5:01 PM (ET) 1/28
  Clinton Firm On Assault Ban
   WASHINGTON--About 2 dozen House Democrats have broken with the fold
and asked President Clinton to reconsider his opposition to repealing
last year's ban on assault weapons, House Minority Leader David Bonior
said Saturday.
   But the vast majority of the 204 Democrats in the House remain
fiercely committed to the assault weapons ban because "ending this
carnage on our streets is a serious problem," Bonior said.
   Rep. Bill McCollum (R-Fla.) appearing with Bonior on the CNN's
"Newsmaker Saturday," said House Republican leaders have decided to
reconsider the assault weapons ban sometime in May.
   "We're going to address it because a lot of our members want to,"
said McCollum, chairman of the Judiciary subcommittee on crime.
   In his State of the Union address Tuesday, President Clinton said
emphatically that he would not let the ban be repealed.
   Though McCollum predicted the House will vote to repeal the ban,
Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole of Kansas said last week the Senate is
unlikely to follow suit because Democrats in that chamber can mount a
filibuster.
   "Any attempts to override the assault weapon ban will draw the
president's veto," Bonior warned.
   McCollum said House Republicans remain determined to overhaul
anti-crime legislation passed last year when both houses of Congress
were controlled by Democrats, according to McCollum.
   "We're going to produce legislation very soon on the floor of the
House that's going to end the endless appeals of death row inmates," he
said.
   The legislation will also "change the rules of evidence on search and
seizure, beef up our prison systems (and) do something about criminal
aliens," he promised.
   Bonior voiced hope, however, that Republicans will reconsider earlier
pledges to kill the crime-prevention programs enacted by last year's
bill and eliminate provisions putting 100,000 new policemen on the
streets.
   "The prevention programs are critical because they prevent from
having people become victims of crime, and they work. And we hope that
there won't be a total abdication of them," Bonior said.
                                          (From AP)