The Sacramento Bee from Sacramento, California • 1

I ffitefbiiDCDiMi gteQs giM (M00 (ElmMcd i)M DOGaao Founded 1857 Volume 282 MET CHASE cTri' l99L The Sacramento Bee nmn WCDNEQDAY January 28 1998 FINAL 460 S-' Local lawmakers agree that a federal budget surplus should go toward Social Security AD Analysis: Clinton uses his skill to sell a liberal agenda and to deflect attention from scandal pass AS First lady kuimdies assault on Starr Qmtoini Mtlimes a Mum Blames for woes Hillary Rodham Clinton applaud her speech Tuesday night By Muriel Dobbin Bee Washington Bureau 'V-r Mr i1 V1 if i i- A ft Broad range of domestic initiatives rr Viju' 'i Jrtt a -ir I mtm a A By Muriel Dobbin Bee Washington Bureau Vs i- i' i i I I JUTI 4 WASHINGTON First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton came out fighting Tuesday charging that vast right-wing is behind the assertions of philandering and possible perjury that have been made against her husband "From my perspective this is part of a continuing political campaign against my she asserted in an NBC-TV interview and I have been accused of everything including murder by some of the very same people who are behind these The first sharp comments on the show coincided with the opening of a grand jury inquiry into allegations that the president tried to cover up a relationship with former White House aide Monica Lewinsky personal secretary Betty Currie testified for several hours and left the courthouse without comment Testimony by Lewinsky was postponed while independent prosecutor Kenneth Starr considered giving her immunity from prosecution in exchange for testimony against Clinton Also delayed was a grand jury appearance by Clinton friend Vernon Jordan who is being investigated for his role in dealing with Lewinsky In a television interview timed for the morning of the State of the Union address a composed and cool first lady presented the case that Clinton so far has chosen not to make in response to assertions of sexual involvement with Lewinsky The 24-year-old former White House intern told a friend in secretly recorded conversations that the president had urged her to deny the relationship under oath Reiterating her conspiracy charge Hillary Clinton said lot of this is deliberately designed to sensationalize charges against my husband because everything else tried has failed I also believe it is part of an effort to undo the results of two She said Whitewater prosecutors have looked at telephone call 'f a-7 WASHINGTON President Clinton in the fight of his political life appealed directly to the American people Tuesday night with an ambitious agenda of social legislation from health care to education and retirement income Receiving a warm and at times buoyant reception from the joint session of Congress Clinton hailed the robust economy and pledged to use upcoming budget surpluses to help ensure the survival of Social Security should we do with this projected he asked in his State of the Union message have a simple four word answer: Save Social Security On a day in which a grand jury began investigating assertions that Clinton had a sexual relationship with a 24-year-old former White House intern and then urged her to lie about it the president made no mention of the swirling scandal in his 72-minute speech But despite concerns that Clinton would get an icy skeptical reception in the House of Representatives chamber his speech was interrupted by 100 bursts of applause more than he received a year ago Hillary Rodham Clinton also received a respectful welcome as her husband introduced her as first lady" A television audience estimated at 60 million tuned in to see an upbeat president seemingly unaffected by the investigation threatening his presidency deliver a speech dedicated to promises for the future Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott R-Miss in the GOP response to address ad- si Associated Press photographs President Clinton acknowledges the welcome from members of Congress before delivering hie State of the Union address Night masks turmoil Washington By Lawrence Bee Washington Bureau sage most Republicans clapped at his entrance and tepidly applauded a few of his ideas with which they agree such as cuts in the federal deficit and legislation to end child labor around the world In contrast to recent years however Republicans did not crowd toward the center aisle to shake hand on his entering walk down the aisle where allegations of sexual misconduct and obstruction of justice by the president are under investigation by independent counsel Kenneth Starr When State of the Union speech had ended Sen Arlen Specter R-Pa said what was on moat minds think people were thinking about what was not he said While Democrats were quick to leap to their feet to applaud the mes As if no dark clouds were gathered over his presidency Bill Clinton presented himself Tuesday night as a leader with a future to a subdued Congress on its best behavior The traditional opener of the political year unfolded with no apparent notice to the drama playing out elsewhere in Washington Please see CLINTON page A8 Please see REACTION page A9 Please see INQUIRY pageAlO BiraiGfi Fair Oaks teen like sister is on academic fast track Hospital copes during crunch Non-medical staff aiding nurses FORECAST FOG HIGH 58 LOW 50 By Carlos AlcalA Bee Staff Writer By Dorsey Griffith Bee Staff Writer They have so much in common The academic trajectories of hini Ramachandran 15 and her tional champ in 1988 when she was 13) And as of Tuesday both have been named finalists in the prestigious Westinghouse Science Talent Search Sohini was named this year for a computer analysis of plant DNA sequences Her work done under the guidance of a Stanford researcher put her among only 40 national final- older sister Rageshree are both UEIRIB1 Yuba voters rev up for speedway Yuba County voters pass a ballot measure that brings the county one step closer to having an Indy and NASCAR race complex Racing could begin in 18 months the developer predicted rocket rides to the top Both can notch their calculators with early high school graduation from Rio Americano Both competed strongly in national spelling bees (Rageshree was na Bee photograph Anne Chadwick Williams Sohini Ramachandran 15 is the youngest of 40 national finalists in the Westinghouse Science Talent Search Please see SISTERS back page A14 Painters plumbers and pruners have swapped their regular uniforms for green scrubs at the UC Davis Medical Center to help overworked nurses in the wake of the ongoing crisis at area hospitals Dozens of temporary helpers are stripping and making beds running errands and answering telephones to relieve registered nurses who have scrambled to keep up with the onslaught of patients the past few weeks a situation that is expected to worsen as Kaiser Permanente nurses walk off the job this morning Also in anticipation of the Kaiser strike Sacramento County medical personnel are again operating an emergency ambulance diversion system sending 911 patients only to those hospitals capable of handling them as they did for a two-week period over the holidays The ongoing shortage of critical care nurses and staffed beds for an unusually high number of sick patients has raised concerns among state health officials who plan to monitor the Kaiser strike and its 20 indicted in citizenship testing scheme By Denny Walsh Bee Staff Writer conference Tuesday to unveil the indictments The purported conspiracy targeted unsuspecting immigrants most of whom spoke little English of immigrants have sacrificed and labored mightily for the honor of US Seave said defendants have tarnished that honor for everyone by selling one step lion from the immigrants in return for a guarantee that they would pass the test were returned Friday and unsealed Tuesday The first-of-their-kind prosecutions seek to crack down on unscrupulous private testers accused of abusing one of most cherished rites in a citi-zenship-for-sale scam US Attorney Paul Seave labeled the alleged crimes at a news In a case likely to spark overhaul of the US citizenship testing program a federal grand jury in Sacramento has charged 20 people in a nationwide scheme to falsify test results for 13000 immigrants The six indictments which claim the defendants collected Snore than $3 mil Please see HOSPITAL page A14? Please see IMMIGRANTS back page A14 1.