Speech focuses on schools
UNION from page 1
“We must work together,” the
president said. “The people of this
nation elected us all. TTiey want us to
be partners, not partisans. They put
us all here in the same boat. They gave
us all oars and they told us to row.”
Still to come, though, are ethics
and legal investigations that could
cloud Clinton’s administration and
the bipartisanship. The president’s
vulnerability is mirrored by House
Speaker Newt Gingrich’s own ethics
problems.
Obliged by the Constitution to re
port to the nation chi its health, Clinton
said “the state of our union is strong
but now we must rise to the decisive
moment, to make a nation and a world
better than any we have ever known.”
“We face no imminent threat but
we do have an enemy: the enemy of
our time is inaction,” Clinton said.
He set a July 4 deadline for Con
gress to enact campaign finance re
form. He said delay would kill the
possibility for reform.
The president talked at length
about national security and foreign
policy. He devoted more time to it than
in previous State of the Union ad
dresses. He said NATO must expand
east toward Russia by 1999 and the
United States must pursue more dia
logue with China. He said previous
efforts had not been successful.
Education was the centerpiece of
Clinton’s speech.
“We can make American educa
tion, like America itself, the envy of
the world.”
, The government will pay for the
development of national tests measur
ing fourth-grade reading and eighth
grade math, he said. The government
will encourage every community to
measure students by those standards.
In calling for the standards, the
president stopped short of saying the
government would require students to
be measured by the tests. That will be
up to individual states and school dis
tricts, but the government will pay for
preparing the exams and administer
ing them the first time, in the spring
of 1999.
“Raising standards will not be easy
and some of our children will not be
able to meet them at first,” the presi
dent said.
“The point is not to put our chil:
dren down but to lift them up. Good
tests will show us who needs help,
what changes in teaching to make and
which schools to improve.”
Hagel, Kerry take sides
on president’s address
By Matthew Waite
Senior Reporter
President Bill Clinton’s State of
the Union message was a “great
disappointment” for Republican
Sen. Chuck Hagel, but Democratic
Sen. Bob Kerrey said Tuesday night
he was impressed by the president’s
confident tone.
Nebraska’s politically split
senatorial delegation found little
common ground on the president’s
annual speech before a joint ses
sion of Congress.
Hagel, who has been in the Sen
ate for just under a month, said the
president failed to seriously address
the most pressing concern for the
government — Medicare. The
health-care program will be bank
rupt in three years, he said.
“He missed the opportunity for
leadership,” Hagel said in a phone
interview from Washington. “He
allowed a grand opportunity to pass
him by.”
But Kerrey, two years into his
second six-year term in the Senate,
said the president had the right
outlook by asking Congress to
think of how it will be judged for
its actions in 50 years.
Both Hagel and Kerrey pre
dicted that sparks would fly on
Capitol Hill, one of the few things
theyagre&d on.
“He’s going to have a difficult
time up here for the next four
years,” Hagel said. “But this is not
going to be a debate about beating
the president. This is going to be a
debate about solving problems.”
Kerrey, who has been one of the
torch-bearers for entitlement re
form in the U.S. Senate, said many
of those tough votes were going to
come on entitlements.
Hagel said Clihton failed to se
riously address entitlements—de
voting only five sentences to the
Medicare problem. He said the
president only fueled unfounded
fears with his posturing on a pro
posed balanced budget amendment.
Clinton said a balanced budget
amendment to the U.S. Constitu
tion would jeopardize Social Seat
rity and allow federal judges to
make funding decisions. Hagel said
that was demagoguery and “in
sane.”
One area where Kerrey and
Hagel sharply differed was the
president’s proposed education ini
tiatives. Clinton proposed a 20-per
cent increase in education spend
ing, upping the total to $51 billion,
which included tax credits for col
lege education.
Kerrey said the president’s
ideas were “first-rate” and that they
were possible through cuts else
where in the budget.
“I think the Republican Con
gress understands that education is
a very high priority,” Kerrey said.
Parents are having problems send
ing their children to college, he
said, and without a degree, children
cannot compete.
“I think (Clinton) is going to
find a surprising amount of support
from Republicans.” •
Hagel disagreed, however, say
ing that balancing the budget was
not possible by spending more.
Another area of disagreement
— yet some agreement — was
campaign finance reform.
Kerrey said it was going to be
up to the American people to call
their representatives and say they
wan^ campaign finance jcefogr}; j
Hagel, however, relied on an old
football adage — the best defense
is a good offense—to say Clinton’s
pledge was a diversion from his
own campaign finance troubles and
his timetable was politically moti
vated.
“It isn’t going to happen,”
Hagel said. “It’s a grandstand
Play”
Hagel said campaign finance
reform was necessary, but there
were more important issues facing
Congress. And the president’s tim
ing was suspect, he said.
“The Democrats, the president,
the vice president are in a lot of
trouble over this,” Hagel said.
“This is a way for the Democrat?
to get out from under what’s com
ing down the road.”
V •; ,
By Ebin Schulte
Senior Reporter
Calls for official state doughnuts,
pies and lobbyists were made during
floor debate in the Nebraska Legisla
ture Tuesday.
State senators were poking fun at
a bill that would name com as the of
ficial state crop and the catfish as the
official state fish.
The bill was brought to Sen. Carol
Hudkins of Malcolm by a group of el
ementary students, and other senators
chipped in their two cents on favorite
items they thought should be canon
ized in the record books.
“Another state is considering a
pie,” said Sen. Roger Wehrbein of
Plattsmouth. “I nominate the apple
»»
pie. /
Chuckles, then other recommen
dations, followed.
“Down home, we got a heck of a
good bakery,” said Sen. George
Coordsen of Hebron. “How about a
doughnut?”
Sen. Chambers seriously opposed
the bill, saying it was a trivial matter
and a waste of precious time. He re
taliated by vowing to filibuster (he bill
and waste even more time.
Time and time again, he’d request
speaking time, and during his min
utes, he suggested a lemon pie instead
of apple, an official state meal, a state
vegetable (the potato, as Idaho’s were
suffering from diseases), and the state
lobbyist, a great white shark.
Coordsen, despite his suggestion
for an official state doughnut, also
opposed the bill, and compared the
Legislature to dealing with children.
“From time to time, we have to
have the capacity to say ‘No, that’s not
a good idea for us to do.’”
Coordsen suggested senators con
sider an amendment on the bill call
ing for the governor to choose official
state items or substitute such an
amendment as the entire bill.
The bill was important to the
people who suggested it, Hudkins said,
and she said it shouldn’t be dismissed
because it was brought up by children.
-
Other senators jokingly questioned
the choices the children had made.
•‘I have never seen a homelier fish
than the catfish,” said Sen. C.N.
“Bud” Robinson of Blair.
Eventually, Sens. Hudkins and
Chambers called a truce: The bill ad
vanced to select file with an amend
ment striking the original bill and
leaving such decisions up to the gov
ernor.
Hudkins’ etementaiy-age constitu
ents might still get their wish for a
fish. Hudkins said she would talk to
the governor if it passes and urge him
to take recommendations from her trill
for state fish and crop.
*' I
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Tuesday, Feb. 1L, 8pm
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