WELFARE REFORM CIRCUS IN HOUSE

As Democrats sported "Save The Children" shirts and pins on the House floor, a strange alliance of anti-abortion Republicans and liberal Democrats tried -- and failed -- to derail the"Contract With America" welfare reform billthis morning. Soon the shouting began: "Will you get these highly paid members to sit down and shut up?" roared Rep. Sam Gibbons (D-Fla.). Other Democrats then erupted when several Republicans backed an amendment to use up to $70 billion in savings from the welfare program to fund tax cuts, rather than ease the deficit, as the "Contract With America" promises. "They're calling it a 'technical correction' -- like a typo -- but this is anything but technical," says TIME congressional correspondent Karen Tumulty. "It's given the Democrats an issue."