MEMORANDUM TO SENATOR DOLE 
DA: May 24, 1995
FR: Alec Vachon 
RE: UPDATE/CHILDREN'S SSI 

	PRESS. So far the Children's SSI changes have not gotten much attention or raised much concern. Yesterday Finance staff held a background briefing for reporters on the Packwood welfare reform bill. The Washington Post and New York Times barely mentioned Child SS! changes. AP wire story said more, but nothing negative. 

	TODAY'S WALK THROUGH. During today's walk through of the chairman's mark, no questions were raised by members regarding Children's SSI. Moynihan seemed to agree with them. 

	(Our goal has been to make responsible changes without raising a ruckus. So far, seems to be working. Hopefully, this is the payoff for months of talking with staff about problems with Children's SSI.) 

	CHAFEE. Senator Chafee mentioned in his opening statement that he hoped some kind of compromise was possible, and came up to me during a break and thanked me for talking with his staff. I did not get the impression he was pushing me to forge a compromise. Moreover, I discussed with him the projected growth in the program--that even with the cuts the program would be bigger in 1997 than today--and he seemed surprised. I don't think he has been well briefed by his staff. 

	I met with his staffperson late yesterday, and she deferred to Senator Conrad's staffer. (She doesn't know anything about the program and is responding to high pressure from advocacy groups.) Basically, Conrad's staffer wanted you to introduce the Conrad SSI bill as a Dole/Chafee/Conrad amendment in Committee. In my view, program changes in Conrad bill are insufficient. I said I thought that was unlikely. 

	KANSAS I have received less than a dozen calls or letters from Kansas.I have spoken with all concerned, and most seem satisfied. All were responding to "Action Alerts" from advocacy groups in Washington, and knew little about the facts. 

	Tomorrow's mark up is scheduled for 9:30 a.m., so we'll see what develops.