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Funky Winkerbean byTomBatiuk
MX missile
President wins House appropriations bottle
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The House
delivered a slender, hard-fought vic
tory to President Reagan on Tues
day by voting to approve spending
$1.5 billion for 21 more MX nuclear
missiles. The president had tied ap
proval of the weapon to the success
of the U.S.-Soviet arms control talks.
The vote — the first of two the
House will take this week — marked
a major reversal for Democratic
Speaker Thomas P. O’Neill Jr. and
other House leaders who had
worked hard to defeat the MX.
The vote was 219-213, with 158
Republicans and 61 Democrats vot
ing for the missile. Voting against
were 189 Democrats and 24 Repub
licans.
The margin was far closer than
predicted by both opponents and
supporters of the 10-warhead
weapon, and O’Neill said he would
try again on a second vote Wednes
day or Thursday.
The cost of the MX was a major
factor in Tuesday’s MX debate, and
there appeared little likelihood that
the result would be reversed.
Reagan won many Democratic
converts during an intensive White
House lobbying campaign by saying
that without the MX, the Geneva
arms control talks, which began two
weeks ago, would be unlikely to suc
ceed.
The president, in a statement is
sued by the White House, called the
House action “a vote for peace, for a
safer future and for success in Ge
neva.”
Critics argued that the 10-war-
head weapons are so vulnerable that
they would be destroyed in the first
wave of a Soviet nuclear attack.
A second House vote, probably on
Wednesday, is required for final,
formal congressional approval. But
Tuesday’s vote was (decisive and
means that Reagan will be able to
continue toward his ultimate goal of
building and installing 100 MXs in
existing underground Minuteman
missile silos in Nebraska and Wyom-
ing.
In identical 55-45 votes last week,
the Senate approved freeing $1.5
billion for the same 21 MXs.
But some Democrats who sup
ported the missile this time, includ
ing House Armed Services Commit
tee Chairman Les Aspin of
Wisconsin, said Tuesday’s vote was
the high-water mark for the MX.
They predicted that Congress
would make deep cuts or completely
eliminate Reagan’s request for an
other 48 MXs, costing $3.2 billion,
that is included in the president’s
1986 fiscal year budget to be de
bated this summer.
As the vote approached, O’Neill
conceded that he was short of
enough votes to win.
fie said a half-dozen Democrats
previously counted as opposed to
the MX had switched after meeting
Monday with Reagan and Max Kam-
pelman, the president’s chief nego
tiator in the U.S.-Soviet arms control
talks.
Kampelman, a Democrat, flew
home from Geneva on Monday and
was ferried back and forth from the
White House to Capitol Hill for a se
ries of discussions with House mem
bers who were on the fence in the
MX battle.
157219000’NeilI said before the
last-minute lobbying campaign by
Reagan and Kampelman, who told
House members the MX is needed if
the Geneva talks are to be successful,
that his vote count showed the mis
sile going down to defeat.
But he said the president has been
extremely persuasive and used the
power of the White House effecti
vely.
“He’s pulled out all stops, no ques
tion about it,” O’Neill said.
General Electric indicted
in government fraud case
Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA — General Electric Co., the na
tion’s fourth-largest defense contractor, was indicted by
a federal grand jury Tuesday on charges it defrauded
the government of about $800,000 on a nuclear war
head system.
The company was charged with four counts of “mak
ing and presenting false claims to the United States”
and 104 counts of making false statements to an agency
of the United States, said U.S. Attorney Edward Den
nis, who announced the indictment.
The indictment also charged GE employee Joseph
Calabria and former employee Roy Baessler with two
counts each of “making false declarations” before a fed
eral grand jury, Dennis said.
If convicted, GE faces a maximum penalty of a
$1,080,000 fine, and Calabria and Baessler each face a
maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $20,000
fine, Dennis said.
“The mischarging was accomplished by altering time
cards of GE’s Re-entry Systems Division employees
without the employees’ knowledge, charging costs to
other contracts improperly, having employees submit
blank time cards which were completed incorrectly by
managers, and allowing the division’s accounting de
partment to transfer costs from the contract, which was
over ceiling, to another contract, which had costs that
were reimbursable,” Dennis said.
The indictment charged that Calabria and Baessler,
after being given immunity, “made false declarations
before a grand jury concerning the closing of accounts
related to the contract on which the cost overruns were
incurred and changing employee time cards.”
The indictment “does not allege, and there is no evi
dence to suggest, that there are any defects in the actual
work performed by GE on the contracts,” Dennis said.
In anticipation of the indictment, GE denied any
criminal wrongdoing by the company or its employees.
The government alleges “incorrect charges on about
100 employees’ time cards of approximately 100,000
time cards submitted between March and November of
1980,” Larry Vaber, a GE spokesman at company head
quarters in Fairfield, Conn., had said.
“We understand that there is no allegation of charges
for services or products not received by the govern
ment, nor for excessive pricing,” he said. “Rather, the
matter involves complex contractual and accounting
procedures. GE has fully cooperated with the govern
ment during its four-year investigation.”
“It’s entirely possible that during the course of per
forming these multimillion-dollar contracts, charging
errors did occur,” Vaber said. “However, there was no
criminal wrongdoing on the part of the company or its
employees.”
A Pentagon official, who spoke on condition of ano
nymity, said an indictment of GE “will almost assuredly
be the largest defense contractor ever charged on crimi
nal counts.”
The GE work was performed at the company’s Re
entry Systems Operation division here, since merged
into GE’s Space Systems division, which employs more
than 6,500 people in Valley Forge and Philadelphia,
said John Terino, product information manager for
GE.
If convicted, GE also could face proceedings aimed at
all or part of its Pentagon contracts.
A
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BEACH
MEMOIRS
Directed By
GENE SAKS
Presented by MSC Town Hall Broadway
April 15, 1985 8:00 p.m.
Rudder Auditorium 845-1234
Visa/Mastercard
Senior Weekend '85
Sr. Bash
Fri. April 26
Hall of Fame
April 26 & 27
Sr. Banquet
Sat. April 27
Aggieland Inn
Ring Dance
Sat. April 27
MSC & Rudder
Tickes go on sale April 8 at MSC Box Office
Are Anti-Gay Rights
forces trying to un
dermine the United
States Constitution?
Are Pro-Gay rights
activists trying to
create an artificial
minority?
MSC
April 2 8:00 p.m.
Rudder Auditorium
Free Admission^
ISC GREAT ISSUE*
Memorial Student Center
GAY RIGHTS
Anti: Gays choose their
lifestyles and consequently
deserve no legal protec
tion.
Pro: Since homosexuality
is an inherent trait, gays
are a viable minority and
must be protected by the
law.
MSC
Which Side Are You On?
April 2 8:00 p.m.
Rudder Auditorium
Free Admission
>A<
MSC GREAT ISSUES^
Memorial Student Center