European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 09, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes Friday february 9,1990 columns Martin Tolchin budget Battle tests Kemp resolve effectiveness Jack Kemp was impatient. It was 6 . One Day last Spring and he wanted to mail a letter directing 3.300 Public housing authorities to evict drug dealers. Unfortunately the Agency lawyer who was drafting the document had left Tor the Day. Kemp unfazed. Found the letter on the lawyer s computer disk polished it and had it mailed. The next morning the lawyer discovered his disk missing and the letter sent. With Kemp at the Helm the department of housing and Urban development has awakened. Unlike his predecessor Samuel r. Pierce or. Kemp has wandered the Halls popped into offices solicited ideas from staff members. Housing and Urban experts agree that an infusion of spirit and purpose into the beleaguered Agency has been the greatest single achievement of Kemp s first year. But a year after the former representative from Buffalo. . Was sworn in some Are still Uncertain about his Success in putting housing Back on the National Agenda. The question is whether he can trans late rhetoric into  said Ira Gribbin. A former president of the National association of realtors. Kemp admits that his enthusiasm sometimes exceeds his knowledge of the Agency s programs. When he announced last month that he was ending a mortgage insurance program that had Cost the government $1 billion he admitted that he was not conversant with All the details. Did they want a mortgage banker or a Quarter Back asked the onetime Buffalo Bills signal caller. On the plus Side Kemp used his congressional experience to help win enactment last november of a mod est legislative package to Correct the ravages of the Pierce Era. The measure is intended to help Avert the pattern of political influence that often determined Grant decisions in Ronald Reagan s administration and enriched developers and consultants with High level Republican connections. The new Law limits the Agency s discretion by creating firm criteria for housing Grants and threatens violators with civil penalties of up toll million a year. In addition to Kemp s efforts. Attorney general Dick Thornburgh announced last week that he was seeking the appointment of an Independent prosecutor to investigate Pierce and other former senior Hud officials for conspiracy to defraud the government. Housing experts credit Kemp with persuading presi Dent Bush to support legislation to create a three year $5.5 billion program intended to help Low income fam Ilies become homeowners. The Agency is now drafting the legislation. At Kemp s Behest the budget for the fiscal year 1991 that Bush delivered to Congress last week Calls for a s1.4 billion increase in housing assistance to s15 billion. Tom Wicker \ the House that Jack inbuilt the president s budget also Calls for a $300 million increase in funds for the homeless. But critics note that the budget seeks a reduction in funds for modernization of Public housing and Low income Home Energy assistance. Funds for Community sen ices Block Grants would be Cut to $42 million from$389 million under the Bush proposal. Bush also wants to repeal Urban development action Grants which helped build up the downtown areas in Baltimore Buffalo and other cities. Kemp agreed to these reductions to obtain Money for project Hope the plan for Low income homeowners. Although he is no longer a quarterback Kemp is still scrambling As he seeks ways to operate the department More efficiently. My biggest Surprise was the depth of the problem Kemp said. I Don t mean the depth of the scandal but the depth of mismanagement. There were  he added the Agency had been Drifting for  to some degree Kemp remains an anomaly a conservative Republican who talks urgently about housing for the homeless and empowering the poor. Calling himself a bleeding heart conserva Tive Kemp has insisted that at least 75 percent of the Agency s Money be spent on the poor. I m dealing with the issues that arc the least obvious to most in my own party yet arc the most intractable prob lems facing our country As it tries to Tell the rest of the world that democracy will work for them he said. On balance it seems Kemp spent much of his first Yea with his Finger in the Dike trying to Stem the fallout from the disclosures of fraud waste and influence peddling inthe Pierce years that rocked the Agency. The budget process that just started in Congress will provide a test of his resolve and effectiveness. After persuading Bush to endorse project Hope Home ownership and Opportunity for people every where Kemp needs to make sure that Congress finances the package which would Cost $1.2 billion in fiscal 1991. It includes $250 million in Grants to help Low income families and tenants become homeowners and would require the states to put up an additional $ 1 for every $2 in Federal  program also Calls for $251 million for housing vouchers $412 million to help resident groups become Home buyers and a $246 million program to help the homeless by providing medical care education and Job training As Well As Beds. An important song goes to court in Alabama Tommy Hammond is the Propri Etor of a record shop called taking Home the hits in Alexander City Ala. Unlike some americans he does t want to be a censor telling others what they can or can t listen  because he believes music is up to the person who s listening to  amen to that but the state of Ala Bama does t agree. On june 29. 1988, Hammond was arrested by an undercover policeman who had purchased from him a tape called move something " by 2 live Crew a rap group. Hammond had never listened to the tape but was charged with violating a stale Law that prohibits the Sale of obscene materials. On july 31. 1988. He was convicted and fined $500. But Hammond the first american Ever found guilty of Selling re corded obscenity is fighting Back. His Appeal will be heard in stale court on feb. 19 the outcome will be watched throughout the recording and entertain ment industries for its effect on artists and performers and could be a step to Ward government censorship of what americans can listen to in the privacy of their Homes. Tanya Blackwood of the re cording Industry association of America Calls Tommy Hammond s Case Only the tip of the iceberg and she May be right in Sylacauga Ala., on dec. 9, 1989. Bob Hammond Tommy s brother and the proprietor of arc Czuway record shop was fined $3,000 and Given a year s suspended sentence for Selling a tape with explicit lyrics by a group called too Short. In dad county Fla. Authorities arc following up a private sting sup ported by the american family association. Three record stores arc accused of possible violations of a state statute ban Ning sales to minors of recordings depict ing sexual excitement or activities be cause two of them sold the 2 live Crew tape As Nasty As they Wanna be and the third sold another tape by the group me so  one of two Bills in the Florida legislature would ban sales of books and magazines As Well As recordings con Taining material harmful to minors in a variety of ways the other would pro Hibit sales to minors of recordings Glamor izing suicide and numerous sexual activities or encouraging murder violence racism and illegal use of drug Sand alcohol. New Iberia la., already has an Ordi Nance forbidding the Sale of obscene albums to people under 17. In Pennsylvania the House has approved and the Senate is considering a Bill Banning sales of recordings with explicit lyrics about sex violence drugs and alcohol unless a parental warning is attached to the offending material. The retailer not the artists or producers would be responsible for deciding to which recordings to affix the warning. In Missouri a pending legislative act resembles the Pennsylvania Bill in its prohibitions but adds descriptions of nudity and satanism and requires an opaque wrapper. It also bars minors from attending any performance in any Way invoking anything proscribed in recordings. The Washington Post reports that Abeling Bills for recordings Are in Var ious legislative stages in Virginia Arizona new Mexico Iowa Illinois Oklahoma Delaware and Kansas. A Maryland Bill the Post said focuses on racism and anti semitism As Well As obscenity. There Are ironies aplenty in All this. For example Luke sky Walker re cords producer of the 2 live Crew tape that led to Tommy Hammond s arrest reports that it comes in grated and a rated versions. The one Hammond was arrested for Selling bore a sticker plainly warning of explicit  Elizabeth Johnson a lawyer for the South can poverty Law Center who is representing Hammond says that raw a concert film by Eddie Murphy with plenty of explicit language played in Alexander City for weeks with no a  parents music resource Center which started the current backlash against explicit lyrics does not Back any of the Labelling legislation. It supports voluntary Labelling to which the re cording Industry has agreed since 1985.of More than 7,500 albums released Between january 1986 and August 1989,moreover, Only 49 bore warning labels or lyrics printed on the jacket. The Pyrc thinks 72 others should have carried warnings even so the figures hardly Sug Gest a record Market flooded with Raunchy language. What s wrong with All this agitation if you have to ask you May never know Cine Yak Tims