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Wednesday, October 24, 1990 / University Daily Kansan
Nation
Civil rights veto an 'ill wind'
The Associated Press
ATLANTA — Black leaders who had regarded President Bush as "a breath of fresh air" feel an ill wind blowing from the ground, form of his veto of a civil rights bill.
"We don't have to read his lips anymore," said the Rev. Joseph Lowery, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Atlanta-based civil rights group founded by Martin Luther King Jr."His lips have spoken loud and clear"
King's widow, Coretta Scott King, said Bush vetoed the legislation to pander to "those who profit from discrimination and demonstrates racist attitudes among those who call the shots in the White House.
"This veto proves that the White House has little or no concern for the legitimate grievances of women and minorities, and it shows why David Duke and others of his kind feel so upset," she said.
The sharp criticism for the veto of the employment discrimination bill ended a relatively peaceful period in the relationship between the White House and minorities. Civil rights leaders who spearheaded the campaign against President Reagan's policies had characterized Bush as more sympathetic to their cause.
"A few months ago, he was talking the talk," said Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., once a King aide. "He met with people. He said good things. It was a breath of fresh air for the civil rights movement."
But in the language of the civil rights movement, "talking the talk" needs to be accompanied by "walking the walk". Speakers said Bush walked the wrong way.
At a news conference in Washington, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said the veto was "a call to a return to massive direct action." He said that could include street demonstrations and other forms of violent protest.
Jackson accused Bush of "a closed-door policy and he has a closed-mind policy — he is betraying the American dream."
Bush predicted yesterday that Congress would uphold his veto.
"I feel pretty good. I think we're in good shape," he said at a photo session in Waterbury, Conn, where he was campaigning for Gary Gubbins, a Black Republican congressional candidate who also opposed the bill.
Bush repeated his assertion that the legislation would lead to hiring quotas. Asked what signal his veto said, Bush said he would measure, the president said, "I think
it sends a signal that we are for civil rights and are opposed to quotas."
The bill Bush vetoed, the Civil Rights Act of 1900, would overturn six U.S. Supreme Court decisions that have made it harder for women and minorities to prove they have been victims of job discrimination.
Bush said he vetoed the bill because he said provisions that would make it easier to win discrimination causes against employers who do not compete to establish hiring hirings. But Black leaders disagreed.
A Senate vote on whether to override the veto could come as early as today. Presidential spokesperson Marlin Fitzwater said the administration expected the veto to be sustained. Sponsors appear just short of the two-thirds, or 67 votes, needed for an override.
William Schneider, a political science professor at Boston College, said Bush's veto allowed Democrats to "no" difference than Ron Reagan.
Schneider said the damage to Bush would not be as severe among Blacks, who were skeptical of the president anyway, as among some white voters, who did not want to support a candidate whom seemed to be anti-civil rights.
Presidential vetoes,
overrides since 1945
How often a president has
vetoed legislation passed by
Congress and how often
Congress has overridden
vetoes in recent years:
President Vetoes rides
Truman 250 12
Eisenhower 181 2
Kennedy 21 0
Johnson 30 0
Nixon 42 6
Ford 66 12
Carter 29 2
Reagan 78 9
Bush (to date) 15 0
Constitution allows president to veto legislation passed by Congress to prevent it from becoming law.
How a veto works
- Congress can override veto by a two-thirds vote in both House and Senate. Successful override allows vetoed legislation to be enacted.
Knight-Ridder Tribune News
Wandering whale is back at it again
The Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO — Humphrey the wandering whale, freed from one spot in the mudflats of San Francisco Bay, spent most of yesterday stuck in another spot before he began wandering again.
Five years after the four-foot humpback's much publicized voyage through the bay to the Sacramento River, he drew a crowd of thousands to a cove near Candlestick Park. He and his dogs bear an "No Trespassing" sign.
A team of marine biologists, veterinarians and the Coast Guard nudged the 45-ton whale with their hands, splashed him with buckets of water, tow him with a harness and used a compressor to suck mud from below him.
"Essentially we were trying to tease him off that mud rock." Frank Griffith of the California Marine Mammal Center said during the effort. "There's no amount of human beings that you could put out there to push him off like you'd put a car down the stairs. If he's stuck on the ground, you couldn't move him unless he puts some effort into moving himself."
As afternoon high tide rolled in,
Humphrey budged a bit from the mud at 2:20 p.m. flipping his fins, raising his tail and blowing water above his spout. The crowd cheered
A short while later, Humphrey got stuck again, but with more work he freed himself and swam out into the water. The man used pipes to direct him away from land.
Once Humphrey reached deep water a quarter to a half mile away, rescuers hoped to used recorded whale sounds to cure him out under the Golden Gate Bridge to the ocean where he belongs.
"I think the guy likes attention," said Frank Boyd of San Francisco, who was in the crowd watching Humphrey. "I think he likes people."
Humphrey became something of an aquatic celebrity in the fall of 1985, when he spent 25 days swimming in San Francisco Bay and the river River Delta before being guided and cajoed back to the Pacific.
Biologists recognize Humphrey through tail markings with a unique pattern, like a fingerprint. They've spotted him in the ocean near San Francisco every year since in August or September.
Briefs
Tougher clean air bill expected to be passed
A tough, new clean air bill is expected to breeze through the House and Senate this week and be signed into law by President Bush.
A House-Senate conference committee approved the legislation Monday with only one dissenting voice. Democrat and Republican members expressed confidence that the measure could clear Congress, probably today.
Bush noted that it had been 13 years since federal air pollution laws were revised and said, "This Congress, this week, should send
The legislation, which is expected to cost the economy more than $22 billion a year when all its provisions are in force, requires 10 million new vehicles thousands of businesses, automobiles and electric power plants.
a clean air bill that I can sign." White House sources said that there did not appear to be anything wrong and kept the president from signing it.
A provision calling for $250 million in assistance to workers who lose their jobs because of new air pollution controls had been of concern to the administration. But modifications in the plan during the Obama administration appeared to have made the measure acceptable to the White House.
"While we have to take a look at the final language, we are encouraged by the agreement reached on (the jobs assistance) amendment." White House spokesperson Steve Hart said.
of fleets of automobiles. Automakers will have to intensify their push to develop alternative-fuel cars, but they still need to produce cleaner-burning fuels.
In some regions, especially the industrial Midwest, utilities will have to find ways to cut sulfur dioxide emissions, which cause acid rain. They could decide to do so by either switching to low-sulfur coal or installing expensive scrubbers. Either way, the costs likely will be passed on to customers in higher electric rates.
As plants turn away from high-sulfur coal to fuel their generators, miners in states such as West Virginia must work that is why Rep. Robert Wise, D-W.Va, pushed for the jobless assistance provision in the bill.
From The Associated Press
Ohio congressman will resign
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Rep. Donal E. Lukens will resign rather than face an ethics investigation of new sexual misconduct allegations, this time involving a congressional employee, congressional sources said yesterday.
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Ohio Republican would make his announcement today.
One congressional source said members of the committee had discussed providing the Ohio Supreme Court information about the allegations.
On Monday, Lukens was summoned by the House ethics committee, formally the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, after allegations arose that he fondled a man elevator operator in the Capitol.
The court is considering an appeal
filed by Lukens of his conviction last on a misdeed charge of contributing to the unruliness of a woman-year-old girl with whom he had seized.
Lukens remained silent during the day and missed all votes on the House floor.
GOP sources said fellow Republicans were pressuring him to resign rather than force a politically embarrassing and widely publicized sex investigation two weeks before a national election.
A Lukens aide confirmed that resignation was among the options the congressman was considering but confirmed that he had decided to quit.
A source who spoke with the woman said yesterday that Lukens approached her more than once on the same day. After fondling her, Lukes gave the woman his business card and asked her to call him, the
source said.
The elevator operator reported the incident to her superiors.
She was given leave with pay and assured she would not have to return to work as long as Lukens was around the Capitol, one source said.
Lukens, who is divorced, is serving out his term after losing in the May GOP primary.
The 59-year-old congressman lost the primary after ignoring pleas from many Ohio Republicans to stay out of the race. He had been convicted of contributing to the unruliness of a minor for having sex with a 16-year-old girl at his Columbus apartment in 1988.
Lukens said he was not guilty of the misdemeanor charge, appealed the conviction, lost and appealed again. He is free on bond.
The ethics committee can recommend punishments ranging from a written reprimand to expulsion.
Student Senate is now accepting applications for Elections Commissioner. Pick up applications at 410-Kansas Union. Deadline is October 24th.
SENIORS ANNOUNCING HILLTOPPERS
The Hillipper Awards were established in the 1930s as the Jayhawker's way of recognizing those seniors who have made high calibre contributions to the University and/or the Lawrence community and have consistently displayed unselfish, responsible leadership in non-academic careers.
areas of campus life.
Jayhawk staff. Anyone can nominate a senior for this award and seniors can nominate themselves by picking up an application. Nomination forms and applications are available at the Organizations and Activities Center.
office, Kansas Union. Deadline for acceptance of nominations is Friday, November 2, and the deadline for applications is Wednesday, November 14, 1990.
The nominations will be screened by a committee that includes KU faculty, student representatives and the
THE 1991 JAYHAWKER YEARBOOK
office, Kansas Union. Deadline for acceptance of nominations is Friday, November 2, and the deadlin 'to'
available at the Organizations and Activities Center,
400 Kansas Union and the Student Union Activities ticket
732 Massachusetts
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