‘Sensation’ sparks
debate in Congress
WASHINGTON (AP) - Congress
5 waded into the battle over the Brooklyn
Museum of Art’s provocative
“Sensation” exhibit, passing a nonbind
H ing resolution calling for an end to fed
eral funding for the institution.
While some Democrats denounced
the Republican resolution on Monday
as an attack on artistic free expression,
GOP lawmakers countered that taxpay
ers should not have to fund the contro
versial art show, which critics have
labeled vulgar and anti-Catholic.
j ■ The- exhibit that opened Saturday to
! huge crowds features, among other
things, a black Virgin Mary embellished
r with body parts and elephant dung.
_f “I don’t think that when taxpayers
said they supported art funding that this
C;is what they had in mind,” said Rep.
, John Sweeney, R-N.Y., who sponsored
the resolution.
Republicans said they were not
arguing that the work should not be
; shown, but that it should not receive
public funding.
But Democrats said that was disin
i genuous.
, “The issue before us is censorship.
Make no mistake about it,” said Rep.
Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y.
Over the last three years the
Brooklyn Museum received $ 1.1 mil
lion in federal money. And while
Monday’s resolution sparked heated
debate it was purely symbolic.
Republicans are attempting to attach
legislation to federal spending bills to
block funding to the museum, but have
so far been unsuccessful.
House Democrats also accused
Republicans of pushing the resolution
to rally support for New York City
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, the exhibit’s
most vocal critic and a likely candidate
for the U.S. Senate next year.
“I know politics when I see it,” said
Rep. Eliot Engel, a Bronx Democrat.
“This is all about who will be the next
senator from the state of New York.”
Giuliani is attempting to cut off city
funding to the museum because of the
refusal of officials there to remove the
exhibit’s more controversial pieces. If
Giuliani decides to run for the Senate,
his likely opponent will be first lady
Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Clinton has said while she personal
ly finds the exhibit offensive she sup
ports the museum’s right to show it.
Meanwhile, Texas Gov. George W.
Bush, in swing through upstate New
York, threw his support behind Giuliani
on Monday. “I don’t think we ought to
be using public moneys to denigrate
religion,” the GOP presidential front
runner said.
In New York City, both sides
resumed their court battle, with the
museum filing papers in support of a
federal lawsuit accusing the city of try
ing to punish it for exercising free
speech.
The papers included a sworn state
ment from director Arnold Lehman
alleging Giuliani knew about the
“Sensation” exhibit’s controversial con
tent long before he ever spoke out.
Bankers suspected
of money laundering
NEW YORK (AP) - Federal prose
cutors say $7 billion from Russia was
illegally funneled through accounts at
the Bank of New York in one of the
largest money laundering cases in U.S.
history, according to a criminal indict
ment unsealed Tuesday.
Three individuals and three compa
nies were charged with channeling the
money - believed to have ties to the
Russian mafia - in the first criminal
, charges to be brought in the case. The
,, charges were contained in a three-count
indictment filed under seal in U.S.
District Court in Manhattan on Sept. 16.
Peter Berlin, 44, Lucy Edwards, 41,
, - a former vice president at the Bank of
-New York - and Aleksey Volkov, 34, as
well as Benex International Co. Inc.,
Bees International L.L.C. and Torfinex
Corp. were named as defendants. The
( Bank of New York, the nation’s 15 th
largest bank, was not named in the
indictments.
U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White said in
a statement that “the ongoing investiga
tion is very intense and broad, and it is
likely to go on for some time.”
“Many questions about the various
sources of the moneys flowing through
the accounts at the Bank of New York
remain to be answered,” she added.
Lewis Schiliro, an FBI assistant
director in charge of the New York
office, said their primary focus was
determining the origin of die funds and
tracing the path of transactions through
accounts at the Bank of New Yoric
“As this investigation has pro
' gressed, cooperation from the Russian
• authorities has been forthcoming and
has been helpful,” he said. “Unsealing
this indictment will serve to facilitate
the mutual flow of information.”
! Federal investigators have been
* working for several months in attempt
! to unravel the Bank of New York case.
Russian businesses and individuals -
including organized crime groups - are
suspected of illegally laundering the $7
billion through accounts at the bank.
The indictment alleges the defen
dants conspired from 1996 to August
1999 to illegally transmit funds and
■receive deposits through the Benex and
Bees accounts at the Bank of New York.
«
Many questions... at
the Bank of New York
remain to be
answered.”
Mary Jo White
U.S. attorney
The defendants were charged
because they allegedly engaged in an
illegal banking operation by receiving
deposits without obtaining authoriza
tion from any federal or state banking
agency, according to prosecutors.
The indictment also seeks criminal
forfeiture of various bank and broker
age accounts, including the Benex and
Bees accounts as well as accounts held
by Torfinex at the Bank of New York.
The indictment alleged that the
defendants continued to send money
illegally through the Benex and Bees
accounts even after Torfinex was
ordered by the New York State
Department of Banking in October
1997 to stop transmitting money.
If convicted of all the charges
against them, Berlin and Volkov could
face up to 15 years in prison and a fine
of $175,000 or twice the gain or loss
resulting from the crime.
If convicted, Edwards would face a
maximum prison term of five years and
a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice
the gain or loss resulting from the crime.
Edwards was dismissed last month
for gross misconduct, violation of the
bank’s internal policies, falsification of
bank records and failure to cooperate
with die bank’s investigation.
She has previously denied any
wrongdoing.
If convicted, the corporate defen
dants could face maximum fines of
$ 1.5 million or twice the gain or loss.
Those accounts collectively hold
about $6.2 million and were seized
when warrants were issued in August
1999.
When things get messy,
it’s usually time ior
a change.
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Career Day 1999
College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources
October 7,1999
• Where: Nebraska East Union, 3rd Floor • Time: 11:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
•Why: 1 alk to employers about job • Who: All UNL Students
opportunities
COMPANIES ATTENDING:
American Institute of Banking
Archer Daniels Midland
Bureau of Reclamation
Cenex Land O Lakes
Dow AgroSciences
Earl May Seed & Nursery
Excel
Farm Credit Services of America
First National Bank of Omaha
Growmark
LI-COR, Inc.
MoorMan’s, Inc.
Murphy Family Farms
National Park Service
NC+ Hybrids
NE Ag Statistics Service
Crop Quest
Hormel Food Corporation
IBP, Inc,
Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc.
Purina Mills, Inc.
Servi-Tech
J.R. Simplot Soilbuilders
USD A Ag Research Service
West Fork Nursery & Tree Center
Nebraska Game & Parks Commission
Black & Decker
New Holland North America Inc.
PIC USA
Premium Standard Farms
Ag Processing Inc.
DDM Crop Services
Golden Harvest
AgLEC and NE Vocational Ag Assn.
Cargil
Tractor Supply Company
Swift and Co.
Country General/CT Farm & Country
Lower Platte South Natural Resources
District
IGF Insurance Company
National By-Products, Inc.
FMC Ag Products Group
ConAgra Frozen Foods
AgrEvo USA Company
American Cyanamid
DeBruce Grain
Farmland Industries, Inc.
Michael Foods, Inc.
Monsanto
Novartis Seeds, Inc.
United Nebraska Bank
University of Nebraska Cooperative
Extension Division
Christensen Family Farms
Pike Family Nurseries
Altec Industries, Inc.
Bunge Corporation
Novartis Crop Protection
Deere & Company
Nebraska Crop Improvement Assoc.
Lower Platte North Natural Resources
Communicating for Ag Exchange Prog.
Progressive Swine Technologies
Texas Farm Products, Company
Mycogen Seeds
Nebraska Department of Environmental
Quality
UNL Agribusiness MBA Program
USDA NRCS
Rhone-Poulenc Ag Company