Crime Bill

Washington.--President Clinton is the leader of, or at least a member of, the party that controls both political branches of the federal government.Yet after the crime bill capsized in the House of Representatives, with 58 Democrats against it, he said the bill's fate was controlled by the National Rifle Association, which opposes the bill's ban on assault weapons.For another view, hear from Rep. Gary Franks (R-Conn.). One of six children of a working class family, Mr. Franks graduated from Yale, did well in real estate and in 1988, running in a district just 4 percent black, became the first black Republican elected to the House since Oscar DePriest won his last race on Chicago's South Side in 1932.

WASHINGTON -- As Congress races to clear town by Thanksgiving, one of the biggest casualties of its timetable may be a get-tough crime bill packed with provisions to toughen gun control laws and widen the array of federal crimes punishable by the death penalty."

The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on a parliamentary procedure today that could decide whether there will be a ban on certain assault weapons -- and maybe even on whether there will be a crime bill at all. The outcome is in doubt. It could be very, very close. "A single representative could determine the outcome," said one vote counter. It could come down to how two Marylanders vote.The situation is this: The Senate passed a crime bill that included money for extra police, training, new prisons, crime prevention social programs and the limited assault weapons ban. The House passed two bills, an omnibus crime bill without the weapons ban and a separate bill limited to an assault weapons ban. In a House-Senate conference, the separate assault weapons ban was blended into the omnibus bill.

Here is how members of Maryland's delegation on Capitol Hill were recorded on important roll-call votes last week:Y: YES N: NO X: NOT VOTINGHOUSE: CRIME BILLBy a vote of 235-195, the House approved legislation (HR 3355) to spend $30.2 billion over six years on crime prevention and punishment. Major outlays are $5.5 billion for social programs to steer youth away from crime, $1.4 billion to combat drug abuse, $13.5 billion for hiring local police and border patrol agents and $9.7 billion for building prison cells.

Slash and burn tactics by hardline Republicans determined to humiliate President Clinton at every turn have come a cropper on the issue of crime.Before the party-splitting maneuvers that put the GOP in the position of opposing the most important crime legislation in years, Republicans gloried in their reputation as the toughest pols on the block. No more. Now they are just gun-toters for the National Rifle Association, even though the crime bill's ban on assault weapons was favored by police enforcement units throughout the country.

WASHINGTON -- President Clinton has abandoned efforts to get the Senate to accept safeguards against racially biased death sentences in the $30 billion crime bill, risking the ire of the Congressional Black Caucus rather than lose legislation that would be a precious political trophy.The president's decision, conveyed by an aide Wednesday night to the caucus chairman, Rep. Kweisi Mfume of Baltimore, presumably lifts the threat of a Senate filibuster against the sweeping measure. At least a dozen senators have threatened to filibuster the crime bill if it includes the so-called "racial justice" provision.

Washington--FOR A NEW chief of staff who made a big deal out of bringing discipline to the White House, Leon Panetta stuck his foot in his mouth.Walking up the U.S. House steps on his way to lobby Democrats before a pivotal vote on the crime bill, Mr. Panetta made the year's dumbest political wisecrack."

Washington -- EXCEPT FOR CHILD pornographers, church robbers and con men who prey on widows, no group is so scorned as Washington politicians.Talk shows and polls revile them as self-serving, corrupt scoundrels.More often than not, I've joined the boo-bird chorus.But once in a blue moon, Washington pols forget their egos long enough to do something right.Such a minor miracle happened in the U.S. House, when a Lost Battalion of Republicans, ignoring National Rifle Association threats and their conservative leaders, joined with Democrats to pass the crime bill.

THE MOST disappointing aspect of the new crime bill is that Congress has not set aside any money to punish those who have committed white-collar crimes.Since white-collar crime is now growing faster than blue-collar crime, you would think that some provisions would have been made to deal with the problem.Stephanie Ross, a white-collar crime consultant, said that while it is hoped that the new bill can reduce street crimes, Congress has thrown in the towel about stopping criminal activity on Wall Street and in various halls of government.

Have a care, criminals. Congress' crime bill contains severities such as these:Regarding ''midnight sports leagues,'' which have done nicely without federal supervision, the government shall make grants to leagues in which ''not less than 50 percent of the players'' are ''residents of federally assisted low-income housing'' and which serve neighborhoods or communities whose populations have ''not less than two percent'' of various characteristics, such...