AHCPR funding cut in half in House bill; ATP elimination also approved.

COMMERCE'S ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM COULD GET PRESIDENTIAL REPRIEVE if President Clinton follows a recommenda-tion to veto the Department of Commerce funding bill (HR 2076) passed by the House in a 272-151 vote on July 26. The bill calls for eliminating the ATP program. In a July 18 letter to House Appropriations Chair Robert Livingston (R-La.), Office of Management and Budget Director Alice Rivlin said the Administration finds the bill "seriously objectionable" and that she, Commerce Secretary Ron Brown and Attorney General Janet Reno would recommend that Clinton veto the measure. The Senate has yet to take up consideration of the bill.