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Digest
Tuesday, February 27, 1996 Page 2
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Clinton steps up sanctions against Cuba
WASHINGTON — President Clinton
slapped new sanctions on Fidel Castro’s “repres
sive, violent, scornful” government Monday for
downing two civilian U.S. airplanes. Republi
cans said the punishment was too mild and ac
cused Clinton of “coddling Castro.”
The president suspended charter travel to
Havana, demanded reparations for the victims’
families and gave qualified support for a Re
publican-backed bill that would intensify the
economic crackdown.
Under pressure to respond swiftly to the at
tack against pilots of an anti-Castro Cuban
Amcrican group, Clinton said the incident “was
a flagrant violation of international law.”
“It is wrong,” he said, “and the United States
will not tolerate it.”
Cuba said the shooting occurred over its air
space, and that its pilots were provoked. “This
is not something that occurs out of the blue,”
said Ricardo Alarcon, president of Cuba’s par
liament.
The broad economic, diplomatic and politi
cal steps Clinton outlined were intended to iso
late Castro’s government further and inoculate
Clinton against soft-on-Castro broadsides from
his Republican rivals.
But what he did was limited: He needs ap
proval from Congress or the United Nations to
implement some proposals, and the president
did not fully repeal a scries of steps he took last
year to ease Cuban sanctions.
One presidential rival, Senate Majority
Leader Bob Dole, said Clinton “laid an egg.”
“After months of moving the wrong way —
toward coddling Castro — the president has yet
to understand that the only way to deal with
Castro’s tyranny is with real firmness and pres
sure,” Dole, R-Kansas, said.
Still, Dole said, while Clinton did not go fai
enough, “I support these measures as steps ir
the right direction.”
In a brief statement to reporters, Clinton saic
he decided to:
-Ask Congress to compensate victims’ fami
lies from $100 million in frozen Cuban assets
The United States wants the United Nations tc
press Cuba for reparations, as well as to impose
international sanctions.
-Suspend U.S. charter air travel to Cuba
“While (Clinton s actions) are
all good, the president simply
didn’t go far enough. ”
ROBERT MENENDEZ
New Jersey congressman
Clinton loosened restrictions in 1995, and
120,000 people flew to Cuba from the United
States.
-Expand Radio Marti, the U.S. propaganda
network that broadcasts in Cuba.
-Order additional restrictions on travel in the
United States by Cuban officials who live in
America.
-Seek compromise with Republican lawmak
i crs on a bill that would dramatically expand
: sanctions. But he did not address the major stick
ing point: his opposition to a GOP provision
. allowing Cuban-Americans and others to sue
in U.S. federal courts for compensation from
companies that buy property expropriated by
the Castro government.
“Saturday’s attack was an appalling reminder
of the nature of the Cuban regime — repres
sive, violent, scornful of international law,”
Clinton said.
Press secretary Mike McCurry called the
sanctions “a price for outrageous behavior.”
Though aides have said a military response
is not being considered, Clinton said, “I am not
ruling out any further steps” against Castro.
Republican reaction was swift and negative.
“President Clinton’s response today was
tragically insufficient,” said Rep. Lincoln Diaz
Balart, R-Fla.
Rep. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., a son of
Cuban immigrants, welcomed Clinton’s actions
but said “while those things are all good, the
president simply didn’t go far enough.”
Clinton’s decision followed a 75-minute
meeting with his top foreign policy advisers.
His political team invited Cuban-Americans to
the White House for high-level meetings, hop
ing to avoid political backlash just two weeks
before the Florida primary.
NefcJraskan
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Coalition sues to overturn
new Internet indecency law
PHILADELPHIA — A coalition that in
cludes computer industry giants Microsoft and
Apple filed a federal lawsuit Monday to over
turn a new law restricting indecency on the
Internet.
The lawsuit seeks to overturn the Commu
nications Decency Act, which imposes a
$250,000 fine and up to six years in prison for
transmitting indecent material in such a way that
children could find it on the Internet.
The Citizens Internet Empowerment Coali
tion argues that there are less restrictive means,
such as in-home blocking software, to protect
children or other users from offensive material.
“We believe that parental involvement, edu
cation and technology provide far more effec
tive solutions to protecting children than this or
any other law could,” said Bill Burrington, gen
eral counsel for America Online, the largest
commercial Internet service in the United States
with more than 4 million members.
Enforcement of the act has been blocked
temporarily by another lawsuit, filed here Feb.
8 by a coalition led by the American Civil Lib
erties Union. U.S. District Judge Ronald
Buckwalter said the definition of indecency in
the act, signed Feb. 1 by President Clinton, was
too vague.
The law defines indecency as “any comment,
request, suggestion, proposal, image or other
communication that, in context, depicts or de
scribes. in terms patently offensive as measured
by contemporary community standards* sexual
or excretory activities or organs.”
Sen. Jim Exon, one of the law’s sponsors,
accused the computer companies in the new
lawsuit of being “more interested in profits from
pornography than protecting children.”
“We don’t allow children to walk into adult
bookstores, and shouldn’t allow them to freely
browse the red light districts of the Internet ci
ther,” Exon, D-Neb., said in a prepared state
ment.
The new complaint will be consolidated with
the ACLU lawsuit, said Bruce Ennis, Washing
ton attorney for the coalition. A three-judge
panel of the U.S. District Court here is to con
sider the issue beginning March 21.
The coalition also includes, among others,
CompuServe and Prodigy, both commercial
Internet services, the American Library Asso
ciation, the Society of Professional Journalists,
theAmerican Society of Newspaper Editors and
the Association of American Publishers.
Lawmakers open can of worms
in Nebraska brewpub debate
By Ted Taylor_
Senior Reporter
Sen. John Lindsay of Omaha told a Nebraska
legislative committee Monday that having lo
cal brewpubs sell their products to other retail
ers would open a can of worms.
In his introduction of LB910, Lindsay told
the General Affairs Committee that the original
intent of 1988 brewpub legislation was not to
change the industry’s three-tier system of manu
facturer, wholesaler and retailer.
“Yet, by allowing them to sell to other retail
ers and wholesalers, we are starting to mix those
licenses,” Lindsay said.
Earlier this month, the General Affairs Com
mittee advanced a related bill, introduced by
Sen. Dave Landis of Lincoln, to general file.
The committee took no action on LB910 on
Monday.
Landis’ bill, LB1088, would allow brewpubs
to sell their beer via wholesalers at various out
lets throughout the state.
But Lindsay said brewpubs never were in
tended to take over for former Omaha brewery
Falstaff or any other of the breweries that have
left the state.
“Brewpubs are intended to be a unique place
where you can get a good meal and a good beer
to go with it — and maybe take a little home
with you,” he said.
Lindsay told the committee he was introduc
ing the bill at the request of Dave Begley, owner
of the Omaha-based Nebraska Brewing Com
pany.
“LB910 is needed to clarify the current law,”
Begley said.
Sen. Bud Robinson of Blair told Begley that
he couldn’t see how five local brewpubs could
give his micro-brewery that much competition.
But Begley said it would only get worse.
“With LB 1088, you’ve opened some doors
to some things the Legislature won’t want to
deal with,” he said.
Linda Vescio, owner and operator of Crane
River Brewpub and Cafe, 200 N. 11th St., said
in her opposition testimony that small busi
nesses, including micro-breweries, needed flex
ibility to survive.
“It is very hard to operate a large restaurant,”
she said. “The brewery helps to stabilize it.
“What we have is a restaurant and a small
industry under the same roof,” she said. “With
a little flexibility, it will be much easier to sur
vive.”
Vescio said after the hearing that it wasn’t
that she wanted to disrupt the three-tier system,
but that she just wanted her product available
to all Nebraskans.
“Nebraska beer ought to be available in Ne
braska,” she said.