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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 23, 1983)
1 3 national Battalion/Page 9 February 23, 1983 EPA reform bill put forth Ousted official to testify sihle s ' Muni| fectionsp approB houid their d, the dm lamagta tancv i say tliert ns of pod tg female excessive aching ai 1 mensm 'pmem, i Ltal inte: 'ecretior v andnt ears United Press International WASHINGTON — Ousted Environmental Protection Agency official Rita Lavelle, who dodged congressional sub poenas last week, met with Rep. Elliott Levitas, D-Ga., and his staff to prepare her testimony to be given before his subcommit tee later in the week, sources said. The meeting Monday marked the f irst time Lavelle has met with a congressman since she was fired two weeks ago as EPA’s toxic waste chief. The sources said the 214 hour meet ing focused on the testimony she was expected to give to Levitas’ Public Works subcommittee. Lavelle twice last week re fused to appear as scheduled at House subcommittee hearings. Another House subcommit tee chaired by Rep. John Ding- ell, D-Mich., planned Wednes day to start questioning the first of 36 past and present EPA offi cials, including Lavelle, who were subpoenaed to testify in ex ecutive session about allegations of agency abuses. Aides to Ding- ell’s subcommittee declined to disclose which of those sub poenaed would be interviewed first. It was Levitas’ panel that initi ated a contempt of Congress citation against EPA chief Anne Gorsuch Burford last year, that triggered the administration’s mounting confrontation with Congress over secret agency documents. Levitas reached an agreement last week with the White House that will give con gressmen access to the files. The controversy over the EPA and its handling of money marked for toxic waste cleanup has prompted a group of con gressmen to endorse legislation that would make the agency in dependent and free from pres idential control. The reform legislation was to be introduced Tuesday in the House by Rep. James Scheuer, D-N.Y., and in the Senate by both Sens. Daniel Moynihan, D- N.Y., and George Mitchell, D- Maine. The drive to create an En vironmental Protection Com mission is prompted by charges the administration mishandled the agency’s toxic waste cleanup program for political purposes. The bill, similar to a measure Scheuer introduced last year, would create an independent five-member body, appointed by the president to staggered seven-year terms of office. The president’s nominees would have to be confirmed by the Sen ate, and all could not come from the same political party. Mitchell said the commis sion’s main responsibilities would be policy formation, with day-to-day management by an executive director. Cosponsoring the bill are powerful House Inteior Com mittee Chairman Morris Udall, D-Ariz., and Reps. Claudine Schneider, R-R.L, and Joe Moakly, D-Mass. Levitas was to meet Tuesday with House leaders, including Speaker Thomas O’Neill, to brief them on the historic agree ment he reached with the White House over access to EPA files. The pact between Levitas’ subcommittee and the adminis tration ran into important oppo sition Monday from Dingell, who warned it sanctifies a presi dent’s ability to hold back infor mation on government miscon duct. Republican Gramm sworn in on Tuesday United Press International WASHINGTON — Rep. Phil Gramm of Bryan, College Station, who switched to the Republican party after Demo crats removed him from the House Budget Committee, was sworn in Tuesday by House Speaker Thomas O’Neill amid good-natured banter that gave little hint of past bitterness. Gramm became the 166th GOP member of the House, which is dominated by 267 Democrats. There still are two vacancies. With O’Neill presiding, Re publican leader Robert Michel of Illinois asked that Gramm be allowed to take his seat although his certificate of election had not arrived from Texas. “Is the gentleman here?” asked O’Neill, drawing the first of several rounds of laughter. As O’Neill began to give the oath, he interrupted him self to say, “I think Mr. Michel ought to be in there close.” Michel then joined the small group around Gramm as he took the standard oath of office. “Congratulations,” O’Neill said. “You’re a member of the Congress of the United States.” The 20 or so Republicans on the House floor broke into cheers and began shaking hands with Gramm. The three Democrats sat silently. Gramm resigned from Congress late in the last ses sion after he had been elected to the new Congress as a Democrat, then won the elec tion as a Republican in a spe cial election. Democrats blocked his re appointment to the influential budget panel because he had been a strong backer of Presi dent Reagan’s policies and had consorted with the White House on budget strategy. Gramm said he merely was working effectively for the views of his constituents. The only sour note of the day’s proceedings came when Rep. Dan Lungren, R-Calif., charged in a brief speech that Gramm was returning as a Re publican because democracy had broken down among Democrats. “Unfortunately, democra cy is sometimes hard to find in the House of Representa tives,” he said. “The people of the 6th district of Texas have shown that democracy works.” DURING KROGER'S CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION t LIGHT RL LIGHT RS 3 HOLLY FARMS GRADE A FAMILY PAK id fi Fryer Breasts Tip Roasts | BAG CENTER CUT RIB U.S. CHOICE BEEF BONELESS ENGLISH n,» Pork Chops $ l 98 Shoulder Roasts. f PKG. 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REGULAR 8 SUPER Maxi Pads .^x *3 59 NEW FREEDOM Mini Pads £7 $ 2 5 ’ NEW FREEDOM ANY DAYS Panti-Liners ... - • • £5 *2* SAVE 45% TO 60% 36" LENGTH .m -A 3 rfl SHORT BOY'S SURFER PRINT SHIRTS Chooio cool moih form or •port* prints. Slzas 4-7. Popular wait coast look In cool short slaava knits. Sizes 4-7. AA r GO oo 2 PC. SET y B Ol H SIZES •-!•....*3.44 LADIES' TOTE BAC NOW ONIV $2 * 7 ROD POCKET TIER SAVE *199 23" x 6’ RUG Just right for the warm weather ahead, buy now and CURTAINS RUNNERS All better fabrics normally found in expensive full length ready made draperies. Attractive designs & color ations in a variety of yard textures. Our reg. *4.99. Court agrees to review tax United Press International WASHINGTON — The Sup reme Gourt Tuesday revived the government’s chances of raking in another $40 billion in oil windfall profits taxes by agreeing to review a ruling strik ing down the tax. Last month the court, ignor ing two justices’ objections, re fused to give speedy treatment to the government’s appeal of a Wyoming judge’s ruling over turning thie tax. Tuesday, the court agreed to hear the case under usual procedures, with arguments next term and a rul ing likely in 1984. Although it continues to col lect the tax, the government urged the high court to settle the dispute because returning bil lions in taxes could disrupt the federal budget. The court’s action closely fol lows President Reagan’s intro duction of his 1984 budget, which projects a deficit near $189 billion. The Justice De partment warned that unless the high court acted to block repay ment of the taxes, the govern ment stands to lose “sums of enormous magnitude.” The tax, passed to stop oil producers from reaping profits from decontrol of oil prices, was held unconstitutional by a feder al judge in Cheyenne because it exempts oil produced in Alaska. The Crude Oil Windfall Pro fit Tax Act, which President Carter signed into law in April 1980, exempted from taxation crude oil produced in Alaska, Right of trial denied in court United Press International W ASHINGTON — The Sup reme Court, spurning pleas from both liberal and conserva tive interest groups, refused Tuesday to examine what has been described as a dangerous setback for citizens wanting their day in federal court. The justices left in place an Alabama ruling that observers’ fear sets a precedent permitting state judges to restrict a citizen’s constitutional right of access to the federal courts. The case involves a Texas man’s attempts to sue Alabama officials and his home state for $106 million for allegedly con spiring to steal his insurance company and punish him finan cially for his political activities. Alabama insurance officials in 1972 declared Empire Life Insurance Co. of America insol vent, placed it in receivership and eventually liquidated its assets and turned them over to a competing insurer. The Alabamajudge presiding over the receivership at the same time issued an injunction bar ring Shearn Moody Jr., Empire’s president and chief stockholder, from filing any fed eral lawsuits that could interfere with the insurance case. Moody sought permission several times to file his suit for damages but was refused. At one point, he was fined $250,000 for breaking the in junction. By late 1981, most of the legal work over the insurance re ceivership case was complete north of the Arctic Circle. The Independent Petroleum Assocation of America and other oil producers sought to have the law overturned and re coup substantial refunds. Texas and Louisiana joined the oil producers in urging the high court to strike down the tax because it does not operate with the same force in every place. On Nov. 4, U.S. District Judge Ewing Kerr held the tax violated a clause of the Constitu tion which requires that taxes be uniform throughout the United States. Kerr interpreted the “unifor mity clause” as meaning that “distinctions based on geogra phy are simply not allowed.” He stayecl his ruling, allowing the Treasury to collect the tax until the Supreme Court re solves the issue. Net revenues from the tax in 1981 and 1982 were about $26 billion. The government esti mates the tax will generate about $40 billion for the government over the next five years. The government, urging the high court to hear the case, said Congress gave Alaskan oil the tax break because it recognized “unique climatological difficul ties in oil extraction in the North Slope areas.” Even if the justices find that Alaskan oil should be taxed, the government argued, the law is still valid because Congress in tended the tax to apply to all states. and Moody again sought per mission to file his federal court action. But again the request was re jected in a ruling upheld by the Alabama Supreme Court. On appeal to the U.S. Sup reme Court, Moody claimed he is being illegally denied his right of access to the federal courts. At least four interest groups, in cluding the American Civil Liberties Union and the Conser vative Caucus, backed him. If the Alabama ruling is allowed to stand, Moody’s lawyers warned, it will set off a “silent, growing encroachment on federal court’s jurisdiction and citizens’ liberty.” The worry is particularly great, they said, since at least 32 states now have insurance re ceivership statutes like Alaba ma’s permitting state court in junctions against any related federal court suits. At least one state — Texas — is routinely issuing such injunctions, they argued. Moody and the legal interest groups all complained that state courts should not be allowed to restrict citizens from federal court, except in very narrow in stances. Certainly, private law suits seeking damages from gov ernment officials for illegal ac tions should not be blocked, they argued. The only parties advising the high court not to hear Moody’s appeal were the Alabama insur ance officials who foreclosed on Moody and the company that took over its assets.