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Page 7 » Tuesday. December 7, 1999
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Ixxon Mobile will not grant health
enefits to gay employees’ partners
DALLAS (AP) — Exxon Mobil Corp. has adopted a
[licy against giving benefits to the partners of newly
ed gay employees, breaking with a policy at Mobil be-
e the companies merged last week.
■ The oil giant said yesterday it would continue Exxon’s
long-standing policy of extending spousal benefits only
tof couples in legally recognized marriages. It will also
continue to extend benefits to same-sex partners of Mo
bil employees who were receiving benefits before the
merger, a spokesperson said.
I Human Rights Campaign, the largest gay-rights group
Snjtlie nation, accused Exxon Mobil of taking a step back-
iard from the trend of offering benefits to partners of
gay employees, a policy followed by about half the coun-
iry’s largest corporations.
■ “Rollbacks or cancellations of these types of policies
lire very rare, and we don’t understand why Exxon is
[doing this,” David M. Smith, a spokesperson for the
[group in Washington said. “Gay people don’t have ac-
|?ss [to legally recognized marriages], so they are being
nied a benefit made available to other employees in
|e workplace. ”
Smith said other major oil companies, including
BP-Amoco, Shell and Chevron offer benefits to
same-sex partners.
Ed Burwell, an Exxon Mobil spokesperson, said the
Irving, Texas-based company prefers to use the thresh
old of legally recognized marriages because it “ends the
need for the company to, on its own, determine the le
gitimacy of relationships. ”
At their annual meeting in May, Exxon shareholders
by a 94.1 percent vote rejected an amendment to com
pany bylaws that would have granted benefits to un
married partners. Company directors had recommend
ed against the proposal.
The new Exxon Mobil also has adopted Exxon’s gen
eral anti-discrimination policy. Human Rights Campaign
and some shareholders had urged the company to adopt
Mobil’s policy, which specifically prohibited discrimi
nation based on sexual orientation.
“Exxon Mobil’s current policies provide strong pro
tection against any discrimination on any basis, in
cluding sexual orientation,” Burwell, the company
spokesperspn said.
'rosecutors focus on gun crimes in 7 cities
DALLAS (AP) — Eight new
deral prosecutors will go to
ork next month in seven urban
ties as part of an initiative to re-
tce gun crime in Texas by seek-
g tougher prison sentences.
The attorneys will concentrate
ilely on gun charges, using a fed-
al statute to seek additional jail
ae for crimes where a weapon is
ed or possessed.
State Attorney General John
rnyn said at a news conference
sterday that the initiative dubbed
exas Exile” represents a change in
cus and effort.
“Gun crimes are going to be treat-
__ with a sort of seriousness that is
vheelbarrel ofgrassitm 1 p recec ] entec j j n p ie p^st,” he said.
ructor protests toct.| 7^0 special prosecutors will be as-
igned to each of the four U.S. Attor-
[ey’s districts in Texas, Comyn said.
The Houston area will get two,
^id one each will be assigned to
alias, Fort Worth, Tyler, Beaumont,
[an Antonio and El Paso.
A public awareness campaign
ttso will target those cities, along
: the statue of Su! • B/ithCorpus Christi and Brownsville.
>. Lawrence SulliE ■ The new prosecutors are being
sman and propoM#ired under the $1.6 million initia-
ision in the late-lTlj tive introduced in September by
/ersion of a niyhicaf Cornyn and Gov. George W Bush,
a.
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whose office is funding the program.
The effort calls for coordination
among local, state and federal pros
ecutors to make certain criminals
face the stiffest prison sentences pos
sible under state or federal law.
“We have put aside the turf bat
tles for the common good,” Paul
Coggins, U.S. Attorney for the North
ern District of Texas said.
“Gun crimes are going
to be treated with a
sort of seriousness
that is unprecedented."
— John Cornyn
State attorney general
Defendants convicted of gun
crimes in federal court will face at
least five years behind bars without
probation or parole, he said.
Cornyn said although federal gun
laws are not new, law enforcement
agencies often do not have the re
sources to seek gun charges against
those accused of other crimes.
Texas Exile will target anyone in
possession of a gun who has a
felony conviction, or is charged with
domestic abuse, drug trafficking or
armed robbery.
Michael McCaul, special assis
tant attorney general for Texas, said
each prosecutor is expected to
bring forth about 200 additional
gun cases each year.
He dismissed concerns about the
additional cases creating a backlog
for federal judges.
An education campaign includes
ominous radio and television adver
tisements warning “gun crime
means hard time. ”
Texas Exile is patterned after a
program in Richmond, Va., which in
1994 had the second-highest murder
rate in the nation.
Since the program’s inception,
Richmond’s murder rate has
dropped by 33 percent and the rate
of violent crime has decreased by
almost 50 percent, according to
Cornyn’s office.
The city of Fort Worth announced
its own get-tough-on-gun-crime
public awareness initiative in Sep
tember, two weeks after gunman
Larry Gene Ashbrook killed seven
people and hirhfeelf at Wedgwood
Baptist Church.
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Check it out today
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DFW Airport area: 972-456-4932
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Saturday paid orientations
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