<p> A teapot and a small briefcase were all Hillary Rodham Clinton
needed last week to give a commanding performance discussing
health care in nearly 12 hours of testimony before five major
House and Senate committees. Clinton impressed members with
her tact, reasonableness, subtle flattery and grasp of details:
she answered all questions without relying on either notes or
aides. However, many legislators still expressed reservations
about the substance of the Administration's health plan and
its financing.
</p>
<p> Mr. Clinton at the U.N.
</p>
<p> In his first address to the U.N., President Clinton urged it
to be more selective about where it sends peacekeeping troops.
The President also provided a long list of prerequisite conditions
for U.S. forces to be ordered into Bosnia, proposed a worldwide
treaty banning production of highly enriched uranium and plutonium
for nuclear weapons and said the U.S. would pay the $800 million
it owes for back dues and peacekeeping bills.
</p>
<p> Waco Reports
</p>
<p> A Treasury Department report says field commanders at the Bureau
of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms mishandled the raid on the
Branch Davidian cult in Waco, Texas, last February and then
tried to cover up their mistakes. The officials rewrote the
plans for the assault after it failed, hiding the fact that
they had been aware that the Davidians knew of the "surprise."
attack. Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen suspended five top
ATF officials and named a replacement for director Stephen Higgins.
Later, word leaked that a Justice Department report is expected
to clear Janet Reno of any major wrongdoing in the final assault
on Waco.
</p>
<p> Senator Indicted
</p>
<p> She has been in office less than four months, but already Texas
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison is fighting for her political life.
Hutchison, a Republican who won a landslide victory in the race
for Lloyd Bentsen's old seat, was indicted on charges of official
misconduct during her 2 1/2 years as Texas state treasurer.
She is accused of using her state office to perform personal
and political tasks and of destroying records to cover up the
alleged abuse. Hutchison insists the charges are "sleazy politics"
and maintains her innocence.
</p>
<p> Trouble for Ron Brown
</p>
<p> A grand jury in Miami is investigating allegations of bribery
against Commerce Secretary Ron Brown. Brown is accused by a
Vietnamese businessman of receiving $700,000 from Nguyen Van
Hao in exchange for his help in lifting the economic embargo
against Vietnam. The Secretary first said he could not recall
meeting Hao, but then admitted to seeing him three times last
year. Brown called the charges "absurd," and President Clinton
dutifully lent his support.
</p>
<p> Agent Orange Compensation
</p>
<p> Vietnam veterans suffering from bone-marrow cancer or three
respiratory cancers are now eligible for disability benefits.
The policy change, which is expected to cost $350 million over
the next five years, signifies an acceptance by the Veteran
Affairs Department that the diseases may have been caused by
exposure to Agent Orange.
</p>
<p> Florida Tourist Murders
</p>
<p> Two more tourists were shot last week in Florida, one fatally,
in a continuation of a gruesome trend.
</p>
<p> Guarding D.C., Federally
</p>
<p> Washington's mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly called on the National
Guard to help quell a rash of violence plaguing the city. The
murder toll in D.C. had reached 350 last week, 20 more than
at the same time last year. Kelly's request awaits federal approval.
</p>
<p> Gore Report a Costly Affair
</p>
<p> According to an internal memo from the Government Printing Office,
printing costs for Vice President Al Gore's report on saving
money in government were three times greater than those for
most other federal documents. Using glossy paper and three colors
of ink, the booklet cost $168,915, while printing it on uncoated
paper in black and white would have cost just $54,091.
</p>
<p> Gay Compromise in Effect
</p>
<p> The Defense Department's "Don't ask, don't tell, don't pursue"
policy toward gay service members officially went into effect
last week. The previous day, a federal judge in Los Angeles
ordered the Defense Department to stop discharging homosexuals.
Pentagon officials plan to appeal the ruling, saying it conflicts
with the new policy, which does permit the discharge of gays.
</p>
<p> Victims of Weightism
</p>
<p> According to a report in the New England Journal of Medicine,
obese women averaging 5 ft. 3 in. and 200 lbs. are 20% less
likely to get married; have household incomes that are about
$7,000 lower; and are 10% more likely to live in poverty than
women of normal weight who have similar backgrounds.
</p>
<p> A Rolling Head for Tailhook?
</p>
<p> According to Navy Secretary John Dalton, Admiral Frank B. Kelso
II did not show proper leadership at the Tailhook convention
in which women soldiers were assaulted. Dalton has recommended
Kelso's removal to Defense Secretary Les Aspin.
</p>
<p>WORLD
</p>
<p> Moscow Crises Simmer
</p>
<p> Russian President Boris Yeltsin sealed off Russia's White House
parliament building, where 100 or so opposition Deputies and
their armed supporters have been holed up in rebellion to Yeltsin's
Sept. 21 dissolution of the legislature. Yeltsin will not agree
to hold parliamentary and presidential elections simultaneously.
Under the mediation of the Russian Orthodox Church, the two
sides agreed to a cutback on weapons and guards at the parliament,
prompting hope for a peaceful end to the conflict. At the U.N.,
meanwhile, Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev asserted his country's
prerogative to engage in "peace-making efforts" in former Soviet
republics racked by ethnic conflicts.
</p>
<p> Push Comes to Shevardnadze
</p>
<p> Separatist rebels captured Georgia's Black Sea region of Abkhazia
handing Georgian leader Eduard Shevardnadze a huge military
and political defeat The former Soviet Foreign Minister accused
"Russian headquarters'' of "masterminding" the offensive, a
charge denied by Moscow. Shevardnadze's situation only worsened
later in the week when supporters of Georgia's ousted President
seized the vital port of Poti.
</p>
<p> Bosnia's Muslims Say No
</p>
<p> After two days of painful debate, Bosnia's Muslim-dominated
parliament voted overwhelmingly to reject key portions of the
latest U.N.-sponsored peace plan for the war-shredded republic.
Although the delegates grudgingly accepted the basic notion
of a tripartite division of their country with Serbian and Croat
nationalists, they insisted that Muslims receive more territory
than the 30% allotted to them under the plan. Bosnian Serbs
and Croats repeated their firm opposition to yielding more ground
and threatened to withdraw concessions they had previously made,
raising the prospect of more fighting as the harsh Balkan winter
nears. "We are looking into an abyss," said a U.N. official.
</p>
<p> Indian Earthquake
</p>
<p> A predawn earthquake, measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale, rolled
across southwestern India, leveling entire villages, collapsing
mud and homes onto sleeping families and killing more than 28,000
people.
</p>
<p> Next: Coals to Newcastle?
</p>
<p> Mother Nature has achieved what trade negotiations could not.
Pounded by rainy weather that is causing the worst rice harvest
since World War II, Japan slit a crack in its most cherished
trade barrier--the decades-old ban on most rice imports. The
government announced that for the next three months it will
allow in 200,000 foreign-grown tons of the country's almost
sacred staple crop. But to placate the nation's powerful farm
lobby, officials stressed that this is "strictly" a one-time
emergency measure.
</p>
<p>BUSINESS
</p>
<p> Paramount Battle Intensifies
</p>
<p> Having persuaded Blockbuster Entertainment to provide it with
$600 million, Viacom began to close the $2.2 billion gap between
the bid--now worth $7.7 billion--it has made in a friendly
takeover of Paramount Communications and the hostile bid for
the company made by the QVC Network.
</p>
<p> Dawn of an Industrial Policy?
</p>
<p> Comparing it to the Apollo project to put a man on the moon,
President Clinton announced a research endeavor that would have
America's Big Three automakers working together with the government
to produce a car that will run 80 miles on a gallon of gas.
Clinton's gas tax kicked in last week, raising the price of
gas 4.3 cents a gallon.
</p>
<p> Bright Indications
</p>
<p> The index of leading economic indicators posted a 1% rise in
August, its biggest leap this year.
</p>
<p> "'Bama--Vas First?"
</p>
<p> The little town of Vance, Alabama (pop. 250), beat out places
in the Carolinas and Nebraska to woo Mercedes-Benz's first U.S.
factory. The $300 million plant will open in 1997 and is expected
to employ 1,500.
</p>
<p> Two Down, One More to Go
</p>
<p> Two weeks after settling on a new contract with Ford Motor,
the United Auto Workers succeeded with Chrysler as well. The
agreement is similar to the Ford one, with workers gaining a
3% wage increase in the first year of the contract. Negotiations
now move on to General Motors.
</p>
<p>MEDIA & THE ARTS
</p>
<p> N.Y. Post Undead Again
</p>
<p> Once again union dissent caused the New York Post to cease publication,
this time for three days. Once again media mogul Rupert Murdoch
momentarily withdrew his effort to purchase the paper. And once
again the blue-collar unions capitulated, this time crossing
the white-collar Newspaper Guild's picket line. At week's end
Murdoch sealed a final deal, completing his purchase of the
tabloid and putting out an edition prepared by managers and
non-union writers. The Post's survival was bad news for its
competitors, particularly the struggling Daily News of Mort
Zuckerman.
</p>
<p>-- By Christopher John Farley, Erik A. Meers, Michael Quinn,
Alain L. Sanders, Sophfronia Scott Gregory, Anastasia Toufexis,
Sidney Urquhart
DISPATCHES
</p>
<p>HOME SWEET WHITE HOUSE
</p>
<p>By HUGH SIDEY, in Washington
</p>
<p> House notes: Looking up at Bill and Hillary Clinton in the
soft glow of the State Dining Room, Abraham Lincoln watching
in oil. Clintons both beam, seem to want to keep the lease,
giving contributors and helpers in the latest White House refurbishing
a tour of the place and telling them of their joy at living
there. It is leavening and deepening to be with memories of
the greats, says Bill. Hillary has read bios on all the former
First Ladies, keeps William Seale's The President's House--two volumes of rich history--handy and well thumbed. Bill
can even recite some of the house's stories as well as the guides.
"There isn't much job security in my line of work," he deadpans.
"I may need the skill."
</p>
<p> Guests go in clusters from Oval Office to Bill's private study.
New paint, new carpets, new picture hangings everywhere as Little
Rock decorator Kaki Hockersmith's means of making the house
a Clinton home. Lincoln bust looks over Bill's desk in the Oval
Office. Another Lincoln bust guards the office door. Lincoln's
speeches lie between covers. Lincoln's a Republican; what is
this? Nothing new. As noted by Harvard's David Donald, "Getting
right with Lincoln" is standard for Presidents. Anyway, balance
is restored over on the grand staircase in the mansion. Tucked
nearly out of public view is this Republican quartet--Harding,
Hoover, Nixon and Reagan.
</p>
<p> The new Oval Office blue carpet is deep, dramatic. "It's so
masculine," said Chelsea when she first saw it. His favorite
painting, Childe Hassam's Avenue in the Rain, a scene of misty
flags, is a softer image that hangs on the curved wall.
</p>
<p> Most dramatic change: Treaty Room turned into deep red and burgundy
study for Bill. Heavy thinking here. Nine books piled on the
work area. Unlit cigar waiting for a flameless draw. Surely
he lights up secretly in a chamber that once was continually
beclouded by Ulysses Grant? Nope. Bill is famously allergic
to smoke. New checkers and backgammon game tables suggest his
indulgences. Heavy, historic desk was moved to the lawn for
recent P.L.O.-Israel peace signing. President's personal possessions
emptied from drawers. Now he can't find them all. Hil-l-l-ar-r-r-y!
On the wall is the famous photo by George Tames, New York Times
photographer: Kennedy's back silhouetted as he leans to read
newspapers in the Oval Office.
</p>
<p> Heartbeat of the White House may come from the tiny private
kitchen. Three Clintons can just fit. Hillary says they go there
to dodge the din, sip, nibble, talk, hug. Hillary too busy for
much home cooking. Bill can use the microwave; call Domino's.
</p>
<p> New people, new decorations, new rituals. Still, a mallard came
back again this year as a yard guest, built a nest in a 160-year-old
elm tree down near the tennis court, hatched 11 ducklings. Just
flew south for the winter season untroubled by trade, taxes
or health care.
HEALTH REPORT
</p>
<p>THE GOOD NEWS
</p>
<p>-- Clean-needle-exchange programs intended to help prevent the
spread of AIDS by reducing needle sharing are controversial
because some believe they may encourage drug addiction. New
research has shown that exchange programs in the U.S. and nine
other nations caused a drop in dangerous needle sharing but
did not increase drug use.
</p>
<p>-- A transplant of blood from the umbilical cord of an unrelated
donor has apparently helped restore the bone marrow of a three-year-old
with leukemia. Umbilical blood is rich in marrow-producing cells;
previously, doctors had used it successfully only when it had
been taken from the siblings of leukemia victims.
</p>
<p>THE BAD NEWS
</p>
<p>-- Although the risk of breast cancer rises with age, and so
does the chance of early detection, the Centers for Disease
Control has found that the older a woman is, the less likely
she is to have an annual breast exam and mammogram.
</p>
<p>-- Regular use of some asthmatic drugs, such as salbutamol,
can be counterproductive, making asthma sufferers more, rather
than less, susceptible to allergens.
</p>
<p>-- In a survey of 1,000 people, only 39% reported that they
were trying to follow experts' guidelines on eating right, down
from 44% in 1991. One cause of nutritional backsliding, respondents
said, was the endless advice they get on nutrition.
</p>
<p> Sources--GOOD: AP (2). BAD: Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention; Lancet; American Dietetic Association
SOBER ORGIES ONLY!
</p>
<p> The new sexual-offense policy at Antioch College in Ohio, a
policy that requires students to ask for express verbal consent
before they kiss another member of the Antioch community, has
received a great deal of attention recently. For all their legalism,
however, the rules may not be so draconian as they seem, for
they do explicitly permit sex to take place among several persons
at once. The official policy states:
</p>
<p>-- "For truly consensual sex, you and your partner(s) should
be sober to be sexual."
</p>
<p>-- "If one person wants to initiate moving to a higher level
of sexual intimacy...that person is responsible for getting
verbal consent of the other person(s) involved before moving
to that level."
</p>
<p>-- "If someone has initially consented but then stops consenting
during a sexual interaction, she/he should communicate withdrawal
verbally and/or through physical resistance. The other individual(s)
must stop immediately."
</p>
<p>-- "If sexual contact and/or conduct is not mutually and simultaneously
initiated, then the person who initiates sexual contact/conduct
is responsible for getting verbal consent of the other individual(s)
involved."
</p>
<p>-- "[Consent is not meaningful if] the person...has forced,
threatened, coerced, or intimidated the other individual(s)
into engaging in sexual contact and/or sexual conduct."
</p>
<p>BAD CINEMA
</p>
<p>How well is Late Night with Conan O'Brien doing in the ratings?
In New York it has been beaten by the following films:
</p>
<p> Ruby (1977). Occult thriller with Piper Laurie and Stuart Whitman.
</p>
<p> The Medusa Touch (1978). Richard Burton plays a telekinetic
responsible for multiple disasters.
</p>
<p> To Race the Wind (1980). The struggle of a blind law student,
starring Steve Guttenberg and Randy Quaid.
</p>
<p>THE MORNING LINE
</p>
<p>At the U.N. last week, President Clinton set stiff conditions
for sending U.S. peacekeeping troops to Bosnia, after promising
up to 25,000 of them. What are the chances that 25,000 U.S.
troops really will ever join a U.N. peacekeeping effort in Bosnia?
</p>
<p> PLAYER
</p>
<p> SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN (Rep.-Ariz.)
</p>
<p> ODDS 3:1
</p>
<p> COMMENTS
</p>
<p> "Without a real peace to be kept and a clear way out, it will
make Beirut look like a Sunday picnic."
</p>
<p> PLAYER
</p>
<p> DOYLE MCMANUS Los Angeles Times
</p>
<p> ODDS 3:2
</p>
<p> COMMENTS
</p>
<p> "If he sends troops, he risks marching into a quagmire that
will undermine his ambitious domestic agenda. But if he shrinks
from his commitment to the allies, his credibility abroad will
plummet."
</p>
<p> PLAYER
</p>
<p> REP. LEE HAMILTON (Dem.-Ind.)
</p>
<p> ODDS 3:1
</p>
<p> COMMENTS
</p>
<p> "If there is an agreement, the President is committed to sending
troops. The real question is Congress: Congress will not approve
unless the conditions are right."
</p>
<p>In Search Of The Clinton Doctrine
</p>
<p>By MICHAEL KRAMER
</p>
<p> Those having trouble figuring out Bill Clinton's foreign policy
aren't getting much help from the President. In his speech at
the United Nations last week, Clinton's sweet words shed little
light on the Administration's actions abroad. Two weeks ago,
Secretary of State Warren Christopher, National Security Adviser
Anthony Lake and U.N. Ambassador Madeleine Albright offered
equally reasonable--and unenlightening--thoughts. We will
always be "engaged," said the President and his aides. We will
still "lead." We want to "enlarge" the space for economic well-being
since full stomachs and bulging wallets are the best hedge against
war. But "a host of caveats accompany a strategy of enlargement,"
if only because, in the "new era," there are "relatively few
ways to convince a skeptical public that engagement abroad is
a worthwhile investment." So especially when it comes to sailing
in harm's way, America will "pick and choose" among its "core"
interests. "Distinctions" will be drawn. Low-risk, low-cost
peacekeeping is in; arduous peacemaking is out.
</p>
<p> There is nothing wrong with either setting realistic limits
on the U.S.'s role abroad or defining a foreign policy that
is essentially ad hoc; in a world no longer dominated by two
superpowers, an overarching vision is easy to state but maddeningly
difficult to craft. The problem, though, is that when the Clinton
Administration applies its scaled-down strategy to specific
cases, "pragmatism" becomes a euphemism for retreat. That's
sad enough for those being abandoned, like the Bosnians who
believed American blood and treasure would be expended on their
behalf because Clinton had said "you can't allow the mass extermination
of people and just sit by and watch it happen." It's worse for
the precedent it sets; doing good halfheartedly--wimping out
when the going gets tough (Somalia) or larding a prospective
intervention with so many conditions that effective action is
virtually impossible (Bosnia)--emboldens thugs to test America's
resolve. Why should the Aidids and Milosevics of the world be
wary of Clinton when America's stick is even flabbier than its
words?
</p>
<p> Clinton rails against the "poison" of isolationism but scolds
the United Nations for overextension, no matter that he himself
said, during his Inaugural, that force should be used when the
"conscience of the international community is defied." Candidate
Clinton was ecstatic at the possibility of turning from a concern
with mere order to the challenge of creating decent orders.
"Now that we don't have to worry about Moscow," he told me in
January 1992, "we can finally give content to our saying that
human rights is central. We can help in all kinds of humanitarian
ways where we couldn't before because we feared war with the
Soviets."
</p>
<p> Clinton's glee led him to promise a reversal of George Bush's
China policy. "There was a case for looking the other way when
we needed China as a counterweight to Moscow," Clinton said
in early 1992. "I would deny most-favored-nation status to China
and impose trade sanctions." None of that happened, thanks to
what one Administration official calls "the President's growth,"
because Clinton now concedes the primacy of trade as a vital
American interest. Moreover, he now appreciates that encouraging
a robust Chinese economy is the best way to champion the eventual
triumph of democracy in Beijing.
</p>
<p> Precisely because war was never contemplated and revolution
never encouraged, Clinton's evolving position on China was easy.
What the President is belatedly realizing in places like Somalia
and Bosnia, where horror is the state-sponsored weapon of choice,
is that intervening militarily to assuage atrocities carries
a high price. When human suffering is a consequence of governmental
policy, as it too often is, alleviating the pain is unlikely
without changing the political context in which it takes place--and that means becoming embroiled in the internal affairs
of countries whose leaders are not likely to capitulate without
a fight.
</p>
<p> It was easier to justify such messy interventions during the
cold war as part of the ongoing struggle with communism. Today
such interventions are a matter of preference rather than need.
Justifying them in places like Somalia and Bosnia is a matter
of sympathy rather than self-defense. Until the President is
willing to make the case on those terms, he had best not try
to make it at all. One can argue whether such interventions
are worth the cost, but unless Clinton engages the debate forthrightly
there will be no Clinton Doctrine worth the name--and the
President will end up reacting to crises too late, when only
massive intervention stands a chance of resolving conflicts
and America must confront the prospect of its self-induced impotence.
WINNERS & LOSERS
</p>
<p>WINNERS
</p>
<p> VINCE GILL
</p>
<p> With five wins, he de-Garths Country Music Association Awards
</p>
<p> ROBERT DE NIRO
</p>
<p> The "difficult" actor now a respected director with A Bronx
Tale
</p>
<p> HILLARY CLINTON
</p>
<p> The hair, the voice, the raves--a star is born. Is Bill James
Mason?
</p>
<p>LOSERS
</p>
<p> SEN. KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON
</p>
<p> Texas Republican indicted for alleged misuse of state office
</p>
<p> ROBERT TILTON
</p>
<p> TV evangelist leaving the air after Prime-Time Live expose
</p>
<p> LAURENCE TISCH
</p>
<p> CBS boss surrenders abjectly to cable systems on use of signals
Shifting Balance
</p>
<p> Moderate-to-liberal Ruth Bader Ginsburg takes over moderate-to-conservative
Byron White's seat as the Supreme Court opens this week. She
may move the court away from some of its "more restrictive views"
of free speech and be "more attentive to separation of church
and state and religious freedom than was Justice White," says
Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe. Some fresh stats on the
court's last term:
</p>
<p> Justices with whom White voted most often:
</p>
<p> Rehnquist 78.9%
</p>
<p> Kennedy 74.6%
</p>
<p> Justices with whom White voted least often:
</p>
<p> Blackmun 64.0%
</p>
<p> Stevens 57.9%
</p>
<p> Justices who voted together most often:
</p>
<p> Scalia & Thomas 86.0%
</p>
<p> Least often:
</p>
<p> Stevens & Thomas 45.6%
</p>
<p> Justices who voted together most often (liberal division):
</p>
<p> Blackmun & Stevens 73.7%
</p>
<p> (Source: Harvard Law Review)
</p>
<p>ALL THE PRESIDENT'S BRATS
</p>
<p>"Liar, liar, pants on fire!"
</p>
<p>-- JOHN SUNUNU, CNN CROSSFIRE CO-HOST, DISPUTING GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS'
CLAIM ON THE SHOW THAT PRESIDENT CLINTON HAD CUT THE WHITE HOUSE
STAFF 25%
</p>
<p>INFORMED SOURCES
</p>
<p>The Other Secret Middle East Peace Talks
</p>
<p> Jerusalem--The world was stunned when the P.L.O. and Israel
announced that secret talks in Oslo had produced a peace deal;
now Knesset member Abdul-Wahab Darawshe, head of the Arab Democratic
Party, says similar clandestine talks are under way in Europe
between Israel and Syria. Previously, Israeli officials had
denied that such talks were ongoing (while acknowledging they
wouldn't confirm them even if they were taking place). But Darawshe
says that the negotiations are real, and even include the Lebanese.
"The participants believe that by the end of the year, the talks
will result in agreements," he says.
</p>
<p> Only Too Happy to Help
</p>
<p> Washington--When MOHAMMED FARRAH AIDID's top aide Osman Hassan
Ali was arrested by U.S. troops last month, he had a letter
in his pocket from the Toronto Star's Paul Watson and journalists
from three prestigious London papers, the Times' Sam Kiley,
the Guardian's Mark Huband and the Daily Telegraph's Scott Peterson,
begging Ali for an interview with Aidid. The sympathetic letter
read in part, "Now is the time for the General to speak to us
and make his point to the Media...the timing for now is perfect--it would allow General Aidid to take the political initiative--he already has the military initiative."
</p>
<p> Marine Spy Eyes Freedom
</p>
<p> Washington--CLAYTON LONETREE, the former Marine sentenced
to 30 years in jail in 1987 for spying for the Soviets, may
soon be a free man. Lonetree, whose sentence had already been
reduced to 25 years, is up for resentencing again next month,
and the betting is that he'll be released from prison shortly
thereafter.
</p>
<p>DOWN IN THE UPPER CHAMBER
</p>
<p>Kay Bailey Hutchison (Rep.-Texas) and David Durenberger (Rep.-Minn.)
are the only Senators under indictment right now, but they aren't
the only ones under a cloud. Let's see: two, plus the five below,
plus the four members of the Keating Five still around--that's
11% of the Senate!
</p>
<p> SENATOR Bob Packwood (Rep.-Ore.)
</p>
<p> PREDICAMENT
</p>
<p> The Senate Ethics Committee is investigating charges that Packwood
harassed many of his female employees and that he used his Senate
staff to intimidate and discredit the alleged victims.
</p>
<p> SENATOR Daniel Inouye (Dem.-Hawaii)
</p>
<p> PREDICAMENT
</p>
<p> The Ethics Committee investigated charges of sexual harassment
but concluded that it could take no action because the alleged
victims refused to cooperate with the investigation.
</p>
<p> SENATOR Orrin Hatch (Rep.-Utah)
</p>
<p> PREDICAMENT
</p>
<p> The Ethics Committee is examining contacts between Hatch's office
and B.C.C.I.
</p>
<p> SENATOR Judd Gregg (Rep.-N.H.)
</p>
<p> PREDICAMENT
</p>
<p> Lacking a certain empathy, Gregg sued a woman who had agreed
to buy some real estate from him but changed her mind after
she found she had liver cancer. The case was recently settled
out of court.
</p>
<p> SENATOR Phil Gramm (Rep.-Texas)
</p>
<p> PREDICAMENT
</p>
<p> Common Cause has urged the Ethics Committee to reopen its investigation
of potential conflict of interest in Gramm's dealings with a
real estate developer who built a vacation house for him.
