Bush calls for 'new tone' in Washington; Gore proposes tougher privacy laws

June 8, 2000
Web posted at: 6:01 PM EDT (2201 GMT)

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee (CNN) -- Calling for a "clean break from the recent past," Republican presidential hopeful George W. Bush unveiled Thursday government reform proposals designed to streamline the federal budget process, eliminate pork-barrel spending, and accelerate presidential appointments.

Campaigning in the home state of his Democratic rival, Vice President Al Gore, Bush told an audience in Knoxville, Tennessee, that his proposals were intended to set "a new tone of respect and bipartisanship" among lawmakers in the nation's capital.

The Texas governor's plan calls for a process under which government budgets would be adopted every other year -- during non-election years. Bush said the idea would allow for longer-range budget planning, and would allow lawmakers to use "off" years for spending oversight and other government business.

"If the discord in Washington never seems to end, this is partly because the budget process never seems to end," Bush said. "Lawmakers spend more than half of their time each year wrangling over budget resolutions and reconciliation bills and appropriations bills."

Although the House of Representatives rejected a move toward biennial budget planning last month, 21 states -- including Texas -- have adopted the practice. Bush said Thursday he hoped to further streamline the federal budget process by seeking a line-item veto to delete excessive, or "pork-barrel," spending from budget bills that reach the president's desk.

Congress did pass a Line Item Veto Act in 1996, but the measure was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court two years later.

The Texas governor voiced support for a bipartisan commission to eliminate wasteful spending, as well as a joint budget resolution between Congress and the president to develop an "overall spending framework" early on in the budget process.

"The president and Congress work separately on their own budget proposals, only very late in the year do the two branches begin working on the details. Often those separate budgets are just a prelude to battle," Bush said.

Bush called on Congress to pass legislation that would avoid the standoffs that occur when the fiscal year arrives October 1 without agreement between the White House and Congress on appropriations bills. Such wrangling resulted in the shuttering of non-essential government agencies in the winter of 1995-96.

"These threats have given parties some moments we all prefer to forget. Disagreements have become deadlocks ... these standoffs have undermined public confidence in government," said Bush.

Under Bush's plan, if an appropriations bill is not signed by October 1, affected programs would continue to be funded at the president's budget level or the previous year's spending level -- whichever is lower.

Touting his own efforts to "reach across the aisle" in Texas, Bush also challenged Congress to act within 60 days of the submission of appointment nominations when the next administration takes office, regardless if he or Gore wins in November.

"We need a clean break from the recent past. It is time for leadership that sets a new tone," said Bush, who described the legislative atmosphere in Washington during the Clinton Administration as "wracked by strife."

Yet the presumptive Republican nominee reserved his harshest criticisms for Gore, accusing the vice president of poisoning the political landscape with negative attacks on his Social Security reform proposal.

Bush has proposed a plan to allow citizens to invest a portion of their federal payroll taxes into private investment accounts.

"All we've heard from my opponent are the familiar exaggerations and scare tactics, words aimed not as constructive debate, but words aimed to frighten the elderly for political gain," said Bush. "Proposals he disapproves of are never just arguable, they're always risky schemes."

Gore opposes private accounts because, he says, they could potentially bankrupt the Social Security system. He has proposed keeping Social Security solvent by paying down the national debt and transferring interest savings to the program.

Bush's reform proposals were particularly aimed at Gore, who as vice president led the 1993 charge to "reinvent government" by reducing bureaucratic waste, cutting contracting costs and using updated technology such as the Internet to provide services.

Project officials said the Gore program helped the federal government save at least $107 billion. Congressional Republicans, however, have charged that waste, fraud and abuse persist despite the reforms.

The Gore campaign reacted to Bush's most recent proposals by releasing figures that reveal an increase from $72.8 billion to $98 billion in the Texas state budget since Bush took office in 1995. Gore aides compared the 36 percent spending increase in Texas to a smaller 21 percent increase at the federal level during that same period.

Gore officials also cited an audit report that found "gross mismanagement and fraud" within the $201 million Smart Jobs fund overseen by the Texas Department of Economic Development.

"Governor Bush should try to keep the promises he made to Texas before making promises to the rest of the country," said Gore campaign spokesman Douglas Hattaway. Hattaway charged that Bush reneged on a 1994 pledge to appoint an "Inspector General for Waste" in Texas.

The vice president on Thursday visited a police academy and crime lab in Whittier, California to discuss legislation designed to protect personal privacy and guard against "identity theft."

"I will make it a national priority to stop this kind of traffic in personal data ... let's put the 'security' back in Social Security," Gore told a gathering of law enforcement officers on the grounds of the Sheriff's Training Academy.

Gore said he would sign Social Security legislation introduced Thursday in both congressional chambers by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California), and Rep. Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts). The measures would make it a federal crime to buy or sell individual Social Security numbers.

The vice president was joined onstage at the event by Tim Remsburg, whose daughter was killed last year by a man who bought her Social Security number for $45 from an Internet site and then stalked her.

Gore campaign aides said that the Social Security Administration's hotline received 30,000 complaints of Social Security number misuse in 1999 alone.

With the number, criminals also can assume an innocent person's identity and gain credit in their name, the vice president said.

Gore cited estimates that 500,000 people will be victims of identity theft in 2000 as evidence that protective privacy legislation was necessary.

"We need an electronic bill of rights, one that recognizes that the right to privacy is a basic American right in the information age, as in any age. In fact, it's more important now than it's been in the past, because the damage they (criminals) can do by violating your personal privacy is greater now."

Gore also highlighted his support for other privacy measures, including legislation to ensure that medical records are always kept private, and prohibit the use of genetic information for non-medical reasons.

"Together, we have to send a clear message to all our people -- no matter how our technology grows and changes, your fundamental right to privacy is something that must never change," Gore said.

The vice president, who has recently put forth optimistic campaign themes while avoiding direct attacks against Bush, also previewed plans for a "progress and prosperity tour" set to begin next week.

Gore told the audience he intends to propose a Medicare "lock box" that would place the portion of payroll taxes that fund the seniors' health care program off-limits for tax-cuts or other congressional spending.

"I'll be talking about ways to build upon the foundation of our economic success and extend it to all Americans," the vice president said.

The planned prosperity tour coincides with an aggressive $25 million "issue ad" campaign orchestrated by the Democratic National Committee to give a boost to Gore's campaign.

The vice president trails Bush by a margin of 46 percent to 41 percent, according to the latest CNN/USA Today Gallup Poll. Green Party candidate Ralph Nader had 6 percent, followed by Reform Party hopeful Pat Buchanan with just 2 percent.

Gore's two-week tour is set to begin next Tuesday in New York, and will take him through key presidential battleground states such as Kentucky, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Wisconsin.

CNN's Jonathan Karl, Jennifer Auther, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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