NATION/WORLD UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Friday, February 14, 1997
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House approves funds for use in family planning
Overseas clinics would not have abortion limits
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - In the first abortion-related confrontation of the new Congress, the House approved without restrictions the release of funds for overseas family planning programs.
Yesterday's 220-209 vote was a victory for family planning advocacy.
cates in their longtime struggle against anti-abortion forces, which demand that family planning aid be denied to groups involved in abortion-related activities.
After arguments that family planning helps prevent abortions, 44 mostly moderate Republicans joined 175 Democrats and an independent in voting for the release of $385 million March 1. The last Congress froze the money until July 1.
"By giving women the access to health services they so desperately need during their childbearing years, we will help prevent thousands of maternal deaths," said
Ren. Susan Molinari, R-New York.
The decision was hailed by family planning groups. "The House has listened to the voices of the three-quarters of Americans who support the use of foreign assistance funds for voluntary family planning in poor countries," said Victoria Markell of Population Action International.
Foes of abortion had another bill on the floor yesterday afternoon that also would release the family planning money but tie it to restoration of the so-called Mexico City policy in force during the Reagan and Bush administrations but revoked by Clinton.
That bill, sponsored by anti-abortion champion Rep. Chris Smith, R.N.J., had almost no chance of success in the Senate if passed by the House. The Senate is expected to approve the nonrestrictive bill.
Going beyond a 1973 law barring direct U.S. funding of abortions overseas, the Mexico City policy forbids money from going to family planning groups that perform or promote abortions abroad.
Smith said that without the Mexico City language, the administration would pour hundreds of millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars into organizations that had made the toppling of anti-abortion laws and policies in developing countries their mission and explicit goal.
But Rep. Constance Morella, R-Md., cited figures that the 35 percent cut in family planning funds since fiscal 1995 had resulted in 4 million additional unintended pregnancies worldwide and 2 million more abortions.
Rep. David Skaggs, D-Colo, said abortions in Russia had gone down by a quarter during a period when funding for family planning had increased by 25 percent. "Does anybody think there's not a connection between the two?" Skaggs said. "And the connection between the two has come because of our American family planning assistance programs."
Negotiations over the fiscal 1997
budget nearly collapsed last fall when Clinton threatened to veto the entire package because of an attempt to attach Mexico City language to the family planning segment.
In an intricate compromise, the restrictive abortion language was removed in a $385 million budget, but the budget was frozen until July 1, nine months into the fiscal year, and then accessible only at a metered rate of 8 percent of the total a month.
The agreement also allowed Clinton to move up the release date to March 1 if he certified to Congress that the delay was injurious to family planning programs. He did so on Jan. 31.
King family supportive of trial; son thinks Ray may be cleared
Accused assassin dying of cirrhosis
The Associated Press
ATLANTA — The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s family called for a trial of James Earl Ray yesterday, saying it may be the only way to answer painful questions about King's assassination.
The family is appealing for a trial because Ray, who suffers from liver disease, could die before the truth comes out, said Dexter King, the civil rights leader's son.
"The lack of a satisfactory resolution to questions surrounding the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. has been a source of continuing pain and hardship to our family," Dexter King said at a news conference with his sisters, his brother and his mother, Coretta Scott King.
"Every effort must be made to determine the truth," he said.
Ray, who pleaded guilty to the 1968 assassination and was sentenced to 99 years in prison but has since recanted his confession, is dying in a Nashville, Teen, prison from cirrhosis of the liver. He is 68.
A hearing is scheduled for Feb. 20 in Memphis on Ray's request for new scientific tests on the rifle identified as the murder weapon.
For Ray to win a trial, his lawyers must prove new evidence exists that will exonerate him.
John Campbell, a Shelby County assistant district attorney, said yesterday that even if the tests are conducted there is plenty of reason not to give Rav a trial.
"IfMr.Ray does not pull through, this will die with him."
Dexter King said he always has believed that others were involved in his father's death, and he believes a trial may even exonerate
"The guilty plea Ray is under has been examined seven times by other courts and affirmed every time." Campbell said.
Dexter King son of Martin Luther King Jr.
Ray.
"I think that by having the trial a lot of information will be shared that not only will vindicate Mr. Ray but point to others," he said.
Dexter King said the family decided to speak out now because of Rav's illness.
"It was time to come forward, make a statement about this, which has haunted us for years," he said. "If Mr. Ray does not pull through, this will die with him."
Vietnam appointee clears hurdle
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Pete Peterson, a Vietnam War POW and former congressman who is President Clinton's nominee as the first ambassador to Vietnam since the Vietnam War, sailed through a Senate confirmation hearing yesterday.
Peterson told the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on East Asia and Pacific affairs that his top priority would be to press for the fullest possible accounting for missing U.S. servicemen.
Peterson said he thought the United States was in for a long
haul working with the Vietnamese government to resolve the remaining cases of American MIAs, Peterson said. He said the pace of normalization of economic relations with Vietnam would depend on progress in accounting for MIAs.
The panel's chairman, Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo., said he disagreed with Clinton's decision to normalize relations with Vietnam but supported Peterson's nomination.
"Absent some unexpected revelation, I believe that he will find overwhelming support in both the committee and the full Senate," Thomas said.
Several congressmen urged Thomas last week to put off Peterson's confirmation hearing pending the outcome of congressional investigations into allegations that Clinton's 1995 decision to normalize relations with Vietnam was influenced by Democratic campaign donations from Indonesia's billionaire Riady family, which has sought business in Vietnam.
At yesterday's hearing, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a leading propponent of normal ties to Vietnam, said he felt certain Asian contributors to Clinton's campaign played no role in the president's decisions on Vietnam policy.
Dow Jones hits 7,000 mark continues to break records
Standard & Poor breaks 800-mark; Nasdaq falls short
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — The Dow Jones industrial average rose above 7,000 for the first time yesterday as the stock market extended a two-day rally amid more indications that the economy isn't growing at an inflationary pace.
At 2 p.m. on Wall Street, the Dow was up 25.02 at 6,986.65, down from a 39-point gain in the early afternoon that briefly put the famed blue-chip barometer a shade above 7,000. The Dow first crossed the 6,000-mark only four months ago and the 4,000-mark about two years ago.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 12 to 7 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 385.7 million shares, up slightly from Wednesday afternoon's pace.
Broader measures also were positive yesterday, with some padding Wednesday's record highs.
The Standard & Poor's 500 list,
which on Wednesday broke
above the 800-mark for the first
time, was up 5.32 at 808.09,
while the NYSE composite
index was up 2.64 at 422.52.
Both measures, dominated by larger companies, closed at record highs Wednesday.
The Nasdaq composite index — which on Wednesday surged 27 points, or about 2 percent — was up 9.45 at 1,368.41 but still about 20 points shy of record territory. The American Stock Exchange composite index, which also has a large constituency of technology issues and smaller-company shares, was up 1.30 at 594.40.
The Dow's biggest gainers were Philip Morris, up 2 3/4 at 124 1/4; Merck, up 1 7/8 at 97 3/4; and IBM, up 1 5/8 at 146 5/8.
For the first time this week,
stocks were drawing some support from the bond market, which rose amid signs that consumer demand may be continuing at a modest enough pace to keep inflationary pressures under control.
The Commerce Department reported yesterday morning that retail sales rose a moderate 0.6 percent in January. The report also revealed that December sales proved more disappointing than previously reported, rising an anemic 0.3 percent, just half the government's month-old estimate of 0.6 percent.
But in a separate report demonstrating that the economy has plenty of pep left to it, the Labor Department said new claims for jobless benefits fell by 15,000 last week to the lowest level since July. Many analysts had expected a 10,000 increase.
As bond prices rose yesterday, the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond — a key determinant of corporate and consumer borrowing costs — fell from Wednesday's 6.70 percent to 6.67 percent.
The Associated Press
Passenger Nady Robson broke the silence.
WASHINGTON — Washington has a subway system with trains that talk.
Some people hear: "George Clayton. George Clayton." Others hear: "George Clinton. George Clinton." Or "George Mason. George Mason."
Most keep quiet about it; they don't want others to think they're crazy.
Before a train leaves the station, a warning chime rings and a female voice sings out.
who is this GEORGE CLAYTON they are paging all the time on Metro trains?" she wrote to the newspaper. "It's annoying, just like a dripping faucet."
Ron Shaffer, who writes a Washington Post column about commuting, professed to be stumped.
Aliens? he wondered. Squeaky doors?
Dennis Carroll blamed an accent from the Tidewater region of Virginia.
Frank Bell Jr. said he asked the subway system and was told to get his hearing tested.
Passenger Arlene Simms came up with the innocent truth.
The voice says: "Doors closing.
Doors closing."
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