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Inside
XSSSS Vcl.82 No. 127 GSPS 045360 14 pages
College Station, Texas
Thursday, April 2, 1987
Behind-the-scenes people
Wiley speakers analyze
results of Iran arms deal
Kirkpatrick, Muskie: Lessons to be learned
Sen. Edmund Muskie, left, and Dr. Jeane J. Kirk
patrick share a few words just moments after the
press conference held Wednesday afternoon. The
Photo by Dean Saito
two were on campus for the 1987 Wiley Lecture
Series, “Constitution and Foreign Policy: A
Question of Control,” in Rudder Auditorium.
By Olivier Uyttebrouck
Senior Staff Writer
Tower commission member Sen.
Edmund Muskie said that he did not
think the U.S. government was ever
in touch with genuinely moderate el
ements in the Iran government, but
he wouldn’t speculate whether the
Ayatollah Khomeini knew about the
arms transfers as they happened, as
the ayatollah recently claimed.
“No, we never felt that there was
such a thing as a moderate group”
within the Iranian government,
Muskie said at a press conference
Wednesday afternoon. “And
whether or not the Ayatollah was
aware of these activities, I wouldn’t
be prepared to swear to that.”
Muskie and Dr. Jeane Kirkpatrick
found a small patch of common
ground Wednesday, agreeing ttyat
the harm caused by the Iran-Contra
scandal is in large part the result of
casual, informal procedure and lack
of strong authority from the top.
Muskie, a member of the Tower
commission that investigated the
Iran-Contra affair and Kirkpatrick,
former U.S. ambassador to the
United Nations and a member of
Ronald Reagan’s cabinet, partici
pated in the MSC Wiley lecture se
ries Wednesday night. Journalist
Howard K. Smith moderated the
event.
At the press conference, Kirkpa
trick said that “the formation of an
orderly, formal process” is the most
important lesson to be learned from
the affair.
“I think we had that (a formal
process) most of the time during the
first term,” she said of her years in
ienate to repeat vote on highway bill
political showdown with Reagan
the Reagan administration. “I say
most of the time, not all of it.
“I understand the pressures to
make oral decisions and face-to-face
decisions . . . but there are a lot of
very good reasons why that is a bad
idea.”
Several times during the day Mus
kie reiterated one of the key findings
of the Tower commission report —
that many of the Iran initiative’s
“One thing I am sure
about is that whatever was
done with regard to the
Iran-Contra affair, it did
not shock our allies. ”
— Dr. Jeane J. Kirkpa
trick
C roblems would have been avoided
ad the Central Intelligence Agency
conducted the operation rather than
the National Security Council staff,
(i.e. Lt. Col. Oliver North and Vice
Adm. John Poindexter).
Muskie said, “If this had been op
erated by the CIA, then automat
ically the director of the CIA would
have been in a position to keep the
president informed.” This is because
the director of the CIA, together
with the president, the vice-presi
dent and the secretaries of state and
war, is a member of the National Se
curity Council per se.
Muskie used the example of the
1,000 TOW anti-tank weapons
shipped to Iran in Feb. 1986 — the
first arms shipment handled directly
by the U.S. government. Muskie said
it was the explicit understanding of
“the principals” — Reagan, Bush
and other key members of the ad
ministration — that all U.S. hostages
would be released following the
transfer of the initial 1,000 TOWs.
“The 1,000 TOWs were in fact
sent to Iran, but no hostages were
released,” he said. “In fact, it would
be seven months before a single hos
tage was released. However, the
president was not informed of this
failure,” and negotiations continued.
Had the CIA been in charge of
the transfer, the director of the CIA,
the president and the entire Na
tional Security Council immediately
would have been privy to the opera
tion’s breakdown, Muskie said.
The Tower commission report
points to this first transfer of 1,000
TOWs as the watershed event of the
Iran-Contra affair because it marks
the first direct U.S. involvement in
the initiative.
At the main Wiley Lecture Series
event, Kirkpatrick suggested that
the stong restraints “imperial Con
gress” has placed on the president’s
foreign-policy capabilities forced the
Reagan administration to use the
NSC staff to perform covert opera
tions.
At the press conference, Kirkpa
trick was asked how the Iran-Contra
scandal has colored the United
States in the eyes of foreign coun
tries.
“One thing I am sure about is that
whatever was done with regard to
the Iran-Contra affair, it did not
shock our allies,” she said. “This is a
widespread misconception. I think a
lot of damage has been done and I
deeply regret it. . . but not because it
shocked our allies.
“For one thing, virtually all of our
best friends had decided before we
did to open a channel of commu
nication- to Iran. Second, a good
number of our good friends were al
ready engaged in supplying arms
and parts to Iran — some to Iraq.”
Muskie addfe'd that most of our al
lies remained silent on the Iran-Con
tra affair, not wanting to exacerbate
the problems Reagan was having
and fearful that the United States
would become too preoccupied with
the scandal to deal effectively with
foreign policy.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The
mate tentatively sustained Presi-
iu Reagan’s veto of an $88 billion
jghway bill on a 65-35 vote on
Idnesday, handing him a tenuous
Itory in a high-stakes political
pwoown with the Democratic ma-
Iriiiesof Congress.
■Jut in a long day of maneuvering
on and off the Senate floor, Demo-
ats sounded confident they would
fceed in overriding the veto on a
at roll call scheduled for today,
eagan issued his veto last week,
faring that the bill was a budget-
fcter that was larded with wasteful
k barrel projects.
ut it was popular with lawmak-
, many of whom favored funding
one-of-a-kind highway demon-
ation projects in their home states.
estern lawmakers were at-
acted to a provision permitting
lies to raise the speed limit to 65
h on most stretches of interstate
hway.
nd beyond the particulars of the
the veto fight became a test of
agan’s standing and prestige after
lonths of political damage caused
ythe Iran-Contra affair.
Senate Majority Leader Robert
Byrd, D-W.Va., said the president
“isn’t going to rise or fall on this
vote,” and said that 800,000 con
struction jobs would be lost if the
veto stuck.
Senate GOP Leader Bob Dole
conceded that the Democrats proba
bly will succeed in overriding the
veto, saying, “there’s still some effort
being made” to persuade Republi
can defectors to line up behind the
president.
Democratic hopes for victory
hinged on Democratic first-termer
Terry Sanford of North Carolina,
who initially supported the veto, but
then said, “I would vote to override”
on a second ballot.
Sanford said he was satisfied his
first vote had demonstrated the
president was still an effective
leader.
He added that he was prepared to
switch because an alternative high
way bill prepared by the White
House would mean less funding for
his state than the vetoed measure.
White House spokesman Marlin
Fitzwater said that Reagan, flying
home from Philadelphia, remained
aboard Air Force One for about 12
minutes after he landed at Andrews
Air Force Base to make calls to sen
ators.
Later, arriving at the White
House, the president declined to an
swer questions about the Senate
showdown. He said, “I don’t have
any answers now.”
In the meantime, Vice President
George Bush and Transportation
Secretary Elizabeth Dole worked in
separate offices just off the Senate
floor, seeking converts to Reagan’s
cause.
Dole said in a final appeal for sup
port before the initial roll call, “It is a
very critical vote for Ronald Reagan.
This may determine the strength of
this presidency for the next 21
months.”
The maneuvering only served to
heighten the stakes in the politically
charged showdown that the GOP
sought to turn into a test of Reagan’s
prestige after months of buffeting
by the Iran-Contra affair.
On the initial vote, 52 Democrats
and 13 Republicans voted to over
ride Reagan. There were 33 Repub
licans and Sanford voting to sustain
the veto.
Byrd switched his vote at the last
minute to sustain the veto in a ma
neuver that enabled him to demand
the second roll call.
It takes a two-thirds vote of both
houses to override a veto. The
House easily overrode the president
on Tuesday, 350-73, but Reagan
continues to lobby the Senate.
8$ Baby M decision to impact state legislatures
195.00
88
CO.OO
—•o'
HACKENSACK, N.J. (AP) — A
Eldge’s upholding of a surrogate
|arent contract in New Jersey after
in Indiana judge ruled one invalid
|si year heightens the need for laws
I darify the sensitive issue, lawyers
id Wednesday.
1 "Surrogacy has potentially dev
astating civil liberties implications
Jor all parties involved,” said Susan
iangree, an attorney with the Amer-
lan Civil Liberties Union’s Repro-
Lctive Freedom Project in New
lork City. “We have to proceed very
sarefully and very thoughtfully.”
Superior Court Judge Harvey R.
fcrkow’s 121-page decision in the
pJaby M” case Tuesday granted cus-
Jpdy of the year-old girl known as
B.iln d to her father, William Stern.
I It denied parental rights to Mary
Jeth Whitehead, who had agreed to
[ear the child for Stern and his wife,
lizabeth, via artificial insemination.
Brs. Stern adopted the baby Tues
day.
Attorneys for Whitehead, who
lad changed her mind after
freeing to a $10,000 surrogate con-
act, filed for a stay of the decision
[uesday.
They said the case probably will
appealed directly to the New Jer-
i sey Supreme Court, and that argu
ments are expected within four
months.
Sorkow’s strongest message, legal
experts said, was a call for help from
the nation’s legislatures.
No state regulates surrogate par
enting. Sixteen states have delved
into the issue, with bills either pen
ding or defeated in their Legis
latures.
The New Jersey and Indiana rul
ings set precedents for those states
only, but lawyers and judges can
refer to them while considering simi
lar cases nationwide.
In the Indiana case, Superior
Court Judge Victor S. Pfau invali
dated a surrogate contract, saying
fees paid to the surrogate mother
constitute profiting from adoption, a
Class D felony under state law.
He ruled a mother cannot agree
to give up her child until after birth.
Nadine Taub, a Rutgers Univer
sity law professor, said, “I think that
there is always going to be a lot of
conflicting law out there. This shows
we need legislative clarification.”
Sorkow called for laws to establish
standards for sperm donors, legiti
macy of the child, and the rights of
the parents’ spouses.
He also suggested there should be
laws to determine the qualifications
of a surrogate, whether payment to
the mother should be allowed and
remedies if the child is born im
paired.
Sorkow said, “It took years of leg
islative debate and judicial inquiry to
define and develop today’s laws of
abortion and artificial insemination.
“The issues and dimensions of
surrogacy are still evolving, but it is
necessary that laws be adopted to
give our society a sense of definition
and direction if the concept is to be
allowed to further develop.”
Attorneys agreed that most states
will likely follow the judge’s thinking
and pass laws regulating surrogate
motherhood, rather than outlawing
the practice. They say surrogacy will
continue, with or without regula
tions.
Opinions differed widely, how
ever, on whether legislators should
pass laws following Sorkow’s deci
sion that mothers should not be al
lowed to change their minds about
surrogate contracts after conception.
Sorkow ruled a married couple’s
constitutionally guaranteed right to
procreate should be extended to al
ternative means of reproduction,
such as surrogacy. He also said laws
allowing a man to sell his sperm
should apply to women’s wombs.
He cited the U.S. Supreme Court
ruling in Roe vs. Wade, which gave
women the right to abort a child in
the first trimester of pregnancy, and
Karen Ann Quinlan’s right-to-die
case.
“If the law of our land sanctions a
means to end life, then that same law
may be used to create and celebrate
life,” he said, using legal logic that
drew mixed responses from experts.
Photo by Doug La Rue
Students lined up Wednesday to cast their votes in the 1987 Student
Government elections. Election commissioners informed The Bat
talion that votes wouldn’t be tallied until this morning, so the results
won’t be published until Friday’s edition. The election results will
be announced at the Lawrence Sullivan Ross statue today at noon.
Panel to revise budget to avoid tax hike
AUSTIN (AP) — The House Ap
propriations Committee, heading
back to the starting line, might pro
duce a proposed state budget that
will show Gov. Bill Clements why his
plan won’t work, the panel’s chair
man said Wednesday.
Chairman Jim Rudd said there is
“very little fat” in state spending,
and Clements’ anti-tax stand could
force budget cuts that hurt.
“The fact of the matter is, under
the governor’s stance there is no
other solution at this point that we
have found other than making the
deep cuts he has suggested,” Rudd
said.
On another front in the battle of
the budget, Attorney General Jim
Mattox said he would announce to
day his decision on a crucial question
raised by Comptroller Bob Bullock,
who wants to know if the state can le-
f ally carry forward to next year the
1 billion deficit Texas will face
when the current fiscal year ends
Aug. 31.
If Mattox says the Texas Constitu
tion’s pay-as-you-go provision bars
the carrying forward of deficits, law
makers could be faced with approv
ing an emergency tax bill to raise
that money by Aug. 31.
The appropriations committee
was about $400 million above its tar
get Tuesday when Rudd decided to
start over. The second attempt at
writing a budget will start Monday.
Rudd said it is possible the commit
tee will not be able to write a budget
that will not require a tax increase.
“We’re not going to set out to just
cut to show (Clements) it’s not going
to work,” he said. “That’s not the
purpose. The purpose is to see if we
can write something we can pass . . .
and then show him what that will
look like.”
But if the committee produces a
budget that either cuts too much or
won’t balance, Rudd said it would be
up to House leaders to “show (Clem
ents) why it doesn’t work and show
him line item by line item why it
doesn’t work.”
“If he says it will work if you
change this, that arid the other, we’ll
need to take a look at it and see if we
agree with him or disagree,” Rudd
said.
Clements said Wednesday the
break until Monday would be good
for the committee.
“You know they’ve been working
so hard I think they need a holiday,”
he said.