Bob Dole, Haley Barbour, Newt Gingrich, Trent Lott, and Gov. Mike Leavitt of Utah (former head of the Republican Governors Association) were against it. But House Republicans went ahead and won passage of a welfare reform bill, and the Senate is expected to follow suit. Dole fears President Clinton will sign the bill, taking the issue off the table in the presidential race this fall. Not so, insists Rep. Jimmy Hayes of Louisiana, a Democrat-turned- Republican. If Clinton signs, it will split the Democratic party and lead to a sour convention in Chicago. If Clinton vetoes it, Dole has an even better issue. Hayes and Ways and Means chairman Bill Archer lobbied hard to go forward with the bill, persuading House GOP honchos Dick Armey, Tom DeLay, and John Boehner. Gingrich and the others were forced to cave.
