Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

Senate panel approves Ashcroft in 10-8 vote ■ Sen. Kennedy abandons plan to filibuster nominee BY LIBBY QUAID Associated Press WASHINGTON — Republicans pushed John Ashcroft’s attorney general nomination to the Senate floor Tuesday by a narrow 10-8 Judiciary Committee vote. All but one Democrat voted against him. While the committee vote was close, a leading Democratic opponent, Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, abandoned any idea of trying to stop the nomination with a filibuster. That means Senate approval for the strongly conservative former Missouri senator is all but assured. As expected, all nine Republicans on the committee enthusiastically endorsed Ashcroft. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin was the only Democrat on the panel to support him. Senate Republican leader Trent Lott, asserting Ashcroft has the support of all 50 GOP senators, said he would like to see the full Senate vote on confirmation by Thursday, completing President Bush’s Cabinet. It was uncertain whether that would happen. Feingold called his support “an olive branch” to the new GOP White House but “not a white flag.” He urged Bush to renominate for a U.S. judgeship Ronnie White, a black Missouri Supreme Court judge whose nomination to the bench was quashed by Ashcroft. White, a witness against Ashcroft during hearings two weeks ago, accused 1 ‘Because I believe [Ashcroft’s] views are far out of the mainstream of American life, my vote will be no.’ Sen. Herbert Kohl, D-Wis. the former senator of grossly distorting his record on the death penalty. Other Ashcroft critics argue he did that for political gain. Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota announced his opposition to Ashcroft in a harsh denunciation of the former senator’s views en women’s and workers’ rights, civil rights and separation of church and state. “Because of his enormous authority and discretion, the attorney general, more than any other Cabinet member, has the power to protect or erode decades of progress on civil rights in America,” Daschle said. “John Ashcroft has shown a pattern of insensitivity throughout his career.” Meanwhile, Kennedy indicated he wouldn’t object to fixing a time for a final vote, saying he hoped to focus public attention not on a Senate process, but on Ashcroft’s positions. Kennedy said he had already decided against a filibuster when Missouri Sen. Jean Carnahan spoke against it during a Democratic caucus meeting Tuesday. Daschle had said earlier he wouldn’t support a filibuster. Carnahan, whose husband posthumously defeated Ashcroft’s re-election to the Senate after dying in a plane crash during their Senate campaign, hasn’t said how she will vote. Inside the committee room, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, chairman of the panel, appealed to Democrats to give Ashcroft the “benefit of the doubt.” “All of us, both Democrats and Republicans, know the difference between legitimate policy debates and unwarranted personal attacks,” he said. But committee Democrats Joseph Biden of Delaware, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Charles Schumer of New York, Maria Cantwell of Washington and Herbert Kohl of Wisconsin all recited lengthy criticisms of Ashcroft in announcing their opposition. Kennedy, Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Dianne Feinstein of California had previously declared their opposition. Kohl said Ashcroft ‘“will not be the people’s lawyer” and “will push and prod the law to conform to his own strongly held beliefs. Because I believe his views are far out of the mainstream of American life, my vote will be no.” Not on the committee but also announcing their opposition to Ashcroft on Tuesday were Sens. Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan and John Kerry of Massachusetts. As for the final vote in the 100-member Senate, Democratic aides said they hoped to post more than 35 votes against Ashcroft. College Press Exchange Russian rescuers bring out an elderly Indian woman who sur vived for more than 100 hours in rubble. Death toll in India continues to rise as relief arrives by Chris Tomlinson Associated Press ANJAR, India —Tents, blankets and medical equipment poured into India on Tuesday as hopes for pulling more survivors from the wreckage of a massive earthquake dwindled to near zero and rescuers turned their attention to treating the survivors. Officials have counted more than 6,400 bodies so far and have estimated that the final death toll could rise to 20,000 or more. India’s defense minister estimated 100,000 might have died, with twice as many injured. The Red Cross launched a massive relief operation Tuesday to towns devastated by the quake and appealed for $16 million in emergency aid. Blankets were a priority, with nighttime temperatures in the quake zone near freezing. In a rare gesture of cooperation between fierce rivals, a Pakistani plane landed near the quake’s epicenter Tuesday with relief, including 200 tents and 2,500 blankets. Friday’s magnitude-7.9 quake flattened two towns in India’s western Gujarat state. Government officials have counted 6,444 dead and 16,557 injured, but many bodies remain trapped in the ruins of collapsed buildings. World Briefs ■ Clinton library receiving wide range of donations LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - More than checks are arriving in the mail in response to the Clinton presidential library’s request for donations. Some people are sending items they would like included in the library’s collection, including their birth and death certificates, a knitted sweater, and subscriptions to the magazines MAD, Hustler and Soap Opera Digest. “I would assume the latter three were not from fans,” said Skip Ruther ford, the library’s head organizer. Other contributors included a man who sent his military medals to pay tribute to Clinton. ■ California exnausis $400 million fund for purchasing energy SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - California has exhausted a $400 million emergency energy fund, but Gov. Gray Davis ordered Monday that other state money be used to continue buying power while lawmakers try to resolve the state’s energy crisis. Davis’ decision to continue buying power will keep the lights on for now in energy-strapped parts of the state, but his administration wouldn’t say how much money was available or how long short-term energy buys would remain possible. The state began buying electricity 12 days ago under emergency legislation that set aside the $400 million. All that money was spent by late Sunday, Department of V&ter Resources spokesman Mike Sicilia said. Celeb ate Black History Month For more information, please contact Office of Multicultural Student Affairs 777-4330 • www.sa.sc.edu/omsa Mr. John Stewart Residential Segregation in Non-Metropolitan South RHUU 205 12 noon February 7, 2001 Have you seen meP Dr. Constance Smith-Hendricks Levels of Hope: Does Race and Gender Matter? RHUU 205 12 noon February 21, 2001 Free Lunch Mr. Harold White USC Athletics: The Black Perspective Gambrell Hall 152 7pm February 22, 2001 Dr. Adrienne Cooper African-American & Environmental Justice RHUU 205 12 noon February 28, 2001 Free Lunch Dr. Ana Lopez-Defede Barriers to Health for African-American Women Gambrell Hall 152 7pm February 8, 2001 Dr. Andrew Billingsly Black Families in White America Gambrell Hall 152 7pm February 12, 2001 If not, i'll be here at USC on February 5,2001 Kick-off Celebration 7:00pm Russell House Ballrooms I'm Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, and I wrote From God to Gangsta Rap and The Real MLK, Jr.: I May Not Get There With You ‘ Kick-off co-sponsored by Carolina Productions