Page 10/The Battalion/Friday, December 12, 1986
Bentsen pinpoints
trade legislation
as his top priority
Report: Regional NRC officials
whitewashed negative finding
HOUSTON (AP) — U.S. Sen.
JLloyd Bentsen said Thursday his top
priority as new chairman of the pow
erful Senate Finance Committee will
be to create a bipartisan effort aimed
at passing trade legislation.
“When we have a national debt
that has doubled in six years, when
we have a nearly $170 billion trade
deficit and a $210 billion budget def
icit, when our energy producers and
our farmers are in serious trouble, I
think you will agree that partisan
politics is a luxury America can no
longer afford,” Bentsen said in a
speech to the Houston Rotary Club.
Bentsen, in outlining his goals for
the committee he takes over in Jan
uary when Democrats assume con
trol of the Senate, noted that he was
the first Finance Committee chair
man in recent times to have hands-
on business experience.
His family long has oil and land
holdings in Texas and Bentsen was
involved in insurance business be
fore entering politics.
“I’m not a protectionist but a
pragmatist,” he said. “We have the
most open market in the world. The
real problem is protectionism over
seas.”
He complained of value-added
taxes in Europe and plans in Japan
to impose such a tax.
“They raise the tax on everything
coming in and take the tax off every
thing going out,” he said. “We must
ensure that the rules of trade do not
operate to our disadvantage.”
Bentsen also complained that part
of the trade problem in this country
is that American companies are
forced to compete against foreign
governments.
“Time and time again, we have
companies owned by governments,”
he said.
“Let’s understand that we have
rights as well as obligations in trade,”
he said. “We have a right to demand
that nations who export to America
grant us equal access to their mar
kets. We have a right to demand a
rollback in protectionist, non-tariff
barriers all over the world.”
WASHINGTON (AP) — Inspec
tors at the Comanche Peak nuclear
plant in North Texas were intim
idated by regional Nuclear Regula
tory Commission officials who pres
sured them to downgrade negative
findings on the plant, according to
findings made public Thursday.
As a result of the harrassment, the
plant’s entire structure and systems
have been called into question, the
NRC said in a statement.
A 47-page summary of the investi
gation — carried out by the NRC Of
fice of Inspector and Auditor — said
dozens of witnesses, whose names
were blotted out in the report to pro
tect their identities, told of being
threatened by their superiors if they
didn’t go along with the fraudulent
inspection system.
construction permit from the NRC
and an application for an operators
license is pending, according to the
NRC statement.
and make appropriate recommen
dations.”
The statement said,“NRC Chair
man Lando Zech has requested Vic
tor Stello, executive director for op
erations, to inform the commission
as soon as possible of actions taken
or planned as result of report.”
The report added, “Chairman
Zech also directed the commission’s
general counsel to review the report
Markey’s office said further re
ports would be made soon on the ac
tivities at Comanche Peak, some of
which could involve criminal
charges.
The report also alleges the Region
IV NRC management failed to regu
larly review the adequacy of its in
spection program and did not estab
lish a comprehensive system of
planned and periodic audits of
safety-related activities.
A third allegation was thaiij
of the information containedijj
plant’s automated, compuitl
system that is used as the pry
data source was utterly useltsj.
cause inaccurate information!
been introduced to the system ;
ASH I
Markey called on the NRCJ
sure that the workers who»J|,.
forward with accusations be]^ 1 " " r
tected and that all nuclearpU son 11 'j'
the region meet safety standard cau i’ t . s ,
could lead
Bentsen said erecting trade bar
riers in this country was not an ac
ceptable solution.
He added that the Reagan admin
istration’s problems with the Iran
arms deal and the Congressional in
vestigations of the deal would not re
duce his emphasis on trade.
“I think it’s very serious but I
don’t this is a crisis or crisis atmo
sphere,” he said of the mood in
Washington. “We’ll take care of both
of these problems.”
The report concludes that the
NRC’s safety inspection program at
Comanche Peak fails to verify that
the plant is safely constructed and
that information in official reports
on the plant was reported inaccura
tely.
Rep. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass.,
chairman of the House Subcommit
tee on Energy Conservation and
Power, said,“This report is an indict
ment of the entire safety inspection
program done by NRC field inspec
tors.”
Commanche Peak, located about
80 miles southwest of Dallas, has a
Texas high court justice requests
public apology from committee
treatment
AUSTIN (AP) — State Sen.
Oscar Mauzy, newly elected
member of the Texas Supreme
Court, said the House Judicial
Committee should publicly apol
ogize for involving him in an in
vestigation of alleged misconduct
by another judge.
“We will take it under advise
ment,” Rep. Frank Tejeda, D-San
Antonio, said. “There are two
sides to every story. We will con
sider it.”
Mauzy, veteran Dallas law
maker, made his demand near
the end of a committee hearing
on judicial ethics.
An Austin attorney, Jeff Arm
strong, who was formerly brief
ing attorney for the Supreme
Court, testified last June, under
questioning by Tejeda, that he
was present at the time Associate
Justice William Kilgarlin gave a
confidential file to a man that
Armstrong later learned was
Mauzy.
“The whole alleged episode
tion why s<
H the fata
Resea id
California
Bursday
Hnt to a \
Bern that
qilred imn
never happened,” Mauzy told j_|o count
House committee Thursday out using u
Bn a re pc
Mauzy claimed Armstrong inlthe Dec
in a legal deposition two wed Science, a
ter the committee hearingihrTew said a
did not know Mauzy, that ht celh called
not know who received the peai able t<
and furthermore, that it was m;
confidential file.
“I have never requestedt<i!c||j Mm
any confidential fife at thtSJ
preme Court and have neve el
one.” Mauzy told thecommitw JK J
WHEN IS THE RIGHT TIME TO
CALL YOUR GRANDPARENTS?
a)
b)
c)
Five minutes into “The Lawrence Welle Show’.’
About a week before your birthday.
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