News ' est
Senate votes for Lewinsky to testify
Balloting continues to follow party lines; GOP lacks two-thirds control
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Republican-led
Senate voted Wednesday to summon Monica
Lewinsky and two other witnesses for testimony in
the impeachment trial after refusing to dismiss the
peijury and obstruction of justice charges against
President Clinton.
Both decisions were along party lines with a sin
gle exception, Wisconsin Democrat Russell Feingold
who voted with the Republicans. Though the
Democrats lost, the ballots showed the Republicans
were still well short of the two-thirds majority, 67
votes, that would be needed to convict Clinton.
“The president will not be removed from office,”
Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle said
moments after the votes. “It is time to move on.”
The identical 56-44 votes authorized subpoenas
to summon the three witnesses for videotaped deposi
tions and rejected a motion by Democratic Sen.
Robert Byrd of West Virginia that would have dis
missed the case brought by the House against the
nation’s 42nc* president.
Senators immediately recessed the trial to discuss
among themselves how to proceed next. Republicans
had offered a plan that could end the proceeding with
in 10 days if die White House does not seek witness
es. Democrats, who are pressing for a censure alter
native, offered their own plan and Daschle predicted
“we can achieve some compromise procedurally”
At day’s end, Majority Leader Trent Lott said the
two sides were narrowing their differences and that
the final plan would likely end the trial by the
Presidents Day holiday in mid-February. They
-expected to have a final plan today when the trial
reconvenes.
“Both of the proposals bring us to a final vote in
an expeditious manner,” Lott said.
The White House pleaded for a quick end.
“Today’s events make clear that the votes are not
there to convict and remove the president from
office,” special counsel Gregory Craig said.. “Any
proceedings from this day forward only serve to delay
the final resolution of this matter and run counter to
the best interests of the Congress, the presidency and
the American people.”
The votes authorized House prosecutors to ques
tion Lewinsky, White House adviser Sidney
Blumenthal and Clinton’s friend Vernon Jordan about
the president’s efforts to conceal his affair with the
former White House intern. After the depositions,
House prosecutors conceded they didn’t have the
votes to convict but hoped the witnesses’ testimony
might change minds.
Feingold said he joined Republicans on the votes
Wednesday because he believed dismissing the case
would “improperly short-circuit the case” before
House prosecutors could examine witnesses. But he
also said his votes should not be construed as a sign he
had decided to convict Clinton.
“I have not reached a decision on that question,”
the Wisconsin Democrat said.
Under the GOP plan, the depositions of the three
witnesses would begin as early as today and would be
videotaped. Each deposition would last six hours,
equally divided between the White House and House
prosecutors with two senators sitting in as mediators.
The videotaped sessions and transcripts would be
distributed Monday to senators, who would then vote
Tuesday on whether to permit live testimony. The
timetable would allow for that testimony and then
closing statements from the House managers and
White House lawyers.
Law firm’s ads charge
college admission bias
WASHINGTON (AP)
Conservatives who say top U.S. col
leges are illegally using racial prefer
ences in admissions are taking then
case to the nation’s college newspa
pers.
The newspaper ads by the Center
for Individual Rights, a conservative
law fumVepresenting students suing
universities, are headlined “Guilty by
Admission” and charge that nearly
every, elite college in the United
States violates the law.
But many educators say the law
firm has misrepresented 20 years of
court rulings and overstated efforts to
bring diversity to college campuses.
The center issued two 30-page
handbooks it says are intended to help
students identify discrimination and
to help institutions keep from getting
sued, but critics say the handbooks are
designed to incite lawsuits.
“Colleges very clearly understand
they may not use quotas,” said Norma
Cantu, die assistant secretary for the
Department of Education’s Office of
Civil Rights, referring to programs
that don’t consider a student’s merit.
“There’s no need for a handbook.”
The ads and handbooks are part of
a campaign to highlight the use of
racial preferences in admissions, say
conservatives, including former
Education Secretary William
Bennett, who called college diversity
programs “an antithesis of the civil
rights movement.”
According to the government,
minority enrollment was 25.3 percent
in 1995, up from 16.5 percent in 1980.
Another group supporting the
campaign, The Center for Equal
Opportunity, released a study
Wednesday concluding that the odds
of a white candidate being admitted to
the University of Virginia instead of
an equally qualified black one are 45
to 1. v v
The data, based on 1996 applica
tions for 10 public Virginia universi
ties, include the race, sex, SAT scores,
class rank and high school grade point
averages of 72,000 applicants who
were admitted or rejected.
“We’ve found use of racial ethnic
preference in all of the states. The
more selective schools tend to use
preferences the most,” said Roger
Clegg, general counsel for the group.
But Rene Redwood, executive
director of Americans for a Fair
Chance, a group that advises colleges
and community groups on affirmative
action, says many preference pro
grams are still needed..
Nebraska senators
split over Clinton
OMAHA (AP) - Democratic Sen.
Bob Kerrey voted Wednesday to end
President Clinton’s impeachment trial,
saying the case against Clinton has not
been proved.
Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel
voted with the majority to continue
with the trial and question witnesses.
Hagel said he wants some questions
answered.
After the Senate recessed to dis
cuss how to continue with the trial,
Hagel said he voted against dismissal
because he believes the Senate has a
constitutional duty to see the trial to its
end.
“I voted against the motion to dis
miss because I believe it goes against
the serious responsibility given to the
Senate to try this case and reach the
truth,” Hagel said. “I said from the
onset of this trial that I would not sup
port any effort that would short-circuit
the Constitution.”
Kerrey said he voted to end the
trial because it has gone on long
enough, and the House managers had
not proved their case beyond a reason
able doubt.
“Had I reach the conclusion
beyond a reasonable doubt that the
president was guilty of peijury and
obstruction of justice in a civil rights
case, I would have voted to continue
the trial and to convict and remove him
from office,” Kerrey said.
“The evidence dictates that I will
vote for a resolution of censure of the
president, which I pray we will take up
if conviction does not occur.”
Hagel said he would not support
censure because that route is not one
provided in the Constitution.
“I don’t think censure makes
much difference anyway,” Hagel said
“The president already has been cen
sured; he has been impeached”
When talk of witness testimony
surfaced not long after the impeach
ment trial began, Hagel said he would
support the idea. He cast his ballot
Tuesday in favor of the motion
because he said it will help the Senate
find the truth.
“The House Managers and White
House counsel have provided very dif
ferent views of this case,” he said.
“The only way to evaluate these con
tradictions is through witnesses.”
Kerrey, who voted against witness
testimony, said senators have heard
enough.
“It’s time,” he said, “for us to thank
all parties for their courteous and pro
fessional presentations and return to
the serious and life-changing work of
writing, defending and upholding the
laws of our great nation.”
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U.S. Labor Department cites, fines
restaurant for child labor violations
OMAHA (AP) - The U.S. Labor
Department has cited a Kimball restau
rant for violations of child labor law and
levied a $19,975 fine.
Beef and Brunch Family Restaurant
can appeal the findings or pay the fine.
A spokesman for the restaurant did not
immediately return a telephone call
Wednesday seeking comment
The U.S. Labor Department’s Wage
and Hour Division said the restaurant
was cited for violations of hours, times
and occupational standards and report
ed violations of hazardous conditions.
According to Wage and Hour
District Director Donald Chleborad, the
company employed eight minors
involved in the reported violations.
Those claims included one minor seri
ously injured while working in violation
of the hours and times standards.
Another of the eight, undo-16 years old,
worked in a prohibited occupation - as a
cook - and five of the minors operated,
disassembled and assembled or cleaned
a power-driven meat sheer.
Child labor regulations for 14- and
15-year-olds prohibit employment
before 7 a.m. and after 7 p.m., or after 9
p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day.
Minors may not be employed for
more than three hours a day on school
days or more than 18 hours a week dur
ing school weeks. During nonschool
days and weeks, 14- and 15-year-olds
can’t work more than eight hours a day
and not more than 40 hours per week.
The law restricts employment in
specific hazardous occupations for any
one under age 18.
. - ■” " '' > -
■ Yugoslavia
Envoys urge Kosovo
rebels to accept plan
DRAGOBILJE (AP) - Govern
ment troops backed by tanks pound
ed ethnic Albanian strongholds
along * a strategic highway
Wednesday, while, U.S. and
European envoys urged Kosovo
rebels to accept talks on a plan for
self-rule that falls short of the full
independence they seek.
At least 150 villagers fled their
homes as fighting flared along the
Pristina-Belgrade highway, peace
monitors reported. Dozens piled into
tractor-pulled trailers to escape.
■ Missouri
Pontiff speaks against j
capital punishment
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Pope John
Phul Q brought his campaign
against capital punishment to a . ]
death-penalty state in America’s
heartland Wednesday, urging
100,000 worshippers to spare even
those who commit “great evil.”
The message may have had par
ticular relevance in Missouri, where
the state Supreme Court, without
explanation, postponed an execution
that was to have taken place while
the pope was in town. Papal
spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Vails
called the delay “a mockery.”
■ Saudi Arabia
Albright seeks support
to overthrow Saddam
RIYADH (AP) - Secretary of
State Madeleine Albright sought
Saudi Arabia’s support Wednesday
for U.S. efforts to topple Iraqi
President Saddam Hussein by assist
ing opposition groups.
Albright’s spokesman, James P.
Rubin, candidly acknowledged the
secretary’s intention to try to enlist
the backing of this conservative
monarchy in a growing U.S. cam
paign to oust Saddam.
■ Colombia
Earthquake survivors
rush for supplies
ARMENIA (AP) - Driven by
hunger, survivors of a deadly earth
quake dashed into supermarkets to
strip their shelves clean Wednesday
as shortages of food, water and
antibiotics worsened the misery
wrought by one of Colombia’s worst
disasters.
The toll from Monday’s magni
tude-6 earthquake in western
Colombia reached 878 dead and
more than 3,410 injured Wednesday,
Red Cross spokeswoman Maria
Perrelet said.
■ Northern Ireland
Former IRA intelligence
officer, author found dead
BELFAST (AP) - The author of
an unflinching expose of life inside
the Irish Republican Army was
found dead by a roadside
Wednesday, the victim of a savage
beating that inevitably suggested
revenge.
The battered body of Eamon
Collins, a former intelligence officer
for the IRA, was found at dawn near
the town of Newry, 40 miles south of
Belfast. He had returned to the bor
der town four years ago despite mak
ing lasting enemies in the outlawed
group.