Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.news From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: news Wed, Aug 12 1992 Date: Wed, 12 Aug 92 04:31:16 EDT Message-ID: DECISIONLINE: News USA TODAY Update Aug. 12, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network BUSH DENIES POST REPORT: President Bush said Tuesday a New York Post report describing an alleged relationship between Bush and aide Jennifer Fitzgerald was "a lie." Later, he threatened to walk out of a "Dateline NBC" interview when asked directly "Have you ever had an affair?" The Bush campaign accused Bill Clinton's camp of disseminating the rumors. Post editors said the Clinton campaign didn't tip them off. `MISTAKE' LANGUAGE TAKEN OUT: Bowing to White House pressure, a GOP platform subcommittee Tuesday killed language calling the 1990 tax increase signed by President George Bush "a mistake." The party's platform committee could vote on the final package Wednesday. Conservative Republicans, furious when Bush reneged on his 1988 campaign pledge of "no new taxes," stuck the "mistake" wording in the platform. VA WOMEN SICK OF HARASSMENT: A growing number of women employees of the Veterans Affairs department say sexual harassment - now being probed by the Inspector General in at least two hospitals - is a large and mostly unreported problem in the USA's 368 VA hospitals and centers. The VA had 79 complaints last year. Rep. Joseph Kennedy, D-Mass., said Tuesday's congressional hearings "would be appropriate." FREE TRADE AGREEMENT MADE: President Bush is ready to announce Wednesday an agreement between the U.S., Canada and Mexico to create the world's largest free-trade bloc. Negotiators Tuesday pounded out the final bumps in the North American Free Trade Agreement. The deal is far from final. The biggest hurdle is approval by the Democratic-controlled Congress. Congressional debate could last well into next year. SERBIA OFFERS EVACUATION: Serbia offered Tuesday to evacuate woman and children from Sarajevo and invited Nazi concentration camp survivor Elie Wiesel to inspect Serb-run detention camps. The U.N. Security Council is expected to go ahead with twin resolutions - probably Thursday - authorizing "all necessary means" to deliver relief aid to Bosnia and demanding access to the camps. INTERVENTION WOULD BE BLOODY: Stopping the fighting in Yugoslavia would require at least 400,000 troops - with high casualties and an uncertain outcome, a U.S. Army general warned Tuesday. "It seems clear that it could be done" Lt. Gen. Barry McCaffrey, assistant to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified on Capitol Hill. But "when we withdrew, what would we have accomplished?" SCHOOL BUSES BEING RECALLED: Half the nation's school buses are being recalled to fix a potential fire hazard. Navistar International Transportation Corp., the USA's biggest school bus manufacturer, recalled all 185,000 International brand school buses made since Sept. 1, 1978. Cited: A crash test in which a fuel tank ruptured, causing a fuel leak. Navistar says the defect hasn't caused an accident. ABA VOTES FOR ABORTION RIGHTS: The American Bar Association's governing House of Delegates voted 276-168 in favor of abortion rights, capping a two-year debate on the issue. The group favored abortion rights in February 1990, then retreated to neutrality after more than 1,500 ABA members resigned. The resolution opposes legislation restricting women's abortion rights before the point of fetal viability. BUSH MAY HAVE KNOWN ABOUT DEAL: New testimony by an ex-CIA official suggests President Bush knew more about deals with Iran than he admits. Retired CIA officer George Cave, testifying Tuesday in the Iran-contra trial of ex-spy boss Clair George, said he was told that an Israeli agent would brief then-vice president Bush about the arms sales operation. Also, it was ruled CIA head Robert Gates must testify at the trial. GOP REMAINS AGAINST ABORTION: GOP abortion foes Tuesday blocked all efforts by abortion rights supporters to soften the party's stance against abortion. The Republican party's platform committee voted against five proposed amendments, including language that called the party a "big tent" with a diversity of views on abortion. It also rejected a proposal recognizing the right to abortion for victims of rape and incest. BUSH WANTS TO GIVE ISRAEL LOANS: President Bush said Tuesday that he'll press Congress for quick approval of $10 billion in loan guarantees to help Israel finance resettlement of Jewish immigrants, now that new Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin has suspended construction of Jewish settlements in the occupied territories. Congressional leaders predict the guarantees will be approved, probably next month. U.N. MAY PROTECT SHIITES: The United States, Britain and France Tuesday warned that Iraqi attacks on Shiite Muslims in the marshes of southern Iraq could lead to the creation of a U.N. safe haven similar to the one for Kurds in northern Iraq. The warning came after Max Van der Stoel, U.N. human rights reporter for Iraq, addressed a special Security Council session on rights abuses there. SENATE BILL ADDS BILLIONS: Senate tax writers added $3 billion for urban and rural "enterprise zones" in introducing a $32.5 billion tax:domestic aid bill Tuesday. The original bill would have set aside $2.5 billion in tax incentives for businesses and investors to create jobs in 25 inner-city, rural and Indian reservation zones. The new plan wants 125 zones. SENATE OKS FAMILY LEAVE BILL: The Senate Tuesday approved on a voice vote a bill guaranteeing up to 12 weeks of job-protected family leave for most workers to care for children or ill relatives. President Bush is likely to veto the measure. SIZZLING SUN SIMMERS WEST: Hot, sunny weather will continue in the West Wednesday and much of the week, as sultry, triple-digit conditions plague the interior Northwest and desert Southwest. Heat will sweep through the northern Rockies, while scattered showers hug the central and southern locations. Hail, gusty winds and strong thunderstorms will whip through eastern Colorado southward into west Texas. DOW JONES OPENS ON DOWNSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens Wednesday at 3331.10 after closing down 6.48 points Tuesday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 230.61, down 0.25. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 388.08, down 0.33. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 571.60, down 1.54. News Editor: Ed Kelleher. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM