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Thursday, February 29, 1996 ' Page 2
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Clinton approves legislation
aimed to bring down Castro
WASHINGTON — Rushing to
punish Cuba, Congress and Presi
dent Clinton agreed Wednesday on
new sanctions that would bridle for
eign investment with the goal of re
moving Fidel Castro.
“Farewell Fidel. That’s the mes
sage of this bill,” said Senate For
eign Relations Committee chair
man Jesse Helms, R-N,C., the
legislation’s Senate sponsor.
The White House, seeking to
avoid a veto, accepted controversial
language in the sanctions bill that
will allow American citizens to sue
foreign investors who make use of
property in Cuba confiscated dur
ing the 3 1/2 decades of Castro’s
rule.
It also denies entry into the
United States to anyone who traf
fics in confiscated property and
codifies into law all previous execu
tive orders on America’s 34-year
old embargo on Cuba.
“This is going to have a tremen
dous impact on Fidel Castro and his
ability to stay in power,” said Rep.
Dan Burton, R-Ind., the House
sponsor of the legislation.
After agreement was reached
with the White House, House and
Senate negotiators quickly ap
proved thc“Libertad” (Liberty) bill.
It is expected to go to the House
and Senate floors by early next
week for certain decisive approval.
The White House threatened to
veto the bill last fall when it passed
both chambers because of the law
suit provision. But Clinton was re
luctant this time to stand in the way
of passage after Cuba’s downing
over the weekend of two American
planes, presumably killing four Cu
ban-Americans.
The Clinton administration
maintains the planes were shot
down in international airspace.
Cuba says they were within its ter
ritorial limits.
In a compromise, the president
was given authority to waive the liti
gation right, but for no more than
six months at a time, when the na
tional interest is involved.
“The president, in light of the in
cident Saturday, believes tightening
the embargo on Cuba is a necessary
step now, both to deal with this in
cident and promote our overall goal
of democratic change in Cuba,”
White House press secretary Mike
McCurry said.
The lawsuit provision and the
entry ban are certain to draw fire
from other Western countries that
trade with Cuba and have long re
jected participating in the U.S. em
bargo. Canada and other countries
have voiced displeasure over the
idea of unilateral U.S. action re
stricting their rights to invest in
Cuba. Opponents in Congress say
the lawsuit provision also could
cause a serious logjam in U.S.
courts.
Backers of the bill, which has
strong congressional support, insist
it could provide the pressure finally
to bring down the Castro govern
ment. Rep. Benjamin Gilman, R
N.Y., chairman of the House Inter
national Relations Committee, con
"Farewell Fidel. That’s
the message of this
bill.” '
JESSE HELMS
Senate sponsor of the bill
tended it would “bring an early end
to the Castro regime by cutting off
capital.”
“We arc in the very last stages
of this confrontation,” said Rep.
Robert Torricelli, D-N.J. He called
for the “purest, hardest and most
determined form” of legislation.
Sen. Claiborne Pell, D-R.I.,
ranking Democrat on the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee, said
he would vote against the bill be
cause it would worsen living con
ditions for the Cuban people,
“alienate our allies and tie the
administration’s foreign policy
hands.”
Supporters said the interests of
other countries were secondary to
driving Castro from power. “The
United States cannot continue plac
ing American lives at the hands of
foreign interests,” said Rep. Ileana
Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., a Cuban
American representing Miami.
The bill urges the president to
seek an international embargo
against the Castro government and
authorizes him to assist the demo
cratic movement there.
GOP lead jumbled as stretch
of dozen states approaches
WASHINGTON — With the deep
pocketed Steve Forbes back in the
hunt, the Republican presidential race
careens through a dozen states in the
next week, a dizzying stretch of op
portunity and peril for the three can
didates atop the pack.
This next stretch — from South
Carolina and Georgia to Maine, Mas
sachusetts and Connecticut, then on
to Maryland and Colorado—will, for
the first time, subject the candidates
to a range of diverse electorates all at
once.
Heading into South Carolina’s vote
on Saturday, Forbes, Pat Buchanan
and Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole
were clustered at the front. Forbes is
the leader in delegates, but it is truly a
race without a front-runner and one
in which no prediction seems safe.
Here is a candidate-by-candidate
look at the terrain for the contests just
ahead:
BOB DOLE: South Carolina is a
must-win primary for a boost head
ing into Georgia next Tuesday. If Dole
wins South Carolina, the next task will
be to deny Forbes momentum head
ing into the March 7 New York pri
mary. That would require wins almost
everywhere on March 5, when Colo
rado, Connecticut, Georgia, Maine,
Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Is
land and Vermont hold primaries.
Still, Dole, once the overwhelming
front-runner, has yet to win outside of
his native Midwest.
“In a two-way race with Buchanan,
Dole would benefit because Buchanan
motivates people who want to vote
against him,” said Goeas. “But in a
three-way. Dole is going to have to
motivate his own vote, something he
has yet to prove he can do.”
PAT BUCHANAN: A disappoint
ing third in Arizona makes a South
Carolina win critical if he is to com
pete for the nomination and not just
delegates. In South Carolina and Geor
gia, Buchanan is banking on deep sup
port from Christian conservatives ac
tive in GOP affairs.
He hopes to lure “textile Demo
crats” into the South Carolina primary
with attacks on free trade deals.
Buchanan failed to make the Rhode
Island ballot, andTuesday brought this
sobering news: Exit polls show half
of voters believed Buchanan too ex
treme, suggesting a solid ceiling to his
growth potential.
STEVE FORBES: Forbes will
spend heavily for New York’s March
7 primary — along the way nudging
Dole ever closer to the primary spend
ing limit he faces because he accepts
government matching funds.
While the South is tough territory
for Forbes because of his views on
social issues, Colorado, Maryland,
and the New England primaries offer
a chance to target more upscale, mod
crate-conservative voters with the flat
tax and other Forbes proposals. A
March 5 win or two would help head
ing into New York.
ALEXANDER AND LUGAR:
Alexander needs to beat Dole some
where soon, either in South Carolina
or Georgia. Indiana Sen. Dick Lugar
will advertise only in Vermont be
tween now and March 5,believing one
win will bring him a second look if
the race stays so topsy turvy. If he
doesn’t win Vermont, Lugar will pack
it in.
Legislature puts forth euthanasia bill
A bill that would allow physicians
to carry out the
~ wishes of tcrmi
Legislature nally ill patients
'96 A was introduced
flU to a legislative
committee
Wednesday.
Sen. Ernie
Chambers of
Omaha intro
duced LB1259
to the Judiciary
Committee with
the knowledge that the bill was not
ready to advance, but he said he wanted
to get the concept across.
In the last Judiciary Committee
hearing of the session, no action was
taken on the bill.
Many of the elderly citizens on
hand to testify left before the commit
tee got to the bill, but a few testifiers
waited almost five hours for testimony
to begin.
Christopher Caudill, the president
elect of the Nebraska Medical Asso
ciation, said his organization would not
support legislation that would permit
a physician to terminate a patient’s life.
The Lincoln cardiologist also out
lined the American Medical
Association’s statement on euthanasia
and said it was a good summary of the
NMA’s position.
The statement said that although
life became more preferable than death
in extreme cases, “permitting physi
cians to engage in euthanasia would
ultimately cause more harm than
gjpod.”
1. Carl Schmitthausler, president of
Htemlock Nebraska, said doctors could
help ease suffering by expediting cer
tain death.
“We’ve had patients for days, weeks
and months waiting to die,” he said.
—Ted Taylor
The Associated Press contributed to this
report.
Law & Order
Police arrested a Lincoln woman
on suspicion of assault Sunday
night after she pulled a gun on her
husband.
Pamela Grundman, 26, was ar
guing with her husband, Jason, 24,
at their residence on the 5100 block
of West McGuire Road, Heermann
said.
Pamela Grundman went down
stairs to her bedroom and returned
with a .22-caliber revolver,
Heermann said.
She allegedly pointed it at her
husband, cocked the hammer and
told him to leave, Heermann said.
Jason Grundman knew the gun
was loaded and grabbed it between
the hammer and frame to prevent it
from firing, Heermann said.
After a brief scuffle, police said,
he retrieved the gun and called po
lice. Pamela Grundman was ar
rested on suspicion of third-degree
assault.
Lincoln police issued 45 tickets
Tuesday evening at the White Zom
bie concert at Pershing Auditorium.
About 5,700 fans attended the
show.
Tickets were issued for the fol
lowing:
• Five for procuring alcohol for
minors.
• 11 for minors in possession
of alcohol.
• 12 for consuming alcohol in
public.
• Four for possession of mari
juana.
• Five for possession of drug
paraphernalia.
• Four for urinating in public.
• Two for disturbing the peace.
• Two arrests for outstanding
warrants.
, A University of Nebraska-Lin
coln freshman was faced with a
bomb threat Tuesday night while
working at The Gallup Organiza
tion.
Tiffany Jahn, 19, was working
at Gallup, 301 S. 68th St., when she
received 15 threatening phone calls
around 8:15 p.m.
A male caller asked if she was
ready to die, Lincoln police Sgt.
Ann Heermann said.
During one of the calls, the per
son said there was a bomb in Jahn’s
car, which was parked outside,
Heermann said.
Lincoln Fire Department
searched the car for explosives but
found none.
Police think the calls came from
out-of-state, possibly South Caro
lina.
— Chad Lorenz
Marriage
Continued from Page 1
Opposition to the bill was based
largely on religious grounds.
Doug Patton, executive director of
the Nebraska Christian Coalition,
called Chambers’ proposal “a mock
ery” of the institution of marriage.
“Where do we draw the lines? To
day we mock the bonds of matrimony
with this travesty, tomorrow... what?”
he said.
“Propitiate? Beastiality?
Necrophilia? To what depths will we
sanction our national descent into de
viancy.”
Jim Cunningham, executive direc
tor of the Nebraska Catholic Confer
ence, said marriage was not an issue
of individual rights, but of institutional
definition.
“It is about launching Nebraska into
a major social experiment,” he said.
“To reformulate the basic structure of
society by attempting to make relation
ships which aren’t marriages into mar
riages.”
But Chambers said his bill had posi
tive legal and economic aspects for ho
mosexual couples wishing to be mar
ried.
He outlined government benefits,
including social security and Medi
care, joint insurance policies and le
gal rights in medical issues.
Job called the issue one of basic
civil rights.
“I am an obvious minority, and I
am denied my most basic civil rights,”
she said. “These are not wants, these
are needs.”
Barbara DiBemard, a UNL English
professor and director of Women’s
Studies, said she couldn’t understand
how senators could vote no, after see
ing the passionate testimony from ho
mosexual couples.
“Being in that room, and listening
to those people testify,” she said, “it
would be hard to vote against it.”
She said she didn’t expect the bill
to be advanced by the committee, but
said it would open the door for discus
sion in the future.
The committee took no action on
the bill.
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