MediaWatch: June 1997
Table of Contents:
Sandbagged on the Flood Bill
Reporting on the disaster relief bill resembled the media's take on the government shutdown: ignore Clinton's role and blame the GOP.
On the June 6 ABC World News Tonight, John Cochran just blamed one side: "Flood victims in Grand Forks do not understand why Republican leaders refuse to pass an aid bill without strings attached." Victim Tomi Lundby declared: "The river took our home, our possessions, our neighbors, our neighborhood and we still have our spirit. But the government is taking our spirit and our strength. And that's what is going to kill us."
On the June 4 CBS Evening News, Bob Schieffer claimed that no bill meant no help: "As the television cameras rolled, the President and much of official Washington choppered in to inspect the damage. Congress was quick to promise billions in flood relief. But today, the waters have receded, the TV cameras are gone and, you guessed it, the flood relief aid never got there. It's still mired in a partisan congressional debate."
Today anchor Matt Lauer added on June 10: "Residents of the northern plains are up the creek without a paddle. President Clinton has vetoed an emergency disaster relief bill after Republicans added two unrelated amendments that he opposed. As a result, thousands of flood victims are still waiting for federal aid."
But Washington Post writer David Broder noted June 1: "No one has actually has been denied a warming cup of coffee or a replacement for a waterlogged carpet...About $2 billion is 'in the pipeline' for emergency assistance."
In a June 11 press release the Federal Emergency Management Agency reported: "More than 4,000 residents have received assistance through the Disaster Housing program and more than $8.5 million has been distributed. Seventy-eight percent of the Individual & Family Grant Program cases sent to the state have been closed....The Small Business Administration has approved $7,398,300 in loans to individuals and businesses." The networks also failed to explore whether victims had the foresight to purchase flood insurance, which costs about $300.
Reporters found the Republicans guilty of larding on unrelated riders. On June 10 Schieffer explained that both sides agreed to flood aid, asserting: "Up to that point, no problem. But then the Republican tacked on some other provisions that they knew the White House did not want."
But dropping riders banning the use of statistical sampling in the next Census and preventing government shutdowns would hardly result in a "clean bill." Clinton supported the inclusion of unrelated riders funding troops in Bosnia, more WIC spending, and Social Security dollars for disabled immigrants "strings" reporters ignored.
