Clinton co-sponsors pardon disclosures
Capitalizing on widespread outrage over former President Bill Clinton's last-minute pardons, Sen. Arlen Specter, R.-Pa., has introduced a measure that would require public disclosure of large donations to presidential libraries and would call for registration of people lobbying for White House pardons. Specter has enlisted an unlikely ally in his effort to pass the legislation: Hillary Rodham Clinton, the junior senator from New York. She has agreed to co-sponsor the measure.
Lawyers for the Clinton presidential library were initially reluctant to release donors' names to congressional investigators. That became an issue because key figures who sought a pardon for billionaire fugitive Marc Rich had made substantial contributions to Clinton's library. Rich's ex-wife, Denise, has given $450,000, and Beth Dozoretz, a former Democratic National Committee official and a friend of Denise Rich's, has pledged $1 million.
German, Bush differ on defense, environment
President Bush stuck firmly by his call for a missile defense shield and his opposition to a global-warming pact Thursday, declaring in a meeting with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder: "We can disagree and yet still be friends."
Schroeder carried a list of concerns to their first face-to-face meeting. He conveyed Europe's dismay over the White House's rejection of the Kyoto global-warming agreement and raised a series of questions about the missile defense system.
The pair met for more than two hours in the White House. They told reporters they found common ground on an array of issues, and politely disagreed on several others. "We have different opinions, and we are happy to admit to you that we hold different opinions," Schroeder said through a translator. "We were also happy to admit to one another that we have different positions."
Bush withdraws arsenic standards
President Bush said Thursday that he will pursue some reduction in the amount of arsenic allowed in drinking water, but not before more scientific studies on where the level should be set. Bush defended his decision to withdraw new arsenic regulations issued by President Clinton in the final days of his administration.
The current standards, set in 1942, allow a maximum of 50 parts per billion arsenic in drinking water. Clinton's Environmental Protection Agency directed the standards be lowered to 10 parts per billion.
The decision, although announced three days before Clinton left office, had been in the works for several years, prompted in part by a lawsuit by environmentalists.
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