Senate reaches compromise on limits
■The vote to raise hard-money
rjonadonsisthefirststepof
many for McCain supporters.
THE ASSOCWIH) PRESS
WASHINGTON-The Senate
voted overwhelmingly
Wednesday to raise the limits on
contributions to candidates and
political parties, hoping to strike
a balance on campaign finance
legislation one day after moving
to flush millions of dollars out of
the nation's political system.
The 84-16 vote on a hastily
crafted compromise cleared the
latest - but not the last - hurdle
blocking passage of legislation
pressed by Sen. John McCain, R
Ariz., and his allies to curtail die
influence of big money in poli
tics.
“Money is not evil in and of
itself," said Sen. Fred Thompson,
R-Tenn., shortly before the
Senate agreed to increase dona
tion limits enacted in the wake of
tbeWiteigate scandal a quarter
century ago.
Donors would be permitted
to give $2,000ayear to any candi
dates of their choice, and $37,500
overall to candidates and politi
cal parties for use in direct cam
paign expenses.
These limits would rise with
inflation in die future.
The current limits are $1,000
and $25,000.
The compromise called for
smaller increases than
Thompson originally wanted,
but more than Sen. Dianne
Feinstein, D-Calif., proposed in
an alternative that caused a leg
islative stand-off and prompted
closed-door negotiations in a
meeting room a few paces off the
Senate floor
Sen. Russ Feingold of
Wisconsin* the leading
Democratic supporter of the bill
emerged to say he would give his
support reluctantly to the
increases.
*We have tomake this move,"
he said, or else ride die unravel
ing of a coalition that has been
painstakingly put together in
nearly two weeks of floor debate.
Even with the compromise,
other obstacles remain, includ-.
ing a thorny question of whether
the Supreme Court should be
directed to consider the measure
one provision at a time or render
a verdict on its constitutionality
as a whole
Lawmakers on all sides of the
bill have raised questions about
die constitutionality of a variety
of its provisions.
MttkWfcon/Newsmafaers
Sen.Stran Thurmond, R-S.C, gets an escort from an umdentifiedmanashe leaves the White House on Wednesday in
Washington, D.CThumtond was attemfing a meeting between President Bush and Republican leaders.
%
Abortion Web
hit-list case
thrown out
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN FRANCISCO - A federal appeals court
threw out a record $109 million verdict against
anti-abortion activists Wednesday, ruling that a
Web site and wanted posters branding abortion
doctors “baby butchers” and criminals were pro
tected by the First Amendment
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals unanimously said the activists
could be held liable only if the material authorized
or directly threatened violence.
The ruling came two years after a jury in
Portland, Ore., ordered a dozen abortion foes to
pay damages to Planned Parenthood and four
doctors. They had sued under federal racketeering
law and the 1994 federal law that makes it illegal to
incite violence against abortion doctors.
The case was widely seen as a test of a recent
Supreme Court ruling that said a threat must be
explicit and likely to cause “imminent lawless
action.*
“If defendants threatened to commit violent
acts, by working alone or with others, then their
(works) could properly support the verdict,"
Circuit Judge Alex Kozinsld wrote. “But if their
(works) merely encouraged unrelated terrorists,
then their words are protected by the First
Amendment"
Planned Parenthood and the doctors were por
trayed in the Old West-style wanted posters as
“baby butchers," and a Web site called the
“Nuremberg Files” listed the names and addresses
of abortion providers and declared them guilty of
crimes against humanity.
, The anti-abortion activists said their posters
and Web site were protected under the First
Amendment because they were merely a list of
doctors and dinics - not a threat.
Editor Sarah Baker
Managing Editor Bradley Davis
^ w A—dm Norn Editor Kimberly Sweet
a—linirt EOHor JUIZaman
■■m Opinion Editor Jake Glazeski
//% Sports Editor Matthew Hansen
32 Aodatnd Sports Editor David Diehl
ffi Arts Editor Samuel McKewon
Copy Desk Chief: Daneli McCoy
Copy Desk Chief: Jeff Bloom
Art Director Melanie Falk
Jkm Art Director. Delan tonowski
O Photo Chief: Scott McClurg
Design Coordinator Bradley Davis
ZWoh Editor Gregg Stems
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General Managor Daniel Shatdi
PnhlicnMoas Board Russell Willbanks
i Chairman: (402)484-7226
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House passes Bush's budget plan
■The bill will have a tougher time
passing through the evenly-divided
Senate next week.
THE ASSOCWH) PRESS
WASHINGTON - Republicans over
whelmed the Democrats and pushed a
$L94 trillion budget for2002through the
House on Wednesday, as President
Bush's blueprint for tax cuts and cur
tailed spending cleared its first major
congressional hurdle.
The vote was a near party-line 222
205. Though devoid of suspense because
of the GOP’s thin but unified majority,
Republicans hailed their victory as a tri
umph for their view of government.
“The choice is between two visions,"
said House Majority Leader Dick Armey,
R-Texas. “A vision of bigger and bigger
government, a choice between larger
and larger taxes or a choice of smaller
government that trusts the people."
The House roll call, though, was but
a warmup fora rougher test next week in
the evenly divided Senate. There, the
GOP not only faces near-lockstep
Democratic opposition, but some mod
erate Republicans have said Bush’s 10
year, $1.6 trillion tax cut was too big and
his proposed spending restraints too
stingy.
Even so, Bush said the House action
made Wednesday “a big day” and said
the budget's centerpiece - an across-the
board cut in income tax rates - would
help all Americans.
“We need to cut all rates so that
there’s certainty in our economy when
people plan, and I’m confident we can
get this done," he said before meeting
with GOP congressional leaders at the
White House.
Hoping to claim the economic stim
ulus argument as their own, House
Democrats joined their Senate col
leagues and said they wanted a $60 bil
lion tax reduction effwrive this year.
If moved as a separate bill - instead
of attached to Bush’s big tax cuts, as
Republicans insist - the measure could
zip through Congress in a day, '
Democrats said
“But they refuse to do it because they
have an obsession with a year-old tax
plan, like a dog after a bone,” House
Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Ma,
said at a news conference, referring to
Bushs plan.
Senate Republicans have said they
favored a $60 billion tax cut for this year,
but had yet to determine all the details.
House GOP leaders remain undecided
on the size and shape of a package
meant to stimulate the economy. A final
figure will be set in the final congression
al budget, which House-Senate bargain
ers hope to complete next month.
Besides its tax reduction, the House
GOP budget envisions $2.3 trillion in
debt reduction over die coming decade,
using parts of the Social Security and
Medicare surpluses to overhaul both
programs, and limiting many programs
to 4 percent growth next year. That
would be half this year's increase
Besides drawing Democratic fire, •
Bush’s fiscal plans have prompted rails
from some Republicans for deeper tax
cuts and added spending for defense,
farms and special education. But partic
ipants in Wednesday’s White House ses
sion said that while Bush seemed open
to changing details of his budget and tax
plan, he was sticking to its basic princi
ples, including the $1.6 trillion tax cut
House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R
III, described Bush’s message to the law-.
makers: “Stay the route. Get this thing
dona"
Democrats said the GOP budget
would squander the $5.6 trillion federal
surplus projected over the next decade,
largely to cut taxes for the rich. They said
it would shortchange otherpriorities like
schools and new prescription drug cov
erage, risk a return to budget deficits,
and do nothing to buttress Social
Security and Medicare for the retirement
of baby boomers in the coming decade
“That’s not only a budgetary prob
lem, I think it’s a moral problem,” said
“We need to cut all rates
so that there's certainty in
our economy when people
plan, and Vm confident
we can get this done.n
t George Bash
president
Rep. John Spratt, D-S.G
Republicans said their plan was a
sound use of federal resources and
would lay die groundwork for overdue
tax cuts.
“Clear and simple, it’s about tax
cuts," said Rep. John Sununu, R-NTL He
said that for years, Democrats “have
found every reason under the sup to
oppose budget resolutions that have tax
relief in them.”
Congress’ budget maps broad tax
and spending goals and does not need
the president’s signature. Tax cuts and
spending changes are enacted in later,
more detailed bills. This budget covers
fiscal2002, which begins Oct 1.
Earlier, the House used a near party
line 243-183 roll call to reject an alterna
tive by Democratic leaders that would
have trimmed the tax cut to about $750
billion and set aside more than Bush
would have for domestic and defense
programs and reducing the debt
The chamber also defeated an effort
by conservative Republicans to increase
the tax cut to $2.2 trillion while limiting
spending growth to 2.9 percent
Meanwhile, the House planned to
pass a $399 billion bill Thursday that
would gradually reduce the extra taxes
paid by millions of married, two-income
couples, while doubling the $500 child
tax credit
Another measure to eliminate the
estate tax over the next decade, at a cost
sponsors estimated at below $200 bil
lion, was likely to win approval Thursday
in committee.
Vaccinations last resort for Britain
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LONDON - As the army prepared
to slaughter thousands of healthy ani
mals, Britain won European Union
permission Wednesday to vaccinate
up to 180,000 cattle against foot-and
mouth disease in an effort to contain
the epidemic.
British Agriculture Minister Nick
Brown said Britain had not yet decided
whether to vaccinate - seen as a last
resort. But, the government wants to
have the option because of the scale of
the livestock disease outbreak, which
has now infected more than 700 farms.
EU officials said vaccination
would be limited to the hardest hit
English counties, Cumbria and
Devon. EU governments have resisted
calls for a wider immunization cam
paign, warning of disastrous conse
quences for livestock exporters, who
would lose disease-free status on
world markets.
TODAY TOMORROW
Showers Showers
High 55, low 37 High 55, low 39
“Vaccination is no easy solution,”
Prime Minister Tony Blair said in the
House of Commons on Wednesday.
It is being considered, he said,
because of the sheer number of poten
tially infected animals that moved
around the country before the disease
was first confirmed on Feb. 20.
“Probably around about 1.35 mil
lion sheep were exported or moved
during the month of February,” Blair
said. “If this disease was incubating
then, clearly it has been far more wide
spread than hitherto thought”
'• Brown said Tuesday Britain was
ready if it decided to go ahead with
vaccinations, with 500,000 shots lined
up and access to 5 million more.
The European Commission must
still formally approve the measure
before vaccinations in Britain can go
forward, but that is regarded as a for
mality. The EU official who confirmed
the veterinary experts’ decision spoke
on condition of anonymity.
' Since vaccinated animals carry
similar antibodies as those infected
with die disease, countries that vacci
nate would lose markets in nations
that require a "foot-and-mouth free”
trading status fqr imports.
That status is only restored three
months after the last vaccinated ani
mal is slaughtered, but the EU fears it
could take years before its exports
would fully recover from a long-term
ban.
Another question is the effective
ness of the inoculation.
Officials in Wales said they didn’t
want vaccination.
“It takes two to three weeks to
work, and is not 100 percent effective,
and animals have to be slaughtered
anyway. It just buys tune,” said Welsh
Rural Affairs Minister Carwyn Jones.
But farmers in Cumbria said the
government’s current strategy of live
stock quarantine and mass slaughter
in areas close to heavily infected sites
was not working.
“You cannot really blame the gov
ernment; it has escalated beyond any
thing they expected,” said William
Young, whose farm lies within the
Cumbrian cull zone.
Some 705 cases of foot-and-mouth
have been identified in Britain since
Feb. 20, and almost 700,000 animals
. have been earmarked for slaughter.
Britain’s Ministry of Defense said
army butchers would join the cull
Wednesday at an unused air base in
Great Orton, Cumbria, where thou
sands of animals are being buried in a
giant pit
The Associated Press
■ Washington, D.C
Train derailments increase
20 percent in fouryears
The number of train derail
ments - like the recent Amtrak
accident in Iowa that killed one
person and injured 96 others -
have increased by nearly 20 per
cent over the past four years.
Both the Federal Railroad
Administration and the
Department ofTransportation's
inspector general have found
poorly maintained track and
inadequate inspections by the
railroads could be partly to
blame.
The number of railroad
industry inspectors has been
reduced and the federal and state
governments have only550 peo
ple to make sure that the industry
is adequately checking 230,000
miles of track.
rKAs associate administrator
for safety, George Gavaila, said
the agency had focused its efforts
on heavily used tracks and rail
yards, and all tracks that carry
passengers and hazardous mate
rials. On those tracks, accidents
are down, he said. Many of the
derailments occur in yards when
crews assemble train cars.
M We concentrate on where
we think the risk is," Gavaila said
Overall, FRA statistics show
that the number of derailments
on all trades and rail yards rose by
18 percent between 1997 and
2000, from 1,741 to2,059.
■ MMs
Governor ready for
toil-booth overhaul
LOCKPORT - Gov. George
Ryan has proposed converting
Illinois’ toll roads into freeways
over the next 20 years, with the
first toll booths coming down
next yean
Under the proposal
announced Wednesday, tolls
would rise gradually until the
entire toll system was eliminat
ed.
State lawmakers would have
to agree to restructure more than
$800 million in toll way debt
“By2021, the toll roads will be
safer, they will be less congested
and they will be free,” Ryan safcL .
Senate President James
“Pate” Philip - whose brother is
the tollway chairman-criticized
the plan, questioning how the
state would pay for, it and how
drivers would react to higher
tolls.
“It’s going to be difficult” to
pass, Philip said “Can the gover
nor do it? Yeah, he probably can.”
■ China
China sees population
incease, growth slows
BEIJING - China’s popula
tion has grown to 1.26 billion
people and is getting okier; better
educated and more urbanized,
according to figures announced
Wednesday from its first nation
wide census in a decade.
The population has grown by
132.2 million or 11.7 percent
since 1990, said Zhu Zhixin,
director of the National Bureau
of Statistics.
Birth-control policies held
population growth to 1.07 per
cent a year, down 0.4 percentage
points from the 1990 rate, Zhu
said.
Urban couples and many
rural families have been restrict
ed to just one child since die late
1970s to ease the strain on food
supplies and resources.
"The results of the popula
tion census folly prove that the
family planning policy of China .
is very effective,” Zhu said at a
news conference. “The natural
growth rate of the population
declined.”
Because of a reporting
error, the purpose of a resolu
tion passed by the University of
Nebraska Board of Regents was
misstated in Friday's Daily
Nebraskan.
The regents passed a reso
lution earlier this month call
ing for the NCAA to look into
setting spending limits nation
ally for ail athletic programs.
Because of a reporting
error, Sen. Patrick Bourne of
Omaha was misidentified in
Wednesday's edition of the
Daily Nebraskan.