By The
Associated Press
Edited by Kristine Long
NEWS DIGEST
NetJrask^A
Friday, April 22, 1994
House passes ‘get tough’ crime package
WASHINGTON — The House
passed a S28 billion gcl-tough-on
criipc bill Thursday demanding life
imprisonment of three-time violent
and drug offenders and greatly ex
panding the federal crimes subject to
the death penalty.
The bill passed 282-141. Negotia
tors from the Senate and House will
now attempt to work out a compro
mise with a S22 billion version ap
proved by the Senate last November.
“This is a historic moment,” said
Rep. Charles Schumcr,D-N.Y.. chair
man of the Judiciary Committee’s
crime panel.
“For the first time, this body is recog
nizing the anguish on the streets that
calls out to us to do something tough
on crime."
Majority Leader Richard Gephardt,
D-Mo., said. “This is not a perfect bill
from anyone’s viewpoint inlhischam
ber, but ... it accomplishes punish
ment ... and it encompasses preven
tion.”
The bill drew the support of 219
Democrats. 65 Republicans and one
independent. Voting against it were
107 Republicans and 34 Democrats.
House Speaker Tom Foley cast his
vote in favor of the bill.
The measure would authorize
spending $13.5 bill ion for state prison
building grants, $7 billion for crime
prevention, $2 billjon for rehabilita
tion such as drug treatment in prisons
and $3.45 billion for 50.000 more
community police.
The bill expands from two to nearly
70 the number of crimes that could
result in the death penalty, including'
drive-bykillipgs, fatal carjackings and
actions ofbig-titne drug pushers, even
when no one is killed. Some of the
crimes carried the death penalty be
fore the Supreme Court overturned it
in 1972, but some, like the drive-by
killings, are new.
It would allow defendants facing
the death penally to use racial statis
tics on capital punishment as evi
dence (^discrimination. With thesup
porl of the Congressional Black Cau
cus, the House voted 235-192 to leave
it in the bill.
Judiciary Committee Chairman
Jack Brooks, D-Tcxas, renewed his
promise Thursday lhat when the bill
emerged from the House-Senate con
ference, the racial statistics section
would apply only to future cases. The
bill would make it retroactive.
The thrcc-time-loscr section is
much like the Senate’s. It would re
quire life in prison for those convicted
m federal court of a third violent or
serious drug-related felony. One dif
ference 1? that the House bill provides
an early out for some prisoners over
70 who have served 30 years of their
sentences i f the federal Bureau of Pris
ons successfully petitions a court to
free them.
Unlike the Senate bill, the House
measure contains no ban oivassault
weapons. The House has never sup
ported such a ban, but Foley said a
separate vote on a ban would likely
occur before negotiators begin their
work.
The House bill's $13.5 billion in
state prison grants has little in com
mon with the Senate’s $3 billion for
regional prisons.
The House version would' offer
bonuses to stales working toward
“truth-in-sentencing” standards by
incarcerating violent criminals more
often and longer.
The Senate bill envisions regional
prisons housing inmates from several
states and federal convicts.
Nixon slips into coma
after suffering stroke __
NEW YORK— Former President
Nixon slipped into “a deep coma”
Thursday, three days after he suffered
a major stroke,according to New York
Hospital.
His family was at hrs bedside, ac
cording to the mid-afternoon hospital
statement. No other details were pro
vided.
Before the latest turn for the worse,
the SI-year-old former president suf
fered swelling of the brain, a poten
t ial ly deadly cotnpl ication of the stroke
he had on Monday.
Doctors sometimes try to reduce
brain swelling after a stroke by plac
ing the patient on a mechanical respi
rator to make the patient breathe faster.
Nixon, however, was not put on a
respirator in deference to his explicit
w ishes. The New York T i mes reported
Thursday, quoting an unidentified
health worker.
Nixon had in the past expressed
“some fairly strong intentions about
the kind of treatment he wishes,” the
health worker said.
Nixon spokeswoman Li/Johnston
declined to comment on the report.
Get-well messages have poured in
from ordinary people and heads of
state.
“We’ve gotten too many telephone
calls to count.” Johnston said at
Nixon’s office in suburban WoodclifT
Lake. N.J.
Russian President Boris Yeltsin,
who was miffed last month when
Nixon met with his opponents during
a trip to Russia, sent a telcgfam say
ing, “I hope you recover and return to
the rough and tumble of political life.”
At the White House. President
Clinton opened a news conference
about Bosnia by saying he and Hillary
Rodham Clinton were praying for
Nixon.
“I have appreciated the wise coun
sel he has given me on the question of
Russia and many other issues since I
have been president,” Clinton said.
The Richard M. Nixon Presiden
tial Library in Yorba Linda, Calif'.,
received hundreds of calls. Visitors
filled a dozen pages in a get-well book
in the lobby.
“You are a hero of mine,” wrote
Kevin Wallers,a Biol a University stu
dent. “Stay with us, OK? Hang in
there, and keep your eyes on Ciod.”
Serbs continue attack despite warnings
SARAJEVO, Bosnia
Herzegovina — Scorning the
United States’ tough talk, Bosnian
Serb forces shelled a hospital an
nex and Red Cross refugee center
in besieged Gorazde on Thursday.
Dozens of people were reported
killed.
Doctors and town officials con
tacted by hain radio said Thursday’s
bombardment was the worst of the
three-week Serb offensive against
the Muslim enclave.
“Counting the dead and
wounded doesn’t make sense any
more,” Esad Ohranovic. a local
official, $aid.
Ohranovic said four wire-guided
rockets landed near a building lhate
houses U.N. aid workers and mili
tary observers, kill mg or wounding
25 people. There was no word on
whether U.N. staff were hurt.
On Wednesday, President
Clinton urged NATO to “make the
Serbs pay a higher price” for the
continued carnage by authorizing
air strikes to protect civilians in
Gorazde and the other sale areas.
He also called for tighter sanctions
against Serbia.
Bosnian Serb leader Radovan
Karadzic calledCl inton's approach
a “fatal mistake” and said there
would be no more peace lal ks with
outafullliftingofsanctionsagainsl
Serbia.
NATO diplomats reacted favor
ably loa U.N. request forwidcr use
ofair power in Bosnia, but delayed
a final decision pending military
consultations.
A convoy of 100 U.N. peace
keepers and 41 medics was allowed
to leave Sarajevo for Gorad/.c on
Thursday, but was blocked about
10 miles north of its destination.
Although the peacekeepers would
boost morale of the trapped and
desperate people ofGorazde, they
are not equipped to stop the Serb
attack.
Two cannon rounds slammed
into a hospital annex Thursday af
ternoon.
“When I entered the devastated
building, I saw heaps of llesh and
metal,” Dr. Ferid Tulic said.
Aid workers reported up to 20
killed. Tutic said only seven of 35
patients in the building were res
cued.
Soon after, a mortar shell hit the
entrance of a neighboring build
ing, killing five people, he said.
The hospital itself was hit doz
ens of times, Ohranovic said. He
estimated that throughout the town,
at least 100 people were killed and
250 wounded Thursday, but he did
not have details.
Shells also hit a Red Cross refu
gee center and near the town’s
mosque, aidolTicials said. The num
ber of casualties was not deter
mined.
Russian President Boris Yeltsin
blamed the air strikes for worsen
ing the situation.
More than 400 people have been
killed and 1,300 wounded in the'
three-week Serb offensive, accord
ing to aid workers.
The Serbs claim their attacks
are in response to an offensive by
Muslim-led government troops.
.Serb leaders say the right bank
oflhe Drma River is rightfully Serb.
The hospital is on the right bank.
Bosnian Premier Haris Silajd/.ic
said the Serbs had given arfultima
tum for government soldiers to leave
the right bank and partially with
draw on the left bank by Thursday
afternoon. A Bosnian Serb official
denied such an ultimatum was
given.
Attention
May Graduates
The DEADLINE for return of your
yellow Commencement Attendance form is
April ZZ, 1994
Return it to Records Office, 107 Administration Bldg.
Service Counter B
We want you back!
• Tired of high utility bills? \
• Tired of a landlord who won't fix things?
• Want someone to cook your food for you?
• Tired of hunting for a parking space every
time you go to class?
• Want someone to clean your bathroom?
• Not as cheap as you thought to live off-campus?
• Tired of roommates who won't pay bills?
• Would you like access to more computers?
Consider living in the halls again next year.
You can receive a $150 discount for next year.
For more information, contact University Housing,
472-3561.
Investigators search Rose Law Firm
LITTLE ROC K, Ark. — Federal
investigators have swarmed into the
Rose Law Firm, poring over
Whitewater-relaieddoeumentsihat till
nearly 10 olTiees, the firm’s manag
ing partner said in a rare interview.
Ronald M. Clark said his firm hjis
eut off contacts with former partner
Hillary Rodham Clinton to avoid any
appearance of impropriety.
."We don’t want to be accused of
sharing information, conspiring to
destroy documents, that sort yf thing,
so we’ve intentionally not dommuni
cated with Hillary;” Clark said.
Sixteen of the firm's employees
already have been questioned in con
nection with Whitewaterspecial pros
ecutor Robert Fiske's investigation,
according to one person familiar with
the proceedings.
Two federal banking agencies con
ducting their own investigations have
sent eight to 10 people to the Rose
r
firm daily lor the past three weeks to
review records relating to a failed
Arkansas savings and loan.Clark said.
Clark discussed the investigations
during a two-hour interview at the
firm, which calls itself the nation’s
oldest west of the M ississippi.
"We don't think we have anything
to h ide or anything to he ashamed of."
he said.
That hasn’t eased the intense scru
tiny of the 174-year-old firm, which
sent fourpartners to Washington with
Bill Clinton only to see them sur
rounded by controversy.
1 he lirst lady has been dogged by
questions involving the Whitewater
land venture she and her husband co
owned.
Another Rose partner, deputy
White House counsel Vincent Foster,
was found dead in a park last summer
in what police have ruled a suicide.
A ihird former partner, Webster
Hubbe 11, resigned his job as the No. 3
Justice Department official this wm
ter after the firm questioned him about
alleged overbilling of clients. Rose
has since filed an ethics complaint
against him. Former partner W illiam
Kennedy lost some of his duties as a
White House lawyer al ter revelations
that he had failed to pay Social Secu
rity taxes for a family nanny.
The firm itself came under investi
gation after two couriers alleged they
were directed to shred documents in
folders bearing Foster’s initials shortly
alter Fiske was appointed.
T he allegation has become an early
focal point of Fiske’s investigation.
Rose employees questioned by the
special prosecutor so far have been
asked mainly about the shredding,
according to the individual familiar
with the investigation.
Nebraskan
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472-1766
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Kristine Long
Staci McKee'
Night News Editors
Art Director
General Manager
Production Manager
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Senior Acct. Exec
Publications Board Chairman
Professional Adviser
Jett Robb
Matt Woody
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Jay Cruse
Sheri Krajewski
Doug Fiedler
436-6287
Don Walton
473-7301
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