IOA - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 6, 1995
Sen. Peli will not
see re-election
Senate veteran is 7th
Democrat to resign
NATIoN/WoRtLD
Gridlock
in D.C.
,
M Pell was a principal
figure in reshaping the
government-financed
college loan program
WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen.
Claiborne Pell (D-R.I.), whose liberal
politics and genteel eccentricities have
been a Senate hallmark for more than
three decades, said yesterday he will
not seek re-election next year, boosting
the number of impending Democratic
retirements to seven - a record for
modern times.
Pell, 76, was diagnosed with
Parkinson's disease last year but said
he was not retiring for health reasons,
asserting he felt "strong and healthy
and sharp" and reluctant to leave the
Senate he loved.
But "there is a natural time for all
life's adventures to come to an end and
this period of 36 years would seem to
me about the right time for my service
in the Senate to end," Pell said, an-
nouncing his plans in Providence, R.I.,
and later to his Senate colleagues.
Pell was a principal figure in creating
the government-financed college grants
that bear his name and in passing legis-
lation setting up the national endow-
ments for the arts and humanities. An
ardent advocate of arms control and the
rule of law in international affairs, he
was also senior Democrat on the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee for the
past 14 years, serving as its chairman
from 1987 to 1994.
Although he was faulted by many for
his low-key and unassertive leadership
of the foreign relations panel, contrib-
uting to its political strains and loss of
influence in the late 1980s, Pell was
liked and respected in the Senate and
Rhode Island.
Always gracious and often absent-
minded, Pell dabbled in parapsychology,
jogged in a tweed coat, carried a copy of
the United Nations Charter in his coat
pocket and frequently sailed against the
prevailing political currents. In what may
bea first fora retiring senator, Pell thanked
his constituents for having "tolerated my
eccentricities."
Characteristically, while many of his
collagues have bowed out of office
with blasts at Congress, government
and the political system, Pell paid trib-
ute to the Senate as a "marvelous insti-
tution" and reaffirmed his belief that
"government, and the federal govern-
ment in particular, can, should and does
make a positive impact on the lives of
most Americans."
Pell's announcement sets a record
for retirements by senators of one party
in a single election cycle, at least since
the election following the 1913 ratifi-
cation of the constitutional amendment
calling for direct election of senators,
according to several compilations of
election statistics.
Senate Democrats had six retirements
last year, tying a previous record set by
Republicans in 1958. The retirements
Democrats to retire
The following Senate Democrats
have already announced that
they will not seek re-election:
Bill Bradley of New Jersey
J. James Exon of Nebraska
Howell T. Heflin of Alabama
J. Bennett Johnston of Louisiana
David Pryor of Arkansas
Paul Simon of Illinois
Senate Republican to retire:
Sen. Hank Brown of Colorado
In addition, Sen. Sam Nunn, a
Democrat from Georgia, has not
said whether he will run again.
Republican Senators, including
Sens. Mark Hatfield of Oregon
and Nancy Kassebaum of Kansas,
havesnot yet disclosed their
plans.
were a contributing factor to the Demo-
crats' loss of Senate control last year.
The high number of Democratic re-
tirements has sharply reduced the
chances of Democrats regaining con-
trol of the Senate next year. It even
raises the possibility that Republicans,
who now have a 54 to 46 edge in the
Senate, could approach the 60 votes
needed to cut off filibusters, a tactic the
minority party often uses to thwart the
power of the majority.
Other Democratic retirees are Sens.
Bill ,Bradley of New Jersey, J. James
Exon of Nebraska, Howell T. Heflin of
of Alabama, J. Bennett Johnston of
Louisiana, David Pryor of Arkansas
and Paul Simon of Illinois. In addition,
Sam Nunn, a Democrat from Georgia,
has not said whether he will run again,
deferring an announcement until later
this fall. Only one Republican, Sen.
Hank Brown of Colorado, has said he
will retire, although several others, in-
cluding Sens. Mark Hatfield of Oregon
and Nancy Kassebaum of Kansas, have
not yet disclosed their plans.
In his retirement statement, Pell said
he planned to help elect a Democratic
successor and re-elect President Clinton,
whom he described as "sadly under-
rated." Beyond that, he said, he had no
specific plans except to "stay engaged
in public service."
Pellisa wealthy descendent ofa family
of landowners and politicians, including
five relatives who served in Congress,
one of whom was his father, who served
in the House. Pell was elected to tde
Senate in 1960 and won election to a sixth
term in 1990 with relative ease despite
being made a prime target for defeat by
Republicans. He is the longest-serving
senator in Rhode Island history.
AP PHOTO
Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole addresses the Economic Club of Chicago yesterday, promising to fulfill a GOP mandate.
Dole pledes to contnue to.
fight for Rkepublicans' ol
isks gvt
shutdown.
WASHINGTON (AP) -The train
wreck.
Pick the metaphor. Some call it the
Titanic, others say it's the Washington
equivalent of World War III - an epic
struggle between two political super.
powers, the Democratic White Houe,
and the Republican Qogress. Each has
the power towage the economic equiv
lent of thermonuclear war: the shut-
down ofthe federal government and the
potential default of the United States.
It's too early to tell whether either sid
has the will to commit to such a step.
Both the President and Congress insist
they'll stand firm.
And politicians on all sides of the
debate are breathlessly awaiting the
battles about to begin. "Won't it b.
fascinating!"OfficeofManagementa*4:
Budget Director Alice Rivlin exudes.
The risks to both parties are high,
because a government shutdown orde-
fault carries heavy consequences. Each
side is angling to deflect as much of the
blame as possible. But,just as in nuclear
war, both sides will suffer heavy casu,
alties.
The train wreck scenario could take,
place on two different tracks - the
battle over the annual spending bills for
the fiscal year starting Oct. 1, and the
parallel effort to rewrite tax and federal
benefit laws (such as for Medicare and
welfare) needed to enact the Republi-
can plan to balance the budget by 20Q.
The first battle might result in a shut-
down of all but essential government
services - national parks would be
closed, for instance -and even esser,
tial services like airtraffic control,bor-
der crossings and federal prisons would
be operated by staffs whose federl
paychecks werewithheld. Social Secu-
rity and welfare checks would still b
issued, but vendors and companies do-
ing business with the federal govern-
ment would not be paid.
But a failure to resolve the debt
limit issue would mean that the g -
ernment couldn't borrow any new
funds and could default on its debt
and thus cut off all federal benefi
and services.
Before any of this happens, the Re2
publicans who control the House and
Senate must agree among themselves
on the various appropriation measure
- no easy task. Then, President Clinton
must decide to sign or veto the bills,
Clinton wants to restore some cuts itr
many ofthe spending bills, and he want
to balance the budget by 2004, so he'll
probably veto most of the bills passed
by the Republicans.
The Republicans don't have the votes
to override Clinton's vetoes. That would
seem a recipe for compromise. But the
Republicans have other weapons attheir
disposal.
If the annual spending bills aren't
signed by Oct. 1, the first type of gv-
ernment shutdown - all but essential
services and federal benefits - would
take place. The Senate and House are
farbehind schedule in writing the spend-
ing bills, so it's unclear if they Will
make the deadline.
The Washington Post
CHICAGO - Senate Majority
Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) vowed here
yesterday that "this will not be an au-
tumn of compromise" by a Republican
majority determined to enact sweeping
changes in budget, tax, welfare and
other policies.
Dole, the frontrunner for the Re-
publican presidential nomination,
spoke to the Economic Club of Chi-
cago,.an address his campaign aides
hinted would include a major pro-
nouncement on tax policy and the
increasingly popular idea of a "flat
tax" to replace the existing federal
income-tax structure.
Dole fell short of that advertise-
ment, but did seek to dilute his image
as the ultimate Washington legisla-
tive tactician whose willingness to
compromise in the past is troubling to
many of his party's most conserva-
tive activists.
With Congress about to tackle the
most contentious issues on the Repub-
lican agenda, Dole said President
Clinton "should know hat we will never
compromise away the mandate the
American people gave use last Novem-
ber. We will fight to the end for funda-
mental conservative change, or we will
take our case to the American people in
1996."
Clinton, on a trip to California, re-
plied that "good people of goodwill
want us to find common ground, want
us to find honorable compromises."
The only issue on which Dole sug-
(President Clinton) should know
that we will never compromise away
the mandate the American people gave
us last November"
- Bob Dole
Senate majority leader
gested compromise would be appropri-
ate was the one on which Democrats
see the Republicans as most vulnerable
- the GOP's call for steep reductions
in the growth of spending for Medicare.
"If there is one issue that should rise
above partisan politics, it's Medicare,"
Dole said. "I call on the President today
tojoin me in acommitment to America's
seniors: Let's lift Medicare out of the
general budget debate and put it on a
higher plane so we can work together
to save and strengthen this program
of vital importance to older Ameri-
cans."
Two other Republican presidential
hopefuls outlined their own economic
views yesterday. Conservative com-
mentator Patrick Buchanan, writing in
The Wall Street Journal, offered a pro-
gram he said would blend the policies
of Ronald Reagan with Buchanan's own
prescriptions for protecting American
business and jobs from foreign compe-
tition.
Among the features of the Buchanan
plan are a flat tax on personal income
above $25,000 for a family of four,
with deductions only for charity and
mortgages; a flat corporate tax rate,
with special low rates for small busi-
ness; an end to inheritance taxes on
family farms and businesses and es-
tates up to $5 million; and a six-
month capital-gains tax "holiday" to
encourage people to recycle accumu-
lated assets.
Buchanan would link those tax re-
ductions with tariffs of 10 percent on
Japanese goods and 20 percent on Chi-
nese imports and an unspecified-rate
"social tariff' on Third World prod-
ucts, all to protect American workers
from low-wage competition.
Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), in a
statement, said he agreed with Clinton
that the economic frustrations of
Americans have been caused by low
growth rates, not affirmative action
or immigration. Lugar said the real
answers lie in balancing the federal
budget and shifting from reliance on
the federal income tax to a national
sales tax.
"True tax reform requires the aboli-
tion of the federal income tax," he said.
- I
Clinton says he will fight to continue
federal ai for subsidized college loans
REGISTRAR'S BULLETIN BOARD
STUDENT SERVICES
The Office of the Registrar announces the opening of two new student service sites and
the closing of one:
G255 Angell Hall
763-5174
and
1212 North Campus Commons
763-7650
Hours...8am to 5pm, Monday-Friday
Students may come to either of these sites to order transcripts, request certification,
obtain help with registration, make name and ID number changes, request nondisclosure
of personal information, ask questions related to their academic records, and to receive a
variety of other services.
The Windows in the LSA Building will no longer be a service site.
TRANSCRIPT FEE
Los Angeles Times
SELMA, Calif. -President Clinton,
raising one of his favorite issues on the
eve of Congress' return to work, said
yesterday he will turn funding for fed-
erally subsidized college loans into a
major battleground during this fall's
budget debate.
"In California you have had enough
of cutting education," Clinton told stu-
dents and parents at a middle school in
this Central Valley town 15 miles south
of Fresno. "We need to invest more in
education, and we can do that."
"Tell the Congress and the President
you want the budget balanced but you
want us to invest in education and the
future," he said. "We don't want to be
penny-wise and pound foolish."
Despite his fighting words, Clinton
sought to cast himself as the champion
of moderation in the budget debate and
said Republicans should bow to his
requests for more education funding as
a matter of sweet reason.
"There are some who say that there
should be no compromise this autumn.
But I say that good people of goodwill
-vnn ite o fnd rmm armnd ant
debate over the budget will force Con-
gress "to choose what direction we're
going to take."
Before he left California for Wash-
ington, the President also taught a class
at the middle school and met with two
dozen San Joaquin Valley farmers in a
Fresno Air Terminal hangar - a
decidely conservative group that in-
cluded winemaker Ernest Gallo. The
meeting was closed to the news media
because of the expectation that it would
be rough going for Clinton, but it was
amazingly cordial.
The President's choice of education
as an issue reflects two realities about
this fall's budget battle: Most Ameri-
cans want Congress' Republican lead-
ers to succeed in enacting a plan to
balance the budget but a large majority
- as big as 71 percent in some polls-
agrees with Clinton that education fund-
ing should be protected.
As part of their drive to balance the
budget in seven years, Republican lead-
ers have proposed cuts in education
programs that they consider inefficient.
The administration estimates the total
fthe GOP-nmnnosed cuts at D6 billion
Clinton's first-day-of-school visit to
announce four modest grants to state
departments of education to develop
"character education" curricula promo-
ing such virtues as hard work, respons-
bility and respect.
The farmers, who traded in their blue
jeans and hats for suits and ties, had
come to their session with the President
carrying a long list of complaints about
onerous environmental laws and water
reforms that seemingly give more
weight to fish than farmers. They left
the 75-minute meeting impressed with
Clinton's grasp of the issues, if not
believing he was on their side.
"None of the expected rancor came
out," said David Mas Masumoto, Fresno
County grape and tree fruit farmer. 'He
listened and he said a lot of the right
things."
In a private meeting with Clinton,
Gallo expressed his concern about e-
tending North American; Free Trade
Agreement membership to Chile, which
is exporting increasing quantities of
low-priced wine. According to Whie
House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta, the
President assured Gallo that any nego-
I