HOUSE VOTES ADDITIONAL HOMELESS AID

$725 MILLION LEGISLATION A PRIORITY FOR DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP

The House last night passed a bill ticketing $725 million of additional federal aid for the nation's homeless, after narrowly beating back an amendment that would have forced an equivalent reduction in foreign aid to pay for the program.

The legislation, which authorizes but does not finance new assistance for housing, health care and feeding programs, was a high priority for the House Democratic leadership.

But Speaker Jim Wright (D-Tex.) was forced to hold open a roll call for an additional 10 minutes while lieutenants switched half a dozen Democrats away from support of what had been labeled a "gutting" amendment.

The amendment, sponsored in its original form by House Minority Leader Robert H. Michel (R-Ill.), was rejected, 203 to 207, with 44 Democrats joining 159 Republicans on the losing side. At one point, 49 Democrats had been recorded in favor of the amendment.

Final passage came on an easy 264-to-121 vote.

Earlier, an amendment by Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) that would have forced Mitch Snyder, the controversial operator of a Washington shelter for the homeless, to open his books for audit was rejected by a 19-vote margin.

This was the second time this year that Wright pushed the House to come up with emergency funds to aid the uncounted numbers of homeless individuals and families in American cities. At the start of the session, Congress shifted $50 million of disaster relief money to food and shelter programs for them.

The administration did not formally oppose the new bill, but Michel made a spirited fight to force the Democrats to cut other spending to offset the aid to the homeless.

Ridiculing the "sleep-in" Tuesday, in which a number of Democratic lawmakers and Hollywood celebrities joined some of Washington's homeless in a chilly night on the streets, Michel said that instead of "that gimmick," they should have pressured city officials to move the street people into shelters. Michel said there is "absolutely no excuse" for mayors to allow homeless people "to sleep outside in the cold."

Rep. William E. Dannemeyer (R-Calif.) said sponsors of the legislation gave "the impression . . . we're doing nothing to meet this newly discovered need." In fact, he said, the federal government is spending $260 million this year on direct aid to the homeless and providing $6 billion in other funds to local governments that could be targeted to homeless programs.

But District of Columbia Del. Walter E. Fauntroy (D) said the homeless "have outrun the capacity of our cities, our states, our charitable organizations." Fauntroy, who participated in the "sleep-in," said, "As I lay there freezing about 2 a.m., I asked myself how could a nation that provides homes for MX missiles fail to provide homes for so many of its needy?"

Michel's amendment did not specify where spending would have been cut to finance the new homeless aid. In an effort to embarrass Republicans, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) narrowed it to require that the cuts come from foreign aid funds -- which the administration is seeking to increase.

Rep. Henry B. Gonzalez (D-Tex.) called the Michel effort "a gutting amendment." It took quick work by Democratic floor leaders to muster a four-vote margin to defeat it. Only 10 Republicans deserted Michel.

The housing and health programs authorized for fiscal 1987 would total $500 million and another $225 million of feeding programs would start the following year.

Articles appear as they were originally printed in The Washington Post and may not include subsequent corrections.