Daily Citizen from Beaver Dam, Wisconsin • 4

Page 4 Monday, January 23, 1995 Daily Citizen On Whitewater Daily Citizen Washington Merry-Go -Round Established February 20, 191 1 Republicans going truth, not Clintons' for the throats James Conley PresidentPublisher Francis W. Connors Publisher Emeritus Jeff Hovind Executive Editor James Kelsh Managing Editor Stephen D. Ciccantelli Advertising Director Curtis W. Lenius Circulation Director bind Ths Dally Citizen (USPS 047360) Is published dally exoepl Sundays and Holidays by the Citizen Publishing Co. ol Wisconsin, 805 Park Avenue, Beaver Dam, Wis.

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Times News Service WASHINGTON Why has Sen. Alfonse D'Amato, the tiger of Senate Whitewater hearings, suddenly appeared to turn into a judicious pussycat? Why has Rep. Jim Leach, anguished and frustrated accuser of the Clintons in the farcical House hearings, fallen silent now that he and D'Amato have become chairmen of the House and Senate banking committees? INTERVIEWS WITH both men and others suggest this answer: They are satisfied that a serious investigation is under way by Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr, and that each of their committees is getting traction in its own inquiries. In case you've forgotten, here is the suspicion at the heart of Whitewater: that the Clintons used the influence of the Arkansas statehouse to bilk funds out of a federally insured unlawfully used a real estate venture as a conduit for that money to their political campaigns.and later in the White House were served by aides who blocked investigations by the Justice Department and Congress into the financial dealings that helped them into office. A serious and current concern, if true; not just noise about a decade-old land deal in which everybody lost money, as the Clintons contend.

The earlier investigation, by Clinton-appointed counsel Robert Fiske, was discredited in the Senate hearings when D'Amato unearthed dozens of improper contacts, overlooked by Fiske, between White House and Treasury officials. That contradictory sworn testimony is now being reviewed by the special prosecutor. To the Editor: Sunday, Jan. 22 marked the twenty-second anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, the single most destructive Supreme Court decision ever made in the history of our country.

Over 32 million babies have been sacrificed on the altar of "choice" since then. From that year to this, abortion has continued to polarize the nation with ever-increasing intensity, but the truth is emerging triumphant When the American people spoke in November and brought about overwhelming conservative victories that won Republican leadership in the US House and Senate, they sent a mandate for the return of common sense, ethics and the scriptural principals upon which our constitutional republic was founded. Chief among these is the inalienable right to life bestowed upon all by the Creator. As a result, we now have a greater potential than ever before to effect real changes legislatively, despite a decidedly pro-abortion presidential administration. Despite these encouraging developments, this in not the time for pro-lifers to go to sleep.

Here's a short "to do" list to keep every pro-life individual busy until the sanctity of all human life is again protected under law in our country. Write, call and fax our newly elected law makers. the Republicans. Continually remind them of the pivotal im P.O. Box 558, Beaver Dam, Wis.

53916 portance of pursuing legislation that will protect all human life, then hold their feet to the fire! Do not let the so-called "big tent" theory cause Republican legislators to remove the pro-life position from their platform in the name of party "unity." Respect for life has always been a core belief of the Republican party, and it must remain so. Educate our neighbors about the reality of the life of the still do not know! Expose the deceptive practices of pro-abortion is great power in the truth. Serve women and families in need who, without immediate help and ongoing support, might otherwise choose abortion. Work with your Right to Life where the action is, and help save children and serve mothers even better. Pray that God would continue to raise up active and committed pro-life people to get the work done.

We have an opportunity that is unparalleled since abortion was legalized in 1973. Let's stay awake pro-lifers, and make 1995 a watershed year for the pro-life movement. With God's help, it will happen. Keith Glasgow Dodge County Women's Right to Life I I'M STUCK IN THI5PEPRE55' IN6UTIW FWMWflH WHERE'S THE HOWL? inir NOT MUCH. A PICKUP JU5T OKAY, 50 YOU'RE 97IL.UIN CALIFORNIA Mffii ii irrnr-is- -AnmrrT mm rtvd Jack Anderson Coal firms shying away from proposal By JACK ANDERSON and MICHAEL BINSTEIN WASHINGTON A subterranean struggleover health benefits is threatening to give the shaft to hundreds of thousands of retired coal miners and their dependents.

A well-funded effort by a group of coal companies and its Washington lobbyists could undermine a delicate deal struck by the Bush administration. The deal was designed to replenish a health care trust fund set aside for retired miners. The law the Coal Industry Retiree Health Act passed as part of an omnibus energy bill rammed through the Senate in the waning hours of the Bush administration. More than two years later, the chief sponsor of the act, Sen. John D.

"Jay" Rockefeller, fears that some of his colleagues are preparing to backtrack on deal. What was intended as a way to ensure the health benefits that were guaranteed to coal miners has become a high-stakes game of pass-the-buck for companies that are affected by the law. "IT'S A SECRET war," Rockefeller told us. "But a war it is, and I will stay fully armed until I'm gone from this place." To help their cause, these coal companies have taken to the airwaves, newspapers and Capitol Hill to plead their case. Yet there is more to this campaign than meets the Rockefeller's crusade began in 1989, after years of bankruptcies and mergers had dwindled the number of coal companies that contribute to the health care trust funds for retired miners.

The trust funds were first created in an agreement between the United Mine Workers of America and the coal companies that make up the Bituminous Coal Operators Association. In a series of agreements dating to 1950, BCOA companies promised to provide lifetime health benefits to unionized miners in exchange for lower pensions and other concessions. As the years went by, many BCOA companies folded or merged with non-union companies. Others companies got out of the coal business altogether, or found legal loopholes that allowed them to stop paying into the benefits fund. The retired miners whose companies were no longer paying into the fund so-called "orphans" were being paid for by the companies that were left.

With fewer and fewer companies paying premiums, the entire fund was in danger of collapse by the late 1980s. By 1992, the remaining BCOA companies, which were paying for retirees that never worked for them, were threatening to walk away from the agreement After the Bush administration rejected a Rockefeller plan to impose an industrywide tax to pay for the "orphan" retirees, a compromise was struck: The government would go back and find the last company that employed a miner, even if that company is now out of the coal business or merged with another firm. Individual companies would be "assigned" premium costs based on the number of miners who worked for them. The plan, commonly called the "reachback" tax, sparked a rebellion among coal companies that are now being forced to pay benefits to retirees who once worked for them, even if only fora short time. Portraying themselves the victims of an unfair power grab, some of these companies have banded together in the Reachback Coalition and hired the heavyweight Washington law firm of Jones, Day, Reavis and Pogue to argue their case.

A representative for the coalition did not return our calls for a comment. SOME SMALL companies have undoubtedly been hurt by the tax, such as the highway construction company that is being asked to pay lifetime health benefits for the widow of a miner who apparently worked a summer job with the company in 1947. While the reachback companies depict themselves as David versus Rockefeller's Goliath, Rockefeller and his supporters say that's only part of the story. "Every company at least pays lip service to the need to protect beneficiaries," one UMWA official toldour associate Jan Moller. "They all say that can be done just by letting me out Obviously if everybody who said that was left out there would be no one to pay the beneficiaries." In the two years since the coal act became law, Rockefeller has beaten back several challenges from Senate colleagues.

He believes there are more to come. "Nobody approaches me," Rockefeller said. "That's the conspiratorial part. It'll always be through some other person, or from some other I've dealt with big coal companies that are good citizens and those that are bad citizens." He leaves no doubt as which ones are complaining about this law. yet.

Thursday Joint Administrative Rules Review, 8 a.m., 421 South, Capitol: Rule 94-40, lawn-chemical use posting requirements. Senate Education and Financial Institutions, 7 p.m., Goodrich High School 382 Linden Fond du Lac: Information gathering session on school violence. Friday Senate Education and Financial Institutions. 3:30 p.m., Riverside High School, 1615 E. Locust Milwaukee: information gathering session on school violence.

inept Foster investigation was cursory, not brought before a grand jury, and his Clinton-friendly conclusion that Foster's state of mind was unrelated to Whitewater is ludicrous. Starr is apparently not taking the suicide theory as gospel; Park Police witnesses have been complaining about the severity of their examination by prosecutor Miguel Rodriguez before a grand jury. No bullet or skull fragments were found, suggesting the body may have been moved. The next phase of Senate hearings on the Foster documents, or what's left of them is likely to begin in April. In the House, Leach hopes for a comprehensive hearing in June.

"With no publicity," he says, "we had some court action and we are now starting to receive certain documents." A FEDERAL judge, eager to avoid adjudicating a clash between the White House and Congress, suggested the House use a Freedom of Information Act suit to pry tightly held papers outof the Office of Thrift Supervision and the Resolution Trust Corp. Leach is pleased with the result: "We were provided with a Vaughan index' and we are now seeking full documentation." He's going for the truth, not the throat: "The web of entanglement is not necessarily deadly," Leach says. "We're seeking full disclosure and public accountability. Then, and only then, could there be a resolution. It would be credible to deal with the first family with civil law." Republicans less charitable than Leach agree.

They want to get to the bottom of this because the system requires it, but they don't want to strike down Clinton's presidency. They want him right where he is so they can run against him. als Feb. 14 to the Legislature for the fiscal biennium that begins July 1. "Not only are we going to put violent criminals in prison and monitor the minor criminals, we're going to make them pay some of the cost of keeping our streets Thompson says in a statement issued by his office.

Wisconsin has more than 56,300 people on parole or probation. If each were charged $1 daily, the state could collect approximately one-third of what is spent to supervise them, The Milwaukee Journal reported in Sunday's editions. "It's time for those breaking the law to start paying theirkecp," theThompson statement said. "By charging persons on probation and parole a dollar a day, the lawbreakers will be repaying taxpayers for at least some of the cost to monitor them," he said. Other states assess daily maintenance fees of as much as $5, Michael Sullivan, secretary of the Department of Corrections, said.

It costs Wisconsin about $22,000 a year to keep someone in prison compared with $1,300 freeing them on probation and parole. Imposing a fee would encourage them to get a job, Sullivan said. "We need to make it clear to persons who break the law that there will be a finan-cial consequence to their actions," Thompson's statement said. companies that work for politicians or interest groups to give the state Elections Board a copy of their script. Legislative committee hearings are open to the public and the committees generally welcome public testimony.

The week's hearings: Monday Assembly Elections and Constitutional Law. 10 a 119 Martin Luther King Jr. Madison: various changes in campaign finance law. No bill number to Commentary William Safire Was justice obstructed as criminal referrals languished and a friendly prosecutor was appointed in Little Rock? If anybody knows, it should be Webster Hubbell, the Clinton intimate at Justice who recently copped a felony plea in exchange for information that might implicate the Clintons. At the same time, the Senate Committee is seeking the depositions taken of President and Mrs.

Clinton in the White House by Fiske. These are in White House hands, and portions about the death of Vincent Foster were shared with the Senate. "We want the rest of the Clintons' testimony," D'Amato says; he does not consider the deposition, taken in the While House, to be grand jury testimony. If the Clintons say no, I presume the committee will issue a subpoena. LAW ENFORCEMENT sources say that Starr is expected to complete the study of documents found in Foster's office in three weeks.

Senate investigators will want to trace the travels of these Whitewater records through Hillary Clinton's possession after Foster's death. (One witness reported seeing a briefcase on Foster's car in Fort Marcy Park, where the body was found.) Fiske's "review" of the Park Police's 'We think there is enough of an incentive to stay out of prison that the people on probation and parole will do everything in their power to pay this amount. John Matthews Thompson aide sion is basically sound. "But it needs to be part of an overall plan," Dickey said. "Parole agents should have a good handle on the budgets (of the probationers and parolees).

"A lot of people would already be paying back court costs and restitution. Having them pay sensible, reasonable amounts that are consistent with the purpose of supervision and do not inhibit the possibility of them 'making it' makes good sense." The fee would not apply to people attending school or otherwise unable to hold a job, Thompson said. The Thompson administration has talked previously about having convicts help pay for their room, board and security while in prison. The Department of Corrections has considered ways of expanding penitentiary industries that pay wages to convicts, and hiring prison labor to contractors. Thompson presents his budget propos MADISON, Wis.

(AP) School violence, lawn chemical regulations and limiting the clout of political action committees are on Legislative committee agendas this week. A Republican-sponsored bill to limit PACs also attempts to regulate telephone campaigning. It would require telemarketing Lawmaker pushes gender 'cleansing' of Constitution LA CROSSE, Wis. (AP) Rep. DuWayne Johnsrun worked to remove the "he" from state statutes and hopes tocomplete a similar gender cleansing of the Wisconsin Constitution this year.

"We need to clean up our language in the Constitution," Johnsrud said. "Some people get bent out of shape about it, but it's the right thing to do. Get the 'he' and 'him' out of our Constitution." Johnsrud, R-Eastman, has been involved in efforts to rewrite statutes that traditionally used male pronouns. It has been a national trend for many years to use terms such as "chairperson" instead of "chairman" or "flight attendant" rather than "stewardess." In the 1993-94 session of the Legislature, Johnsrud enlisted the help of Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, who was head of the Assembly's Elections, Constitutional Law and Corrections Committee.

To amend the Constitution, they would need approval of a proposition by two successive sessions of the Legislature, then by voters in a referendum. With one round already out of the way in the Legislature last spring, they only need approval again in the Senate and Assembly before Feb. 21 to get it on the state's next general election ballot April 4. "From my perspective, this recognizes the importance of language in setting the tone for where we are today," Baldwin said. 'Obviously, the role that women have taken on and the role that society expects women to play has changed." There is no reason to alter Baldwin's status as a Democratic sponsor of the proposition this year even though Republicans are now in control of the Assembly, Johnsrud said.

"Tammy is my co-author," he said. "She deserves to be the co-author on the second time around. She did me a favor and I'm obliged to her." Doonesbury by garry trudeau jron Thompson eyes $1 a day from inmates on parole YBQUESTRATION. if wu i E4 if U)NV 1 11 fTLIKE? RD I -111 I I I 4 VU- -X- I 1 I I inn NOCABLE. MILWAUKEE (AP) Criminals would pay a maintenance fee to the state while on parole or probation under a budget proposal by Gov.

Tommy G. Thompson. Charging $1 a day could provide about $4 million annually to defray the expense of having parole officers and law-enforcement agencies keep track of ex-convicts, the Republican governor said. If a criminal refuses to pay, his paycheck could be attached or he could be returned to prison, John Matthews, Thompson's chief of staff, said. "Then we would put them to work there," Matthews said.

"We think there is enough of an incentive to stay out of prison that the people on probation and parole will do everything in their power to pay this amount." State Rep. David Travis, a Madison Democrat who formerly served as Assembly majority leader, said the idea is appealing but such a proposal must be carefully structured. 'It could end up providing incentive for these folks to commit crime," Travis said. "If these guys figure they go back to jail without five bucks, they'll find five bucks." Thompson's plan has promise, Travis said. "But you don't want to get in a situation where convicted felons are needing money." Walter Dickey, a University of Wisconsin-Madison law professor and former state corrections administrator, said the concept of prisoners paying for the cost of supcrvi- School violence, PAC bills up for hearings IPON'TKNOUJ.

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