The Notebook: Janet Reno's Employment Agency
Verbatim
"The unemployment numbers are down to the lowest in 25 years... The principal credit goes to Janet Reno, who continues to appoint special investigators."
Dick Armey, House majority leader
"Just because you don't like somebody...you're not free to spend the people's money to see if he likes to (bleep) girls."
Gore Vidal, referring to special prosecutor Ken Starr's investigation of President Clinton, in USA Today
The Scoop: Smoking
The Legislation's Ready; Now Bring in the Kids
(TIME, May 25) -- In backroom negotiations that continued into last weekend, the White House hammered out a deal with G.O.P. Senator JOHN MCCAIN to modify his $518 billion antitobacco bill, which will be the subject of contentious debate in the Senate this week. Despite demands from leading Senate Democrats--and some Republicans--that the price of a pack of cigarettes be raised by $1.50 over five years, the Administration agreed to support McCain's more modest $1.10-a-pack hike. In return, the Arizona Senator strengthened the provisions that would penalize the industry for not meeting targets in reducing teen smoking. Also, McCain and the White House acted to pacify convenience-store owners by restricting the FDA's ability to unilaterally ban the sale of cigarettes from a whole class of retail outlets. To counter efforts to kill the bill (led by Republican Senator DON NICKLES of Oklahoma), the White House will stage a massive rally on the South Lawn on Wednesday, at which the President and Vice President will meet with 1,000 schoolchildren. That, according to public-health advocates, is the number of kids who, out of the 3,000 minors beginning to smoke each day in America, will eventually die from smoking-related illnesses. "We want to make every Senator who votes against this look like he's against children," says a White House official. The White House hopes McCain and other Republicans will attend. Privately, McCain is telling supporters that he expects the modified bill to pass--but only after Congress takes its one-week Memorial Day recess.
--By James Carney/Washington
The Scoop: Gun Running
Did the U.S. Put Its Foot Down, Then Turn Away?
While the U.S. last week loudly protested a wave of atrocities sweeping the war-torn African nation of Sierra Leone, questions arose about whether enough had been done to support the United Nations arms embargo that was imposed last October and that the U.S. backed. Did the State Department ignore a clandestine delivery by a group of British mercenaries of nearly 40 tons of high-powered weapons to the diamond-rich nation? Both British Foreign Secretary ROBIN COOK and State Department spokesman JAMES RUBIN deny knowledge of the shipment. But a well-informed U.S. official tells TIME that word of the February deal was flashed to Washington from Africa and elsewhere. A participant in a Foggy Bottom meeting in early March says the completed shipment was described in detail at that session. But U.S. officials raised no alarm that the U.N. embargo had been violated.
--By Adam Zagorin/Washington
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