senate. President Clinton made his support of this type of legislation clear during the 1992 election campaign, and he and Secretary of Labor Reich have reaffirmed their commitment to a striker replacement bill on numerous occasions since. Clearly, the President would have signed a congressional bill if it had been laid on his desk. However, as we know, S. 55 never left the Senate desk. The President certainly is free to attempt another legislative push for a bill like S. 55. I would not welcome the attempt, but it would be well within the normal flow of our governmental process for him to do so. However, it is abnormal, unusual, and unprecedented for President Clinton to address this issue through the Executive order he issued yesterday. The legal arguments against the President's action are many and compelling.”