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The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, March 14, 1995 - 9
*Clinton, Gingrich speeches outline '96 issues
The Batimore Sun
WASHINGTON - President Clinton and House
Speaker Newt Gingrich, in dueling speeches yesterday,
outlined differing visions of the role of government - and
offered a preview of the likely national debate for the 1996
presidential campaign.
In separate speeches to the National League of Cities
* meeting, the two political leaders - one a self-styled
"New Democrat," the other a conservative Republican -
employed the kind of "sound bite" rhetoric that stands to
become a staple during the next year and a half.
But in the process they continued the ongoing philo-
sophical debate that White House press secretary Mike
McCurry characterized as a national discussion of how
much government is the right amount.
Clinton, in his address following Gingrich's, agreed
that it was important to control federal spending, and he
cited cuts his administration had already made in the size
of the federal bureaucracy.
But he saved his passion for the spending increases he
has championed, thumping the lectern as he went through
the list: expanding the Head Start pre-school program,
earmarking hundreds of millions of dollars for summer
jobs for inner-city youths, increasing the college loan
program, and making available free childhood immuniza-
tion shots.
"What is the purpose of the government?" Clinton
asked. "It's to empower people to make the most of their
lives, to enhance their security and to help create oppor-
. tunity as a partner."
Gingrich, in his speech, said it was precisely that kind
of thinking -that Washington has the answers - that has
led to such problems as skyrocketing out-of-wedlock births,
failing public schools and unsafe housing projects.
"We need local folks to solve local problems," the
Georgia congressman.said Gingrich proposed to the mu-
nicipal leaders that the federal government relieve the states
and cities of the burden of complying with Washington's
mandates - and return to them the money earmarked to
address poverty and other social problems.
Such action is desirable, Gingrich said, for two reasons.
First, anti-poverty solutions from Washington tend to make
problems worse, not better. Second, Washington's habit of
deficit spending is bankrupting the nation's future.
"This is the most important debate in modern political
history," he said. "We won the Cold War. Are we prepared
to balance the budget? We have a moral obligation to our
children and grandchildren," Gingrich said.
AP PHOTO"
President Clinton receives the applause of mayors
after addressing the National League of Cities.
U.s. will
support
China bid
for WTO
Los Angeles Times
BEIJING - When China unchar-
acteristically gave in to tough U.S.
demands two weeks ago on copyright
piracy and other intellectual property
issues, the main unanswered question
was: What did the Clinton adminis-
tration give in return?
The answercamethisweekinavisit
to Beijing by U.S. Trade Representa-
tive Mickey Kantor. In a news confer-
ence yesterday, Kantor said the United
States would support China's bid to
join the World Trade Organization.
More importantly to the Chinese,
Kantor reversed a previous position
by announcing that the U.S. govern-
ment would consider China's entry
into the global organization under less
stringent trade rules afforded devel-
oping countries. Until recently, the
United States had insisted that China
meet the same standards as other major
industrial powers.
"We need to be flexible," Kantor
said, referring to the United States,
Europe and Japan. "I think we all
agree that for certain purposes China,
of course, is a developed country. For
others it is a developing country."
In background briefings, U.S. trade
officials said the practical result of
the softened administration position
on China's entry into the WTO is that
China will be granted extra time - in
some cases a matter of years - be-
fore it will be required to phase out
certain tariffs and protective trade
restrictions.
"China has a wide variety of char-
acteristics," said one U.S. trade offi-
cial. "There are places along the sea-
board that are developing rapidly and
look a lot like Taiwan and Korea did a
few years ago. There are parts of the
interior which are much poorer. But,
overall, as a trade regime, we are deal-
ing with an enormously important,
enormously large, powerful player."
Recognition of its hybrid status as
a huge but still developing economy
is precisely what the Chinese trade
negotiators had been seeking when
talks broke down for their entry into
the WTO in December.
Kantor said the revived WTO trade
talks with China are expected to begin
in April in Geneva. "I have agreed to
become personally involved with and
review all proposals related to China's
_ WTO accession," Kantor said.
First challenge to
'Don't ask, don't
tell' policy beginS
Peasants demand ace iO Chiapas TO
Hundreds of peasants marched 700 miles from Chiapas to Mexico City to protest for peace in the main plaza of
Mexico City in front of the Presidential Palace.
Federal Bureau of Prisons plans
Marc execution of drug trafficker
The Washington Post
NEW YORK - The first direct,
constitutional challenge to the
government's "Don't ask, don't tell"
policy governing homosexuals in the
military began yesterday in U.S. Dis-
trict Court in Brooklyn.
The lawsuit, filed by the American
Civil Liberties Union and the Lambda
Legal Defense and Education Fund on
behalf of six gay service members -
two on active duty and four reservists
- argues that the 1993 political com-
promise on gays in the military violates
the free speech and equal protection
clauses of the Constitution.
"This is the last bastion of officially
sanctioned government prejudice in
America," said Matthew Coles, direc-
tor of the ACLU's national Lesbian
and Gay Rights Project. "It violates our
clients' constitutional rights and must
be struck down."
"Ultimately the Supreme Court will
have to rule on this issue," said Kevin
Cathcart,executivedirectorofLambda,
after the first day of the trial adjourned
at midday. "The military will not stop
throwing people out until the Supreme
Court rules it is unconstitutional."
Deputy Assistant Attorney General
John Rogovin argued for the Justice
Department that sexual attractions
among members of a military unit can
cause tension, and "sexual tensions can
degrade readiness."
The lawsuit, which is being heard
by Judge Eugene Nickerson without a
jury, is based on what became known
as the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy
negotiated among the Clinton admin-
istration, the military and Congress.
Previously, the Pentagon had held that
homosexuality was "incompatible with
military service" and since 1980 had
discharged some 17,000 people on that
basis. But the new policy, which took
effect in February of last year, saidhomo-
sexuals could stay in the military so long
as they neither said nor did anything that
gave away theirsexual orientation. Open,
homosexuality, the Pentagon said, posed
"an unacceptable risk to the high stan-
dards of morale, good order and disci-
pline, and unit cohesion that are the es-
sence of military capability."
In Monday's open testimony, the
plaintiffs called two expert witnesses
who challenged the idea that simply the
knowledge that another service mem-
ber was gay would undermine a unit's
military performance. RobertMacCoun,
the author of a Rand Corp. report on
gays in the military commissioned by
the Pentagon, drew a distinction be-
tween social cohesion - which might
be affected by the knowledge that some-
one was gay - and "task" cohesion,
which he said Rand's study concluded
would not be affected.
Task cohesion is the far more im-
portant of the two, since it "determines
performance," he said. "You don't have
to like someone to work with them."
Thispoint, attorneys for the plaintiffs
said, is critical, because generally the
courts willallow limitationson free speech
like "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" only if the
government can give a compelling rea-
son as to why the limitation is justified.
According to Coles, this point also.
matters because the argument that gays
will damagemorale and unitcohesion is
the same argument that was made early
in this century, when the military was
opposed to racial integration.
Execution would be
federal government's
first since ±963
The Washington Post
WASHINGTON - The Federal
Bureau of Prisons plans a March 30
execution for a convicted drug traf-
ficker who authorized a contract mur-
der, a move that would mark the first
time the federal government has used
capital punishment since 1963.
David Ronald Chandler, an Ala-
bama drug trafficker who was convicted
of hiring a hitman to kill a police infor-
mant, is scheduled to die by lethal injec-
tion at a federal prison in Terre Haute,
Ind. In recent days, federal authorities
have notified Chandler of the execution
date, but his attorney said he plans to
seek a new trial based on new evidence.
Chandler was the first inmate to
receive the death sentence under the
federal Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988,
which provides for capital punishment
for killings associated with a criminal
enterprise. Five other federal inmates
convicted under this statute are await-
ing execution.
Although many states have reinsti-
tuted the death penalty in recent years,
federal laws have allowed for capital
punishment in only a few instances. At
least40persons have been charged with
capital offenses under the stiff 1988
drug abuse act and another three have
been charged with capital crimes under
last year's omnibus crime bill, said Ri-
chard Dieter, executive director of the
Death Penalty Information Center.
"Crime has been a real concern and
the political response has been to ex-
pand the death penalty and quicken the
process of execution. Now we are see-
ing the results," Dieter said.
Meanwhile, Chandler's attorney,
John Martin, challenged the
government's action, saying he had
uncovered information proving his
client's innocence.
The government's move has re-
kindled the long-standing debate over
capital punishment. The federal
government's action tells the interna-
tional community "we are putting a
national stamp of approval on this,"
said Diann Rust-Tierney, who heads
the American Civil Libertys Union's
capital punishment project. "It's outra-
geous, classic diversion strategy....
There is no indication that this will
have any impact on crime."
But Rep. Bill McCollum (R-Fla.),
who chairs the House crime subcom-
mittee, said Chandler's crime sounded
like the "reason we created the statute."
Rep. Patricia Schroeder(D-Col.), a
senior member of the House Judiciary
Committee, said drug dealers know
what the risks are and that she was "not
into coddling these guys."
"After the execution, I'd like to see
some evidence that one additional drug
criminal, that one additional youth go-
ing down the wrong path has been
deterred from a life of violence," said
Rep. John Conyers Jr (D-Mich.), the
ranking Democrat on the House Judi-
ciary committee.
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American veterans visit Iwo Jima
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IWO JIMA, Japan (AP) - Ameri-
can soldiers and sailors who fought one
of World WarII'smostferociousbattles
50 years ago returned today to an island
whose name has become synonymous
with war.
This time, they were on Iwo Jima to
remember, not to fight.
"I feel a lot different coming here
now than when we came ashore in an
assault landing 50 years ago," Chester
Foulke, 71, of Las Vegas, said after
stepping off a chartered jet which ar-
rived from Saipan.
Foulke fought on Iwo Jima as a
demolitions expert in the 5th Marine
0 Division but said he has "no qualms"
about visiting again."You have good
memories and bad memories," he said.
"You have to deal with them both."
The U.S. military had spent the past
month sprucing up the tiny Pacific is-
things, well, you have to let go of them.
Maybe meeting them will help."
Most of the American veterans
dressed in street clothes and white com-
memorative baseball caps. A few
had medals pinned to their chests.
Most Japanese veterans dressed
more formally, injackets and ties. Some
wore navy blue caps inscribed with
"Iwo Jima" in gold lettering.
The United States also was repre-
sented by Marine Corps Commandant
Gen. Carl Mundy Jr., Navy Secretary
John Dalton and Walter Mondale,
Washington's ambassador to Japan.
"The Pacific was once an ocean of
blood, butitis now aplaceofpeaceand
prosperity, because America and Ja-
pan are working together," Mondale
told reporters.
Tokyo, concerned about the han-
dling of several other ceremonies mark-
forged a close and cooperative rela-
tionship," it said.
Iwo's only inhabitants today are
several hundred Japanese troops who
staff a small airfield. Most arrange-
ments were made by the Americans,
who shipped in their own equipment.
Iwo Jima was a particularly bitter de-
feat for Japan. In 36 days of fighting that
began Feb. 19, 1945,nearly 22.000 Japa-
nese who tried to defend Iwo Jima were
killed and 6,821 Americans were also
killed. Only 1,083 Japanese survived.
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