Clinton censures treaty failure
WASHINGTON (AP) - President
Clinton accused Senate Republicans of
recklessness and irresponsibility
Thursday for defeating the nuclear test
ban treaty and warned, “You’ll see a lot
of testing” by Russia, China, India and
Pakistan if the United States abandons
the landmark agreement.
Clinton pledged the United States
would refrain from testing - as it has
since 1992 - despite the treaty’s rejec
tion. “It still binds us” unless die presi
dent says otherwise, Clinton said.
With Texas Gov. George W. Bush
and other Republican presidential hope
- fuls opposed to the treaty, Clinton
acknowledged that a future president
might disavow the ban. “Then all bets
* are off,” Clinton said. “You’ll see a lot of
testing and they’ll bail” on the nuclear
nonproliferation treaty, another major
arms accord.
The president’s words reflected
deep White House bitterness over the
treaty vote and the undiminished ani
mosity between Clinton and congres
sional Republicans after the impeach
ment batde and fights over gun control,
tax cuts and other issues.
Clinton, at a news conference a day
after the test ban treaty failed on a 51 -48
Senate vote, said Republicans have fall
en into “a new isolationism” and had
voted on the basis of partisan politics.
In blistering language, he also said
Republicans were endangering
America’s economic prosperity by
“lurching from one unworkable idea to
the next” in spending proposals and
budget cuts.
Republicans quickly answered
Clinton’s charges. “It was not about pol
itics,” Senate Majority Leader Trent
Lott, R-Miss., said of the treaty vote. “It
was about the substance of the treaty
and that’s all it was. No senator, no sen
ator, was pressured to vote anyway but
his or her conscience based on the sub
stance of the treaty.”
As Clinton denounced the Senate’s
treaty vote, other Democrats pledged to
make it a political issue for 2000. Gore,
in his first television ad of the 2000pres
idential race, said he would send the
treaty back to the Senate for ratification
if he wins.
Striding into the East Room,
Clinton took a combative tone in his
tt
We will not — we will not — abandon the
commitments inherent in the treaty and
resume testing ourselves
President Clinton
opening remark. “In recent days, mem
bers of the congressional majority have
displayed a reckless partisanship. It
threatens America’s economic well
being and now our national security.”
“Yesterday, hard-line Republicans
irresponsibly forced a vote against the
Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban
Treaty,” Clinton said. “This was partisan
politics of the worst kind, because it was
so blatant and because of the risks it
poses to the safety of the American peo
ple and the world.”
The president defended himself
against criticism that he had waged a
weak, eleventh-hour campaign for the
treaty. He said he had spoken at least 30
times about it but “we had no earthly
idea” that it was going to be brought up
hurriedly for a Senate vote. “There was
simply no time to put it together,”
Clinton said.
“We will not - we will not - aban
don the commitments inherent in the
treaty and resume testing ourselves,” the
president said.
More generally, Clinton com
plained that the treaty’s defeat was
another step in the United States’ retreat
from a global leadership role.
“We are in a battle with the new iso
lationists and the Republican Party,”
Clinton said. He said the United States
has failed to pay its U.N. dues or meet
financial obligations under Middle East
peace agreements and an accord with
Russia to help dismantle the former
Soviet nuclear arsenal.
Downpour hits Cuba
as hurricane passes
HAVANA (AP) - Hurricane
Irene dumped rain across western
Cuba on Thursday, forcing at least
130,000 people to evacuate.
Ranchers moved cattle to higher
ground, schools and businesses
closed and workers sealed ware
houses storing Cuba’s famous
tobacco leaves.
In the western province of
Pinar del Rio, President Fidel
Castro met with civil defense offi
cials about the storm, which also
battered Miami with rain that trig
gered a rash of traffic accidents
during Thursday morning rush
hour.
“This is not the first time a hur
ricane has passed over Havana,”
Castro told reporters Thursday
evening as the storm’s center
passed overhead. Castro was head
ed into the Havana mayor’s office
for a briefing on damage.
When the eye of the storm
passed, wind and rain subsided
briefly, allowing Havana residents
to venture outside and check on
damage to buildings. Many rushed
home from work before the other
side of the hurricane arrived and
skies grew dark again.
A hurricane warning was
issued for the Florida Keys, as well
as a stretch of Florida coastline
from Florida City to Boca Grande,
about 85 miles south of Tampa.
Areas north of Boca Grande and
between Florida City and Jupiter
Inlet, on the east coast of the penin
sula, were put under a hurricane
watch.
At 5 p.m. EDT, Irene was cen
tered about 65 miles southwest of
Havana and was moving north
northwest at 7 mph.
Irene - which had sustained
winds of 75 mph - was expected to
hit the Florida coast Sunday north
of Tampa with winds near 95 mph.
Forecasters predicted a potential
13-foot storm surge in Tampa Bay
and up to 20 inches of rain.
There were no immediate
reports of damage or injury in
Cuba or Florida. In Havana, there
were scattered reports of damage
to buildings in Old Havana.
State of emergency
issued in Pakistan
■ Constitutional rule
suspended by Pakistan’s
military chief.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -
Pakistan’s military chief declared him
self the country’s leader Friday
(Thursday CST), defying pressure to
restore democratic rule after the army
toppled the civilian government
Fighter planes could be heard
scrambling overhead within minutes
after Gen. Pervaiz Musharraf issued an
order for a state of emergency, dissolv
ing parliament and suspending the
constitution.
Since troops ousted Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif Tuesday and
reportedly jailed his top supporters,
Musharraf has been holed up in talks
with leading politicians, including the
president.
A spokesman for President Rafiq
Tarar said Thursday that the general
wanted to restore civilian rule.
However, soldiers then moved into
parliament, which had reopened only
hours before and was scheduled to
meet today for the first time since the
military takeover.
The troops went down the corri
dors, clearing out staffers and the few
legislators who had shown up, then
locked the gates. “They just told us to
leave,” without explanation, said one
worker who refused to give his name.
... The proclamation of the state of
emergency, issued on the state-run
news service before dawn Friday
(Thursday CST), dismissed all cabinet
ministers and the Senate chairman, as
well as the governors of Pakistan’s four
provinces and their ministers.
The president, however, keeps his
post, which is mostly symbolic.
Fundamental rights remain in place,
even though the constitution is sus
pended, the declaration said. Courts
will still function, though the
announcement made clear they could
not dispute Musharraf’s position as
chief executive or the state of emer
gency.
The military ruled Pakistan for 25
years of its 52-year existence, but it
handed over power to a democratically
elected government in 1985.
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District attorney says
Ramsey case not closed
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) - District
Attorney Alex Hunter acknowledged
Thursday that “mistakes were made” in
the JonBenet Ramsey slaying investi
gation but fiercely defended his office
and said he was by no means done
searching for the 6-year-old beauty
queen’s killer.
He also said the girl’s parents, John
and Patsy Ramsey, “have not been
eliminated from the investigation.”
Police Chief Mark Beckner said the
Ramseys remain “under an umbrella of
suspicion.”
Hunter faced a barrage of criticism
after announcing Wednesday that a 13
month grand jury investigation into the
slaying did not find enough evidence to
charge anyone.
“If I had to do it again, I might do it
a bit differently,” he said at a news con
ference Thursday. “I thought I might
smoke the killer out, and I didn’t.”
Hunter refused to discuss the grand
jury’s investigation, including why
JonBenet’s parents were not called to
testify. But he said, “The case is
stronger as a result of the work of the
grand jury.”
“I have an aching heart about where
we are with this case, but by no means
do I or any of the men who you see at
this table feel a sense of failure,” Hunter
said, flanked by prosecutors who have
been consulting on die case.
“We will continue to follow the evi
dence in this case as long as there is
work to be done. We find no reason to
give up heart, we find no reason to quit,
and we plan to continue with diligence
the effort we believe has been under
way since the beginning of this case.”
■ Yugoslavia
Secretary General urges
Albanians to rebuild liyes
PRISTINA (AP) - Dashing
ethnic Albanian hopes of quick
independence, U.N. Secretary
General Kofi Annan said
Thursday that as long as Kosovo
was under U.N. administration, it
would remain part ofYugoslavia.
At the end of his first visit,
Annan urged Kosovo’s hostile eth
nic groups to rebuild homes, lives
and the ability to coexist.
His tour included meetings
with Serb and Albanian communi
ty leaders, as well as with
key NATO and international offi
cials.
Annan spoke after stopping in
the residential suburb of Pec, a
western Kosovo city destroyed
during the 18-month Serb crack
down that ended after NATO
troops entered the province.
■ Iowa
Elizabeth Dole presents
World Food Prize in Iowa
DES MOINES (AP) -
Elizabeth Dole avoided traditional
political venues while campaign
ing in Iowa on Thursday as she
helped present the World Food
Prize.
Recalling her experiences as
Transportation Secretary and
director of the American Red
Cross, she urged a focus on
seemingly mundane topics such
as food distribution, far less
flashy than scientific break
throughs that can revolutionize
food production.
"Those involved in famine and
disaster relief know only too well
the hardships imposed by the lack
of transportation and communica
tions systems,” said Dole, who is
seeking the Republican presiden
tial nomination.
The World Food Prize is given
annually to mark the greatest
achievements in finding ways to
feed a fast-growing world. This
year’s award went to a British sci
entist who developed a vaccine
against a deadly livestock disease.
■ Washington
President, Republicans
haggle over budget
WASHINGTON (AP) - A
week from a budget deadline,
President Clinton accused
Republicans on Thursday of
resorting to “reckless partisan
ship, to gimmicks and gamesman
ship,” and said GOP plans for
across-the-board spending cuts
would be too drastic.
-Responded Senate Majority
Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss.: “If the
choice comes down to protecting
Social Security or cutting across
the board just a little nick off of
every program, I believe the
American people would support
that.”
Fourteen days into, fiscal
2000, the partisan crossfire spot
lighted the rising stakes as the
White House and lawmakers
focus on the remaining, most
politically complex spending
bills.
So far, five of the 13 fiscal
2000 bills have been signed into
law, and five of the remaining
ones face veto threats.