------- Index of Articles

NUCLEAR
*India, Russia to work together on n-power
*Russia's Putin in India to Boost Ties
*Navies Stage Joint Submarine Rescue
*''NS Ranvir'' enthralls Mangaloreans
*Torture and terror in Saddam's palace
*Cohen seeks to Iraqi compliance
*N.Korea Hits Out at U.S. Ahead of High - Level Visit
*Apple Bites Chunk Out of Asian Tech Stocks
*Vermont senators write to Clinton re Vieques
*Chief of General Staff says combat units not subject to cuts
*Asian Markets Lower but Tokyo Up
*PSR: Support Nuclear Worker Compensation
*Paper reports old maps show trail of plutonium outside Paducah plant
*Al Gore's Can-Do Consultant
*Asian Americans Using Politics As a Megaphone
*Growing Population Confronts Bias
*Y-12 nuclear weapons plant is making plans to supply enriched uranium
*Foreign Policy: Silent Issue
*THE DEMOCRATIC RUNNING MATE A Grave Young Man at Yale
*The Politics of Fuel
*Not wooden
*Exon favors nuclear test ban
*Electric Boat Wins $78 Million Contract For Virginia-Class Submarine Work
*Senate OKs Water Spending Bill
*FEDERAL CONTRACTS States News Service
*Raytheon Co. workers will vote today on a new four-year contract

MILITARY
*Biker peace spells trouble
*Hope for peace, prepare for war
*FEDERAL CONTRACTS
*Taiwan missile deal sparks warning
*Taiwan Will Get Missiles If Attacked
*US Space Command Takes Charge Of Computer Network Attack
*Cheney Promises Stronger Military
*Pemco gets KC-135 pgm pact extension from Air Force
*Boeing Awarded $45 Million for 500-Pound JDAM Development
*Firearms Training gets up to $2.5 mln orders from Army
*Raytheon and IBEW Local 1505 Reach Tentative Agreement
*Aerosonic`s Avionics ops gets Lockheed Martin MOU for order
*Northrop Grumman Receives Order for Additional F/A-18 Structural Assemblies
*USA SIMULATED VIOLENCE AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR
*Report criticizes Army's readiness
*FEDERAL CONTRACTS
*Minot Air Force Base phased out its hospital

OTHER
*Exxon Mobile must pay Valdez fine
*3 Sea Turtles Released Into Pacific, Messengers of Own Destiny
*At Odds in Alabama Over a Landfill on a Historic Trail
*Texas Oyster Industry Hurt as Red Tide Sweeps Coast
*Bureau of Land Management is paying Mark Rockefeller $2.1 million
*five-year state moratorium on growing genetically engineered crops
*L.A. hopes to polish police image
*LAPD agrees to list of reforms U.S. will be watching
*Kasi loses Supreme Court appeal

ACTIVISTS
*Antimilitary Protesters Held by Navy in Vieques
*Chinese police detain up to 1,000 Falun Gong protesters on Tiananmen Square
*Fast, free and independent
*Protesters Ponder Priest's Actions
*Priest attack dampens anti-abortion rally

-------- NUCLEAR (by country)

India, Russia to work together on n-power

The Hindu
Monday, October 02, 2000
http://www.indiaserver.com/thehindu/2000/10/02/stories/0202000i.htm

JAIPUR, OCT. 1. The Russian President, Mr. Vladimir Putin's visit to India is likely to open new vistas for future cooperation between the two countries in nuclear power generation, the Chairman-cum-Managing Director of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India limited, Mr. V.K. Chaturvedi, has said.

The meeting between Mr. Putin and the Prime Minister, A.B. Vajpayee, may lead to further cooperation in nuclear power generation, Mr. Chaturvedi told presspersons here on Saturday night.

The Russians are providing the technical knowhow for the Koodankulam nuclear power project near Kanniyakumari in Tamil Nadu, for establishing two units of 1000 Mw each, he said, adding the detailed project report for the two units had already been prepared and the construction work would start in February next year.

India and Russia may also consider more cooperation in food and leather technology and crystallography during Mr. Putin's visit, Mr. Chaturvedi said.

Asked about Russia's reaction to Pokharan-II nuclear explosions, the Director of the Russian Atomic Institute, Mr. B. Malyshev, who accompanied Mr. Chaturvedi, said there was no change in Russia's attitude towards India after Pokharan-I or Pokharan-II.

He said India had been discussing cooperation in nuclear power generation with several countries including the United States, Russia, Japan and Korea. The country would be adding one or two nuclear power generating unit every year to meet its growing energy demand. He asserted that there had not been a single mishap in the nuclear plants in the country which were working at 80 per cent capacity factor as against 70 per cent by the conventional power stations.

---

Russia's Putin in India to Boost Ties

Reuters
October 02, 2000
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-india-r.html

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin, the first Russian leader to visit India in nearly eight years, arrived in New Delhi Monday to forge a ``strategic partnership'' with the world's most populous democracy.

Putin's Il-96 aircraft landed at Delhi's military airport, Palam, at around 7:55 p.m., six months after President Clinton visited India to build ties with the increasingly important political player in Asia.

India's External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh and senior officials from both countries received Putin and his wife at the airport. The official part of his visit begins Tuesday.

``The delay does not mean that Russia has neglected cooperation with India,'' Putin said in a televised interview aired by Russian channels Sunday. ``It was simply due to our domestic circumstances.''

The two nations enjoyed warm relations during the Soviet era, when Moscow and New Delhi had a largely patron-client defense supply relationship.

In the early years after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia mainly focused on developing relations with the United States and Western Europe.

But as Russia's economic crisis erupted in 1998 and a pro-West government was replaced by a more nationalist-minded administration, Moscow began rebuilding a network of international ties -- including with India and China -- to balance its relations with the West.

Putin has made clear he does not see the ``strategic partnership'' with India, which will be formalized in a pact during his visit, as rivalry with the West or with the United States in particular.

``Russia can only welcome improving relations between India and other countries, including the United States,'' Putin said.

REINFORCING INDIA'S STANDING

Nuclear-capable India believes a closer relationship with Moscow will reinforce its international standing.

``While building closer links with the United States...India cannot neglect Russia,'' independent strategic analyst Brahma Chellaney wrote in an opinion column last week.

While his predecessor Boris Yeltsin's foreign policy was often dominated by ideological considerations, Putin sticks to a more pragmatic line and focuses on areas where Russia could benefit politically or economically.

Bilateral trade between India and Russia grew 17.2 percent in the first half of 2000 compared with the same period in the previous year.

But the annual turnover of some $1.5 billion in 1999 or $2 billion planned for 2000 is still a far cry from what both nations aim at, and is heavily dominated by Russia's export of non-ferrous metals, coal and fertilizers and Indian export of rice, tea, coffee and textiles.

Russian officials say Moscow and New Delhi are looking at ways to diversify their economic cooperation.

Putin has said 132 projects, mostly in the areas of high-technology, space and energy, have been finalized ahead of his visit.

One of the biggest Russian interests is increasing military cooperation with India, whose army has been historically equipped with Soviet-designed weapons. Russia has sold sophisticated Su-30 fighters and T-90 tanks to India and will sell production licenses for both.

---

Navies Stage Joint Submarine Rescue

Associated Press
October 02, 2000 Filed at 10:53 a.m. ET
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Singapore-Submarine-Exercise.html
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/nw1.htm#pale

SINGAPORE (AP) -- Navies from the United States, Japan, South Korea and Singapore on Monday began the first combined submarine rescue exercise in the Pacific.

The 13-day Exercise Pacific Reach 2000 involves 600 people, four ships, four submarines and three sophisticated underwater devices that can rescue personnel from submarines in distress.

The joint exercise in the South China Sea off Singapore was planned nearly two years before the recent Russian submarine disaster that killed 118 people, but participants said the disaster heightened the importance of submarine rescue.

``This is the first time we've really had the chance to work together in a regional submarine rescue exercise in the Pacific,'' said Lt. Leslie Hull-Ryde, a Navy spokeswoman in Singapore.

The navies' working together will promote ``greater understanding and also a commitment to stability'' in the Asia-Pacific region, Hull-Ryde said.

The Navy has begun venturing into shallower coastal waters and will use the exercise to test its shallow-water rescue capabilities, said Navy Capt. C.J. Leidig, deputy coordinator of the exercise.

``We are looking to operate in more shallow waters in recent years as we make the transition from a Cold War, blue-water navy to a more littoral (coastal) type strategy, so shallow water submarine rescue has become important,'' Leidig said.

Exercise Pacific Reach is taking place in about 231 feet to 264 feet of water -- considered shallow for submarines -- Leidig told a news conference Monday.

Russia, China, Britain, Australia, Canada, Chile and Indonesia have sent observers to this week's exercise 230 miles northeast of Singapore.

During the exercise, some of the submarines will sit on the bottom ``simulating disabled subs,'' Leidig said.

Underwater rescue devices such as a Navy high-tech ``diving bell'' will be attached to the submarines' hatches and transfer crew to the rescue vehicle. Special diving suits will also be used.

The U.S. Navy nuclear attack submarine USS Helena is taking part, along with submarines JDS Akishio of Japan, South Korea's ROKS Choi Moo Sun and Singapore's RSS Conqueror.

Japan, South Korea and Singapore are sending rescue support ships to the exercise, while the United States, Japan and South Korea are sending underwater rescue vehicles.

Japan's equivalent of a naval force is officially referred to as the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. Since Japan was defeated in World War II and formally renounced military aggression, its armed forces are constitutionally limited to a self-defense role.

Submarine emergencies grabbed world attention in August when Russia's Kursk nuclear submarine sank after an explosion.

Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, were criticized for slow and awkward handling of the incident.

-------- india / pakistan

''NS Ranvir'' enthralls Mangaloreans

The Hindu
Monday, October 02, 2000
By Our Staff Correspondent
http://www.indiaserver.com/thehindu/2000/10/02/stories/0402210a.htm

MANGALORE, OCT. 1. The fourth Kashin class guided missile destroyer acquired by the Indain Navy from the erstwhile USSR, "INS Ranvir", that called on the New Mangalore Port along with three other vessels, drew a huge crowd here on Sunday. The 5,000- tonne vessel is an integral part of the frontline combat fleet of the Navy on the Western seaboard.

The heavily armed ship, commissioned at Poti, USSR on April 21, 1986, and currently under the command of D.K.Joshi, NM, is capable of playing a variety of roles, including air defence, anti-submarine search and attack, surface action, convoy escort and gunboat diplomacy. The 146-meter-long ship has a smaller displacement than the recently-introduced series of "INS Delhi", "INS Mysore", and "INS Bombay", and has gas propulsion which enable it to achieve a maximum speed of 30 knots.

The ship carries 32 surface-to-air missiles (SAM), and is capable of launching RZ 61 area defence missiles with an effective range of 17 km. The medium range gun, AK 726, with an effective range of 12 km. for surface targets and nine kilometers for air targets, the four surface-to-surface missiles (SSMs) with a range of 110 km, and the four AK 630 guns with a range of five km. adds to its fire power. The ship is also equipped with anti-submarine warfare equipment, including a torpedo launcher with five torpedo tubes and anti-submarine rocket launchers.

"INS Ranvir" is also equipped with electronic warfare capabilities from the MP 401 system, and can detect Harpoon and Exocets, both of which account for a substantial size of Pakistans' naval armoury. There are an additional four chaff launchers which give the ship passive ECM capability. In addition to this, the ship has the KA 28 helicopter armed with anti- submarine weaponry and with an extended endurance of over five hours. The helicopter is capable of dropping PLAB depth charges and is equipped with underwater missile APR and ATIME torpedoes.

The ship like others of the Kashin class is well equipped for Nuclear Biological Chemical Deterrence (NBCD) capability. It has an inbuilt Ship Installed Radiac System to detect radiation, and collective protection is also possible in the citadel and shelter stations. The ship has completed an operational cycle one-and-a- half years from January, 1999 during which it sailed extensively, including a visit to Egypt and Israel. It also has a few records such as winning both the "Best Ship of the Year' Award and the Cock Ship Award in the same year, and boasts of a list of commanding officers, including the present Flag Officer commanding-in-chief of Western Naval Command and the present Vice-Chief of naval staff.

-------- iraq

Torture and terror in Saddam's palace

Sydney Morning Herald
Date: 02/10/2000
The Sunday Telegraph
http://www.smh.com.au/news/0010/02/text/features1.html

A scientist from Iraq's nuclear programme tells David Wastell how life with the dictator was a mixture of opulence and fear.

Saddam Hussein routinely ordered the torture of scientists who failed to deliver, forced women to sleep with him and personally shot an army officer who put forward a strategy that he thought was "defeatist", according to a senior Iraqi defector.

Khidhir Hamza, a scientist, was compelled to live with his family inside one of Saddam's inner sanctums during the years he spent in charge of Iraq's efforts to build a nuclear bomb.

In a book to be published next week, Mr Hamza describes how Saddam's fear of being poisoned led to the use of multi-million-dollar machines to screen his food for toxins, radiation or traces of mercury, lead or arsenic.

Visitors to his office and even close aides were interrogated by a doctor and examined for signs of illness before being admitted, and anyone who touched him other than for the benefit of television cameras was severely beaten.

"Palace life was very opulent," Mr Hamza, 61, said in his first interview with a British newspaper since settling in America in 1995.

"We lived in the grandest style but when I remember it now there's a bitter taste that goes with it," he said. "The fear, the uncertainty: I had all the amenities but I couldn't enjoy them."

Mr Hamza's defection, which was kept a secret until two years ago, provided the West with one of its most important intelligence coups against Iraq. After years working on Saddam's clandestine nuclear weapons programme, Mr Hamza convinced the CIA that Iraq was far closer to building a bomb than had previously been believed.

He was able to detail the inner workings of Baghdad's weapons programme, including research and purchases of crucial equipment in countries including Britain in the run-up to the Gulf war.

He now lives in a Virginia suburb, taking careful security measures to ensure his own and his family's safety from Iraqi agents.

Mr Hamza's book, Saddam's Bombmaker, co-written with the author Jeff Stein and to be published by Scribner, includes a graphic account of his work for Saddam and his eventual flight to the West. He says his decision to defect was provoked by a feud with another leading bomb scientist, his growing fear of working within the Saddam regime, and the killing of colleagues working on the secret programme.

Life inside the presidential palace - a two square-mile complex of buildings in Baghdad - was stressful, with hidden microphones and constant security checks by trigger-happy guards. Many of the "beautiful and flirtatious" women who worked there were Saddam's former mistresses whom he had passed on to aides and other senior officials.

Saddam sent his guards to procure other women to whom he took a fancy - preferably virgins, according to Mr Hamza, because of his fear of disease. One woman, whom Mr Hamza met later, sought help from Saddam after her father was killed in the war with Iran, and was directed to one of his residences for what turned out to be a make-over before sex with the Iraqi president.

She was ordered to lie naked on a bed and await Saddam's arrival. When he was finished he left without a word and she was handed the equivalent of pounds 10,000. She told Mr Hamza she would always remember Saddam's eyes. "They were the eyes of death. He looked at me as if I was a corpse. There was not a hint of humanity in them."

The killing by Saddam came during a visit to quarters close to the battlefront with Iran. He invited suggestions on a planned full-frontal assault but a young officer raised his hand and suggested an alternative strategy of attrition. When he had finished, Dr Hamza records, "Saddam drew his gun and shot the young officer in the head. He fell in a heap. "Coward,' he spat. The assault went ahead and was a disaster."

Mr Hamza said he still regards Saddam as "sane, determined and methodical", although he has "black rages" lasting for hours that his doctors try to control with drugs.

He describes how scientists were lured to work on the nuclear programme with privileges that included expensive cars, special housing and access to imported Western luxuries, but were brutally punished when the effort to produce a bomb took longer than Saddam demanded.

When another scientist pleaded for the savage torture of a colleague to be ended, he was himself arrested, strapped to a dungeon wall and forced to watch as other men were tortured. "He recanted and returned to work."

At one meeting with Saddam to discuss munitions during the war with Iran, Mr Hamza recounts how an air force general complained that his bombs were not exploding. "Suddenly the door opened and a pair of guards walked in, stopping behind the general's chair. The general looked bewildered. The guards lifted him out of his chair and marched him out of the room.

"The door closed. Saddam smiled, then turned to us. "What else is on the agenda?' he asked." Two days later Mr Hamza was told that the general had become a "guest" of Saddam's son-in-law, Hussein Kamel, at his notorious torture centre.

At one point, Mr Hamza was wrongly blamed for revealing Iraq's nuclear quest to German scientists and was forced to go into hiding for two weeks until Saddam could be calmed down.

He believes that Iraq is still close to building a low-powered nuclear bomb. He helped to design a system for small-scale uranium enrichment that was easy to conceal from weapons inspectors. "It's an arsenal-building scheme intended to make Iraq a nuclear power in the region," he said. "Saddam is not interested in building just one or two bombs. He wants to be a nuclear power."

Mr Hamza's wife, Souham, and his three sons are all now settled in America, after being spirited out of Iraq by the CIA, but his own defection was almost botched by American intelligence. When he first fled Iraq through Kurdish territory in 1994 he was rebuffed by a CIA agent who did not believe his story and fled instead to Libya.

Eventually he made his way to Hungary, where he made successful contact with the CIA.

---

Cohen seeks to Iraqi compliance

USA Today
10/02/00- Updated 07:30 PM ET
http://usatoday.com/news/washdc/ncsmon05.htm

WASHINGTON (AP) - Defense Secretary William Cohen said Monday that Iraq, though no longer a military threat to its neighbors, must not be allowed to continue flouting United Nations resolutions.

Without mentioning any country by name, Cohen alluded to recent decisions by France and Russia to allow flights into Iraq without first gaining clearance from the United Nations. The French flight last week was the first in a decade to land in Baghdad without the approval of the United Nations, and the State Department labeled it a ''blatant violation'' of sanctions imposed on Iraq after the 1991 Persian Gulf war.

''That is what I think is most disappointing - to see the lack of resolve on the part of some, who voted for the sanctions, who know that Saddam is flouting the rule of law as far as the Security Council resolutions and yet are sympathetic to perhaps easing the sanctions themselves upon Iraq,'' Cohen said in a question-and-answer session after speaking to the private Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Cohen said Iraqi President Saddam Hussein should be forced to accept international inspectors into Iraq to monitor his weapons programs. He did not show any optimism that Saddam would permit inspections in the future, nor did he raise the prospect of threatening military action against Iraq.

''It is very clear to me that he has been successful in waging a propaganda campaign, certainly among the Arab populations, saying 'Look at the harm that these sanctions have inflicted upon the Iraqi people,''' Cohen said. ''The answer is, there is one person who has inflicted the harm upon the Iraqi people - that's Saddam Hussein.''

Cohen said the U.N. Security Council must enforce its resolutions or the international body will lose credibility.

-------- korea

N.Korea Hits Out at U.S. Ahead of High - Level Visit

Reuters
October 02, 2000 Filed at 7:29 a.m. ET
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-korea-u.html

TOKYO (Reuters) - North Korea accused the United States Monday of hindering a peaceful solution to its confrontation with the South, just one week before it sends a senior diplomat for talks with Washington.

In a commentary, North Korea's official Rodong Sinmun newspaper said that the United States should stop its build up of military forces in South Korea before condemning Pyongyang's missile and other military programs.

The article focused its criticism on Secretary of Defense William Cohen for saying last month that North Korea should end its long-range missile program and give up its chemical and biological weapons.

``We strongly condemn the intention of the bellicose U.S. forces to increase the military presence in South Korea and more desperately pursue the policy of stifling the DPRK (North Korea),'' the newspaper said.

During a six-nation Asia trip last month, Cohen said North Korea had strengthened its military readiness in the past year and must reverse that trend if it hopes to win more economic support from South Korea, Japan and the United States.

The state-run newspaper said Cohen's remarks had shown that the United States' ulterior motive was to prevent reconciliation between North and South Korea after half a century of confrontation.

The report, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency monitored in Tokyo, comes ahead of a landmark visit to Washington on October 9 by the first deputy to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

Special envoy Jo Myong-rok will be the highest-ranking official from the communist country to visit the United States.

THAW IN SIGHT?

The stakes for the United States are high because of the 37,000 U.S. troops based in South Korea, across the demilitarized zone from North Korea, and because it sees danger in North Korea's ballistic-missile programs.

Despite the hostile tone of its state media reports, North Korea has launched itself on a surprise diplomatic offensive, culminating in an historic summit with the U.S.-allied South Korea in June.

In the latest sign of warming ties with the Stalinist state, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said Saturday she would visit North Korea before leaving office in January ``if circumstances allow.''

Washington and Pyongyang have never had diplomatic ties but have been involved in negotiations on North Korea's missile and nuclear programs and its desire to be removed from the State Department's list of alleged state sponsors of ``terrorism,'' which excludes it from receiving U.S. aid.

---

Apple Bites Chunk Out of Asian Tech Stocks

Reuters
October 02, 2000
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/business/business-markets-asia.html

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Most major Asian stock markets succumbed on Monday to Wall Street's losses after Apple Computer's surprise profit warning took a large bite out of U.S. technology shares.

Europe's bourses also faced a weak session after Apple's fourth quarter warning -- just a week after Intel Corp's similar confessional -- revived earnings jitters and stoked fears the torrid pace of personal computer demand was unsustainable.

``Just when we were recovering from the Intel shock, Apple came as an additional blow,'' said Katsuhiko Kodama, equities general manager at Toyo Securities Co. Ltd in Tokyo.

In foreign exchange, the dollar edged higher against the yen in listless trade ahead of the Bank of Japan's ``tankan'' business sentiment survey on Tuesday.

Tokyo, Seoul and Taiwan technology counters were badly shaken after Apple's warning of slimmer pickings on all business fronts knocked 2.79 percent off the Nasdaq and 1.6 percent off the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Friday.

But Japanese stocks engineered a late turnaround to recoup losses as investors scoured traditional sectors such as banking for bargains.

The Nikkei 225 average climbed 0.99 percent to finish at 15,902.51, helped especially by gains in large-cap issues such as Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) Corp and its mobile phone unit NTT DoCoMo

``Investors are beginning to realize there are a few sectors such as banking which are ripe for bargain-hunting. Also, the strong performance in NTT is quite encouraging,'' said Haruki Takahashi, equity dealing manager at Tsubasa Securities.

``But the outlook for the U.S. market is still clouded and investors here will probably avoid high-techs, especially semiconductor-related names, for a while longer.''

Investors have had to cope recently with a barrage of earnings warnings from bellwether U.S. companies, suggesting that slowing personal computer demand, high oil prices and a weak euro were eating into profits amid a possible U.S. economic slowdown.

KOREA LEADS TUMBLE

Korea led losers in Asia, tumbling nearly four percent as market heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Telecom fell sharply.

The KOSPI closed 3.91 percent lower at 589.22.

A government pledge to mobilise nearly T$500 billion in stabilisation funds, if needed, failed to soothe the Taipei market's frayed nerves after Saturday's 3.84 percent plummet.

The likely cancellation of a high-profile nuclear power plant project, coupled with U.S. stock losses, also sparked fears of power shortages and hurt traditional industry counters.

The TAIEX finished down 2.60 percent at 6,024.07. With a reading of about 15 on the 14-day Relative Strength Index, the index is now well into oversold territory.

Australia's stock market clung tenaciously to a paltry gain but sentiment was poor on expectations of a 25 basis point interest rate hike by the central bank on Wednesday.

The benchmark SP/ASX 200 ended virtually unchanged, up just 0.05 percent at 3,300.6.

Singapore's electronics shares slid as companies like NatSteel Electronics and Omni Industries which did business with Apple took a hit.

The Straits Times Index was down 0.98 percent at 1,977.36 by mid-afternoon.

Hong Kong's stock market is closed for a national holiday but will reopen on Tuesday.

WAITING FOR TANKAN

The dollar edged higher against the yen but failed to go far as many investors held to the sidelines ahead of the Bank of Japan's ``tankan'' business sentiment survey.

The euro held steady against the dollar but was steady against the yen, proving resilient to Denmark's rejection of the single currency last week.$0.8831/35 in New York trade on Friday. The dollar stood at 108.15/25 yen from 108.05 yen in late U.S. trading on Friday.

-------- puerto rico

Vermont senators write to Clinton re Vieques

Carmelo Ruiz <carmelo_ruiz@yahoo.com>
Mon, 2 Oct 2000
Reply-to: viequesfast@egroups.com

The Honorable William J. Clinton
President of the United States
The White House Washington, DC

Dear Mr. President:

We write to ask that you consider directing the U.S. Navy to alter its approach to its implementation of the Presidential Directive and likely provisions of the Fiscal Year 2001 National Defense Authorization Act concerning the Atlantic Fleet Weapons Training Facility on Vieques. While we support the main elements of the directive, we are concerned that the Navy could have undue influence over the referendum process and that the people of Vieques may not have full information or the full range of options when they vote. We ask that you intervene personally to ensure that no irregularities occur and that you consult with us on the Navy's efforts to ensure the fairness of the referendum.

We believe that the recent agreement between the Administration, the Navy, and the Government of Puerto Rico found a proper balance between the grievances of the people of Vieques and the Navy's legitimate readiness requirements. The agreement gives the people an opportunity to consider the Navy's requirements and vote in a referendum on whether to allow the Navy to remain on the island.

We are concerned, however, that the Navy's leverage over the referendum may call its fairness into question. For example, the agreement lets the Navy choose the exact date of the referendum. It lets the Navy decide how the questions will be phrased. And it lets the Navy control Congress' $40 million appropriation to carry out the initial phase of the agreement. We further understand that the Navy has contracted with a public relations firm and has enlisted retired senior officers to dispel what they regard to be myths about the Navy's activities.

We are concerned that without full information, the vote might also distort the true wishes of the people of Vieques. Although the agreement makes clear that the island will receive an additional $50 million in federal funds, it does not indicate how the island stands to benefit if the Navy leaves. Increases in tourism and base-closure clean-up funds are just two of the tangible benefits that will likely result if the Navy departs. The people of Vieques deserve to be fully informed about the implications of their vote.

It is important that this referendum accurately reflect the desires of the people. In order for this to happen, the range of choices must reflect the general schools of thought in the population. We are under the impression that a percentage of the people favor immediate cessation of all Navy activities on the island. To encourage full participation in the referendum and to ensure legitimacy of the process, there must be an opportunity to express this opinion.

To ensure that the referendum is free and fair, we urge a number of steps: First, it should publish the referendum date immediately, ensuring that it falls as close as possible to the May 1, 2001 target date. The Navy should withhold contracting with any private public relations firm, and it should bring in other federal agencies to review the federal assistance available if the residents of Vieques vote to end the Navy's presence on the island. Finally, the Navy should add a third option to the referendum -- the prompt cessation of all training activities on the island.

These steps will help ensure that the Presidential Directive on Vieques will be implemented effectively. Failure to pay close attention to the details of the referendum raises the specter that it will not reflect the wishes of the people of Vieques. They are American citizens and they deserve the opportunity to freely determine their fate.

With best regards,
Senators Leahy and Jeffords

-------- russia

Chief of General Staff says combat units not subject to cuts

NewsEdge
October 2, 2000
By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
Associated Press Writer
http://www.individual.com/frames/story.shtml?story=h0929104.900&level3=788&date=20001002

MOSCOW (AP) via NewsEdge Corporation - A top general on Friday denied that Russia planned to cut its combat forces, saying that proposals to slash its oversized military would only affect support personnel.

``We will not cut bayonets,'' said Gen. Anatoly Kvashnin, the chief of the general staff, on a trip to the northwestern town of Pskov to watch paratroop exercises.

Kvashnin, who has stressed the need for conventional forces over nuclear weapons, said conventional troops such as the paratroop forces should form the core of a modernized army, playing a key role in local conflicts. ''Like cowboys, they must shoot first and win,'' he said, according to the ITAR-Tass news agency.

Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev said earlier this month that over 2001-2003 the military planned to cut 350,000 troops from the estimated 1.2 million people serving under the Defense Ministry. Few details have been made public.

President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that there would be no ``hasty or wholesale'' cuts and that more time was needed to study the issue _ but insisted that Russia could no longer afford such a big army.

Russia inherited a huge military from the Soviet Union, but failure to build a thriving market economy has deprived it of money to pay for large forces. Russia's defense budget is about dlrs 5 billion, compared with annual U.S. defense spending of around dlrs 290 billion.

Generals and civilian officials have promised for years to reform the military by making it a smaller, professional force adapted to regional conflicts instead of Cold War confrontation. But evidence of real reform has been scanty, and forces have simply disintegrated rather than being downsized according to a plan. The military cannot afford to buy weapons or train new soldiers, and the weapons they do have deteriorate for lack of maintenance, or are stolen or sold.

Reform plans have caused bitter disputes among the top brass eager to defend their turf. Earlier this year, Kvashin and Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev publicly clashed when Kvashnin proposed cutting the nuclear forces _ which Sergeyev used to command _ in favor of more conventional weapons. Sergeyev warned that such cuts would be disastrous for Russia's security.

Putin admonished both generals for arguing in public and they have kept their disagreements under wraps since then. Kvashin said Friday that there is no conflict between him and Sergeyev, only different ''professional views'' on military reform.

-------- taiwan

Asian Markets Lower but Tokyo Up

New York Times
October 02, 2000
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Asian-Markets.html

HONG KONG (AP) -- Asian stock markets closed generally lower Monday, but the key index rose in Tokyo for a second straight session on optimism about Japan's economy.

The Japanese benchmark 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average gained 155.25 points, or 0.99 percent, to close at 15,902.51. On Friday, the average closed up 120.71 points, or 0.77 percent.

Shares reversed an early retreat on hopes that Japan's closely watched ``tankan'' survey of business confidence will show that Japanese managers are getting more optimistic about prospects for the country's still-sputtering economy. The Bank of Japan's quarterly survey is scheduled for release Tuesday.

The Nikkei fell earlier in line with a sell-off of technology issues provoked by recent profit warnings on Wall Street from Apple Computer and Intel.

In New York on Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 173.14 points to 10,650.92, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index slipped 105.50 points to 3,672.82.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar was quoted at 108.34, up 0.60 yen from the same time Friday in Tokyo and also above its New York level of 108.02 yen later that day.

South Korean share prices tumbled, with the key index plunging 3.9 percent on heavy profit-taking following Wall Street's losses Friday, analysts said.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 24.00 points to 589.22.

Taiwan stocks plunged for a fifth straight session, ending at a near 20-month low amid a lingering loss of confidence in the new government.

The benchmark Weighted Stock Price Index slumped 2.6 percent, or 161.07 points, to 6,024.07 -- its lowest close since Feb. 10, 1999. The decline follows a 3.8 percent fall Saturday.

Since April, the Taipei exchange has fallen 40 percent as investors worry about foreign investment, economic development and political wrangling over whether Taiwan should complete its fourth nuclear power plant, dealers said.

The market was closed in Hong Kong for a holiday.

Elsewhere:

JAKARTA: Indonesian shares closed sharply higher, buoyed by Standard and Poor's Corp's decision to raise Indonesia's foreign and local currency ratings, dealers said. The JSX Composite Index rose 10.903 points, or 2.6 percent, to 432.239.

SINGAPORE: Share prices closed lower on selling in electronics and technology stocks after a sharp decline on Wall Street Friday. The Straits Times Index closed at 1,972.95, down 24.08 points, or 1.2 percent.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand shares closed lower. The The NZSE-40 Capital Index fell 26.93 points, or 1.3 percent, to 1,982.65.

MANILA: Philippine stocks closed lower on growing concerns over the country's economic prospects. The 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange Index fell 9.33 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,425.16.

SYDNEY: The Australian share market edged to a higher close, defying declines on Wall Street Friday as heavyweight Telstra Corp. and the banks proved resilient. The All Ordinaries Index rose 2.1 points, or 0.1 percent, to 3,248.2.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian shares closed lower on concerns over possible increase in inflation after the government increased fuel prices Sunday. The Composite Index fell 9.56 points, or 1.3 percent, to 703.95.

BANGKOK: Thai share prices closed little changed. The Composite Index slipped 0.60 point, or 0.2 percent, to 276.69.

-------- u.s. nuc facilities

PSR: Support Nuclear Worker Compensation
Physicians Appeal to Republican House Leadership:
Support Nuclear Workers Compensation

US Newswire
2 Oct 13:15
Contact:
Douglas Mains, MD, 630-231-9234,
Martin Butcher, 202-898-0150, ext. 220,
both of Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR)
http://www.usnewswire.com/topnews/Current_Releases/1002-120.html

WASHINGTON, Oct. 2 /U.S. Newswire/ -- As the Senate/House Conference meets to finish action on the Fiscal Year (FY) 2001 Defense Authorization Act, Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) is appealing on behalf of its 20,000 physician members to the Republican leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives not to reject a package of aid for workers made ill during their employment in the nuclear weapons complex. The plan would provide compensation and medical care for workers with illnesses from exposure to radiation, beryllium and silica.

The package was included in the Senate version of the FY2001 Defense Authorization Bill, but not by the House of Representatives. Despite active lobbying by Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate, as well as the Department of Energy, unions and non-governmental organizations including PSR, Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and others in the House Republican leadership have refused to allow the plan to go forward. They were only prepared to allow yet more study of the worker's situation.

"These workers have been irradiated and poisoned in the course of producing nuclear weapons, and the nation now owes them at least the minimum of healthcare and financial support proposed in the Senate plan," said Douglas Mains, MD. "Illinois workers suffering from health effects of their work including berylliosis need help. Speaker Hastert should be doing all he can to get them that help, not trying to block this crucial funding."

PSR has long campaigned for DOE to remedy the situation of nuclear weapons workers, publishing an in-depth report on the Department's neglect in 1992. Only in April 2000 did the DOE admit responsibility for the illnesses of the workers who built the 70,000 nuclear weapons the US has deployed. Balking at paying compensation estimated at as little as $1.7 billion to $3 billion over ten years (in FY2001 alone the nuclear weapons budget is some $35 billion, the defense budget is over $310 billion), the House Republican leadership has ignored members of its own party in blocking the compensation deal. Representatives Lamar Smith (R-Texas), Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.), and Senators Jim Bunning (R-Ky.), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) have all worked hard in support of compensation.

"Congress must act today to right past wrongs," said Robert K. Musil, Ph.D., executive director and CEO of PSR. "Republicans and Democrats must come together to vote for this compensation package."

-------- kentucky

Paper reports old maps show trail of plutonium outside Paducah plant

Evansville Courier & Press
10/02/00
By The Associated Press
http://www.courierpress.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi?200010/02+trail100200_news.html+20001002

KEVIL, Ky. Old maps, long since forgotten by the Energy Department, show alarming levels of radioactive plutonium had been found outside the Paducah Gasseous Diffusion Plant unbeknownst to many, the Courier-Journal of Louisville reported in its Sunday editions.

The three maps, obtained through a year-old Freedom of Information Act request, show that water and sediment samples collected around the plant between 1988 and 1998 had levels of radiation much higher than the government had been required to clean up in other locations.

U.S. Department of Energy officials said they didn't know the maps existed. The Energy Department had maintained for years that plutonium levels at the site were insignificant.

Mark Donham, environmentalist and newly elected chairman of the citizens advisory board that monitors the plant's ongoing clean-up, said the latest revelation is an example of the Energy Department's credibility problems.

"Every time we try to bring it up and ask what the impact is, they always try to change the subject and downplay it," said Donham, of Brookport, Ill.

Energy Department officials said the levels don't pose a threat to the health of nearby residents.

"Clearly it needs to be taken care of, but I don't see it as something that requires a mass exodus" of people living nearby, said Don Seaborg, the Energy Department's site manager.

Even in the areas with the highest soil readings, a person could breathe nearby air or ingest the dirt or stand on it for six hours and still get far below the minimum safe radiation dose, Seaborg said.

Plutonium is thousands of times more radioactive than uranium, but its intense alpha rays travel only a few inches and can be deflected by a paper envelope. It has a radioactive half-life of 24,000 years.

In the mid-1990s trace amounts of plutonium was found in deer around the plant. At the time the Energy Department attributed it to fallout from nuclear testing.

In the early 1990s, after minuscule amounts of plutonium were found in Ronald Lamb's well, he was told it was a "laboratory error."

"They have always told us we'd have to drink it for 75 years to get any risk. Well, there's no doubt we've had exposures, and if me and my family are the ones at risk from this, that's enough for me," Lamb said.

The maps, however, show levels of plutonium found in some surface water exceeds the Environmental Protection Agency's standard for drinking water.

The maps were ordered in August 1999 for an oversight team investigating past environmental practices.

William Eckroade, a senior Energy Department official on the investigation team, said he never saw the maps.

"To our understanding, these maps did not exist. It would have sped up our review of the data," Eckroade said.

John Volpe, director of Kentucky's Radiation Control and Toxic Agent's Branch, said he was "extremely concerned" by readings showing plutonium in surface water.

-------- new mexico

Al Gore's Can-Do Consultant

Washington Post
Monday, October 2, 2000 ; Page C01
By Howard Kurtz Washington Post Staff Writer
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A57417-2000Oct1?language=printer

Damage Control

The New York Times may have chastised itself last week in an editor's note for its overly aggressive coverage of the Wen Ho Lee case, but the hand-wringing isn't over.

Managing Editor Bill Keller, who edited the stories with investigative editor Stephen Engelberg, sent the newsroom a memo about a problem that is "agonizing to me." Most of the "many drafts" of the note said "the blame lies principally with those of us who directed the coverage," Keller explained.

But in the "multiple scrubbings" of the document, Keller went on, the phrase "of us" was dropped, leading some to the "preposterous" conclusion "that the note meant to single out Steve Engelberg . . . as the scapegoat." Keller, praising Engelberg, said he and Editor Joe Lelyveld tried to make clear in meetings "that the paragraph referred to ourselves--not just in the general, the-buck-stops-here way, but in the very specific sense that we laid our hands on these articles, and we overlooked some opportunities in our own direction of the coverage."

Lelyveld got involved in Keller's effort after reporters Jeff Gerth and James Risen vociferously objected that an earlier draft hung them out to dry.

Editorial Page Editor Howell Raines beat a partial retreat Thursday. Deep in an editorial about the Lee case, the Times said that "with the benefit of hindsight, we find that we too quickly accepted the government's theory that espionage was the main reason for Chinese nuclear advances and its view that Dr. Lee had been properly singled out as the prime suspect. . . . We may have been overly sharp" in comments about national security adviser Sandy Berger's "fitness for his job" and Attorney General Janet Reno's "refusal to issue a wiretap order on Dr. Lee."

When the Times says it was "overly sharp," that's a big-time admission.

---

Asian Americans Using Politics As a Megaphone

Washington Post
Monday, October 2, 2000 ; Page A03
By Michael A. Fletcher Washington Post Staff Writer
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57358-2000Oct1.html

LOWELL, Mass. -- Chanrithy Uong keeps a yellowing newspaper clip on his office bulletin board at Lowell High School. In it, John Silber, the former Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate and firebrand chancellor of Boston University, says, "There has got to be a welfare magnet going on. . . . Why should Lowell be the Cambodian capital of America?"

The article seems an oddly bitter memento for Uong, whose sunny disposition and touching personal story speak to the sweet promise of America. Uong, 41, lost two brothers to Cambodia's murderous Khmer Rouge before fleeing to the United States in 1981. He eventually earned a master's degree, became a guidance counselor and last year won election to the city council by forging a multiracial coalition.

"I keep that there as a reminder that even someone at Silber's level will be so blatant with their bias," he said.

Uong calls Silber's statement typical of the misguided fears that often confront Asian Americans. Even as they achieve economic and academic success that exemplifies the best of the nation's immigrant tradition, Uong and others feel they are often treated like outsiders in their new land.

That view has only been sharpened by the case of Wen Ho Lee, the 60-year-old Taiwanese American scientist who was held in jail for nine months without bail after he was charged in a 59-count federal indictment with mishandling nuclear secrets. Lee was released last month after pleading guilty to a single felony count involving information at Los Alamos National Laboratory, an outcome that only intensified criticism that Lee was a criminal suspect largely because of his ethnicity.

Asian American activists across the country have made the Lee case a rallying cry in their efforts to draw more members of their fast-growing community into the political process. Community groups are intensifying voter registration and education efforts and are reaching out with new urgency.

In places such as Lowell, those efforts are translating into more vocal concern that the city government is not responsive to the fast-growing Asian American population, which is one-third of the city population but often is left feeling that it is not seen as central to the community.

For many Asian American leaders across the country, the Lee case echoes the 1996 political fundraising scandal, which prompted the Democratic National Committee to return $3 million because of suspicions that it was raised from foreigners, which is illegal.

Several people connected to the controversy, including political fundraiser and former Commerce Department official John Huang, were convicted of illegal fundraising activities. Still, the controversy angered many Asian Americans who feel the scandal was overblown in a way that called into question the patriotism of Asian Americans. "Both of these cases appeal to America's prejudice against Asia," said J.D. Hokoyama, president of Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics Inc., a research and policy organization based in Los Angeles. "Many people in this country make no distinction between Asians and Asian Americans. And that is the core of the problem."

Motivated by the fundraising scandal of 1996, a national coalition of Asian American leaders formed a political action committee that has set out to maximize the political leverage of Asian Americans, who historically split their votes almost evenly between Democrats and Republicans. The organization, called the 80-20 Initiative, because of its goal of getting 80 percent of Asian American voters to support one of the presidential candidates, has forged a political agenda that has drawn broad support and national attention.

"This entire Wen Ho Lee situation is generating a lot of feeling that we should all be politically active," said S.B. Woo, a former lieutenant governor of Delaware and a founder of 80-20, which recently endorsed Democrat Al Gore for president. "The case is helping the various Asian American communities to unite. Obviously, we come from many different ethnic backgrounds, but we know the mainstream population views us as one."

Certainly, Asian Americans face significant hurdles in marshaling their community into a potent political force. While the nation's estimated 11.2 million Asian Americans make up 4 percent of the U.S. population, 80 percent of their voting-age population is foreign-born. Many are discouraged from participating by language and cultural barriers, as well as the fact that some are from countries where government was seen as an oppressive force.

Consequently, only about half of Asian American citizens who are eligible to vote are registered, said Paul Watanabe, a political scientist at the University of Massachusetts in Boston.

Now, he sees that political apathy slowly abating. "There is a kind of universal outrage over the treatment of Wen Ho Lee," Watanabe said. "It is not partisan in any way. But it is fueling greater activism."

Here in Lowell, a former garment manufacturing center now riding atop a wave of high-tech jobs, the Asian American population has exploded in the past 20 years, growing to more than 30,000. Lowell boasts the second-largest number of Cambodian Americans in the United States, behind only Long Beach, Calif.

Despite the numbers, the community was politically dormant for years, silently absorbing episodes of anti-Asian violence, resistance to accommodating non-English speaking children in schools and a lack of recognition for their success in bringing commerce and vitality to some of the city's worst neighborhoods.

But Uong's successful campaign for city council last year touched off a relative outpouring: Voter registration among Asian Americans here doubled, and now many people feel empowered to voice complaints that they have long harbored.

"In the United States, there is still discrimination. They pick on Wen Ho Lee because he is Asian," said Sokhan Yang, taking a break in his small restaurant near downtown. "We have to be careful here in Lowell. The police, the health inspectors, I don't think they treat us the same. Asian people have made this a better place. We make business, bring new festivals. But we don't get credit for that."

Ratha Paul Yem, executive director of the Cambodian American League of Lowell and publisher of a monthly Cambodian community newspaper, said the political fundraising scandal and Lee case are "agitating people to work harder."

"Many people have probably heard about these scandals a little bit," Yem said. "But the thing is that many leaders are making the connections for people between those things, and their local struggles. We do that to build self-sufficiency, and that includes political involvement."

Volak Nuon, who with her husband owns a restaurant here, said that, until recently, she saw no need to get involved in politics. She was simply too busy trying to make a living. Although she says she was dismayed by the Lee case, she says she pays little attention to national events. But Uong's candidacy prompted her to register and vote for the first time last year.

"Now, a lot of people are voting. I vote," she said, looking over her shoulder as she hurried off to serve a customer. "I'm going to vote. November."

---

Growing Population Confronts Bias

Washington Post
Monday, October 2, 2000 ; Page A03
By Michael A. Fletcher Washington Post Staff Writer
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A56710-2000Oct1&language=printer

Chanrithy Uong keeps a yellowing newspaper clip on his office bulletin board at Lowell High School. In it, John Silber, the former Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate and firebrand chancellor of Boston University says, "There has got to be a welfare magnet going on. . . . Why should Lowell be the Cambodian capital of America?"

The article seems an oddly bitter memento for Uong, whose sunny disposition and touching personal story speak to the sweet promise of America. Uong, 41, lost two brothers to Cambodia's murderous Khmer Rouge before fleeing to the United States in 1981. He eventually earned a master's degree, became a guidance counselor and last year won election to the city council by forging a multiracial coalition.

"I keep that there as a reminder that even someone at Silber's level will be so blatant with their bias," he said.

Uong calls Silber's statement typical of the misguided fears that often confront Asian Americans. Even as they achieve economic and academic success that exemplifies the best of the nation's immigrant tradition, Uong and others feel they are often treated like outsiders in their new land.

That view has only been sharpened by the case of Wen Ho Lee, the 60-year-old Taiwanese American scientist who was held in jail for nine months without bail after he was charged in a 59-count federal indictment with stealing nuclear secrets. Lee was released last month after pleading guilty to a single felony count of mishandling information at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, an outcome that only intensified criticism that Lee was a criminal suspect largely because of his ethnicity.

Asian American activists across the country have made the Lee case a rallying cry in their efforts to draw more members of their fast-growing community into the political process. Community groups are intensifying voter registration and education efforts and are reaching out with new urgency.

In places such as Lowell, those efforts are translating into more vocal concern that the city government is not responsive to the fast-growing Asian American population, which comprises one-third of the city population but is often left feeling that it is not seen as central to the community.

For many Asian American leaders across the country, the Lee case echoes the 1996 political fundraising scandal, which prompted the Democratic National Committee to return $3 million because of suspicions that it was raised from foreigners, which is illegal.

Several people connected to the controversy, including political fundraiser and former Commerce Department official John Huang, were convicted of illegal fundraising activities. Still, the controversy angered many Asian Americans who feel the scandal was overblown in a way that called into question the patriotism of Asian Americans.

"Both of these cases appeal to America's prejudice against Asia," said J.D. Hokoyama, president of Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics Inc., a research and policy organization based in Los Angeles. "Many people in this country make no distinction between Asians and Asian Americans. And that is the core of the problem."

Motivated by the fundraising scandal of 1996, a national coalition of Asian American leaders formed a political action committee that has set out to maximize the political leverage of Asian Americans, who historically split their votes almost evenly between Democrats and Republicans. The organization, called the 80-20 Initiative, because of its goal of getting 80 percent of Asian American voters to support one of the presidential candidates, has forged a political agenda that has drawn broad support and national attention.

"This entire Wen Ho Lee situation is generating a lot of feeling that we should all be politically active," said S.B. Woo, a former lieutenant governor of Delaware and a founder of 80-20, which recently endorsed Democrat Al Gore for president. "The case is helping the various Asian American communities to unite. Obviously, we come from many different ethnic backgrounds, but we know the mainstream population views us as one."

Certainly, Asian Americans face significant hurdles in marshaling their community into a potent political force. While the nation's estimated 11.2 million Asian Americans make up 4 percent of the U.S. population, 80 percent of their voting age population is foreign-born. Many are discouraged from participating by language and cultural barriers, as well as the fact that some are from countries where government was seen as an oppressive force.

Consequently, only about half of Asian American citizens who are eligible to vote are registered, said Paul Watanabe, a political scientist at the University of Massachusetts in Boston.

Now, he sees that political apathy slowly abating. "There is a kind of universal outrage over the treatment of Wen Ho Lee," Watanabe said. "It is not partisan in any way. But it is fueling greater activism."

Here in Lowell, a former garment manufacturing center now riding atop a wave of high-tech jobs, the Asian American population has exploded in the past 20 years, growing to more than 30,000. Lowell boasts the second-largest number of Cambodian Americans in the United States, behind only Long Beach, Calif.

Despite the numbers, the community was politically dormant for years, silently absorbing episodes of anti-Asian violence, resistance to accommodating non-English speaking children in schools and a lack of recognition for their success in bringing commerce and vitality to some of the city's worst neighborhoods.

But Uong's successful campaign for city council last year touched off a relative outpouring: Voter registration among Asian Americans here doubled, and now many people feel empowered to voice complaints that they have long harbored.

"In the United States, there is still discrimination. They pick on Wen Ho Lee because he is Asian," said Sokhan Yang, taking a break in his small restaurant near downtown. "We have to be careful here in Lowell. The police, the health inspectors, I don't think they treat us the same. Asian people have made this a better place. We make business, bring new festivals. But we don't get credit for that."

Ratha Paul Yem, executive director of the Cambodian American League of Lowell and publisher of a monthly Cambodian community newspaper, said the political fundraising scandal and Lee case are "agitating people to work harder."

"Many people have probably heard about these scandals a little bit," Yem said. "But the thing is that many leaders are making the connections for people between those things, and their local struggles. We do that to build self-sufficiency, and that includes political involvement."

Volak Nuon, who with her husband owns a restaurant here, said that, until recently, she saw no need to get involved in politics. She was simply too busy trying to make a living. Although she says she was dismayed by the Lee case, she says she pays little attention to national events. But Uong's candidacy prompted her to register and vote for the first time last year.

"Now, a lot of people are voting. I vote," she said, looking over her shoulder as she hurried off to serve a customer. "I'm going to vote. November."

-------- tennessee

USA Today
October 02, 2000
States
http://usatoday.com/news/states/all50.htm

Tennessee

Oak Ridge - The Y-12 nuclear weapons plant is making plans to supply enriched uranium to the U.S. Navy. The plant in Oak Ridge expects to help supply all of the Navy's future needs, said David Wall of the National Nuclear Security Administration. Y-12's primary mission is making parts for the MX missile system and storing highly enriched uranium for the nation's nuclear weapons complex.

------- us nuc politics

Foreign Policy: Silent Issue

Los Angeles Times
Monday, October 2, 2000
http://www.latimes.com/news/comment/20001002/t000093515.html

The major presidential candidates have said little about foreign policy during the campaign, not because the world doesn't remain dotted with trouble spots but because most Americans are largely indifferent toward events beyond the nation's borders. James M. Lindsay, writing in Foreign Affairs, calls this "the great irony of the post-Cold War era: at the very moment the United States has more influence than ever on international affairs, Americans have lost much of their interest in the world around them."

This detachment flows naturally from the end of the Cold War. For now, no foreign crisis threatens the nation's security. Russia, while still a nuclear power, is no longer taken seriously as an ideological rival. U.S. armed forces remain deployed around the world, in peacekeeping missions and, in South Korea and Western Europe, to sustain longtime alliances. But the chance that these forces might at any moment find themselves in a major conflict has receded sharply.

The most damaging result of the fall-off in attention to world affairs is that it has let narrow interest groups gain influence by default. Most Americans continue to favor an internationalist foreign policy, though passively, and this lack of commitment has permitted some serious mischief-making in Congress.

Among the embarrassments of recent years have been the Senate's rejection of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, cuts in funding for foreign operations and the egregious Helms-Burton Act, which demands sanctions against countries that trade with Cuba. That law has done nothing to weaken Fidel Castro's regime but much to alienate some of America's closest friends.

President Clinton came to office notoriously uninterested in global issues. He soon learned that problem areas--like the Balkans--have a way of demanding the attention even of reluctant presidents. The next president has to be prepared to meet international responsibilities from the moment he takes office. And he must understand the need to have public support in that task, so that the field isn't left to the ignorant and the isolationists.

The thoughtful bipartisanship that underlay the conduct of U.S. foreign relations for most of the half-century beginning with World War II has faded in recent years, too often replaced by shrill carping and punitive congressional measures aimed less at advancing the nation's interests than at seeking political advantage. A priority for the next president is to rebuild bipartisanship in foreign policy and so strengthen U.S. leadership.

Both Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush and Democratic candidate Al Gore are internationalists and anti-protectionists. The differences between them appear to be more in style than substance, though style can sometimes be significant. Bush would focus on "security threats" to the United States, including international crime and terrorism. Gore favors enlarging the definition of foreign policy concerns to include such things as environmental dangers and the growing disparities between the rich nations and the poor.

Both are consensus-builders. Gore has firsthand experience in foreign relations. Bush has chosen as his advisors experts and advisors from previous Republican administrations. It's likely that a Bush administration would be far less patient than the Clinton administration has been with North Korea's politics of extortion and China's dissimulation in meeting its international obligations. Bush also seems less ready to commit U.S. forces to peacekeeping missions that others, including the European allies, are capable of filling. All these approaches would be welcome.

Sometime during the next president's term U.S. resolve and leadership will almost certainly be tested by one or more of the following: Iraq will reemerge as a threat to its neighbors; a post-Castro power struggle will erupt in Cuba; Iran will experience either a counterrevolution against abusive clerical power or a theocratic crackdown on those demanding greater freedoms; Russia's still shaky experiment with democracy could be further threatened by a nostalgia for autocratic methods that President Vladimir V. Putin seems increasingly to exemplify.

If history is a guide, the next president can expect a foreign crisis early in his term. Whoever takes office in January must be ready to respond to global challenges with a coherent strategy, an acute sense of what best serves the nation's interests and a knowledge that any policy is made more effective when public opinion is behind it.

Search the archives of the Los Angeles Times for similar stories. You will not be charged to look for stories, only to retrieve one.

http://www.latimes.com/archives

---

THE DEMOCRATIC RUNNING MATE A Grave Young Man at Yale

New York Times
October 02, 2000
By PAUL ZIELBAUER
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/02/politics/02LIEB.html

NEW HAVEN, Sept. 28 - He lauded President Kennedy and excoriated Southern segregationists. He urged Congress to tackle New Frontier legislation and lectured Yale University's president on the First Amendment. He called for a national no-smoking campaign - in 1964 - and a ban on boxing.

He was Joseph I. Lieberman, the 21- year-old chairman and chief editorial writer of the student-run Yale Daily News. During his reign in the early 60's, when tweed jackets and crew cuts were stylish and Yale students were all male and mostly white, Mr. Lieberman handed down opinions the way any self-respecting Ivy League liberal would: often and at length.

In dozens of editorial columns Mr. Lieberman published between October 1962 and January 1964, during his sophomore and junior years at Yale, he opined on everything from increasing the number of sock hops to Nikita Khrushchev's nuclear policy.

Though occasionally consumed by campus esoterica, most of the columns show that Mr. Lieberman in college was an early version of Mr. Lieberman in Congress: preoccupied with the same kinds of issues that he would later grapple with as Connecticut's attorney general, a United States senator and vice- presidential candidate.

He often praised the policies of John F. Kennedy in his writings and criticized the Democratic-led Congress for not embracing them more heartily. He said labor unions were "a little fat around the midsection" from their reluctance to fit into an increasingly automated society. He lavished an entire column on an ailing Pope John XXIII, saying, "The extension of his love and charity has not been confined within the walls of the Church."

As the elected chairman of The Yale Daily News, Mr. Lieberman had the power to decide where his words would appear, and three times his columns appeared on the front page. Sometimes his opinions were printed in type smaller than that used for other articles, apparently to fit in everything Mr. Lieberman had to say that day.

Like college editorialists everywhere, Chairman Lieberman's opinions were grounded in a solemn certitude, unalloyed by ambiguity.

"We saw our role as serious editorial writers, and that shows up in the editorials," said Jethro Koller Lieberman, who was The Daily News's associate managing editor under Joseph Lieberman and is now the associate dean of academic affairs at New York Law School. (The two men are not related.) "We were peculiarly under the Kennedy spell, all of us," he said. "A lot of us saw our futures working in the White House for the administration."

Senator Lieberman, who reviewed copies of dozens of editorials sent to his national campaign headquarters last week, did not respond to several requests to comment on them.

Candidate Lieberman has been criticized recently by black leaders who say they believe he is a tepid defender of their interests. But the Gore-Lieberman campaign has pointed out that Student Lieberman wrote more about racial injustice than any other subject.

He also spoke out for undergraduate women seeking admission to Yale. In a front-page editorial on Oct. 25, 1963, he declared, "The wonders of the female presence are sorely lacking on the Yale campus."

No slight was too small to take on. On May 14, 1963, Mr. Lieberman chided The New Haven Register for ridiculing his published comments condemning New Haven police officers who had roughed up a few students during a melee. "This type of editorializing in an established newspaper such as the Register is altogether disappointing," Mr. Lieberman wrote.

Sometimes he spiced his arguments with analogies like this: in arguing for a ban on boxing, he compared boxing matches to "gangland killings." And in dismissing those who opposed the use of public money for church-affiliated schools, he argued that government money had long been used to enhance religious institutions - in the form of traffic lights near church property. "Does not this traffic light aid the religious school or make it more appealing?" he wrote.

Although Mr. Lieberman is known for his frequent use of humor on the campaign trail, his undergraduate columns were weighted with gravity.

"It is imperative," Mr. Lieberman wrote, on Jan. 13, 1964, his last month as Daily News chairman, "that a major public and private campaign to discourage cigarette smoking should begin."

Reacting to the surgeon general's report linking cigarettes to cancer, Mr. Lieberman went on to suggest: "Cigarette packages should indicate prominently the tar and nicotine content. Communications outlets should discipline themselves to diminish cigarette advertising."

In 1963, Mississippi was a violent battleground between the police and groups protesting state laws restricting the access of blacks to universities and voting booths. Mr. Lieberman echoed many leading editorialists when he wrote that "the history of the Negro in America is a blatant contradiction to all that this nation promises."

On April 10, 1963, Mr. Lieberman even wrote a sympathetic response to the black-separatist message that Malcolm X had delivered to a local audience two days before. "His message is not pleasing," the editorial said, "but it is the understandable response to a people in anguish."

Six months later, in a bylined column headlined "Why I Go to Mississippi," Mr. Lieberman explained his compulsion to join other Yale students who had traveled to Indianola, Miss., to assist in a mock election of a black man prohibited by state law from running for office.

"I am going to Mississippi because I feel that my presence, as a white man, can indicate to Negro Mississippians that there are white men who care about their plight, that there are white men whose insides burn with anxiety and guilt when the consider the way in which other white men have sought to rob the black man of his humanity."

In the last days of his chairmanship, Mr. Lieberman grew nostalgic. "Did we succeed in not taking ourselves too seriously?" he asked in his final editorial, on Jan. 29, 1964.

"There is obviously a built-in tone of seriousness about writing most editorials," he wrote. "But we do not think we lacked the capacity to take the whole thing with a hell of a grain of salt."

---

The Politics of Fuel

New York Times
October 02, 2000
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/02/opinion/02MON1.html

The sharp rise in oil prices over the last few months has given energy issues new and unexpected prominence in the presidential campaign. But what ought to be a serious debate has been marred by unedifying accusations about who deserves blame for allowing America to sink further into "dependence on foreign oil." Gov. George W. Bush says the Democrats have inhibited oil exploration with their environmental and tax policies. Vice President Al Gore says the Republicans have allowed "big oil" to put profits ahead of the American consumer. All this has diverted attention from two inconvenient truths about America's energy problem.

First, the notion that the United States can "free" itself from foreign oil is absurd. America consumes about one-quarter of the world's oil supply but possesses less than 4 percent of the world's reserves, and much of the economically recoverable domestic oil has been identified. About half of the oil consumed in America now comes from foreign sources, and this figure is likely to rise rather than fall. The task, therefore, is not to engage in a futile debate over energy "independence" but to find new ways of managing dependence.

The second and related truth is that the demand side of the energy equation is as important, if not more so, than the supply side. If Americans want stable prices and greater protection from market manipulation, they and their elected representatives will have to pay far more attention to conservation, finding new ways to use energy more efficiently.

The supply side cannot, of course, be ignored. Domestic oil production is plainly not the answer to the country's energy needs, and for economic and environmental reasons, nuclear and hydroelectric power cannot be expected to take up the slack. But there is still plenty of oil available to American companies outside the United States - in Africa and the Caspian Sea, for example. In North America, especially the Gulf of Mexico and Canada, there are also substantial supplies of natural gas. Indeed, natural gas has become the fuel of choice for most American homeowners and the electric power industry, which plans to use it to run more than 90 percent of the power plants now on the drawing boards. Both candidates have recommended new incentives to encourage drilling for natural gas.

Inevitably, however, any sensible energy strategy will also require conservation, a matter on which Congress and the public need serious educating, and on which presidential leadership will therefore be crucial. This Congress has been unable to pass legislation governing the restructuring of the electric power industry. It has been openly contemptuous of the Kyoto agreement aimed at reducing emissions from fossil fuels and thus reducing dependence on fossil fuels. It could not even agree on a modest tax incentive for more fuel-efficient buildings. Meanwhile, the astounding popularity of ever-larger S.U.V.'s and other light trucks has reversed a 20-year trend of improved fuel efficiency.

The differences between the two candidates on energy issues are pronounced. Mr. Bush sought to narrow these differences in a major address on Friday, calling for $1.4 billion in tax credits over 10 years to encourage electricity generation from alternative fuels. He also said he would spend $2 billion over 10 years for "clean coal" technologies, aimed at exploiting the country's huge supplies of cheap but polluting supplies of coal.

But his strategy still relies mainly on increasing supply, including uncontroversial ideas like streamlining regulatory restrictions on pipeline construction and hugely controversial ideas like opening the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling. According to the latest government estimates, the mean estimate of economically recoverable oil in the plain is 3.2 billion barrels. Environmentalists and Mr. Gore do not think it is worth defacing a pristine wilderness for what amounts to about six months' worth of oil.

For his part, Mr. Gore has offered a dizzying array of proposals aimed at increased energy efficiency. These include generous tax credits for more fuel-efficient buildings and factories, and for consumers who buy fuel-efficient vehicles and appliances. In addition, Mr. Gore proposes major federal investments in light rail systems and various public-private partnerships, including a Gore favorite, the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles, which is aimed at developing cars and trucks that run on batteries or fuel cells.

In dollar terms, Mr. Gore's energy proposals would cost about $50 billion over 10 years, dwarfing Mr. Bush's $7.1 billion. But dollars do not accurately define this debate. Mr. Gore believes that consumption is the main problem. Mr. Bush thinks that production is the main answer. This is as clear a difference as one can find in this campaign.

---

Not wooden

Washington Times
October 2, 2000
Inside the Beltway John McCaslin
Political tidbits and other shenanigans from around the nation's capital. http://208.246.212.80/national/inbeltway.htm

This column has been more than patient waiting its turn to interview Al Gore, but won't argue as one of the vice president's more visible supporters agrees to step in.

"I can't remember a man so qualified to run for office," says supermodel Christie Brinkley, who, if you didn't notice, was a delegate to this year's Democratic National Convention. "I can't understand why this race is so close."

Neither can we. Tell us about George W. Bush.

"You know, some women come up to me and say, 'Christie, I think Bush is cute.' I am insulted by that," says Mrs. Brinkley, 46, who alongside husband Peter Cook is raising her three young children on Long Island, N.Y.

"Let me tell you about women today," she says. "If Bush [gets] ahead with women voters it's because women are so busy adjusting to their hectic lives, getting their kids to school, being a good wife, a good mother. They're seeing only the periphery of this race right now, and so is the media -looking at the personalities instead of the issues."

Yes, we see what you mean. What are the issues, then?

"The Supreme Court," she says. "Right now four of the justices are getting a little bit older and they happen to be four of the more liberal ones. George W. already said he likes judges in the vein of [Clarence] Thomas and [Antonin] Scalia, so these are really right-wing, scary appointments that will make our country leap back in time."

Are you excited about Joseph I. Lieberman?

"You know, Bill Richardson got a bum rap," says Mrs. Brinkley, an outspoken environmentalist who has worked closely with the energy secretary on nuclear and other issues. "He would have made an amazing running mate with Al Gore . . . but Lieberman is an excellent choice as well."

Richard B. Cheney?

"Who in their right mind would vote for cop-killer bullets?" she asks.

Don't you hunt?

"I used to live in Mexico and go out into the jungle and shoot coconuts out of the trees," she says. "I got pretty good at it. I could shoot a coconut down in one or two shots. But I'm a vegetarian and don't like hunting."

-------- u.s. nuc weapons

Exon favors nuclear test ban

Lincoln Journal Star
10/02/00
BY DON WALTON Lincoln Journal Star
http://www.journalstar.com/nebraska?story_id=1195&date=20001002&past=

Jim Exon has a challenge for Nebraska's U.S. senators, current and about-to-be:

¥Stand against the political tide and oppose development of a costly anti-missile defense system that will trigger a new arms race and fail to protect the United States from attack.

¥Vote to ratify the nuclear test ban treaty in an effort to head off nuclear proliferation and make the world safer - and in the process lock in U.S. nuclear superiority.

Jim Exon, conservative-to-moderate Democrat.

Jim Exon, who headed the Armed Services Committee's key subcommittee on nuclear and strategic arms while he was in the Senate. Jim Exon, military hawk.

"Yes, these words are coming from a known, established hawk," he says. "No one could question my dedication to U.S. military superiority while I was in the Senate."

Exon left the Senate in 1997, but in retirement he has remained actively engaged in issues affecting U.S. national security. Recently, he participated in a forum at Stanford that focused on the nuclear test ban treaty.

In his leadership role on Armed Services, Exon became convinced that a test ban is in the interest of the United States.

In 1992, he surprised almost everyone by joining hands with George Mitchell and Mark Hatfield to lead a successful Senate effort to end U.S. nuclear testing.

"I fought hard for this in the Senate," he says, "and we stopped it."

But the Senate needs to take the next step and ratify the global test ban treaty, he says. The Senate rejected ratification when the issue first was forced to a vote a year ago.

"Continuing the nuclear race will destabilize the welfare and future of mankind," Exon says. "If we don't do this, we clear the way - a la India and Pakistan - for nuclear testing by all the have-not nations."

Exon's experience in the Senate tells him the United States can effectively test its nuclear weapons without a nuclear explosion.

"We have the computer technology and know-how to allow us to adequately maintain the reliability of our nuclear arsenal. And we can measure what other people are doing."

Bob Kerrey voted for the test ban last October. Chuck Hagel voted against ratification after unsuccessfully arguing it would be better for the Senate not to take a vote rather than force certain defeat of the measure at the time.

Exon phoned Hagel before the vote to urge him to support ratification.

"We hold out some hope he may eventually see the shortcoming of his vote and provide some real leadership on the issue," Exon says. "He's in position to do so as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee."

Neither Kerrey nor Hagel is with Exon in opposing the missile defense system.

"This idea comes primarily from the Republican Party, but it has been assisted and abetted in this case by President Clinton and Bob Kerrey," Exon says.

"I think it's a classic case of political leaders not seizing on the popular uproar to truly explain the situation."

A limited missile defense system designed to destroy "onesy and twosy devices coming in" will cost between $50 billion and $150 billion, Exon says.

"There's no reasonable assurance it would ever work or not be made obsolete by some other development.

"And it should be obvious that a rogue nation like North Korea could foil this madness by simply lobbing a nuclear weapon from a fishing boat in the harbor into San Francisco if it wanted to."

Or bypass any missile defense system by bringing weapons of mass destruction - nuclear, biological or chemical - into America in a package or a suitcase.

"Does anybody really believe that a nation like North Korea is going to launch a nuclear missile at the United States?" Exon asks. "While I do not trust North Korea, I don't think they're suicidal."

One nuclear submarine like the USS Nebraska "could put North Korea back in the Stone Age with one massive attack," Exon says.

U.S. development and deployment of an anti-missile defense system would violate the terms of the 1972 ABM treaty with the old Soviet Union, unilaterally breaking an agreement with Russia that has succeeded in stabilizing the nuclear standoff, Exon says.

It would trigger a new global arms race, he says.

"The Chinese and the Russians and others will not sit idly by."

China already has signaled its intention to increase its nuclear arsenal if the United States goes ahead with a missile defense system. Critics say India would follow. Then Pakistan. And that would put enormous pressure on Japan.

"I'm committed to U.S. military superiority," Exon says. "We have it now, although I believe we should build up our military forces more and pay our personnel better.

"Never would our nuclear superiority be threatened if you couldn't test to get there," Exon says.

And why, he asks, unleash an enormously costly, dangerous, destabilizing new arms race with "a ludicrous plan to revive the 'Star Wars' missile defense idea?"

Reach Don Walton at 473-7248 or dwalton@journalstar.com.

---

Electric Boat Wins $78 Million Contract For Virginia-Class Submarine Work

NewsEdge
October 2, 2000
http://www.individual.com/frames/story.shtml?story=p0929155.900&level3=763&date=20001002

GROTON, Conn., Sept. 29 /PRNewswire/ via NewsEdge Corporation - Naval Sea Systems Command has awarded General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) Electric Boat a $77.8 million contract for Virginia-class submarine lead-yard services.

The contract provides funding for design-yard services in support of research and development efforts for the baseline Virginia (SSN-774) design, and technology insertion and upgrades for follow-on ships of the class. The contract also provides for design-yard support for construction of the planned 30 Virginia-class ships.

These submarines will provide the U.S. Navy with the capabilities it requires to maintain the nation's undersea superiority well into the 21st century. Currently, Electric Boat and its construction teammate, Newport News Shipbuilding, are working on a $4.2 billion contract to build the first four ships of the class. Electric Boat will deliver the first ship, Virginia, in 2004.

General Dynamics of Falls Church, Virginia, has leading market positions in shipbuilding and marine systems, land and amphibious combat systems, information systems, and business aviation. The corporation employs approximately 44,000 people and has annualized sales of approximately $10 billion.

SOURCE General Dynamics

CONTACT: Neil Ruenzel of General Dynamics, 860-433-8556, or fax: 860-433-8054, or email:nruenzel@ebmail.gdeb.com

Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/349193.html or fax, 800-758-5804, ext. 349193

Web site: http://www.generaldynamics.com (GD)

---

Senate OKs Water Spending Bill

New York Times
October 02, 2000 Filed at 7:28 p.m. ET
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Congress-Spending.html
http://usatoday.com/news/washdc/ncsmon06.htm

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate gave final approval Monday to a $23.6 billion energy and water package, inviting a pre-election veto fight with President Clinton over administration plans to alter the flow of the Missouri River.

The measure was approved by 57-37, but supporters fell 10 votes short of the 67 needed to overturn the veto that White House officials have promised. Republicans voted 51-1 for the measure, while Democrats opposed it by 36-6.

The bill, loaded with scores of home-district projects for lawmakers, passed the House overwhelmingly last week. But it has been ensnared in a fight over a provision that would block the administration from moving toward letting the Missouri River return to a seasonal, ebb-and-flow of its water levels.

In a battle that could echo in the presidential race, the administration says such a move would help endangered wildlife. Opponents say it could cause floods and hurt farmers and shippers.

The plan is so unpopular in Missouri, where opponents include lawmakers of both parties, that many Republicans have welcomed the veto battle as one that could throw the battleground state to GOP presidential candidate George W. Bush. Among the Missouri Democratic opponents are Gov. Mel Carnahan, who is running for Senate, and House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo.

``I guarantee this veto will have political ramifications, and I will ramificate,'' Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., the chief foe of the proposal, joked afterward.

Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., an author of the bill, said many Democratic senators ``have asked for things in this bill and they've been granted things in this bill that their states desperately need.''

But noting that Clinton has signed similar language in four previous years to block changing the river's flow, Domenici said Democrats were being ``asked to vote against this'' because Clinton ``has suggested that this year, if it's in this bill, he will veto it.''

``It's unfortunate that it has to come to this, to a veto,'' said Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., who led the fight to allow changes in the river's water levels.

The more natural river flows would be a boon for the recreation industry in upriver states like South Dakota.

Before the measure passed, Sen. John McCain blistered his colleagues for writing spending bills that result in ``the shameless waste of millions of taxpayer dollars'' in a signal of conservative discontent with year-end budget talks.

The $23.6 billion energy-water measure would spend $2.4 billion more than last year's bill and $890 million more than Clinton requested.

``The excessive fodder and trickery have never been greater, resulting in the shameless waste of millions of taxpayer dollars,'' McCain, R-Ariz., said as his office released a $1.2 billion, 20-page list of home-district dredging, shoreline restoration, energy research and other projects.

McCain, who unsuccessfully sought his party's presidential nomination this year, has been a longtime critic of pork-barrel spending. This year, GOP leaders have invited him to budget meetings in the hope that the popular lawmaker would help Republicans make the argument that it is Clinton who is driving spending skyward.

But McCain's comments called to mind the last election year, 1998, when Republicans negotiated an expensive end-of-year spending package with Clinton. Conservatives complained that GOP leaders abandoned the party's devotion to lower spending, and many said disappointment over the package lowered the Republican turnout in the election, which almost caused the GOP to lose its House majority.

In a further sign of internal GOP strains, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., said remaining spending bills could be finished by Oct. 14 if ``the purists are willing to accept well enough and be done with it.''

The comment seemed to be a swipe at some conservatives demanding tougher budget discipline. With a temporary bill keeping agencies open for the first six days of fiscal 2001 expiring Friday, GOP leaders plan a second extension through Oct. 14 in hopes of finishing budget talks.

Just two of the 13 spending bills for 2001 have become law.

The energy and water measure includes $13.5 billion for testing and other nuclear weapons activities, $1.5 billion more than last year and $455 million more than Clinton wanted. It also has $4.5 billion for Army Corps of Engineers water projects, $459 million above Clinton's request and $396 million over 200.

---

FEDERAL CONTRACTS States News Service

Washington Post
Monday, October 2, 2000 ; Page F16
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57366-2000Oct1.html

Booz-Allen & Hamilton of McLean won a $94,000 contract from the U.S. Army for theater missile defense survivability enhancement options.

---

USA Today
October 02, 2000
States
http://usatoday.com/news/states/all50.htm

Massachusetts

Lexington - After five weeks on strike, Raytheon Co. workers will vote today on a new four-year contract with the electronics firm. A mediator helped negotiate a tentative agreement this weekend between Raytheon and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which represents 2,700 workers.

-------- MILITARY (by country)

-------- drug war

Biker peace spells trouble

Montreal Gazette
Monday 2 October 2000
http://www.montrealgazette.com/editorial/pages/001002/4616092.html

Inadvertently, the leaders of Quebec's two warring drug rings, the Hells Angels and the Rock Machine, may have done society a favour. In brazenly using Quebec City's courthouse last week as their own private Camp David for a truce talk, they vividly exposed the hollowness of the Quebec government's so-called anti-gang campaign.

The gang members' use of the public building for their own ends was an affront to all Quebecers who are sick of the bikers' violence and criminal activity. The two gang leaders and their six bodyguards, none of whom were wanted for crimes, behaved civilly. What was unsettling was the awe and intimidation of authorities as they stood by.

The scene was a microcosm of a larger law-enforcement picture. Although the gang members left their vehicles illegally parked outside the courthouse, none of the copious number of police who arrived had the courage to give them tickets. And although the courthouse guards thought the situation risky enough to don bullet-proof vests, none of them frisked the swaggering thugs for guns.

The response of Linda Goupil, who as justice minister is responsible for the courthouse, is also illuminating. Just as in the past her cabinet colleagues have refused to accept responsibility for the government's failure to halt the six-year gang war and instead have blamed Ottawa for not enacting draconian anti-gang legislation, so now Ms. Goupil reacted to the humiliating courthouse visit by deflecting blame to an outside party. She called on the Quebec Bar to investigate one of the gang's lawyers for reserving the room in which the meeting was held, as if the reservation was the problem.

Of course, the real problem is this: a truce between the Hells Angels and the Rock Machine will allow them to carve up the drug trade in a province that is more than ever awash in drugs. Worse, with less inter-gang violence, public pressure on police will ease and law enforcement will be even more of a joke.

Speaking of jokes, here's the latest from Public Security Minister Serge Menard. His response to the gangs' courthouse stunt was to focus on the meeting's optics - the bikers' sporting of gang insignia. "The fact those people show their colours in public," he said, "facilitates their means of intimidation, facilitates their recruiting and facilitates their organization." If only Ottawa would pass a law banning membership in gangs, he declared, "we could act."

He's barking up the wrong tree. If anything, the gang insignia help the public know who they're dealing with. Ban gangs and their members would simply wear anonymous clothing.

The only benefit would be political. Outlawing gang membership would end their media visibility - no more footage of biker hordes rumbling down the Rue Principale - and so reduce the public's awareness.

Still, the biker summit's strange venue was useful in its own way. It trumpeted the fact that a truce is coming, likely bringing with it a grave intensification of the criminal influence of these two organizations in Quebec. It also showcased the spinelessness of the government's anti-gang policy, its responsibility-ducking and irrelevant priorities. It served, in other words, as a wake-up call on how unready the government is to deal with the troubles ahead.

The question is whether the Bouchard government can cease blaming others and, changing course, heed the alarm.

-------- korea

Hope for peace, prepare for war

Washington Times
October 2, 2000
World Scene Combined dispatches and staff reports

SEOUL - Military readiness is still important despite rapidly thawing relations with communist North Korea, South Korean President Kim Dae-jung said yesterday.

"We have to sustain firm security preparedness," Mr. Kim said at a ceremony celebrating Armed Forces Day. "Only when we have the strength and support will we be greeted by the spirit of enduring peace."

Inter-Korean relations have advanced significantly since Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il met in June in Pyongyang for the first summit talks between the two Koreas.

Kim Jong Il is expected to make a return visit to South Korea next spring.

-------- space

Washington Post
Monday, October 2, 2000 ; Page F16
FEDERAL CONTRACTS
States News Service
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57366-2000Oct1.html

Singleton Health Services LLC of Lutherville, Md., won a $1 million contract from the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland for medical services.

-------- taiwan

Taiwan missile deal sparks warning

Sydney Morning Herald
Date: 02/10/2000
http://www.smh.com.au/news/0010/02/text/world9.html

Beijing: China's Premier, Mr Zhu Rongji, has renewed a blunt warning to Taiwan not to put off indefinitely the question of reunification with the mainland.

The warning came as China expressed outrage at a proposed $US1.3 billion ($2.36 billion) weapons deal between the United States and Taiwan.

The US Defence Department informed Congress last week of the proposed sale, which includes 200 medium range missiles that would effectively give Taiwan air supremacy over China.

The AIM-120C Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile can be fitted to F-16 aircraft.

China lodged a protest on Friday with the US Government. A foreign ministry spokesman in Beijing warned of "serious consequences" if the deal went ahead.

But while Taiwanese aircraft will be adapted to take the missiles and aircrew trained in their use, the missiles will not be delivered to Taiwan under the terms of the sale unless there is an immediate threat of an attack from China.

In a speech at the weekend marking China's national day, Mr Zhu reissued a warning he delivered to Taiwan on the eve of the presidential elections there in March.

"We have the greatest sincerity in striving for peaceful reunification, but we also have the strong determination and have made the necessary preparations to resolutely check Taiwan independence and all other separatist activities," Mr Zhu said.

He also praised the "one country, two systems" policy applying in Hong Kong and Macau.

In what one official news agency described as an "ebullient" speech, Mr Zhu told 1500 guests at an official reception that China was about to "enter a new state of development, which will bring about a comfortable life for the whole society".

John Schauble

---

Taiwan Will Get Missiles If Attacked

NewsEdge
October 2, 2000
By ROBERT BURNS AP Military Writer
http://www.individual.com/frames/story.shtml?story=h0929152.800&level3=139501&date=20001002

WASHINGTON (AP) via NewsEdge Corporation - A U.S. missile sale to Taiwan includes a highly unusual condition: that they will not be turned over to the island democracy unless China threatens an attack, a senior U.S. defense official said Friday.

The arrangement is designed to meet a U.S. arms export pledge not to introduce new offensive military capabilities into Asia, where tensions between Taiwan and China are a source of growing U.S. concern.

Taiwanese pilots will train with the missiles, designated the AIM-120C Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile, or AMRAAM, at Air Force training ranges in the United States, the defense official said, speaking on condition he not be identified. Their F-16s will be updated with the weapon control software.

``It's a way for them to train up and be ready should the threat occur,'' without provoking China into accelerating its pursuit of a similar capability, the official said. China's air-to-air missiles are far less advanced.

The AMRAAM, in use by U.S. aircraft since 1991 and built by Raytheon Co., allows a fighter pilot to launch the weapon from beyond visual range of his target. It also provides a greater capability to attack low-altitude targets.

The Taiwan arms deal comes at a particularly delicate moment in U.S.-China relations, which were set back last year when the U.S. Air Force bombed China's embassy in Yugoslavia. Just last week, relations took an important step forward when the Senate approved legislation to normalize trade relations with Beijing.

China on Friday condemned the Taiwan deal and warned that Washington would bear unspecified consequences for defying Beijing.

China, which regards Taiwan as part of the motherland, strongly opposes U.S. arms sales to the island. Under the Taiwan Relations Act, the United States is committed to providing Taiwan with defensive arms.

The $150 million deal for advanced air-to-air missiles seems likely to complicate U.S.-China talks on missile proliferation which resumed this summer after China broke all military contacts with Washington following the embassy bombing. The United States wants to constrain China's exports of missile-related technologies, while Beijing insists that U.S. missile sales to Taiwan show Washington uses a double standard.

Anthony Cordesman, a national security expert at the private Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Friday the AMRAAM arrangement with Taiwan strikes a sensible balance between Taiwan and China.

``Holding AMRAAM in reserve says that with little or no warning the United States can give Taiwan air supremacy over the Taiwan Straits,'' Cordesman said. Taiwan is barely 100 miles from the mainland.

The unusual arrangement was not mentioned in a Pentagon announcement late Thursday saying it planned to sell 200 AMRAAM missiles to Taiwan as part of a $1.3 billion arms package. The Pentagon said the sale would augment and improve Taiwan's air defense capabilities without upsetting the regional military balance.

The U.S. official who discussed the AMRAAM sale said it was approved in response to China's efforts to improve its offensive military capability aimed at Taiwan. He said U.S. officials believe China is pursuing the purchase or development of its own air-to-air missile with a beyond-visual-range capability, but the United States insisted that Taiwan not take direct possession of AIM-120C missiles for the time being.

``We don't want to spur an arms race in the area,'' the official said.

Earlier this week the Pentagon announced that it was selling 100 AMRAAM missiles to Singapore. Those, too, will stay in the United States and delivered to Singapore only in the event of a military threat against it, officials said.

In addition to the AIM-120C air-to-air missiles, the Pentagon also agreed to sell Taiwan 71 Harpoon anti-ship missiles for $240 million, a package of 155mm howitzers and other munitions for $405 million, and an advanced communications system for Taiwan's field military forces for $513 million.

The Congress can reject any Pentagon arms sale but it rarely does so.

-------- u.s.

US Space Command Takes Charge Of Computer Network Attack

Global Network
2 October 2000
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/milspace-00n.html
http://www.gn.apc.org/cndyorks/yspace/articles/cna.htm

With multiple data suppliers used to create this multispectral image the importance of data and network security has never been more important for the US military.

SPACEWAR - US Space Command Takes Charge Of Computer Network Attack

Space represents a fundamentally new and better way to apply military force - by promptly striking adversary centers of gravity, or minimizing or bypassing high-cost, high-risk conflicts.

We may need to incorporate space-based systems to support our efforts to defeat ballistic missiles and cruise missiles that threaten our homeland if we cannot rely exclusively on terrestrial systems.

From space we could detect and attack missiles early in their flights - then use terrestrial systems to destroy any missiles that might survive our space-based first line of defense.

Peterson AFB - October 2, 2000 - United States Space Command took charge of a Computer Network Attack (CNA) mission for the Department of Defense October 1, 2000.

CNA is the newest mission to be added to U.S. Space Command's existing responsibilities of Computer Network Defense and coordinating all military space operations, to include missile warning, communications, navigation, weather and surveillance from DoD, civil and commercial satellite systems.

During armed conflicts, military forces have used information technologies to accomplish lawful military objectives. Radio frequency jamming and electronic counter measures are two examples of the application of information technology to military operations with relatively lengthy historical roots.

Today, military forces around the world use the latest information technologies, including computer-based systems and data links, to conduct their operations.

Within the Department of Defense, United States Space Command has been designated as the military lead for defending DoD networks (Computer Network Defense) and, in the context of the Law of Armed Conflict, denying our adversary the ability to use computer networks to conduct military operations.

Attacking an adversary's computer networks could also be an element of defending our own computer networks against a major cyber attack against our own systems.

CNA operations may also be used in other situations. For example, combating terrorist threats when directed by appropriate authorities. Integrating Computer Network Attack into a broader military operation will help U.S. military forces to prevail on future battlefields. In some instances, Computer Network Attack might allow an operation to succeed with less loss of life and physical destruction. As with any military capability, the United States will only employ CNA after careful policy and legal review, and any use of CNA will be consistent with U.S. international obligations and the Law of Armed Conflict.

---

Cheney Promises Stronger Military

NewsEdge
October 2, 2000
By BILL KACZOR
Associated Press Writer
http://www.individual.com/frames/story.shtml?story=h0928204.701&level3=788&date=20001002

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) via NewsEdge Corporation - Dick Cheney promised a stronger military but said Thursday that specifics from him and George W. Bush on achieving that would have to come later.

The Republican vice presidential candidate repeatedly was interrupted by chants of ``No more Gore'' from about 1,000 people after being introduced by Bush's brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, during a campaign rally at Pensacola Junior College in this Navy town.

Cheney, who was defense secretary under President Bush, the Bush brothers' father, said it takes many years to develop and produce weapons. He recalled telephoning former President Reagan after the Persian Gulf War in 1991 to thank him for the military buildup he began in the early 1980s.

``I wonder if any future secretary of defense is ever going to call (President) Clinton or Al Gore?'' Cheney asked as the crowd cheered.

Although Bush began a post-Cold War military reduction, Cheney contended that additional cuts have been too deep under Clinton and Vice President Gore, the Democratic presidential nominee.

Cheney said later that the Republican ticket has not yet put a final dollar figure on what it would propose to do. Gore has proposed adding $100 billion in new defense spending to an existing $300 billion annual budget.

``The governor said he's got a lot of things he'd like to do,'' Cheney said. ``One is to review our worldwide commitments and decide which ones we definitely want to keep.''

He said Bush also wants to examine procurement for possible spending cuts, and he noted that the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in congressional testimony Wednesday, favored more base closings.

Cheney said he expects the next administration will seek authorization from Congress for another round of base closing.

``I would not argue there's no savings to be had in a $300 billion budget,'' Cheney said. ``What the governor's talking about is sort of leapfrogging, if you will, to the next generation. That is, thinking in terms of what we want the force to look like 30 or 40 years down the road.''

Cheney did mention spending $20 billion for research and development. He also reaffirmed his support for two new major weapons programs: the Air Force's F-22 Raptor fighter and the Navy's F/A-18E&F Super Hornet fighter-bomber. He said those were his top priorities as secretary of defense.

As he began to address the crowd, Cheney asked for minute of silence for two aviators who died when a training plane from Pensacola Naval Air Station crashed Wednesday in southern Alabama.

``We're safer because of their service,'' Cheney said.

Before the rally, he accepted an endorsement on behalf of the Republican ticket from the Florida Association of State Troopers. Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Mike Kirby, chairman of the association, said it was the first time FAST had made a national political endorsement.

Cheney was to appear later Thursday at a fund-raising cocktail party in Pensacola before heading for Jacksonville.

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Pemco gets KC-135 pgm pact extension from Air Force

BridgeNews
October 2, 2000
http://www.individual.com/frames/story.shtml?story=b0929038.9rg&level3=788&date=20001002

New York--Sept. 29--Pemco Aviation Group Inc.'s contract was extended by the U.S. Air Force through 2001 for the KC-135 program. The value of the contract is in excess of $140 million and could include 36 aircraft for which Pemco will provide maintenance, repair and overhaul services.

--Ujjal Basu Roy, BridgeNews

The following is the text of today's announcement with emphasis added by BridgeNews. Bridgestation links to company data have been inserted at the end:

Pemco Aviation Group Announces Contract Extension

BIRMINGHAM, ALA.--SEPT. 29, 2000--PEMCO AVIATION GROUP, INC. (NASDAQ: PAGI) ANNOUNCED TODAY THAT THE U.S. AIR FORCE HAS EXTENDED ITS CONTRACT THROUGH FISCAL YEAR 2001 FOR THE KC-135 PROGRAM. THE AIR FORCE HAS ESTIMATED THE VALUE OF THE CONTRACT TO BE IN EXCESS OF $140 MILLION WHICH COULD INCLUDE MORE THAN 36 AIRCRAFT FOR WHICH PEMCO WILL PROVIDE MAINTENANCE, REPAIR AND OVERHAUL SERVICES AT THE BIRMINGHAM FACILITY. THE EXPANSION COMES ON THE HEELS OF AN ANNOUNCEMENT THAT PEMCO HAS ALSO RECEIVED 12 ADDITIONAL AIRPLANES FOR THE CURRENT FISCAL YEAR. PEMCO'S BIRMINGHAM FACILITY IS RESPONSIBLE FOR MAINTENANCE AND OVERHAUL ON KC-135 AND C-130 AIRCRAFT. CURRENTLY, PEMCO AVIATION EMPLOYS APPROXIMATELY 1400 PEOPLE IN BIRMINGHAM.

U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions announced the contract extension today while in Birmingham at the Pemco Aeroplex facility.

"The Joint Chiefs of Staff told the Senate Armed Services Committee this week that force readiness is the biggest concern facing our military today," said Sessions, a member of the Armed Services panel, who has worked with Pemco management and the Air Force to bring maintenance work to Pemco. "The KC-135 is absolutely crucial to Air Force operations worldwide. Every plane that Pemco returns to service only serves to improve Air Force readiness and America's ability to respond to crises worldwide."

"The Pemco product is, in my opinion the best in the world and today's announcement is recognition of that quality. Of course, standing behind that quality are the people of Pemco, who make the difference every day."

Michael Tennenbaum, Chairman of the Board for Pemco Aviation Group, Inc. said, "I believe this announcement simply proves the old adage that, 'good things happen to good people.' We have great people working for Pemco in Alabama. We are extremely pleased with the commitment we have received from our employees and the outstanding leadership provided by our new management team. We are particularly proud of Senator Sessions and appreciate all of his hard work in Washington for the people of Alabama."

Pemco has been meeting with and working with Congressional, state and local officials since new leadership took over in January. Pemco's Birmingham facilities are the largest of its kind in the U.S. and have 1.2 million square feet of hanger space for aircraft. The expanse of this space allows Pemco to essentially keep the aircraft "moving" as if on an assembly line. Pemco is optimistic that additional contracts and future announcements will provide expansion opportunities for the company and for the aviation industry in Alabama.

"We are proud to have our world-wide headquarters in Birmingham and look forward to future growth. We remain committed to Alabama and to the outstanding workforce employed at Pemco. Senator Sessions' commitment to the State of Alabama and his forward-thinking leadership have been remarkable and we appreciate his support of our efforts to grow and expand," said Ron Aramini, President and CEO of Pemco Aviation Group.

Pemco recently announced that it will expand its Dothan, Alabama facility and double the size of its workforce there over the course of the next five years. The state will invest more than $900,000 to improve the ramp facility at the Dothan airport to make this project possible.

"Our future is bright. Our recent expansion announcement in Dothan, the twelve additional aircraft that we have received for this fiscal year and the contract extension announced today for FY 2001 have reflected the spirit and determination with which our company now operates - we are looking to the future with great expectation," added Aramini.

Pemco Aviation Group, Inc., with executive offices in Birmingham, Alabama, and facilities in Alabama, Florida and California, performs maintenance and modification of aircraft for the U.S. Government and foreign and domestic commercial customers. The Company also provides aircraft parts and support and engineering services and full service overhaul and repair for a wide range of aircraft. Pemco Aviation Group also develops and manufactures aircraft cargo systems, rocket vehicles andcontrol systems, and precision components for the aviation industry.

CONTACT:
Pemco Aviation Group Inc., Birmingham Doris Sewell, 205/591-3009
or
Direct Communications, Birmingham Kim Cochran, 205/969-1331

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Boeing Awarded $45 Million for 500-Pound JDAM Development

NewsEdge
October 2, 2000
http://www.individual.com/frames/story.shtml?story=p0929120.801&level3=27716&date=20001002

ST. LOUIS, Sept. 29 /PRNewswire/ via NewsEdge Corporation - The U.S. Air Force recently awarded $45 million to The Boeing Company for engineering, manufacturing and development (EMD) of the 500-pound Joint Direct Attack Munition, or JDAM.

Boeing will conduct EMD on the F-16 and integrate the lightweight JDAM on the U.S. Air Force's B-2 and the U.S. Navy's F/A-18 aircraft. This smaller version of JDAM improves mission capability by allowing more JDAMs to be loaded on an aircraft and reduces damage around the intended target due to the smaller warhead.

"Boeing is proud to add the 500-pound Mark-82 to the JDAM family of weapons," said Mike Marks, vice president and general manager, Weapons Programs. "We are also proud that JDAM development has bettered requirements for price, performance and production."

The work is scheduled to be completed by the Boeing weapons facility in St. Charles, Mo., by December 2002.

JDAM is a low-cost guidance kit that converts existing unguided free-fall bombs into highly accurate guided weapons. It can be launched up to 15 miles from the target in virtually any weather condition. JDAM uses information received from an Inertial Navigation System/Global Positioning System to locate targets and guide the missile.

Boeing funded the initial development of the 500-pound JDAM kit using the same components found in the standard 2,000- and 1,000-pound JDAM configurations.

Flight tests were successfully carried out this year and in 1999.

JDAM is a program selected by the U.S. Department of Defense to test methods for streamlining the acquisition process. By incorporating extensive use of commercial practices and off-the-shelf components, Boeing is able to produce a highly accurate and reliable JDAM at a low system cost.

Most U.S. military attack/bomber aircraft have already demonstrated JDAM capability, including the U.S. Air Force B-1, B-2, B-52 and F-16, and the U.S. Navy/Marine Corps F/A-18. Plans are under way to demonstrate compatibility with the Air Force F-15, F-117 and F-22; the Marine Corps AV-8B; the Navy F-14; and the multi-service Joint Strike Fighter.

SOURCE The Boeing Company
CONTACT: Robert Algarotti of Boeing, 636-947-2966, e-mail, robert.a.algarotti@boeing.com
Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/109119.html or fax, 800-758-5804, ext. 109119
Web site: http://www.boeing.com (BA)

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Firearms Training gets up to $2.5 mln orders from Army

BridgeNews
October 2, 2000
http://www.individual.com/frames/story.shtml?story=b0929027.8rg&level3=788&date=20001002

New York--Sept. 29--Firearms Training Systems, Inc. received a $1.98 million contract from the U.S. Army to provide training systems, weapon simulators, extended maintenance and training support for 13 indirect fire and small arms simulators. This brings the potential contract value to $2.5 million. --Cody Lyon, BridgeNews

The following is the text of today's announcement, with emphasis added by BridgeNews. BridgeStation users will find links to company data at the end:

Firearms Training Systems, Inc. Announces Contract Award to Support U.S. Army Deployed Forces

SUWANEE, GA.-- --SEPT. 29, 2000--FIREARMS TRAINING SYSTEMS, INC. (OTC: FATS) ANNOUNCED TODAY THAT THE U.S. ARMY, EUROPE, 7TH ARMY TRAINING CENTER HAS PURCHASED 13 FATS INDIRECT FIRE AND SMALL ARMS SIMULATORS TO SUPPORT DEPLOYED PEACE-KEEPING FORCES.

CONTRACTS TOTALING APPROXIMATELY $1,980,000 WERE AWARDED TO FATS TO PROVIDE TRAINING SYSTEMS, WEAPON SIMULATORS, EXTENDED MAINTENANCE AND TRAINING SUPPORT FOR THE EQUIPMENT. CONTRACT OPTIONS ARE AVAILABLE FOR ADDITIONAL MAINTENANCE AND TRAINING SUPPORT BRINGING THE TOTAL POTENTIAL CONTRACT VALUE TO APPROXIMATELY $2,500,000.

CEO Bob Mecredy remarked that, "FATSis honored to provide our simulation systems for the U.S. Army to train security forces for operations in Bosnia and Kosovo. We are particularly pleased since this contract adds more systems and upgrades to the six systems already in use by the U.S. Army in Bosnia and Italy. FATS will start delivery in October and immediately begin to support training and maintenance with FATS employees working under contract for the U.S. Army in Europe. This contract, coupled with recent awards previously announced for the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Air Force Reserves, demonstrates renewed strength of the Company in the U.S. military business area."

FATS is the leading worldwide producer of interactive simulation systems designed to provide training in the handling and use of small and supporting arms. FATS(r) products also include air defense, anti-armor, and armored vehicle training products, which are designed and manufactured by its Canadian subsidiary, Simtran Technologies, Inc. Commercial versions of FATS(r) products supporting the sports shooting enthusiast and professional hunter are designed and manufactured by its Colorado-based subsidiary, Dart International, Inc.

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Raytheon and IBEW Local 1505 Reach Tentative Agreement

NewsEdge
October 2, 2000
http://www.individual.com/frames/story.shtml?story=p0929235.700&level3=27716&date=20001002

LEXINGTON, Mass., Sept. 29 /PRNewswire/ via NewsEdge Corporation - Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTNA, RTNB) and IBEW Local 1505 have reached a tentative agreement on a new four-year contract. The IBEW International and Local Union Leadership have endorsed the contract, and are recommending ratification. No terms are being disclosed at this time. The contract proposal is subject to membership ratification. Details regarding location and time will be announced as soon as arrangements are made.

Raytheon Company is a global technology leader that provides products and services in the areas of commercial and defense electronics and business and special mission aircraft. Raytheon has operations throughout the United States and serves customers in more than 70 countries.

Contact: David Polk of Raytheon, 800-404-3803
SOURCE Raytheon Company
Web site: http://www.raytheon.com (RTNA RTNB)

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Aerosonic`s Avionics ops gets Lockheed Martin MOU for order

BridgeNews
October 2, 2000
http://www.individual.com/frames/story.shtml?story=b0929017.4rg&level3=139498&date=20001002

New York--Sept. 29--Aerosonic Corp. unit Avionics Specialties Inc. signed a Memorandum of Agreement with Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. to provide its Integrated Multifunction