The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 28, 2001, Page 4, Image 4
Bush asks Congress
to support his budget
by Ron Fournier
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - President Bush
beckoned a divided Congress Tuesday
night to support a large and retroactive
tax cut, declaring in a nationally
televised address, “The people of
America have been overcharged, and
on their behalf, I am here asking for a
refund.”
On the 39th day of his presidency,
Bush pledged to set the nation on “a
different path” by slashing federal debt
while increasing spending for popular
programs such as education,
environmental protection and health
research.
Bush, the first Republican president
since Dwight D. Eisenhower to address
a GOP-led Congress, reached out to
Democrats with a promise to tackle
Social Security reform and end racial
profiling. In a bid to conservatives, he
renewed his call to privatize portions
of Social Security.
Democrats warned that Bush is
leading the nation toward another era
of federal deficits with a 10-year, $1.3
trillion tax-cut plan. Speaking for his
party, Senate Democratic leader Tom
Daschle said enacting a large tax cut
without a full understanding of future
federal income is “an amazing
demonstration of irresponsibility.”
Bush appeared relaxed and
confident during his 49-minute speech,
receiving several standing ovations from
Republicans and polite applause from
Democrats.
Members of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff and Cabinet, along with one
Supreme Court justice, Stephen Breyer,
joined lawmakers in the historic House
chamber for the annual
ritual. Applause and
standing ovations began
on one side of the aisle
and rippled to the
another — depending
on the politics of the
. issue.
Making the hard
sell for tax cuts, Bush
said; “Some say my tax
plan is too big.”
Democrats cheered the
line, making clear they
agreed.
“Others say it is
too small,” Bush
continued, drawing
applause from
Republicans. “I
Special to The Gamecock
President George W. Bush salutes a Marine
as he exits an aircraft
respectfully disagree.
This tax relief is just right.”
Not even the pageantry of the
moment could extinguish all echoes of
last fall’s recount. There were
audible boos on the Democratic side
of the aisle as the Supreme Court was
announced. It was a reaction to the
Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision that
stopped recounts in Florida and handed
the presidency to Bush.
Standing before a Congress often
mired in gridlock, Bush said: “Let us
agree to bridge old divides,” though he
added: “Bipartisanship is more than
minding our manners; it is doing our
duty.”
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D
N.Y., a lightning rod for criticism from
the political right, politely applauded
Bush.
With the government awash in
budget surpluses, the nation’s 43rd
president offered something for
everybody over the next decade:
$1.6 trillion in tax cuts, including
reductions in every income bracket;
$2 trillion in debt reduction; increased
spending for education, conservation
and other programs; and protections
for Social Security and Medicare.
“If it sounds too good to be true,
maybe it is,” House Minority Leader
Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., said. “We think
we should be more skeptical, more
cautious, in approaching this tax cut.”
Bush announced the outlines of a
budget approaching $2 trillion. It favors
education, law enforcement and other
popular programs, while curbing growth
in NASA, freezing the federal
contributions to the arts and humanities
and threatening assistance to the
homeless.
Bush seepages
Iraq rejects plan
to ease sanctions
by Nicole Winfield
Associated Press
UNITED NATIONS — Iraq’s foreign
minister on Tuesday rejected a U.S.
proposal to amend U.N. sanctions so
Iraqis don’t suffer as much, calling it a
ploy by Washington to justify
maintaining the 10-year-old embargo.
Secretary of State Colin Powell is
calling for changes in sanctions to allow
more consumer goods to reach Iraq,
including items such as water pumps
that Washington has previously blocked,
fearing they could be used to help
Iraq rebuild its arsenals.
At the same time, military sanctions
on Baghdad should remain strict, Powell
said on a Mideast tour, during which he
heard complaints that Iraqis are bearing
the brunt of the sweeping U.N. embaigo,
but also received support for keeping
Iraq from acquiring weapons of mass
destruction.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed
Saeed al-Sahhaf called Powell’s proposals
for so-called “smart sanctions” an
attempt to shift attention away from
Baghdad’s contention that it has
complied with U.N. resolutions requiring
it to scrap its weapons of mass
destruction and now deserves to have
sanctions lifted.
“We met the requirements, and
sanctions are still there,” al-Sahhaf said.
Now, he said, “we are hearing stupid
statements from (Powell), talking about
clever sanctions, as if he confessed that
all of what had been going on since 1990
is stupid.”
Al-Sahhaf’s comments came as
he arrived at the United Nations for the
second and final day of talks with
Secretary-General Kofi Annan on
bridging the impasse over sanctions and
weapons inspections that has kept U.N.
arms experts out of Iraq for more
than two years.
Annan reported that the talks were
going well, and al-Sahhaf said he
anticipated future rounds.
“The success of the dialogue in
round one is the continuation of the
dialogue,” al-Sahhaf said. “And I
think we have already established an
excellent basis of confidence and co
understanding in order to provide the
Security Council with all details which
will help it” respond to Iraq’s demands.
Annan is expected to brief the
15-member council on the talks
Wednesday or Thursday, U.N.
spokesman Fred Eckhard said. Annan
briefed Powell by telephone after the
Tuesday morning session with the Iraqis.
U.N. weapons inspectors left Iraq
in December 1998, just before the
United States and Britain launched
airstrikes to punish Baghdad for what
they said was its failure to cooperate
with the arms searches.'
Under U.N. resolutions, sanctions
imposed after Iraq’s 1990 invasion of
Kuwait can’t be lifted until the Security
Council is convinced Iraq has rid itself
of its weapons of mass destruction.
The council has promised to
consider suspending sanctions for
renewable 120-day periods if inspectors
report that Iraq has cooperated and
shown progress toward answering their
outstanding questions about its
disarmament.
Al-Sahhaf has ruled out the return
of weapons inspectors, but has said Iraq
would consent to less intrusive
monitoring—as long as Israel and other
countries in the region were also
monitored. Annan seemed receptive to
the Iraqi position.
“I have no doubt that we need to
work on a regional basis to ensure long
term security for everyone in the
region,” Annan said.
World Briefs
■ Supreme Court
rules Clean Air Act
is constitutional
WASHINGTON (AP) — The na
tion’s premier environmental law
withstood a major industry challenge
Tuesday as the Supreme Court upheld
the way the government sets air-quali
ty standards under the Clean Air Act.
The court unanimously rejected indus
try arguments that the Environmental
Protection Agency must consider fi
nancial cost as well as health benefits
in writing standards. The American
Lung Association called the ruling “a
victory for the Clean Air Act and for
the health of the American people.”
The Clean Air Act became law in
1970, and the challenge by industry
groups was viewed as the most signifi
cant environmental case before the
Supreme Court in years.
■ Eyewitnesses
describe killing
of 118 in Indonesia
PARENGGEAN, Indonesia
(AP) — In horrifying accounts Tues
day, eyewitnesses related the Sunday
night massacre of 118 ethnic
Madurese, part of a Dayak terror cam
paign to drive the minority group from
parts of Borneo Island. They had been
lured out of hiding in the jungle by
government promises of safety. Then
Dayak fighters drove away their police
escort, trucked them to a soccer field
and massacred them, beheading six and
hacking 112 to death with machetes,
spears and knives. “Chop, chop! There
was no way they could run. They fell
suddenly as they were chopped,” a res
ident of Parenggean village said. The
bloodshed underscored Indonesia’s
failure to control ethnic and separatist
violence that has burgeoned since the
Suharto regime fell in 1998.
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