News D :gest
Monday, November 28,1994 Page 2
GATT opponents target
World Trade Organization
WASHINGTON — In the fight
over a new trade agreement, no battle
has been more intense than the one
waged over the international body
being created to govern the new rules
of global commerce.
To opponents, the World Trade
Organization symbolizes everything
that is wrong with the pact — big,
global government that will trample
American laws protecting the envi
ronment, health and safety standards.
President Clinton and other sup
porters argue that fears about the
trade organization are grossly exag
gerated. They insist that creation of a
new referee for trade disputes is in
America’s best interests and will mean
more victories in the fight to open
overseas markets for U.S. businesses
and farmers.
Like the North American Free
Trade Agreement last year, opponents
of WTO represent odd bedfellows,
ranging from Ralph Nader and Jesse
Jackson on the left to Ross Perot and
Patrick Buchanan on the right
To liberals, the WTO is an attack
on the environmental and health safe
guards they have spent a lifetime
building up in the United States.
“One swift vote by Congress could
jeopardize 30 years of progress by the
American consumer in areas ranging
from pesticide regulations to man
dated automobile airbags and fuel
efficiency,” Nader said.
•
Conservatives argue the WTO,
where each country will have just one
vote regardless of its size, represents
a dangerous threat to American sov
ereignty.
“We ought to have an America
First trade policy,” says Buchanan.
“GATT and the World Trade Organi
zation it creates represent a whole
sale surrender of American sover
eignty and states rights."
The Clinton administration is pre
dicting it will win when the House
votes on Tuesday and the Senate on
Thursday.
Opponents hope an advertising
blitz focusing on the WTO will sway
undecided senators, but Senate Re
publican Leader Bob Dole, R-Kan.,
predicted Sunday that the pact would
win easily in that chamber.
Senate passage is expected to re
quire 60 votes, the number needed to
suspend budget rules.
Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen
said he believed GATT would pass,
but told CBS’ “Face The Nation” on
Sunday, “I don’t think it’s a slam
dunk.
The Clinton administration struck
a deal last week with Dole, endorsing
the creation of a panel of five U.S.
judges who could recommend U.S.
withdrawal from the WTO if the
United States lost three cases in a
five-year period and the panel found
the decisions were arbitrary and
abrupt.
Some free trade supporters now
worry that the U.S. threat to take its
marbles and go home has undermined
the WTO before it even begins oper
ating
“The core principal of the WTO is
the impartial settlement of trade dis
Cs for all nations trader the rule of
says Jagdish N. Bhagwati, a
Columbia University economics pro
fessor. “How impartial can it be, if the
United Stales is seen as ready to pull
out if it loses too many disputes?”
The GATTtradeaccord
TIm accord ^
GATT trade accord must W
be ratified by the three trade*
giants, the United States, the
Passing the
i U A Senate
ft
Approval from
European Union and Japan $
before being invoked on
January 1,1995. It includes:
tapirtwrh
Overall cut of more than 33
percent on these border taxes on
thousands of products including
electronics, wood and metals.
Should bring down prices.
Phase-out over 10 year* of quotas
that protect industnafized countries
tom cheaper Third World imports.
Tougher restrictions on exporting
goods at below-cost prices.
Gradual cut of 36 percent on crop
tariffs and crop export subsidies.
Ctampdownontheftof
copyrighted goods like
bootlegged films and music.
louQher protection of oatents
Stronger rules against counterfeit
gqpds ike fake designer vnms^
-*
,/ jfr iriwmiriy majumy leader
Robert Dole is key in the
Senate, where support is waning.
Critics of the accord say it would
infringe on U.S. sovereignty while
those who favor it believe it will
boost the economy.
Dote is standing firm on his
demand for a 28 percent capital
gains tax cut before he backs
the bill's passage.
Mhe rtfr** wants ssparats
• Make It easier for the U.S.
to pull out of the World Trade
AP
n News... _
' in a Minute
DAYTON, Ohio—A Comair flight with 47 people aboard was struck
by lightning on Sunday afternoon, farcing it to nuke an emergency
landing. No injuries were reported
Flight 3740 from Omaha to Cincinnati was directed to the Dayton
International Airport after the pilot told the control sower that lightning
struck its left engine.
There were 44 passengers and throe crew members aboard the twm
engine plane.
“They’re all OK. It landed without incident.*' airport spokeswoman
Sharon Caudill said.
The passengers either boarded other flights to Cincinnati or were
driven there, about 50 miles.
Thunderstorms passed through southwest Ohio for most of the after
noon Sunday.
WASHINGTON — A political whirlwind called term limits hits the
Supreme Court this week when the justices hear arguments over states’
power to restrict the years lawmakers may serve in Congress
Twenty-two states have taken that step, but many legal experts predict
the high court will use a dispute over a 1992 term-limits measure in
.Arkansas to find all such efforts unconstitutional. Justices will hear the
case Tuesday.
“The founders clearly did not believe limits could be placed on
congressional terms by the states.” said University of Wisconsin constitu
tional scholar John Kaminski.
The prospect of a Supreme Court setback doesn’t faze Paid Jacob,
executive director of U.S. Term Limits. He said a court ruling that says
state-imposed term limits for House and Senate members are unconstitu
tjonal simply would spark an effort to amend the Constitution.
HOUSTON — NASA’s Joknaon Space Center Ins banned tecta with
toxic chemicals because of a poisonous release that turned up a series of
safety failures.
An internal investigation found poor training and lack of planning
were major contributors to the April accident, which scat dozens of space
center workers to a hospital The Houston Post reported Sunday.
The report obtained by the Post detailed a parade of mishaps, including
workers’ failure to call the ^nce center’s own emergency line, a stalled
ambulance and a lack of information on the deadly chemical at the space
center fan-aid clinic.
I Peacekeepers disappear inBosnia
SARAJEVO, Bosnia
Herzegovina — Rebel Serbs
pounded the outskirts of Bihac in
northwestern Bosnia Sunday as
US. and NATO officiate said they
were powerless to stop the advance.
U.S. Defense Secretary Will
iam Perry even suggested the
Bosnian government had now lo6t
the 31-month war.
The Bosnia government said
it would accept a UK. proposal for
a Bihac cease-fire, demilitariza
tion of the “safe area** and with
drawal of fences, said Michael
Williams, spokesman for Yasushi
Akashi, the chief UK. envoy in
former Yugoslavia.
Bosnia Serbs have demanded
a nationwide cease-fire. Their an
swer to the U.N. proposal was not
immediately known.
Serb fighters from Bosnia and
neighboring Croatia now control
30 to 40 percent of die U.N.-desig
hated “safe area** at Bihac, and
there was no sign their assault
would stop. U.N. officials said
shelling and heavy small arms and
machine-gun fire rang out south
west and east of Bihac town.
The capture of Bihac would be
the strongest indication yet that
the United Nations can’t stop the
war with peacekeeping troops or
even NATO airstrikes on the Serbs.
The government forces haven't
been able to beat the Serbs on the
battlefield, and the U.N. Security
Council has refused to intervene
on the government side.
Bihac Mayor Hamdija
Kabiljagic, speaking by radio with
Sarajevo, vowed Bihac would never
surrender and denied a U.N. report
that the government army’s 5th
Corps blew up its Bihac headquar
ters and retreated north.
The Serbs have vowed to de
stroy the 5th Corps, which launched
a successful offensive from Bihac
last month, only to lose much of the -
captured territory later.
Elsewhere, Serbs again humili
ated the United Nations, appar
ently taking 102 Dutch and 62
British U.N. soldiers hostage as
they transported supplies through
eastern and central Bosnia.
The Dutch peacekeepers were
en route Saturday to the eastern
enclave of Srebrenica. The British
were headed for Gorazde, another
eastern enclave, and Kiseljak, just
west of Sarajevo, said U.N. spokes
man Maj. Herve Gourmelon.
They were last heard from in
Serb territory, Gourmelon said.
The Serbs now have more than
400 peacekeepers under their con
trol .
Rabbi killed on eve of Hanukkah
«**■■■■■■ VI A A • ttf ■ a *1 _ •• !■ • mm ...
dui iinvjru, not Djuik — A
rabbi was shot to death and an Israeli
policeman wounded in a hail of bul
lets fired at their car Sunday as they
drove toward a Jewish settlement.
Islamic militants claimed responsi
bility.
The shooting, which occurred on
the eve of the first day of the Jewish
feast of Hanuhhah. was three miles
from Hebron, where tensions have
been high since the massacre of 29
It came a day before Israeli For
eign Minister Shimon Feres was to
I
in Brunets, Belgium, and as the cycle
of violence in the West Bank and
Gaza Strip is pushing negotiators to
speed up the peace process.
Jewish settlers Mamed government
peace policies for encouraging Is
lamic militants, but members ofPrime
Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s Cabinet
to continue talks with the
"We must continue the peace pro
cess and do our best so that such sad
events will not occur in the future,"
Immigration Minister Yair Tsaban
said.
An anonymous caller churning to
be from the radical Muslim group
Laiicu israci raaio ana Claimed
responsibility for Sunday’s shooting.
Hamas earned out a suicide bombing
that killed 23 people in Tel Aviv last
month.
“We will continue the attacks,** he
said. The man skid the shooting
marked the anniversary of the killing
of a Hamas activist by Israeli forces
last year.
Israeli sources said the gunfire
came from a passing car carrying at
least two men. The rabbi’s car drove
off the road and flipped over.
Blood stained the muddy ground
and seeped from cracks in the front
windshield. Six bullet holes pierced
windows, and 30 shell casings from
an automatic rifle littered the ground.
The victim was Rabbi Ami Olami,
35, the spiritual leader of Otniel, a
nearby settlement with about 50 fami
lies.
A policeman riding with him was
shot in the back of the bead, but
managed to get out of the car and fire
at the attackers, settlers said. He was
hospitalized in fair condition.
Seminary students at the scene
were led away sobbing. One recited
prayers as the rabbi’s body lay under
a gray blanket nearby.
" Gaza Strip
“May God avenge his blood,
Moshe Rabinovich of the Beit Hagai
settlement said as he stood next to an
ambulance. Noam Amon. a spokes
man for the Jewish settlement in
Hebron, blamed Rabin's peace accord
for the attack
