European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 18, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday december 18, 1991 the stars and stripes c Page disabled vet s wife turns lawmaker St. Petersburg Fla. Apr armed with Only a typewriter and a Telephone Terry Cox took on Congress and closed a loophole that had left her husband and thousands of other disabled veterans without military health coverage. �?o1 would never have thought that one person could make a difference a Cox said. A but in be always believed that if you re going to moan and groan about something you a better not do it from the  a i know individuals can make things happen in government a said sen. Bob Graham a Fla. A i know because she did  it took More than a year of writing calling and frankly pestering every member of Congress before winning adoption of legislation that plugs the loophole and restores military insurance benefits through age 65 to about 9,100 disabled vets. The measure was part of a military spending Bill that president Bush signed earlier this month. A a in a Happy but ill never get Back what i lost a said Cox who became bankrupt and had to sell her Home in order to provide for her husbands care. It began in 1987 when her husband retired army staff sgt. Andy Cox fell from a ladder and suffered head injuries that left him a quadriplegic unable to speak or even Swallow. Now 54, he remains bedridden and almost motionless. His military sponsored health insurance covered his round the clock care a while it lasted. A Little known provision in the 1972 Law governing the civilian health and medical program of the uniformed services or champs said that if totally disabled patients require continuous medical care for longer than two years or reach age 65, they Are turned Over to medicare the government subsidized health care plan. But medicare has limited provisions for Home care and none for Cox since his Case is termed  a you get to keep your health insurance so Long As you stay healthy a that a just not right Quot Cox said. A my husband served his country for 22 years and was always promised his country would take care of him. I was going to Sec to it they kept that  at first her protests fell on deaf ears. A i was told again and again its the Law. There a nothing you can do about  she fired off letters to president Bush congressmen senators and military officials asking that the Law be changed to allow her husband Back in champs. Finally the office of rep. Bill Young r-Fla., drafted legislation to plug the loophole. Cox then went through an alphabetical listing of every member of Congress in a phone and mail Campaign to get co sponsors for the Bill. A a congressman asked me once How one of Bis colleagues stands on the Issue Quot Cox said. A i had to say a i done to know yet. His name begins with a and in a Only up to the  a i must have visited about 200 congressional offices Quot said Cox. A they would always ask me a so what organization Are you with a i guess they weren to used to just an Ordinary housewife dropping by. A it was an educating process for congressmen and senators a Cox added. A the thing we ran into is they did no to believe such a loophole could exist. It  happen. We had to say it does happen a it has  More than 130 co sponsors eventually signed on to the House Bill. Quot just before thanksgiving the Senate passed the 1992 defense spending Bill with $20 million allocated for disabled retirees in champs. Cox a next goal is to work for legislation to extend champs coverage to military retirees for life not just through age 65. A a in be still got my list of congressmen to Call Quot she said. A a it a the Only Way i know How to do  n the stars and stripes 10years ago dec. 18,1981 a Security forces killed seven people in a clash with striking miners in Southern Poland and hundreds were injured in Street Battles in the Northern port of Gdansk As authorities tried to crush resistance to the new martial Law regime.20 years ago dec. 18,1971 a after 14 Days of fighting the War Between India and Pakistan ended with the new nation of Bangladesh established in East Pakistan. More than 2,000 Indian soldiers at least that Many pakistanis and uncounted civilians died in the fighting. 30years ago dec. 18,1961 a Indian troops invaded the portuguese enclave of Goa in an Effort to end foreign Rule in this subcontinent. Indians prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru had warned Portugal that indians patience was exhausted in waiting for the Lisbon government to relinquish its hold on Goa and other enclaves. 40years ago dec. 18,1951 a with the 30-Day Korea armistice deadline Only nine Days away United nations and communist truce negotiators were still deadlocked on the key issues of truce supervision and prisoner exchanges. World war50 years ago today 18 dec.1941 under cover of heavy artillery fire japanese troops conduct a successful night Landing at Hong Kong. The invaders occupy about half of the Island Over next 24 hours leaving defenders of the British Colony in a precarious position. . Rests Case against Noriega after 3-month Parade of witnesses Miami apr the government rested its drug and racketeering Case against Manuel Noriega on tuesday after presenting its last witness a handwriting expert who said the former panamanian Leader tried to disguise his writing. Gideon Epstein a government handwriting analyst testified that Noriega tried to falsify handwriting samples he gave after he was imprisoned in the United states. A you could Tell that he was attempting to change certain letter combinations he was not used to making a Epstein said. It was unclear Why Noriega would have disguised his handwriting since the defense has acknowledged be wrote All key documents the government used in the Case. The government rested after Epstein took the stand following three months of testimony against Noriega. . District judge William Hoeveler then agreed to a defense request to delay the Start of its Case until Jan. 6. Noriega a attorneys said they needed time to review files handed to them Only last weekend about High level cooperation Between the ousted panamanian Leader and the drug enforcement administration. The remainder of tuesdays session a the last before the Holiday recess a was to concentrate on a Legal debate on a Dis Missal motion almost routinely filed and dismissed in criminal cases after the prosecution rests and the admissibility of evidence. A proving Noriega cooperated with the Dea is a Cornerstone of the defense said his attorney Jon May. A this is extremely prejudicial to the defense a May said of the withheld files. A this is beyond question the most significant discovery Given to us in this  prosecutors argued against the delay monday saying the Dea had failed to Tell them until last week about the cooperation Between Noriega and narcotics agents. Noriega Lead prosecutor Michael Sullivan told the judge his trial team discovered the existence of files on operation no Gonios or operation business just last week and turned them Over almost immediately. The judge has issued a standing order to the government to give All such files to the defense. A it came As a great Surprise Quot Sullivan said in explaining the lapse. A to a Large extent we had to depend on Dea  Sullivan said prosecutors found out about the cooperation while interviewing Dea agents subpoenaed by the defense. The prosecutor said defense lawyers already knew about operation be Gonios. Defense attorney Frank Rubino discussed it in the first weeks of the trial Sullivan said. A i looked askance at Frank at the time but he was right a Sullivan said. One report shows that at the same time Noriega was supposedly cooperating with american marijuana smuggler Steven Kalish he was informing the Dea of a Money laundering trip by a Kalish lieutenant May said. The prosecution had expected to rest monday but a last minute witness stayed on the stand All Day. The witness Juan Mora testified he saw the ousted panamanian Leader discussing Money laundering at a meeting with Jose Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha a Medellin Cartel Leader in 1985 or 1986, Noriega could get 140 years in prison if convicted of Alt 10 drug and racketeering counts. He surrendered to invading . Troops in january 1990. Israelis reject new palestinian proposals source 2194 Days of War w h. Smith publishers inc. A by the new York times Washington a Hopes that the Middle East peace talks would move from procedural disputes to substantive negotiations were set Back monday when the israelis rejected two new palestinian proposals. The palestinian delegation accused Israel of a pushing us toward an impasse that could scuttle the peace process. A the whole process is in serious jeopardy a said palestinian spokeswoman Hanan Ashrafi. The palestinians came close to calling publicly for intervention by the United states which on monday criticized israeli actions against palestinians in Jerusalem and the occupied territories. The first palestinian proposal was intended to Cut through the procedural problems while the second one sought to bypass them altogether and go directly into substantive issues. After two weeks of false starts begin Ning with a we Klong israeli delay in arriving in Washington the problems Between israeli and palestinian delegations revolve around two issues. The first Issue is whether the palestinians will meet separately with the israelis or As part of a joint jordanian palestinian delegation. On monday the two delegations were still meeting in corridors. The second Point of Contention is whether Israel would be willing a if talks begin a to discuss anything but the Agenda and site of the next round. The israeli government wants to move the talks to the Middle East. But As the talks have repeatedly stalled the israelis and the palestinians have used news conferences to dwell on events in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank. Both sides say violence is threatening to sabotage the Washington meetings. On monday the state department asked the government of prime minister Yitzhak Shamir to restrain jews who have seized property in an Arab Quarter in Jerusalem. Israel has also imposed curfews and restrictions on the movement of palestinians in several West Bank towns. The israelis say israeli courts should decide the disposition of Homes and other buildings in the neighbourhood of Silvan which was seized by jewish settlers. A state department spokesman rejected that explanation on monday. Israel has been meeting with syrian and lebanese delegations since last week. On monday however israeli spokesman Benjamin Netanyahu said the syrians had suddenly stiffened their attitudes. He accused the palestinians of rallying arabs around a position of  Netanyahu Deputy minister in the prime ministers office also accused Radical arabs who Are outside the peace process of trying to sabotage negotiations by stepping up attacks in the occupied territories often attacking fellow palestinians