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CNNSHOW: CNN EARLY EDITION 07:00 am ET March 21, 1997 News; Domestic

KITTY PILGRIM, CNN ANCHOR: House members are hoping to get
out of town today in Washington, and that's just one item
on today's "Window On Washington".

The House is expected to vote on funding for among other
things, the investigation into campaign fundraising. The
Senate will soon take up late term abortion ban, and still
awaiting everybody, including President Clinton, finding an
agreement on the new federal budget.

CNN's Charles Bierbauer has the details. He's live on
Capitol Hill. Charles, what have been the key developments
before Congress before it takes its Spring Break? Can you
bring us up to speed on that?

CHARLES BIERBAUER, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT:
Yes, you really sort of hit on those key elements, and you
know it does get lonely up here fast. The Senate is gone,
the House would like to get out, and it's that funding for
Congressional committees that has to be resolved.

It was a small Republican insurrection yesterday. Just
11 votes, but it was enough to block the funding, which in
part does account for the investigation of campaign
financing. The Republicans who voted against it, said it's
just too much money involved in the whole budget. And the
Democrats say that the focus of that investigation is just
too narrow. It provoked a snarling meeting of Republicans,
and probably they'll come up with a compromise today. They
have to if they want to get out of town.

The Senate did that yesterday after compromising on the
question of Mexico's effort in stopping the drug war,
basically giving President Clinton another five month
deadline to come up with an assessment. So the Senate's
gone, Kitty.

They'll take up that abortion vote that you mentioned
when they get back. PILGRIM: Now the president says that
the budget is going to be his focused we gets back from his
summit trip. Review the prospects of getting that done.

BIERBAUER: He says that's going to be the central issue.
And the Republicans, particularly on Capitol Hill, are
saying whether or not the president comes along, they're
going to go ahead and formulate their own budget.

One thing that seems to be happening. You know from
time to time we mention the "Blue Dog Democrats," a group
of fairly conservative Democrats, and they've got their own
budget, which basically says no taxes until we get the
budget balanced. What has happened is that Republicans
seem to be moving towards that perspective of balancing the
budget first and cutting taxes later.

One of the Blue Dog Democrats I talked to said, there
are meetings going on all over the place: meeting with the
Republican leadership, meeting with the Republican
freshmen, meeting with the Republican Moderates, who call
themselves the "Lunch Bunch." Says this Blue Dog Democrat,
it's happening.

So maybe there's a prospect for a budget agreement in
the offing in the weeks ahead. PILGRIM: And they can always
take a meeting. Thanks very much.

Charles Bierbauer, reporting from Capitol Hill.