European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 15, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Clinton top democrats to plan action Little Rock Ark. A president elect Clinton planned to sit Down today with the top three democrats in Congress to begin writing an Agenda for dramatic action during his first 100 Days in office. The new focus follows a week in which he put his transition team in place with a set of ethics guidelines his people say goes beyond any previous rules. House speaker Thomas s. Foley of Washington House majority Leader Richard a. Gephardt of Missouri and Senate majority Leader George j. Mitchell of Maine were to visit the governors mansion today. With the meeting Clin ton was turning to a question framed Friday by his communication director George Steph Nopoulos a How Are we going to get real action in the first Hundred Days a a Clinton is to travel to Washington later in the week to meet with president Bush and lawmakers from both major parties. A one of the prime principles of his Campaign is we re going to break the gridlock in Washington and really get something done a Steph Nopoulos said Friday. A and the first step is to meet with your leaders in the House and Senate and talk about How we re going to do this weeks meetings will be Clinton a first Chance As pc Sidcot a acct to test his reputation As a conciliator and consensus builder. As Arkansas governor Clinton used Small meetings with key legislators lobbyists and business people to forge compromises. Clinton had a Busy week. He conducted his first news conference As president elect thursday then met with his transition team at a downtown office Friday before releasing ethics guidelines for transition workers. The ethics code bars All senior transition aides staff members and even volunteers on advisory committees from lobbying the government in their transition duty areas during the first six months of the Clinton administration. Also transition workers will be required to file detailed financial disclosure forms and will be barred from transition business that appears to conflict with their financial interests or the interests of family members or clients. A we Are going to change politics As usual a Clinton said Friday. Clinton has promised a new administration ethics code that will forbid officials from lobbying the Federal government for five years after they leave it. The current limit is one year. The new code is also cd i cited to add a lifetime ban on officials lobbying for foreign adviser is registered foreign agent Washington a the top National Security adviser for the Clinton transition team attorney Samuel Berger is registered As a foreign agent whose firm has represented Japan and other overseas interests according to documents filed with the Justice department. Berger is a partner in the Law firm of Hogan and Hartson in Washington d.c., but has been on leave since july when he became a Clinton Campaign adviser. He was a state department official in the Carter administration from 1977 to 1980. As a partner Berger shares in the firms earnings from foreign clients. And he acknowledged Friday in a Telephone interview from Little Rock Ark., that he had done unpaid lobbying on behalf of Poland a new government and advised the provincial government of Ontario on . Trade Law. Berger also said he has engaged in a Small amount of lobbying on Capitol Hill As a representative of a . Subsidiary of Toyota motor corp. At a news conference in Little Rock on Friday where the Clinton transition team unveiled a strict new ethics code team director Warren Christopher expressed doubt that the team would include any foreign agents. A i Don t have any reason to think that there Are any agents of foreign governments and i suspect we would be very careful to screen those out of any assignments we would make a Christopher said. But bergers firm has reported to the Justice depart step by step to new term ment that Jit is an agent for foreign clients including National shipowners and the German automaker japanese embassy the governments of Poland and the Bahamas Ontario the Council of european and Japa president elect Clinton left and vice president elect Rock Ark. Later Clinton met with his transition team Al Gore Greet people while jogging Friday in Little before releasing ethics guidelines for its workers. Daimler Benz a. A the firm has Many foreign clients but i did no to represent the ones on that list Berger offers Compromise on term limits line item veto by the Washington Post Washington a House speaker Thomas s. Foley offered separate deals Friday to backers of two major institutional changes he personally opposes term limits on lawmakers Ana a line item veto for the president. At a breakfast with reporters the Washington Democrat said he would support an Early Federal court test of the constitutionality of term limits which were approved this month by voters in 14 states including his own. And he offered president elect Clinton a Halfway step toward the line item veto that Clinton like president Bush favors. The line item veto would enable a president to single out an individual provision in an omnibus appropriations Bill and eliminate it unless a two thirds majority in the House and Senate re enacted that provision. Foley said he would a a never give that much control of the purse to any president. But he said he would encourage the House to pass an a enhanced recession authority for the president which would enable the president to eliminate an individual spending item unless it was re passed by majority votes a not two thirds votes a of the House and Senate the House passed such a measure in the last con Foley Cress but it died in the Senate Foley said. As for term limits Foley remained Adamant that they arc a a bad he said he would offer no encouragement to those trying to get a House floor vote on a constitutional amendment imposing term limits on every member of the Congress. But he said he would oin proponents of term limits in seeking an Early ederal court adjudication of the constitutionality of state imposed limits on congressional tenure. This seeming Concession on his part was viewed with some scepticism. Jim Coyne head of americans to limit congressional terms said he thought Foley was a trying to use this constitutional question to delay a floor debate on a term limits constitutional speaker hopeful by new Day Washington president elect Clinton a relations with democratic leaders of Congress Are off to a promising Start and Arentt Likely to founder As Jimmy Carters did House speaker Thomas s. Foley said Friday. During a breakfast meeting with reporters Foley described the mood among congressional democrats awaiting the Clinton legislative program As a Happy confident enthusiastic he predicted no repeat of a personality classes that put the last democratic White House and Capitol Hill leadership at Odds. Foley said that Clinton knows better than to a dump an indigestible mass of legislation on Congress in his first year As Carter did a with poor results. Although Clinton recited a fairly Long laundry list of legislative goals in a news conference thursday Foley said that the new president would a designate
