European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 1, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The stars and stripes monday August 1,1988 go contractors protest new policy claim certification Overly restrictive by Richard w. Stevenson los Angeles not a number of military contractors Are contending that a new Pentagon policy requiring them to certify that they have not received inside information in the bidding process is Overly restrictive and could leave them in a legally untenable Posi Tion. They Are holding out the possibility of refusing to sign the certification documents. Such a refusal would bar the from receiving any Pentagon contracts valued at More than $100,000. The new policy stems from a Justice department investigation of fraud and bribery in the military procurement system. It remained unclear whether any companies would go so far As to effectively Cut themselves off from new Pentagon business. But several Industry lawyers and executives said that the policy was so vaguely worded that they could be held legally liable for possessing a Broad array of in formation that could properly be obtained in the Normal course of business. They re asking you to swear that Youdon t have information you Damn Well know that you do have said an Industry lawyer who asked that he and his company not be identified. A Pentagon spokesman said Friday that since no company has defied the policy there Are no plans to consider changes. The policy requires companies to state that they have not obtained any information about a military program except what is provided by the officer in charge of the contract and 9ther information that is generally available to the pub  also requires the companies to certify that they have not hired anyone to obtain inside information for them. If a company has received information outside of what is permitted by the policy it must submit a report on How when and from whom it was obtained. The company must also certify that it has not shared Price information with competitors. The policy also requires companies to agree to forfeit their profit on a program or 10 percent of a contract s value if they Are found to have engaged in illegal or improper activity in winning a con tract. The policy applies to the 16 Compa Nies that underwent a search by Federal agents in june in connection with the Justice department inquiry. No individuals or companies have been charged with any wrongdoing. On wednesday John a. Rolls executive vice president and chief financial officer of the United technologies corp., one of the companies affected by the pol icy said that the company would no agree to the certification and that he doubted other contractors would either. United technologies issued a statement on thursday saying that it had not yet decided whether to agree to the certification. But it added that Rolls statements reflect the serious concerns and questions the company has about the policy. A spokesman for Litton industries inc s data systems division also expressed reservations about the policy it believe we can sign it in its we Don present form Sig said the spokesman John  said Litton was still studying the policy and he declined to Specif what Legal objections the company might have. We find it objectionable because we have not been confronted with any allegations of wrongdoing or even the basis for any allegations Thorn said. Gary Simpson a spokesman for Var Ian associates whose Continental electronics division has been suspended from Pentagon work because of its links to the investigation said that the company believes the concept of certification has Merit but that the current policy has some ambiguities that need to be cleared  pre bid process Calls for a lot of information Exchange that s not Only mutually beneficial but necessary to make it function Simpson said. It still not Clear what is and in t permitted and it will take some careful deliberation to work that  critic fears foreigners May gain control of key areas of Economy Washington a foreign investment in the United states is expected to accelerate dramatically this year but the True scope of overseas ownership remains hidden a congressional critic complains. We need to know if foreign ownership is concentrating itself in key areas of our Economy Energy steel banking whether foreign ownership is gaining control of key sectors of the american Economy says rep. John Bryant a Texas. Bryant came into the spotlight last year As sponsor of a provision of the 1,000-Page Trade Bill approved by the House. It would have forced a maj9r increase inthe amount of disclosure required of foreign investors. Lawmakers eventually dropped Bryant s heavily de bated plan in an unsuccessful Effort to win president Reagan s approval. And it is not part of the revised version of the Trade Bill now under debate. But Bryant is still pushing legislation to require for eign owners to Register their major . Assets with the Commerce department including business Industrial real estate and farm holdings. The Reagan administration opposes his Bill because they Don t want to look like the folks that gave away the store the Dallas Democrat said. Prospects for getting the Bill to the president s desk this year Are not especially Bright but Bryant vows not to give up. To bolster his Case he cites a private study release last week showing foreign ownership in the United states has More than tripled since 1980. The congressional economic leadership Institute said foreign investors own about 33 percent of prime commercial real estate in Washington d.c., 46 per cent in los Angeles and 39 percent in Houston. It said they own 10 percent of the . Manufacturing base hold a majority interest in Concrete and con Sumer electronics industries and play a significant role in machine tools chemicals and Auto parts. Nearly 3 million americans Are employed full or part time As a result of foreign investment the study said. It acknowledged however that foreign investments still account for no More than 5 percent to 6 percent of .  said it is Foolhardy to believe foreign investors will avoid the United states if they must Regis Ter their holdings since every other country collects careful data without scaring off business. Nancy Leamond president of the Institute said in our innermost Circle of trading partners we Are the Only nation that swings the door open unconditionally to virtually every  Treasury Secretary James a. Baker Iii and former Cabinet official Elliot Richardson claim that Bryant s Bill is anti competitive. Richardson testified before the Senate Commerce committee that it would discourage foreign invest ment and result in higher . Interest rates and an economic slowdown. Richardson called the reporting requirements burdensome. He said that sufficient information already has been collected by 16 Federal agencies and that investors would have to reveal business secrets. In its study the Institute said an unprecedented Transfer of american assets to foreign control is under  since 1980, foreign direct investment in the unite states expanded by More than 215 percent while american investment abroad jumped by one fifth that rate the study said. Foreign buyouts Are expected to make up As much as20 percent of . Acquisitions this year up from 5 percent in 1987, said the study which based its find Ings on the latest available data from the Commerce department and other sources. Agent Orange Benefit actress Jane Fonda with actor Robert de Niro Waves to fans As she makes an appearance at fund Raiser in Waterbury Conn to Benefit Chil Dren with birth defects attributed by some to agent Orange. The two Are working on a film in Waterbury. The Choice of Waterbury for the filming site was protested by some veterans groups in the area that were unhappy with fond a s activities during the Vietnam War. Kittens were cute idea,1 but not to humane society Selma Ala. A complaint from the humane society prompted a radio station to change the rules in scavenger Hunt in which contestants were to bring in Kittens As a tie breaker for the $ 1,000 prize. Participants deadlocked at the endow the regular contest would have received one Point for every Kitten the took to a shopping mall. Rhonda Poe who operates the Selma humane society said she was concerned for the safety of any Kitten being used in the contest. De Davies operations manager at Tun pm said using Kittens As a tie breaker seemed like a cute  the station decided against it after being told they might not retreated  instead of collecting Kittens Davies said the names of two contestants with the same number of Points were draw saturday to decide the Winner. Hope Diamond vault opens after being stuck shut 4 Days Washington a a vault con Taining the Hope Diamond popped open saturday after being stuck shut for four Days hiding one of the smithsonian museum of natural history s most popular attractions. Crowds gathering around the vault that holds the 44.4-Carat Blue Diamond acquired by the museum in 1958, were confronted with a printed sign saying that the Diamond could not be displayed. Museum officials said they believe the timer on the vault holding the Diamond May have malfunctioned. Mechanics Are looking at it and the men that maintain the Safe Are checking it out museum spokesman Tom har Ney said. We should be Able to Tell next week what went  the vault opened shortly before the museum s 10 . Scheduled opening saturday Harney said. The Diamond is kept behind a thick layer of bulletproof Glass covered by a heavy non transparent door that a tinier opens so the Gem can be displayed