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Editorial: Search seems futile for common ground

Tuesday, Oct. 19, 1999 | 9:48 a.m.

President Clinton wisely vetoed on Monday a $12.6 billion foreign aid bill -- about $2 billion less than he had sought -- because it fell short of funding U.S. foreign policy goals. Among the flaws in the GOP bill, the president noted it could undermine last year's Mideast peace accord. Clinton had sought $500 million as the first installment of a $1.8 billion pledge to help carry out the pact, but Congress did not provide any funding for this important effort.

Despite the rejection, Clinton extended an olive branch Monday to congressional Republican leaders, hoping to find common ground. But House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., didn't offer much encouragement, repeating the fiction that full funding of foreign aid would require a "raid" on the Social Security trust fund. Republican leaders should stop their needless partisan posturing, though, and work with Clinton if the United States is to continue its world leadership role.

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