10 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, April 20, 1998 NATION/WORLD views of Peres, Shamir d i ffer TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) - It all comes down to a simple formula. But whose? Former prime minister Shimon Peres believes peace is Israel's most pressing need and a price must be paid in land to attain it. Yitzhak Shamir, Israel's other surviving ex-premier, argues land is the Jewish state's most sacred commodity, and nothing, not even peace, can justify giving up terri- tory. The views of the two men, who for several years governed together in a rancorous coalition of necessity, mir- ror the deep divide in Israeli society as the country nears its 50th birthday this month. Both withdrew from politics after losing national elections - Shamir in 1992 and Peres in 1996 - but still campaign tirelessly for their goals. Peres tries to arrange financing for Israeli-Arab joint business ventures. Shamir lobbies for Hebrew schools in other countries to encourage more Jews to immi- grate to Israel. Welcoming a reporter to his Tel Northern Ireland not 0 welcoming Clinton visit The Washington Post advice would be that he not come president who has been even-handed DUBLIN - Some have been down- before the referendum. I would not on the issue. right rude about it and some have been want people here to feel they are being He is likely to get the same message respectful, but Irish politicians of all dictated to by some foreign power." next week from Paul Quinn. a stripes seem to have reached consensus The same view seems to prevail in Washington lawyer active in Irish- on the idea of a presidential visit here the opposite political camp - that is, American affairs, who traveled to this spring: Clinton, stay home, among the "nationalists," those who Ireland, north and south, last week. "It's With the electorate in the Republic of want to see Northern Ireland form a a somewhat delicate issue, because peo- Ireland and in the British province of single nation with the Republic, and ple here like the president," Quinn said. Northern Ireland scheduled to vote May end the northern counties' tie to "But the general consensus is that he 22 on the historic peace plan settled on. Britain. should not come." Good Friday, there has been speculation "Personally, I think Clinton has been The interesting point here is that that President Clinton will visit this nothing but positive so far in what he's those urging Clinton to stay away misty green island to campaign for done on the Irish question," said Joe include many leaders who agree* approval of the plan. Reilly, a local Sinn Fein party leader in with him on the basic question: That But as the political situation sur- Ireland's County Meath. "But a lot of is, they hope to see the peace agree- rounding the peace referendums people will wonder why an American ment approved in May. But since the grows clearer, key political leaders is suddenly campaigning in an Irish political momentum now indicates both in Northern Ireland and here in election, so I think perhaps he'd best strong approval among the elec- the Republic now are saying publicly stay away." torate, local leaders don't want to that a Clinton visit would not be wel- By virtue of the office, any American upset their apple cart by bringing in come. president is an important figure in an outsider. David Trimble, the most popular Ireland. Virtually every Irish family has Not surprisingly, Irish politicians politician in the Northern Ireland relatives who have settled in the New who oppose the peace plan also hav "unionist" camp - that is, those resi- World. In fact, 44 million Americans urged Clinton to stay away. "We don't dents who want to maintain the claim Irish descent; that's about nine need any outsiders coming here to province's union with Britain - times as many Irish people as there are advocate something that will mean the expressed that view this weekend. "Of on the whole island of Ireland. destruction of our country," said the course the president will be welcome," Clinton's clout may be particularly Rev. lan Paisley, a fiery unionist who is Trimble said, "but for the moment, our strong because he is regarded here as a battling to defeat the peace plan. HigyWporkonthe menu in both houses AP PHOTO Former Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Shamir, shown here in May 1991 in Jerusalem, argues land is the Jewish state's most sacred commodity. Aviv office, among a vast collec- tion of books and mementos, Peres was busy corresponding with col- leagues and working on projects for his newly established peace center. "Peace is a must," said the Nobel Peace Prize laureate who still puts in 20-hour days and -- with his perfectly combed silver hair and tanned skin - radiates youthful energy. Israel mtst withdraw from most of the West Bank and Gaza Strip - - home to more than 2.5 million Palestinians and 150,000 Jewish set- tlers - if it wants to avoid ethnic strife of Bosnian dimensions, he said. Ruling another people violates Jewish beliefs, lie added. Democrats see chance for House gains amid GOP split The Washington Post WASHINGTON - Democrats are salivating over the possibility of turning deep divisions among Republicans into toppling the majority party from its pre- carious perch atop the House of Representatives. But while Republicans are show- ing ideological splits over every- thing from whether to change the nation's campaign finance laws to how to use the budget surplus, histo- ry and statistics say they are likely to hold on to the House majority they wrested from the Democrats in 1994. Historically, the party that con- trols the White House loses seats in off-Year elections. That fact leads Republicans to claim they will gain seats in the fall, not lose them, to bolster their 227-205 House margin. (Two seats are vacant, and there is one independent). lhe Republican hold on the Senate, now 55-45, is not thought to be in question. Still, this year's congressional elections may prove the exception, with a scandal-plagued. yet immensely popular Democratic president in the White House and an agenda-sparse, vet incumbent Republican leader- ship in the louse. The Washington Post WAS IINGTON --While Senate leaders say they disap- prove of the sort of rampant pork-barrel spending that marks the House-passed version of new federal highway and mass- transit legislation, Republican and Democratic senators will bring plenty of pork of their own to the table when the two sides begin negotiating a compromise bill this week. The House bill - which earmarks about $9 billion for 1,467 individual highway, bridge, bike path and economic development projects and another $9 billion for hundreds of mass transit and bus projects -- has drawn stinging rebukes from House Budget Committee Chair John Kasich (R-Ohio), congressional conservatives and a raft of groups concerned about fiscal discipline. "The era of big government is not over,"John Berthoud of the National Taxpayers Unin complained last week of the 5217 billion measure. "The :ra of really big government is here:' But the slightly less costly Senate version of the legislation, approved early last month with little controversy, includes scores of earmarks or special provisions that would funnel billions of dollars' worth of highway, bridge and mass-transit projects to favored states and special interests. There is nearly S1 billion in the bill to develop and con- struct high-speed magnetic levitation trains throughout the country. State officials and private developers in Nevada, California, Florida, Maryland and Pennsylvania have expressed interest in the program for developing passenger trains that can travel in excess of 240 mph. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chair John Chafee (R-R.l.) added the funds for the project after personally inspecting-and driving -a MAG-LEV train in Germany last year, according to an aide. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) inserted language that would make San Mateo County, Calif., eligible to receive emergency funding for a proposed S146 million highway tun- nel project at Devil's Slide. The bill also contains funding for road construction in and around Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, and $72 mil- lion to construct a dozen new transportation research centers on college and university campuses to promote different facets of the transportation industry. Another $420 million was added for an "Interstate 4R and Bridge Discretionary Program." According to a Senate aide, that would give states more discretion in spending funds for resurfacing and restoring portions of interstate highways. Pork-barrel spending - and how much is too much - is among a dozen or so critical issues separating House and Senate transportation committee negotiators as they attempt to iron out a final bill before a May I deadline for authoriz- ing new highway projects. The principal combatants will be House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Bud Shuster (R-Pa.), who championed a huge increase in pork and overall highway and transit spending, and Chafee, who cautioned moderation even as the Senate virtually matched the House in overall spending and loaded up the bill with special-interest provisions and last-minute deals to placate recalcitrant states. A key dispute is over the formula for allocating the vast majority of highway funds to the states. Both the House and Senate have approved formulas that eliminate or minimize many of the inequities of the 1991 formula that largely bene- fited states from the Northeast and upper Midwest to the* detriment of Southern, Western and Midwestern states. However, the new House formula would be slightly more advantageous to more heavily populated states with larger highway systems, while the Senate approach would favor more sparsely populated states with smaller highway net- works. U U YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED The University of Michigan-Dearborn invites you to be a guest student for the U- F I I { I /" .._, zz \\l ENTER THE FALL 0o DIAG BOARD LOTTERY Appointments September 8+ 9 Deadline September 4 Lottery Packets Available Now! -RC 4015 MICHIGAN UNION 313 - 7 4 - 0436 ET TO THE SOURCEI q 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 RITE FOR THE DAILY THIS * SUMMER. CALL 76- DAILY FOR MORE INFO. m_ _ F gp i Mg) e 72~X Y 1998 summer semester. We have three options to accommodate students who are home for summer vacation. 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