European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 4, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The stars and stripes saturday. April 4,1987 sol spawns Bill for new armed service by Chuck v1nchwuhinfton tartan Washington frustrated by administration indecision and confusion about the feasibility of deploying the strategic defense initiative four conservative lawmaker introduced a Bill thursday to create a new armed service to deploy and operate nuclear missile de lenses. The Bill. Introduced by sen. Malcol Wallop d-wyo., would create another armed service called the defense Force to defend the United Stales against All Aerial threats including ballistic missiles cruise missiles and aircraft. Pentagon officials declined to com ment on the Bill. Iff shocking to note that there it no where in our armed Fortes the minion to defend that nation against the biggest military threat we face ballistic mis Siles Wallop . Orrin Hatch a Lutah rep Jack Kemp , and rep Jim courier in a Are co sponsors of the Bill. The Bill mandates the speedy production of weapons that the Pentagon has had on the drawing Board for Yea but which we have not had because of indecision he  Bill would exempt the defense Force from Pentagon procurement Rogu Larioni for at least 10 years Wallop said a the organization s minion would t be bogged Down and made prohibitively expensive by the ruin regulations and customs have made the Pentagon the subject of great   Bill was born Oul of immense frustration with the administration s handling of the sol program. In the past few months Many supporters of the program have criticized the administration s policy of allowing Only research on sol. Wallop said he expects much opposition to the Bill but i m eager to Sec expressed in Public the objection to Ourbin s mandate to design weapons and procedures to defend Ine United state against current military threats As de fined by the Best intelligence available he said. One indication of potential opposition surfaced thursday As the House armed services research and development sub committee voted to Cut president Rea Gan s fiscal i9s8 funding request for so research from s5.2 billion to $3.2 billion according to a staffer for courier. The subcommittee also rejected a proposal by courier to restore the original request the staffer said. Sappho Imolove Bridges Gap they could u Mother and ran hot they re Noti the s 18-year-old High school senior Todd Collett and so s 40-year-old grandmother Marty  the fort Arthur Texas Tony lords have sworn to be main for life go Nutter what people layabout their age disparity Sims has three Daugh ters one of them two Yean older than Todd. Mil Lio the Senate rejects administration of of Panama drug fighting efforts Washington the Senate in a purely three countries have fully cooperated in the i a symbolic move Friday  Reagan administration was wrong in certifying that Panama has fully Cooper ated with . Effort to stamp Oul drug production and trafficking. But the chamber refused to adopt a similar Resolution aimed at Mexico and was considering a similar Resolution dealing with the  disapproval of panamanian anti drug efforts As insufficient came in a voice Vole after the Senate on a31-58 Vole refused to table or effectively kill the Resolution the Effort to formally disagree with the administration certification was led by Sens. Jesse Helms r-n.c., and John Kerry a mass. Helms and Kerry contended the government of pan Ama has permitted the country to become a Center for the transshipment of illicit drugs and the laundering of drug profits. The vote to table the Resolution aimed at Mexico was 49-38. The Bahamas Panama and Mexico were on a list of countries the administration has certified As being co operative in its War against drugs. Failure to gain certification could Cost a nation .foreign Aid and other benefits. But fridays vote were nothing More than symbolic a 30-Day period set aside for the Senate to void the certifications expired at Midnight wednesday the Senate could however move later to make its actions retroactive. Helms called the administration s assertion that the thre i War against drugs false and  but other senators including Richard Lugar r-irtd.,called the drive to reject the administration s findings a counterproductive exercise in Mexico bashing that could Seno sly damage . Relations with a close neighbor and end All cooperation in fighting drug ship menu. On Panama Helms said thai if anyone believes that country has fully cooperated in the last year "1 want to Lake them to new York and sell them an interest inthe Brooklyn  he said there Are 125 Banks in Panama with $30billion in deposits and he contended that much of the total represents targe amounts of american Cash from drug deals. Other senators said Panama recently has passed Laws aimed at cracking Down on Money laundering and pointed to the strategic importance of the Panama canal and the presence of 4,500 . Troops there. The 1986 Law slates the president must certify each year that each of the listed countries has cooped cd fully with the United states or has taken adequate Steps on its own in preventing narcotic drugs from reaching the United states and has acted to Stop Money laundering operations aimed at hiding the origins of drug related  president is permitted one escape Hatch the ability to certify that National Security consideration makes it unwise to invoice the punitive sections of the Law even though the country involved May not redeemed to be fully cooperative. Reagan gave National Security certifications to two nations Laos and Lebanon. Veto override ends funding wait for states Washington a billions of Federal Highway and mass transit dollars arc flowing again after being bottled up for in months by congressional disputes and a dramatic standoff Between presi Dent Reagan and Congress. The Money assures that hundreds of Highway projects from widening Rural roads to closing gaps in the nation s interstate system will not be delayed further according to slate transportation officials. In some slates Highway construction Money was about to dry  said. The iss billion five year Highway authorization Bill enacted after a tense Senate vote thursday also signals Heend of the nationwide 55 Mph Speed limit allowing states to raise their Maxi mum speeds to 65 Mph on Rural inter state  minutes after the Senate agreed to override Reagan s veto of the measure the Federal Highway administration began notifying states on How much Money is available some states were expected to draw on the Federal assistance As Early As Friday replacing stale Money or borrowed fund they had used in recent months to keep some Highway building projects  months of uncertainty those Orange and Blaek Road work ahead signs will be springing up across the nation like april Flowers said Daniel Hanson sr., president of the american Road and transportation builders association. Although Reagan called the Highway Bill a budget Buster it actually represents a decline of about 51.9 billion in Road building expenditures this fiscal year compared with fiscal 1986 when 115.4billion was authorized. In All $13.5 billion is authorized for Highway construction during the 1987 fiscal year that began last october Al though Stales will be allowed to actually obligate Only $12.3 billion because of congressionally imposed budget restraints Federal Highway Agency spokes Man enc Bolton said. The Money comes from a Highway Trust fund which collects a 9 cent a Gal Longso lineman and truck  wrangling prevented the passage of the Highway Bill last sum Mer in time for the Start of fiscal 1987, and state Highway officials say the sin month delay in Federal assistance already has caused the postponement of $2 Bil lion in Road building projects. We re very relieved that this Bill Isnow Law said Lester Lamm executive director of the Highway users federation a lobbying group that represents various Highway interests. Highway users have been paying Road Ana Gaso line taxes. But they Haven t gotten any new construction projects Oul of  mass transit officials also expressed Relief since Lite legislation includes authorization for $18 billion in transit spending through fiscal 1991, including a continuation of badly needed operating subsidies. We re elated said Jane Kilpatrick spokeswoman for the american Public transit association. It s been i months in  the Highway Bill includes authority for transit agencies across the country to spend s3.s billion this fiscal year about$300 million less than last year Kalpa Riek  Overall Federal assistance program for mass transit is largely left intact Al though the Reagan administration had sought to sharply Cut operating subsidies and Money for new subway projects such As the $850 million for the proposed Losangeles subway system. The transit spending was cited by Rea Gan As one of the major reasons for his  a statement thursday transportation Secretary Elizabeth Dole expressed disappointment Over the Senate vote saying distribution of transit Money is not fair to the vast majority of Ameri cans because 11 cities receive 80 per cent of the Money. The five year Bill Calls for $68.5 Bil lion for Highway construction through the 1991 fiscal year. Much of that will be Money used to finish some of the last gaps of the interstate Highway system thai marked its 30th anniversary last  had worked for More than two years to produce a Compromise High Way Bill Only to have it vetoed last week by the president. During that time state shave had to find other sources of Money. Some have used funds left Over from pre Vious years while others began borrow  delay in Federal Money according to state Highway officials had threatened serious delays in a number of major interstate projects including construction on 1-394 West of downtown Minneapolis and 1-90 across Lake Washington East of Seattle hundreds of other Highway project such As plans to Widen slate route 121 in Illinois or Widen state route 2 betwee Toledo and port Clinton in Ohio also were placed in  most of the Highway projects Are considered non controversial More than 100 special demonstration projects totalling about $1.7 billion Drew fire from the president. Nevertheless Money for them will now become Avail Able. They include a controversial $1.1 Bil lion Central artery project in Boston which stale and City officials claim should be considered part of the inter state Highway  smaller sums of Federal Money Are going for assorted projects of special interest to various members of Congress