Copyright 2000 Times Publishing Company
St.
Petersburg Times
October 06, 2000, Friday, 0 South Pinellas
Edition
SECTION: NATIONAL; IN BRIEF; Pg. 3A
LENGTH: 999 words
HEADLINE:
Reno: Without funds, tobacco suit will end
SOURCE:
Compiled from Times Wires
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
BODY:
Raising the stakes in a prolonged
battle with her Republican adversaries, Attorney General Janet Reno warned
Thursday that she will have no choice but to drop the government's landmark
lawsuit against the tobacco industry if Congress refuses to provide $ 23-million
to finance the litigation.
"Without that money," Reno told
reporters, "we will not be able to proceed. And I think it is imperative that we
move forward to protect the American people and to give them their day in
court."
The Justice Department has been squabbling for the last year
with GOP lawmakers who have moved to de-fund the tobacco litigation. Several
bills now working their way through Congress do not include the tobacco funding
and would severely restrict the department's ability to get the money elsewhere
to prepare for trial.
Once again in September,
fewer flights on
time
Airline on-time performance continued to slip last month, falling
to 70.0 percent for the 10 largest carriers, the Transportation Department
reported Thursday.
That was below the 70.3 percent on-time rating in
July, though not as bad as June's 66.3 rate.
And United Airlines
continued to hold down the last spot with just 42.7 percent of its flights
arriving on time in August.
While weather and airport capacity problems
in the face of increasing travel volume have been blamed for many delays, United
has also faced added trouble from a labor dispute with its pilots. That was
finally settled Aug. 26.
August's best on-time performance was turned in
by Northwest at 79.2 percent. Continental was second at 77.7 percent, followed
by Delta, 77.3 percent; TWA, 76.7 percent; and Southwest, 76.2.
Rounding
out the 10 major carriers were American, 73.9 percent; Alaska, 69.6 percent; US
Airways, 67.3 percent; America West, 59.5 percent; and United, 42.7 percent.
Bill could add 900,000
to food stamp rolls
Up to 900,000
more families could qualify for food stamps under an agreement Thursday by
congressional negotiators to ease eligibility restrictions.
A provision
added to an agricultural spending bill would allow recipients who have better
cars and higher housing costs than now permitted.
Since 1996, enrollment
in the program has dropped by a third to fewer than 17-million people living in
7.3-million households.
GOP cuts hate-crimes
shield for
homosexuals
Republicans have thwarted Democratic attempts to expand
federal hate crimes protection for homosexuals through a defense bill, greatly
reducing its chances of passing Congress this year.
The defense
authorization bill probably won't be finished until Friday or early next week,
officials said. But a Senate conference committee working on the bill voted 11-9
Thursday to drop the hate crime language, said Sen. John Warner, R-Va., chairman
of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
House panel backs
auto
safety bill
Legislation aimed at preventing automotive tragedies like
the Firestone tire deaths was passed unanimously by the House Commerce Committee
on Thursday, raising hopes among supporters that it may reach the president this
year.
The bill would expand the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration's authority and budget to investigate possible automotive
defects. It also proposes prison sentences of up to 15 years for auto industry
executives who withhold information on defective products that kill or injure
consumers.
Few days are left before legislators adjourn, and many bills
are competing for lawmakers' attention. Supporters said the auto safety
bill's 42-0 committee approval was a major victory.
Congress sets aside
$ 1-billion for AIDS
Congress agreed Thursday to provide more
than $ 1-billion a year for AIDS prevention and treatment in a bill that for the
first time factors in HIV infection as well as AIDS cases in determining how
federal money will be distributed.
The legislation reauthorizes for five
years the Ryan White CARE Act, which expired when the new
fiscal year began Sunday. The House approved the measure by a 411-0 vote and the
Senate by unanimous consent. It now goes to the president for his signature.
Rules proposed to close
Medicaid loophole
The government
issued proposed regulations Thursday to close a loophole in Medicaid rules that
has let 20 states reap billions of excess federal dollars from the health care
program for the poor. Critics say the practice threatens to cost taxpayers $
127-billion over the next 10 years.
"However well-intentioned some
states may have been, the practice today clearly constitutes an abuse of the
Medicaid system," said Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala.
"States and the federal government must operate the Medicaid program in a
fiscally sound manner that serves both Medicaid patients and the taxpayers who
support the program."
But Senate Finance Committee Chairman William
Roth, who has sought administration action for months, accused the White House
of "stepping backward."
Gramm resists Robertson
on foreign debt
relief
Not even the prayers of religious broadcaster Pat Robertson and
his followers can persuade Senate Banking Committee Chairman Phil Gramm to
forgive the multibillion-dollar debt Third World nations owe, the Texas
Republican said Thursday.
Robertson singled out Gramm in a Christian
Broadcasting Network newscast Tuesday as the obstacle to a proposal by President
Clinton to forgive poor nations' billion-dollar debts to international
financial institutions and other creditors.
"They say one senator is
really standing in the way and that's Phil Gramm of Texas, and some of you
Texans might let Sen. Gramm know this is a good initiative to help these people.
And it's not going to take any money from American taxpayers," Robertson
said in the broadcast.
What's keeping Gramm from agreeing to the relief
are continuing reports of human rights abuses in some of the countries that owe
the money and what he said are lack of assurances the money gets to people who
need the assistance.
LOAD-DATE: October 6, 2000
