BOND DISCUSSES BUDGET AT MEETING IN CAPE GIRARDEAU

U.S. Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond Monday discussed federal budget matters and fielded questions at a meeting hosted by the Governmental Affairs Committee of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce.

Bond said President Bill Clinton's latest budget proposal might not increase overall spending but it wouldn't do anything for the $5 trillion debt and more than $200 billion of deficit spending facing the nation.

He said the Republicans' budget resolution plan would reduce the debt and taper deficit spending in areas like defense while increasing spending for Medicare and Medicaid. Deficit spending would be eliminated by 2002, he said.

"My son and his son's generation are already going to have to pay a $5 trillion debt," he said. "I don't want to come home and say I've run up another $5 trillion on his charge card."

In addition to budget spending, Bond discussed the Whitewater hearings, the situation in Bosnia and other concerns the audience raised. About 80 people attended.

Bond said although the Whitewater hearings might seem repetitive, questions surrounding the land deal involving the Clintons and the suicide of Vincent Foster, counsel to the Clintons, still must be answered. "It's important; There are still questions to be answered, and that's why we're having the hearings," he said.

As for the heated tensions in Bosnia, Bond criticized the United Nations for its handling of the situation and suggested the United States avoid any military action with the U.N. calling the shots.

"I saw a newspaper article this morning that said, 'U.N. ambassadors debate bomb sites for forces,'" he said. "We don't need the U.N. ambassadors picking bomb sites. They sent people over there with little blue helmets, and now they're hostages."