As part of a bill to increase the minimum wage to $6.15 by the year 2002, the U.S. House of Representatives has also passed a measure to restore to 80% the tax deduction that trucker drivers can take for food and beverages while they're on the road.
But the vote late Thursday evening by a 246-179 margin has already drawn a promised veto from President Clinton, who says the legislation is loaded with $122 billion in special business tax cuts.

"This bill repeals key overtime protections, could reduce pension coverage for many families and includes risky tax giveaways that threaten our prosperity and the future of Social Security and Medicare." He is calling on Congress to instead pass minimum wage legislation that's absent such special provisions.
Passage of the House bill drew immediate praise from Walter McCormick, Jr., President of the American Trucking Assns. "This bill will return hard earned money to hard working Americans who spend most of their time on the road proudly doing the very tough job of safety delivering consumer goods and products to our homes and businesses."
To read the full text of H.R.3081, log onto http://thomas.loc.gov/.