Stealth Signing
Usually, when a president signs an important, popular piece of legislation, he's not shy about turning the event into a public spectacle, inviting the press and the bill's supporters to the White House to bask in the glory.
Not this time.
The bill that's now law, H.R. 1070, updated the Breast and Cervical Cancer Act of 1990 and provides health care treatment for thousands of low-income women not covered under the original statute. It passed Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support, and has been championed by women's groups, leading health-care groups, as well as President Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Rep. Rick Lazio, R-N.Y., who is running for the Senate against Mrs. Clinton, complained that the president signed the bill privately rather than at a public ceremony to which Lazio, a co-sponsor, would have been invited.
"They don't want to give me any acknowledgment for any of the work that I've done," Lazio said while campaigning in Syracuse, N.Y.
Clinton signed the bill later Tuesday, saying "I am proud to sign this bipartisan legislation into law."
The first lady said she was not consulted about how the bill-signing would be handled.
"Many bills are important that are not big, public, staged events," Mrs. Clinton said after a campaign stop at Onondaga Community College in Syracuse. She said she had been involved in helping win passage of the measure.
Democrat Clinton added that the president "has been on a very busy travel schedule through the Middle East, he's had a lot of things he's been dealing with. They allocate his time."
The White House denied it was trying to slight Lazio.
"Sometimes we sign bills publicly, sometimes we sign them privately, depending on the president's schedule and our own judgment," said spokesman Jake Siewert. "This one we'll be signing in private."
He said there was no attempt to deny Lazio credit. "He is certainly free to, I think he is today, spend some time talking about his role in putting together this bill," Siewert said.
Fourteen days before the election, the bill-signing dispute underscored the high stakes and tightness of the most closely watched Senate race in the country. It was an unusual case since bill signings are rarely, if ever, the grist for political spats. Most bills are signed privately.
Lazio spoke about the issue again during a visit to a breast cancer treatment facility in New Rochelle, N.Y.
"I think it's a missed opportunity for the president," the Long Island congressman said. "I don't have to be there at the bill signing if he feels it's not a politically wise thing for him to do. But it is an opportunity for us to promote breast cancer awareness, cervical cancer awareness, especially this month."
Sixty-one Republican House members sent President Clinton a letter urging him to change his plans. "A public signing ceremony for this law would be aextremely effective vehicle for disseminating and publicizing this vital information," the lawmakers said. "Mr. President, the core matter here is not a question of political credit."
Mr. Clinton strongly supported the bill and devoted two of his weekly radio addresses to it. Given his interest, it would not have been unusual for the president to have taken time out for a signing ceremony, as he did on Monday for a bill setting a national blood alcohol content standard for drunken driving.
Siewert noted Mr. Clinton did not have public ceremonies last week to sign a children's health bill or the Ryan White Care Act, which authorized more than $1 billion a year for AIDS prevention and treatment. "We always try to decide what the best forum is and what's not the best forum," he said.
Mr. Clinton will face another question soon on a Lazio bill signing.
Congress on Tuesday sent to the White House a Lazio-sponsored bill requiring the government to publish information on injustices perpetrated against Italian-Americans during World War II.
The legislation, which passed the House by voice, requires the attorney general to report in a year the names of all Italian-Americans who were arrested, interned, relocated or subjected to curfews and other restrictions during the war.
More than 600,000 Italian-Americans were branded "enemy aliens" because the United States was at war with Italy. Thousands were arrested, hundreds went to detention camps and many had their property seized.