European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 16, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 b the stars and stripes saturday november 16, 1991jobless Bill also benefits  would get equal treatment by Chuck Vinch Washington Bureau Washington a service members who leave the military during the draw Down will have a stronger safety net while they look for work in the private sector under a new unemployment benefits Bill nearing final approval. The $5.2 billion Bill would give scr ice members up to 26 weeks of benefits and also make them eligible for the same temporary Extension of benefits a up to 20 additional weeks a that would be Given to unemployed private sector workers. Service members Are currently limited to a maximum of 13 weeks of benefits. The Bill would also lower the amount of time military personnel Trust wait after separation until they can apply for benefits from four weeks to one week which is the Standard waiting period for private sector workers. The full House passed the Bill thursday night but it was stalled in the sen ate further action was scheduled Friday. President Bush should quickly sign the Bill into Law when it clears Congress a House ways and Means committee staffer said. The legislation is meant primarily to ease the financial crunch on about 3 million unemployed workers who have exhausted their Normal benefits during the recession. States will offer six 13 or 20 weeks of additional payments depending on unemployment rates and How Many people have exhausted their benefits. That Extension will be in effect until july 4. In an important Victory for the Pentagon the Bill provides higher unemployment benefits to All military personnel whether they leave voluntarily or Are forced out a House armed services committee staffer said. Previously All service members qualified for up to 13 weeks of benefits regardless of the circumstances of their separation. But during the heated debate Over the unemployment benefits Bill some lawmakers notably Senate minority Leader Bob Dole r-kan., As Well As president Bush pushed for a change that would have limited eligibility to service members who Are forced out. They argued that private sector workers always have had to be Laid off or fired from their jobs to qualify for unemployment benefits and that it should be the same for military personnel. Pentagon officials faced with trimming thousands of people Over the next three years worried that such a change would make service members who might otherwise have left the military on their own stay in rather than face a sluggish Job Market with Little or no financial Cushion. Once the temporary Extension provision expires next july service members will remain eligible for up to 26 weeks of benefits. A its my understanding that that change is permanent Quot the House armed services committee staffer said. A service members supposedly will be eligible for the same benefits Given to All other unemployed workers in a particular  Bush had killed two other Bills to extend unemployment benefits because they would have required breaking the budget agreement negotiated by lawmakers and the administration last year and adding to the Federal deficit. In contrast lawmakers found alternative funding sources to pay for this version of the legislation. It will be financed with about $2.6 billion from tightening rules for those who make estimated quarterly income tax payments $1.7 billion from allowing the internal Revenue service to continue withholding tax refund checks from people who have defaulted on student Loans and $880,000 from delaying for one year a scheduled drop in the unemployment tax from 0.08 percent to 0.06  gets life sentence for murder rapes by John Millar Wurzburg Bureau Wurzburg Germany a a military judge delivered a life prison term thursday to a . Army private convicted of killing a newlywed officers wife and raping the spouse of another Soldier in Schweinfurt. Pfc. Dwan Gates pleaded guilty at a court martial on Leighton Barracks in Wurzburg to charges of murder rape kidnapping sodomy and swearing to a false statement that stemmed from two separate attacks on Arney wives in Schweinfurt. In addition to the jail term it. Col. Charles Trant sentenced gales to be demoted to the lowest enlisted Grade forfeiture of All pay and allowances and a dishonourable discharge. Gates assigned to the 3rd inf div s co a 2nd in 64th Armor in Schweinfurt confessed to the kidnapping robbery rape and murder of an army captains wife on nov. 29, 1990. He admitted to the killing after he was identified As the assailant of another army wife whom he kidnapped raped and sodomized on May 23. Gales told the court thursday about How he targeted 30-year-old Carol Cuttle during the assault last november. Them a tank crewman said he followed Cuttle out of a Community Center on Conn Barracks in Schweinfurt and forced his Way into her car after striking her in the face with his fist. Gates said he ordered Cuttle to drive off the installation to an area in Schweinfurt where he stole her wedding and engagement rings and raped her. After the assault a i just found myself looking at her and i go memorial service held for nurse in Stuttgart Stuttgart Germany a a memorial service for Carol Ann St rider a civilian nurse at 5th general Hospital in Stuttgart was held thursday at the Hospital s Chapel. The 49-year-old intensive care unit nurse had died in her apartment where her supervisor found her body monday evening after she failed to report Tor the evening shift said military Community spokesman George Ruetting. I he cause of death is believed to have been a heart attack said Hospital spokeswoman 1st it. Angela Tropf. Strider. A native of Guthrie. Okla. Had worked for the Hospital since 1987. She is survived by her son William p. Paul of Juneau Alaska. At the family a request her body is being flown to Libby. Mont., for burial. Angry Quot he told the court. A i just went wild and started choking  the woman s husband capt. Mark Cuttle testified that his wife was alone for the first time since they married on sept. 1, 1990, when the attack occurred. Cuttle then assigned to he co 2nd in 15th inf in Schweinfurt had been at a gunnery exercise in Grafe Wohr and found his wife missing when he returned for what was to be a Surprise visit on the Day she was murdered. His wife a body was found the next Day. The Captain now stationed at fort Devens mass., said he attended a funeral mass for his wife in the same Church they were married in seven weeks earlier. Gates confessed to the murder after another army wife identified him As her assailant shortly after she was abducted raped and sodomized in Conn Barracks in May. The woman who still lives in the Community told the court that Gates called her at Home and led her to believe something had happened to her husband who was on temporary duty in the United states. The woman rushed to the installation where Gates said he persuaded her to drive him to a secluded area where he raped and sodomized her. After the attack he said he wanted to be turned in to military police but escaped when she drove him to the front Gate of the installation and began screaming for help. After admitting to authorities that he had attacked that woman Gates also confessed to the Cuttle murder. Criminal investigation come agents said he took them to the place where Cuttle s body was discovered. Cuttle s engagement ring was found during a search of his Barracks room. By the los Angeles times Washington a the air Force seeking to Aid Cash strapped Mcdonnell Douglas corp. And save its troubled c-17 transport program improperly accelerated payments to the aircraft maker. Department of defense auditors said thursday. The auditors also said that Mcdonnell Douglas officials including chairman John Mcdonnell exerted a undue influence Quot on the air Force to Speed up the payments totalling More than $100 million and to per Frankfurt Germany a a an armed forces Retiree health Day will be held at the Frankfurt army regional medical Center from 9 . To 2 30 . Today the Hospital staff will provide tests for cholesterol body fat Content and glaucoma in addition to Oral cancer screening medication and exercise counselling and information on the civilian health and medical program of the uniformed services according to Judith Gates said he confessed to the killing a because i was tired of living a lies and a i did everything possible to bring it to an  he originally pleaded guilty to unpremeditated murder but prosecutors pointed out that he admitted to strangling Cuttle a second time before leaving her car because he thought he saw her breathing after his first attempt to kill her. Trant also found him guilty of robbing Cuttle and raping and kidnapping both women. Gates was also convicted of three separate acts of sodomy that were combined into one charge and swearing to a false statement. In a pretrial agreement Gates promised to plead guilty to the crimes provided the death penalty not be imposed. When asked by defense attorney capt. Wayne Wallace if he could be rehabilitated Gates said a i done to know if i can be. 1 Hope i could  the rape victim recounted Gates attack on her. In emotional sentencing testimony. Listening in the packed courtroom were Carol Cuttle a Brothers and Sisters from Massachusetts. Her brother Michael Mulloy described his sister As an athlete who ran triathlons and said she held a masters degree in special education. She had devoted her adult life Mulloy said to helping emotionally and physically disabled people. During sentencing arguments government prosecutor maj. James Pohl said a every Day he Gates spends in jail is another Day people Are  Trant deliberated for 25 minutes before imposing the life sentence for Gates. He told the court that by confessing and pleading guilty Gates a waived his rights to Ever walk the streets free  Mit the a a unjustified shift of $172 million from the development portion of the c-17 program to the production budget. Robert j. Lieherman an auditor in the Pentagon a office of inspector general told a House committee that following Mcdonnell a pleas the air Force showed a an extraordinary amount of concerns that payments to the company be made rapidly even before formal requests were submitted. The result was to reduce air Force leverage Over the program. Williams a Hospital spokeswoman. The event is open to . Military retirees their family members widows and widowers who reside in the Hospital s health care Region. The area is comprised of 14 outlying clinics within the v corps area Williams said. Information on the event can be obtained by calling the Hospital at civilian 069-1541-830 1. Of payments to c-17 firm criticized Retiree health tests set today in Frankfurt