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Show GOP says it shares Clinton's reform goal dead at age 4, Page A9 c T, Ryan's storied career ends quietly in Seattle break out sweaters SO Page A3 i Fall is time to Utah music legend B1 Page . r Page CI f:r 123 Yc:rs, Provo, Utah S3 cents By NANCY BENAC Associated Press Writer Related stories, WASHINGTON President Clinton's call for a drastic overhaul of the nation's health care system reverberated across the nation today igniting a debate over how much can be done at what cost. With talk shows and pep rallies, the administration's sales pitch be- Pages A3, A11 - f. gan in earnest. Vice President Al Gore was on television before breakfast to argue that the plan would create a simpler, more efficient system. The Republican leader of the Senate countered that it was "a little '' overgenerous and underfunded. Clinton laid out the broad outlines of his program in an impassioned hour-lon- g speech Wednesday night and challenged Congress to act by the end of next year to revamp the current system and as- AP Photo Rescuers work at the site of an Amtrak train crash Wednesday in Saraland, Ala. At least 40 people died in the accident. Barge accident blamed in Amtrak crash By CURT ANDERSON Related story, Associated Press Writer - A barge SARALAND, Ala. apparently lost in the fog struck a railroad trestle shortly before an Amtrak train hurtled off the bridge into a murky bayou, officials said. More than 40 people were killed. The FBI and the National .Transportation Safety Board said they found a dented barge near the train wreck, along with damage that appeared to match that on a concrete piling supporting the bridge. o Transportation Secretary Pena, attending a conference on rail safety in Washington, D.C., said today that federal officials had concluded that the barge struck the bridge, but it was unclear if the towboat crew A3 knew it. The crew radioed only that they had lost the tow, he said. Amtrak's Sunset Limited, traveling from Los Angeles to Miami with 206 people aboard, plunged into Bayou Canot on the outskirts of Mobile about 3 a.m. Wednesday. Some of the dead were trapped in a submerged, silver passenger car, others in a burned engine. The wreck was deadliest in Amtrak's history, but the victims was of number precise unclear. Amtrak said this morning that 44 were confirmed dead' and three missing, but later changed the numbers to 42 and five. The NTSB on Wednesday 41 night reported 44 dead 23-ye- ar Fed-eric- bodies recovered plus three crew members presumed dead in the and three passengers wreckage missing. The U.S. Coast Guard said 44 were confirmed dead and nine were missing. The towboat captain, meanwhile, declined to give his version of events to The Associated Press today. Andrew Stabler said he would not comment without his attorney's consent. Earlier today, in a newspaper interview, he said his crew members were heroes for helping people off the stricken train. A large section of the bridge collapsed. Investigators were trying to determine whether that happened before the wreck or because of it. Asked how the barge might have struck the bridge, which g, wood-and-ste- el crosses a bayou that isn't navigable by barges and is just 7 feet above the water, FBI agent Charles W. Archer said, "I un- -' derstand it was very foggy . ' ' The barge was one of six lashed together and pushed by a towboat. Its owner, Warrior & Gulf Navigation Co., said in a statement today that the towboat was traveling on the Mobile River when it got lost in the fog and found itself in the bayou. The train's data recorder and the bodies of the three crew members who had been operating the train remained in the lead locon motive, which was buried in 15 feet of mud and 25 of water, investigators said. "We were asleep, and the next feet (See CRASH, Page A2) "Our concern is people are going to get hurt," said Gulli- Herald Staff Writer PROVO deadliest-eve- r ford, from his Denver, Colo., union office. "Quite frankly, the (SPL) corporation is putting the public's interest aside. " Gulliford said Amtrak passengers in Utah, as well as those -Amtrak Wednesday's accident which occurred in Alabama has prompted union members who work on the Southern Pacific Xines railroad to warn that it's lonly a matter of time before a similar catastrophe happens in ;Utah. Bill Gulliford, general chair-- : man of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees, said the latest cutback of workers who maintain SPL's tracks should .make people "genuinely concerned" about railroad transpor- companies shipping goods through Utah, are taking a chance with their lives and products because Utah's railways are in seri- -' ous need of maintenance. "If we don't keep the tracks and bridges up to par, they'll simply derail," said Gulliford. He claims there's only one rail inspector assigned to inspect the rails from Utah County's Soldier Summit to Salt Lake City . : tation. A SPL spokesperson in San Francisco told The Daily Herald on Wednesday Gulliford 's warnings couldn't be farther from the truth. "Ever since the announced furloughs of 950 people three weeks ago these allegations (of safety) have been made in other areas of the country as well," said Mike Furtney, SPL spokesperson. "This railroad is in better shape now than it has been at any time over the last 1 5 years. ' ' He said the claims by the maintenance union are a common reaction to mass layoffs. "That's union rhetoric," said Furtney, of the claims of unsafe tracks. "It has nothing to do with in Utah the facts and the reality." Furtney said there's no "earthly reason" to compromise safety because SPL values its employees and safety too much. He said the railroad has more than enough people to adequately maintain its rails. Furtney said of the 15,000 miles of railway operated by SPL, less than 200 miles have been designated as "slow order" track. Slow order track is track which has been designated for repair and engineers are required to travel slowly across them. He was unable to indicate if any of (See UNION, Page A2) mi w ' Movies Nation Obituaries Opinions Sports State...;........ TV listings World .I in pretty good shape. " Clinton was welcoming more than 1,000 health-car- e allies to the White House today for a kickoff pep rally before heading to Tampa, Fla., for a nationally televised (See CLINTON, Page A2) By MIKE FEINSILBER Associated Press Writer - WASHINGTON Whoever single parent, blue you are lar worker, the col- ed you're likely to be affected by President Clinton's proposed health care plan. Some people stand to gain, some will lose. Here are some examples: Suzanne, a $17,000-a-yea- r checkout clerk at a supermarket in Jackson, Miss., is a mother of three, but her family's only breadwinner. A total of $1,530 a year is deducted from her paycheck for health insurance. Her employer pays $3,570, or 70 percent of the premium. She has to pay the first $400 of annual medical expenses. Suzanne's a winner under the plan Clinton laid before the nation Wednesday. If it's enacted as he proposes, her wages less than 1 XA times the poverty level would qualify Suzanne for a subsidy, and her paycheck withholding shrinks to $323 a year. And if she chose the low-co- st policy offered to her meaning she'd go into a health maintenance she no organization, or HMO has deductto that $400 pay longer ible. She'd still have to pay $10 per visit to the doctor. Henry is a $50,000 electrician in Albany, N. Y. He doesn't have health insurance, self-employ- ed can't afford the $6,450 annual Under Clinton's plan, if he opts for an average policy, he pays $3,-95- 0, which is fully tax deductible. The value he receives the difference between what insurance, would cost him today and what it would cost him under the Clinton is $2,500, plus the tax savplan ings. Henry wins. Kim, a San Francisco lawyer, earns $80,000 a year. Under the plan offered by her firm, she has a d policy. The firm pays $2,200, she pays $240, which, after taxes, amounts to $166. gold-plate- Clinton's plan, she Under chooses an $1,800 single person's policy, of which she pays $360, the firm the rest. The benefits under the new policy are not as generous as those she enjoys today, and hfcr contribution higher. She's a loser. Tony earns $15,000 a year in a Evansville, Ind., prmt shop which offers no health benefits. His son, Randy, has severe asthma. Even if Tony boughC a policy on the open market, Rannon-uni- dy's "pre-existin- condition g" would not be covered. Under the Clinton plan, the company is required to cover jts workers through a policy secured through a regional health alliance essentially a big insurance buying organization that negotiates with doctors and hospitals to provide a choice of several health care policies. The standard policy would cost $4,200, the administ- rate HEALTH, Page A2) Yeltsin calls for early presidential elections t By BARRY RENFREW Find it Classified Ads... Comics Crossword.... Entertainment Legals government, big labor and big business They seemed to come out most Americans premium. m "The bottom line is, who's going to pay for it," he said on Fox TV. "The big winners were big plan affects nlealBli nose-dow- Train union members warn of accident danger By KEVIN NIENDORF sure that every American has "health care that is always there." Members of Congress at once pledged a bieager and wary for common partisan search ground. Today, Gore sought to dispel some of the principal public concerns about any wholesale change in the current system that it would create a vast new govern- - ment bureaucracy, would cost too much, and would place a particularly harsh burden on small business. "The fed government is not taking it over," Gore told CBS. "It is stimulating competition. " The vice president said the proposal would "preserve the freedom of choice, both for patients and for doctors" and eliminate burdensome and expensive paperwork. Senate GOP leader Bob Dole said Republicans agree on the need for universal coverage. Weather Mostly cloudy tonight and Friday with thunderstorms, winds and showers possible; lows in the 40s, highs upper-60See Page A8. ..D7-E- 8 C6 E4 B7 D7 B7 A3 s. Air Quality .......A10 A12 Today's air quality was ..CI All .....B7 A5 Associated Press Writer ; , good in all Wasatch Front areas, with a decrease in pollution levels expected. See Prge A2. MOSCOW - Boris Yeltsin called today for presidential elections next June, two years ahead of schedule, as his opponents battled to counter growing support for the Russian leader. It was not clear if Yeltsin would seek although it is he wants a believed that widely second five-yeterm. Yeltsin has said he would not seek but aides said he might run again. Yeltsin ordered December parliamentary elections after ousting ar parliament on Tuesday, an action that plunged Russia into political crisis. He followed that up today by setting an election for president six months after the new parliament is chosen. "I decree the holding of a new election of the president of the Russian Federation on June 12, 1994," Yeltsin said in a statement. When he dissolved parliament two days ago, Yeltsin said he would set a date for presidential elections. But today's statement is not likely to end Yeltsin's confronin parliatation with ment who want to remove him hard-line- rs from power. Reflecting the political turmoil, the ruble plunged to an all-tilow today, down 18 percent to to the dollar. Hard-linein parliament said that they would order presitoday bands of supporters, some armed with rifles, formed self-defen- se units outside the building. 1,-2- 99 rs dential elections within three months, asserting Yeltsin had no authority to order an election. Lawmakers said parliamentary elections could follow the election of a new president. leaders remained barricaded in the parliament building with a few hundred supporters standing guard outside. Small 1L Anti-Yelts- in The frantically scrambled for ways to counter mounting military and popular support for Yeltsin. hard-line- rs Ruslan Khasbulatov, the parliament speaker, urged lawmakers to visit factories and military academics to rally support among workers and cadets. "We must rout the conspiracy, end the putsch and restore the constitutional system," (See YELTSIN, Page A2) |
