Democrats denounce education bill
WASHINGTON (AP) -An edu
cation savings bill that swelled to
include a ban on federal reading and
math tests along with an attack on
federal spending for schools cleared
the Senate by a 56-43 vote Thursday
after bitter floor debate.
Supporters had promoted the
savings bill as a modest way to help
working and poor families meet
school expenses and if necessary
find alternatives to dangerous or
substandard public schools.
Opponents described it as a vehi
cle for tax breaks to help affluent
parents send children to private
schools.
Before the vote, conservative
Republicans had added amendments
effectively blocking new federal
tests to measure individual math and
reading achievement and converting
some federal school programs to
grants.
And they had rejected adminis
tration proposals to use federal dol
lars to reduce class sizes by subsidiz
ing school construction and forgiv
ing student loans for new teachers or
create new after-school programs.
Within minutes of the vote,
President Clinton promised a veto if
the final version coming out of a
House-Senate conference is not
more to his liking. He said the
Senate version “weakens our com
mitment to making America’s schols
the best they can be in the 21st cen
tury.”
The House passed its version of
the bill last October.
“What this means is the death of
public education,” said Democratic
Leader Tom Daschle of South
Dakota. He denounced the bill as
extreme.
“You’re seeing the real
Republican agenda coming out on
this bill,” Daschle told reporters. “It
took them a couple of days to vent it,
but it’s coming out right now.”
Republicans depicted the bill as
a way to restore control of education
where it belongs - with parents,
school boards and states - and to rat
tle an establishment that lets student
achievement fall while enriching
bureaucrats.
“What we have here is a choice
between the status quo and people
who want to empower parents to
have more of a role in the education
of their children,” said Sen. Judd
Gregg, R-N.H.
The testing and block grant
amendments drove away some
would-be Democratic supporters
and some Republicans. But others
voted for the bill in hopes that the
House and Senate negotiators will
modify it when they reconcile their
separate versions.
‘There is a sufficient amount of
good in this bill,” said Sen. Bob
Graham, D-Fla.
The vote was along party lines
for the most part. Only Republican
Sens. John Chafee of Rhode Island,
James Jeffords ofVermont and Aden
Specter of Pennsylvania opposed it
And four Democrats other than
Graham supported it: Sens. John
Breaux of Louisiana, Robert Byrd of
West Virginia, Joe Lieberman of
Connecticut and Robert Torricelli of
New Jersey. Sen. John McCain, R
Ariz., did not vote.
The savings bill, co-sponsored
by Sens. Paul Coverdell, R-Ga., and
Robert Torricelli, D-N.J., would
allow tax-free savings accounts to be
created for children, starting at birth.
Up to $2,000 a year could be con
tributed, with money coming from
relatives, employers, foundations or
other sources.
The interest and withdrawals
would be tax-free, and the money
could be used for a range of expens
es from kindergarten through col
lege, including tuition at private or
religious schools. The bill is estimat
ed to cost $1.6 billion over 10 years.
But the measure has met vehe
ment opposition from most
Democrats and Clinton since it was
proposed last year, because of its
support for alternatives to public
schools.
Democrats blocked debate on
the bill four previous times.
The National Education
Association, and the American
Federation of Teachers, the two
largest teacher unions and major
Democratic allies, have adopted a
zero tolerance approach to anything
that approaches public support of
private or religious schools.
A handful ot Democrats said the
accounts were worth trying, to add
some life to an education system
providing weak academic perfor
mance and limited choice for the
poor.
“I think it is a new approach, and
it’s entitled to be tried, to be tested,”
said Byrd, D-W.V. “Public education
is going to have to shape up, or else
public support for it is going to com
pletely erode.”
Both sides entered this week’s
debate as a way to parade agendas.
Democrats seeking re-election this
year got some soundbites, but the
bill that emerged had conservative
markings.
Sen. John Ashcroft, R-Mo.,
sponsored the testing amendment on
the ground that voluntary tests of
individual students against national
standards in reading and mathemat
ics would usurp local control of what
children are taught. The position is
favored by religious conservatives,
whom Ashcroft is courting as he
weighs a presidential bid next year.
The amendment would prevent
further work without specific con
gressional approval on the stan
dards-based tests, proposed last year
by Clinton.
The block-granting amendment
by Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash., also
has strong support by conservative
critics of public schools, including
advocates of home schooling.
The amendment would let state
legislatures choose whether they
want to receive block grants to states
or districts or to continue with feder
ally directed programs such as bilin
gual education, aid to poor districts,
drug and violence prevention, stan
dards implementation.
Altogether, $10.3 billion in fed
eral programs would be covered.
Congress questions shortage of immunity drug
WASHINGTON (AP)-A continu
ing nationwide shortage of the medicine
immune globulin has scientists and
Congress asking whether the six com
panies that make it sell too much abroad
or hoard it
“I think there is in fact on die inter
national market boarding and specula
tion that does adversely affect die avail
ability of this vital product,” Dr. Arthur
Caplan, who leads the government’s top
advisory committee on blood policy,
said Thursday.
On Monday, that committee will
order immune globulin manufacturers
to explain shortages of immune globu
lin, which is vital totens of thousands of
Americans, many of them children,
who have deficient immune systems.
Officials say companies have some
stockpiles and sell about 20 percent of
immune globulin supplies overseas.
The industry insists die shortage is
not intentional.
“To my knowledge, that’s not
true,” said Jason Blababk of the
International Plasma Producers
Industry Association, who said com
panies merely set aside small invento
ries especially for emergencies.
The Associated Press in December
first reported a severe shortage of
immune globulin, which is made from
donated plasma.
Church looks at racism
From Staff Reports
Christ’s Place Church is tak
ing the weekend to look at race
from a Christ-centered approach.
“Any form of racism is some
thing that we as Christians need
to rectify,” said Guyla Mills,
church member and weekend
planner.
The church’s third annual
Racial Reconciliation Dinner
will be held 6:30 Saturday night
at Park Middle School, $55 S
Eighth St. ■ f
.. ■ i;
The dinner, which is open to
everyone, will feature keynote
speaker Robert Manley, who will
speak about racism in Nebraska.
Sabor Mexicano, a Lincoln dance
group, also will perform.
Before the dinner, about five
workshops will discuss topics
such as the history of racism in
America and how to raise non
racist children.
Church services throughout
the weekend will continue to
focus on the issue.
Tickets are available at the
door for the dinner for $6. All
other activities are free.
For more information, call the
church, 1111 Old Cheney Road,
at (402) 421-1111.
Arbor Day festival to bloom
From Staff Reports
There will be a new trend in the
trees this weekend when the 126th
annual Arbor Day Celebration
kicks off in Nebraska City.
The apple blossoms, a great
draw for many festival attendees,
will be in full bloom Saturday
morning for the first time in the
event's history, said Paula Darling,
tourism director for the Nebraska
City Chamber of Commerce.
“It will be tremendous,*'
Darling said. “It should be a beau
tiful surprise.”
The weekend Arbor Day cele
bration usually draws crowds of
15,000 to 20,000 and will begin
this year with a 7 a m. “Bird Walk”
Saturday at Arbor Day Farm.
At 9 a.m., a 10-kilometer
nature and history-oriented walk
ing tour of Nebraska City will
begin at the Chamber of
Commerce, 806 First Ave.
the groundbreaking ceremony
for a new addition to the Lied
Conference Center also will take
place on Saturday, along with the
annual Arbor Day Parade down
Central Avenue beginning at 2
pjn. _
Saturday and Sunday, Arbor
Day enthusiasts can visit the
Wildwood Family Fun & Festival
held at the Wildwood Period
House in Wildwood Park. The
family-oriented festival lasts from
10 a.m, to 5 p.m. Saturday and
Sunday " - ^ * . * V •
At the time, the Food and Drug
Administration cited several reasons:
■ Doctors prescribe it too often.
Immune globulin is a proven treatment
for pediatric AIDS, bone marrow trans
plants and primary immune deficiency,
but doctors are experimenting with it
against chronic fatigue syndrome and
other di&hses. •• -•
■The Food and Drug Act temporar
ily halted production by one large com
pany last year because of serious manu
facturing deficiencies.
■ Several batches are quarantined
as a precaution against a theoretical
threat, brain-destroying Creutzfeld
Jakob disease. Some plasma donors
later have been discovered to be at risk
for CJD, although it has never been
found to spread through blood
In January, Caplan’s Advisory
Committee on Blood Safety and
Availability recommended that doctorsuse
quarantined immune globulin (hiring the
shortage, butwarned lhatit would demand
anaecomtiagfitHn industry. ; *
“Itbbeen made known to us tfaatlhere
are supplies of material in the companies’
inventories,” FDA Acting Commissioner
Michael Friedman said Thursday. “We are
calling the companies to reinforce the posi
tion that there are serious needs and we
want them to do everything they can to
release the product”
More immune globulin has been
sold recently, but the FDA has no
authority to compel companies to sell
any stockpiles or to limit exports.
Congress has scheduled hearings on
the shortage next month. Caplan sug
gested considering legislation exports
until U.S. supplies areadcquate, similar
to laws that restrict how many donated
organs US. hospitals cantransplantinto
non-citizens.
Doctors have toll-free numbers that
allow them to access manufacturers’
emergency supplies, said Dr. George
Nemo of the National Institutes of
Health “Itls a difficult situation now, but
I believe it’s being managed.”
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