Wisconsin State Journal from Madison, Wisconsin • 3

NationalForeign Editor Kerry Hill, (608) 252-6163 Thursday, October 12, 2000 3A Wisconsin State Journal SPACE SHUTTLE MISSION Kioto food to Farm groups see huge potential for U.S. products 1 Other actions Wednesday The House overwhelmingly passed a $310 billion defense authorization bill that includes health and prescription drug benefits for veterans and a 3.7 percent pay increase for active-duty members of the military. The bill also would provide health benefits and 1 50,000 payments to thousands of Cold War-era workers made sick by their jobs at nuclear weapons plants or uranium mines. A Senate vote is pending. The House voted 3 1 5-98 to override Clinton's veto of a fiscal 2001 bill to fund energy and water programs.

But Republicans don't have enough support in the Senate to override the veto so they agreed to drop from the bill a provision dealing with the Missouri River. The Senate approved a crime package that includes reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act and increases in penalties against international sex trade traff ickers. The House approved it Friday. The bill now goes to the White House, where Clinton has indicated he would sign it. Associated Press Commander Brian Duffy is assisted by NASA close-out crew member Jean Alexander as he gets comfortable in his seat on space shuttle Discovery's flight deck on Wednesday.

After three postponed launches. Discovery lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla. 100th shuttle mission in orbit Farm groups see Cuba as a huge potential market for their crops and livestock, and several major U.S. exporters By Philip Brasher AP farm writer WASHINGTON The House voted Wednesday to let Cuba buy U.S. food for the first time in four decades under legislation that supporters said could prove to be a breakthrough in relations with Fidel Castro's government.

The Cuba measure is part of a $78 billion spending bill that also would allow the import of U.S.-made pharmaceuticals that are sold cheaper abroad. The legislation also would provide $3.5 billion in drought aid and other special assistance to farmers. The Senate, in the wake of the Firestone tire recall, passed and sent to President Clinton auto safety legislation. It would prescribe prison terms in the future for executives who withhold information about product defects resulting in fatalities. The bill, passed by the House earlier Wednesday, also requires government testing of vehicles for their rollover potential and mandates that new cars in the near future come with systems that warn motorists about underinflated tires.

The House approved the package of Cuba food exports, drug imports and farm aid 340-75 despite complaints from Democrats that the measures were too restrictive and too little to help consumers or farmers. (All but two of Wisconsin's nine representatives Republican F. James Sen-senbrenner and Democrat Gerald Kleczka voted for the measure.) The White House immediately signaled support for the bill, citing its increases in spending for food safety, nutrition, farm conservation and other programs. The bill still needs the Senate's final approval before it goes to President Clinton. "On balance this is a bill that should be signed," said Linda Ricci, a White House spokeswoman.

Discovery contains two new segments for the international space station. The crew's job is to attach the girderlike truss and docking port; four spacewalks will be needed to make all the connections, beginning Sunday. The 11 -day mission has been on hold for two years, as have subsequent assembly flights, because of Russia's difficulties in launching the space station's crew quarters. The module was finally placed in orbit in July and was outfitted by a visiting space shuttle crew in September. The truss and docking port aboard Discovery must be installed on the space station before the first permanent crew can move in.

NASA astronaut Bill Shepherd and his two-cosmonaut crew are scheduled to lift off from Ka-zakstan on Oct. 30. This will be NASA's fifth visit to the space station. But it's the first actual construction mission since the first pieces of the complex were launched in 1998. Throughout Wednesday afternoon, the sky was overcast and a waterspout was spotted.

But the weather improved dramatically by evening, and shuttle managers gave the nod. "All good things are worth waiting for, and I think you and your crew have waited long enough for this one," launch director Mike Leinbach told the astronauts. "Good luck on this extremely important mission to the international space station and have fun." Workers had to hustle to remove the small metal pin that was left on an oxygen line running between Discovery and its external fuel tank. The pin resulted in an embarrassing and costly delay for NASA on Tuesday. Following liftoff, NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin singled out the sharp-eyed technicians who spotted the pin.

"I took a look at the camera angles it's unbelievable how you did it," he said. The space station was soaring 240 miles above the Bay of Bengal when Discovery finally soared. The chase will end with a docking on Friday. The Discovery crew hopes to attach two new sections to the international space station. ByMarciaDunn AP aerospace writer CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.

Space shuttle Discovery thundered into orbit Wednesday evening on NASA's 100th shuttle flight, carrying seven astronauts on a crucial construction trip to the international space station. "We're going to take a big step here. Let's go!" commander Brian Duffy called out. Discovery rose from its seaside pad at 7:17 p.m., just after sunset, on NASA's fourth launch attempt. The shuttle had been grounded since last Thursday because of trouble with bolts, a valve, wind and a pin.

The shutde pierced thin, wispy clouds as it raced out over the Atlantic, its exhaust trail tinged peach, orange and red by the setting sun and surpassing the nearly full moon in brightness. have been actively pursuing deals with Castro's government. But Cuba's food purchases are likely to be limited because of tight restrictions on financing that were included at the insistence of anti-Castro lawmakers. Miguel Alvarez, an adviser to Cuba's National Assembly, said Wednesday on state television that the financing restrictions would tighten the sanctions and make purchases impossible. "We are talking about legislation that undoubtedly will be turned into a law that will strengthen the blockade," Alvarez said.

The bill would bar both the federal government and U.S. banks from financing the food sales, so Cuba would have to pay cash or get credit from a third country. Sales of medicine already are permitted to Cuba under similar terms. The U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, a business-funded group, estimates the legislation would result in at least $28 million in sales in the first year and more after that. Digest i Our in will never le lower! 1 Associated Press Former Louisiana Gov.

Edwin Edwards, left, talks with his attorney, J. Michael Small, as they leave the federal building in Baton Rouge, on Wednesday after Edwards was acquitted on all counts in a corruption trial. Expires; 1031 On 1 WASHINGTON, D. Court appears split on disabled law Supreme Court justices, hearing a case that could significantly diminish the reach of the Americans with Disabilities Act, seemed divided Wednesday over letting disabled people sue states under the federal civil rights law. At the heart of the dispute is the balance of power between the federal and state governments, and the court has issued a series of 5-4 rulings in favor of the states in recent disputes.

The justices' decision on the ADA, expected by next summer, could sweep broadly enough to affect not just lawsuits by state employees, but all claims that accuse states of bias against the disabled. WASHINGTON, D.C. Broadcasters fete court decision A month before Election Day, a federal appeals court threw out long-standing rules that require broadcasters to give candidates a chance to respond to persona attacks and political endorsements. The immediate effect of the repeal of the rules which already had been suspended through the remainder of the 2000 campaign season is unclear. But broadcasters, who had long argued that the regulations have a chilling effect on free speech, celebrated the court's decision.

WASHINGTON, D.C. Reservists apparently leaving due to vaccine Countering military assertions that refusals to take the anthrax vaccine are having little impact, a congressional study finds it is the leading cause cited by pilots and aircrew members for leaving National Guard and reserve units. The Pentagon questioned the results Wednesday, saying guard and reserve strength and readiness is unaffected. But officers acknowledged they have no data of their own on how many reservists are leaving rather than taking the shots. became of our.

FREE Local Delivery Setup (with set purchase) FREE 60-Day Comfort Guarantee Applies to any Crafted Comtort" set or above. Craftsman-Direct" Pricing we can offer the lowest price mattress set everyday! Co-defendant Jim Brown, found guilty of lying to FBI investigators, became the third consecutive Louisiana insurance commissioner to be convicted of federal charges. The 73-year-old Edwards, known as a high-rolling ladies man, was convicted in May on charges of taking payoffs in return for riverboat casino licenses. SCIENCE Greenhouse test shows promise An experiment off the coast of Antarctica has lent support to the notion that scientists could stimulate algae to act like a giant sponge and sop up greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. In the study, reported in today's issue of the journal Nature, a relatively small amount of iron was pumped into the ocean as fertilizer, sparking algae growth in an otherwise lifeless area.

The algae in turn consumed hundreds of tons of carbon dioxide from the ocean's surface waters. Then, in theory at least, the ocean would draw in atmospheric gases to replenish the carbon dioxide. WSJ wire sen'ices Combined with congressional testimony from former and present reservists claiming persecution for refusing the vaccine, the General Accounting Office survey adds to congressional pressure on the Pentagon to give up its beleaguered vaccination program. PENNSYLVANIA Gay couple donate $2 million PHILADELPHIA A gay couple who met 17 years ago at the University of Pennsylvania have donated $2 million for a new gay and lesbian student center at the school. David Goodhand, 37, and Vincent Griski, 36, said they wanted to help students with a place to meet and get information on things such as career planning and safe sex.

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