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Show Th Timas, Thursday. July 23. 1987 Magna Pao2 Editorialopinion man of true grit Col. North showed America he If listed the adjecthies: honest, patriotic, loyal, efficient, poised, and just a American, who would you think ot? At this time in our good name of Lieutenant Colonel Oliver L. North is the first the countrys history, to come to my mind. Oliver North has captured the hearts and souls of Americans. Thats what are telling me when they call. I could not agree more. that mistakes were made and that some of Lt. Col. obvious it is Although Norths actions may have been flawed, I can find no flaw in his total commitment to oppose communism with every ounce of his being. Some have characterized the hearings as pure theatrics, with Oliver North in full costume. Let me say that Lt. Col. North has more than earned the right to wear on his Marine Corps uniform the parachute wings, the silver star, the bronze star, the purple heart, three awards from the government of South Vietnam, two marksmanship medals, and a ribbon on his chest marked with a V for valor. It offends me that there are those who are quick to tear at this mans honor. Indeed, Congress is quick to judge, quick to investigate, quick to pass resolutions and then quick to reverse those resolutions. You may recall in my March 30, 1987, column on Aiding Nicaraguas Free Fighters. . . Moral or Immoral? that Congress reversed itself a half a dozen times in the last 10 years on our foreign policy in Central America. It is no wonder that Lt. Col. North and others may not have understood Congress intent in Central America. Utahns 200-plu- s Iran-Cont- However, Oliver North does understand what many of my colleagues in Congress do not; that we live in a dangerous world. Lt. Col. North is an American who isnt about to play games with his countrys commitment to freedom. In his own words, Thank God money was given to the Contras, and thank God they survived. He has been able to articulate our pledge to democracy in Central America where many before him have failed. For those of you who were not fortunate enough to hear Col. Norths opening statement before the committee, I would like to share with you his important words designed to educate America of our countrys strategy for restoring and sustaining democracy in Central America. My name is Oliver North, Lieutenant Colonel, Marine Corps. I came to the National Security Council six years ago to work in the Administration of a great President. As staff member, I came to understand his goals and his desires. I admired his policies, his strengths, and his ability to bring our country together. I observed the President to be a leader who cared deeply about people and who believed that the interests of our country were advanced by recognizing that ours is a nation at risk in a dangerous world, and acted accordingly. He tried, and in my opinion succeeded, in advancing the cause of world peace by strengthening our country, by acting to restore and sustain democracy throughout the world, and by having the courage to take decisive action when needed. I also believe we must guard against a rather perverse side of American life, and that is the tendency to launch vicious attacks and criticism against our elected officials. President Reagan has made enormous contributions, and he deserves our respect and admiration. In 1981, 1 was detailed to the National Security Council. I worked hard on the political military strategy for restoring and sustaining democracy in Central America and in particular El Salvador. We sought to achieve the democratic outcome in Nicaragua that this Administration still supports, which involves keeping the Contras together in both body and soul. We made efforts to open a new relationship with Iran and recover our hostages. We worked on the development of a concerted policy regarding terrorists and terrorism and a capability for dealing in a concerted manner with that threat. We worked on various crises such as TWA 47, the capture of Achille Lauro, the rescue of American students in Grenada, and the restoration of democracy on that small island, and the U.S. raid on Libya in response to their terrorist attacks. And as some may be willing to admit, there were efforts made to work with the Congress on legislative programs. There were many problems. I believe that we worked as hard as we could to solve them, and sometimes we failed. But at least we tried. And I want to tell you that I for one will never regret having tried. I believe that this is a strange process that you are putting me and others through. Apparently the President has chosen not to assert his prerogatives, and you have been permitted to make the rules. You call before you the officials of the executive branch, you put them under oath for what must be collectively thousands of hours of testimony. You dissect Iran-Cont- ra that testimony to find inconsistencies and declare some to be truthful and others to be liars. You make the rulings as to what is proper and what is not proper. You put the testimony which you think is helpful to your goals up before the people and leave others out. Its sort of like a baseball game in which you are both the player and the umpire. Its a game in which you call the balls and strikes and where you determine who is out and who is safe. And in the end you determine the score and declare yourselves the winner. From where I sit, it is not the fairest process. Letter t the Editor To the Editor, Congratulations to the Steering Committee of the Magna Area Council. What you have accomplished in six short weeks, is truly amazing! You have written bylaws and organized the myriad of other details necessary for the realization of the Magna Area Council. This is the dawning of a new era. For the first time in sixty years, Magna will have a democratic, all elected town council. This was accomplished by a group of 1 1 people with backgrounds as varied as the other residents of our community. Consider if you will, a group of 1 1 people with ages from 30 to 65, political ties from Republican to Democrat to Indepcndant, and religious convictions anywhere from Catholic to LDS. Eleven people with 11 different ideas on issues ranging from libraries to tailings dust. Yet these differences were set aside, momentarily forgotten in order to with the culmination of an elected town council. bring Magna for the Steering Committee and anyone else who helped them. Hurray! Thank you for being so generous with your time, for compromising when needed, and for pulling together for the good of our community. May your truly bipartisan effort be an example of what working together can te accomplish! Janice Thorscn JOSH IILUNGS MAGNA TIMES USPS Sz... 3255-MO- 9124 WMt 2700 South, Magna, Utah 64044 BONNIE STAHLE Advertising-Offic- e J. HOWARD Manager mind-boggli- ed Raising minimum wage will raise unemployment mum wage since 1981. There is no question that families earning only minimum wage incomes have a very rough time making ends meet. But an increase in the minimum wage is an ineffective weapon in the war on poverty. A recent Congressional Budget Office Study shows that only one in fix e minimum wage earners fits the traditional working poor profile. In reality, e the typical minimum wage employee is young, single and works but is not poor. Since the minimum wage law applies to the labor force the benefits of an increase are not directed to those families who need a raise the most. On the contrary, minimum wage boosts have increased, rather than reduced, pressures on the working poor, many of whom do not hare the skills to the higher compete for jobs at higher wage levels. As employers adjust to be will skills workers without labor d federally-mandatepriced out of the costs, market. In short, a higher minimum wage may increase the incomes of some workers, but only at the expense of others. As Congress endeavors to reform our welfare system in a way that will provide individuals and families with a route to economic security and indee to consider also increasing the minipendence, it seems a move that will inevitably put more people out of work. mum wage Advocates say an increase will ease the burden of the working poor. But logic, experience and common sense suggest otherwise. and Rep. Augustus Hawkins Senator Edward Kennedy have introduced legislation that would force the minimum wage up nearly 40 percent during the next three years to $4.65. After 1990, the Amerminimum wage would be indexed to half the average ican workers wage. That means automatic increases in the minimum wage increases without further public comment or legislative action. There are several key reasons to question the advisability of enacting such counter-productiv- .) part-tim- .) across-the-boar- legislation. JOB RISK First, economists are virtually unanimous on the fact that jobs will be lost if the minimum wage is increased. The Minimum Wage Study Commission concluded in 1981 that every 10 percent increase in the minimum wage could eliminate 70,000 to 200,000 jobs for teenagers alone. Total job loss could be substantially higher. Given a nearly 40 percent increase, the legislation proposed by Senator Kennedy and Representative Hawkins would jeopardize an additional 400,000 to 80,000 jobs, denying opportunities to thousands more. whatever the rate is Simply put, die minimum wage wont mean a thing if people are forced out of their jobs. A higher wage is little consolation for someone who doesnt have a job: jobs that provide chances to acFurthermore, by eliminating entry-levquire skills and job experience, the proposed legislation would make it even more difficult for unskilled or inexperienced individuals to obtain the training and work references they need to move up the employment ladder. This bill not only cuts off peoples employment and incomes, it also cuts off their opportunities for die future. A POVERTY WEAPON THAT BACKFIRES On the surface, it might seem that raising the minimum wage is a good idea. After all, inflation has drastically reduced the purchasing power of the mini- - MINIMUM SKILLS, NOT MINIMUM WAGES Supporters of minimum wage legislation are ignoring the real reasons ' some individuals remain employed at low wages. Todays jobs require a more highly skilled and more highly adaptable workforce. Of the net new jobs created since 1983, 12.5 million have paid $10 per hour or more and 3.2 million have paid between $6 and $10 per hour; 4.3 million jobs paying $6 or less have actually been lost. The primary barriers to better jobs for those stuck at the minimum wage are poor reading and math skills, limited English proficiency, and few job skills. The way to break down these barriers is not through a federally-impose- d wage increase, but through more vigorous outreach to low income heads of households by our training and educational programs. Over $13 billion has been requested for these programs next year. The solution, as die proverb says, is to Teach a man to fish. If we are serious about helping people in need, we must help them acquire the skills and free of the which will enable them to be independent and minimum wage as the determinant of how far they can go. Sen. Orrin G. Hatch is the ranking minority member ofthe Senate Committee Labor and Human Resources. on New Supreme Court appointee a conservative? At the beginning of the New Deal, when Franklin D. Roosevelt was attempting a series of Herculean measures to dig America out of the Great Depression, the Supreme Court repeatedly blocked his efforts. The Nine Old a number of laws that the Chief Executive Men declared and the Congress thought essential to bring about recovery. FDR finally responded by proposing that the Supreme Court be expanded to 15 members. He would then have 6 additional appointments to make. FDR did not push his bluff to pack the Court, but in time the Supreme Court did give more attention to the general welfare. We art now in a watershed situation in the Supreme Court, one in which the resignation of Justice Lewis F Powell Jr opens the way for a critical appointment. It is an appointment that may reverse the progress of the Court over the last third of a century, which has been away from special privilege toward die Straight Talk: g of ordinary citizens. That such a reversal is intended is evident from the early nomination of Judge Robert H Bork. Some headlines have announced, Bork has followed Bork takes stria view of role of high court, legal precedent, not preference, Bork a stria constructionist. This interpretation is simply false. Borks career has been one of working diligently to strengthen the power of Big Government ova individual citizens, and to hide the workings of government from the eyes of citizens. well-bein- Bork s 1973 effort to prevent the exposure of the crime of Watergate, firing the investigator when two honest conservatives (Richardson and had refused to do it, says all that needs to be said about Bork by Ruck-elshau- as a conservative. Let them learn our language! BOCA RATON, FL My maternal grandfather came to this country from Europe. He could not read or write English, the effeaive national language of Americans. He recognized that his ability to survive and succeed was dependent on his learning the language of his newly adopted country. He searched out adult education classes so that he could learn his new language at night. By the time I arrived, he spoke English fluently and without an accent. As he pointed out to me, English is the second principal language in the world after Chinese, spoken by more than 420 million people, far ahead of French or German (about 120 million each), Spanish (290 million), or Hindi (300 million). My grandfather was a unique and stubborn man. No one could call him a quitter. He had no savings when he arrived in New York. He went to work on two jobs, got some money together, and started a business. This business became successful. His business partner used some of the firms money to invest in some Florida seacoast real estate. My grandfather opposed the purchase, forced a return of the property, and lost his big chance to make more money than he or his children could have spent. During the depression of the 1930s, he tost his business and his savings. That didnt stop this old man. He helped a son who had worked with him in the start up and development of a new business. Two strokes brought him a distended period of paralysis and a doaors prediction of his death in 1938. Instead of dying, at age 78, he learned to walk. He went back to work with his son, dying two decades later, about ten years after the doaor who had forecast his death. There is a point to all of this. I believe that we have been successful as a nation because we have been a melting pot, accepting people from everywhere and blending them into Americans. Everyone learned how to speak and write English. It wasnt easy and it didnt preclude being fluent in another language. We are everything, a polyglot of backgrounds with some very common features that permitted us to communicate with one another. We have even nnd eftony at addraw 9124 West 2700 South, Magna Utah 84044 TOPICS IT QUIET HERE - DO TOWN Pubfthad Thursdays WE LIKE YOU HAVE CHILDREN, A PIANO, RADIO OR T& fviQnw? te Second Class Postage Paid at Magna Utah 84044 J national interests. Our adversaries laugh at us, and our friends recoil in horror. I suppose it would be one thing if the intelligence committees wanted to hear all of this in private and thereafter passed laws which, in the view of Congress, make for better policies, for better functioning government, but to hold them publicly, for the whole world to see, strikes me as very harmful. Not only does it embarrass our friends and our allies, with whom we have worked, many of whom have helped us in various programs, but it must also make them very wary of helping us again. I do not mind telling you that I am angry at what some have attempted to do to me and my family. But I am going to walk from here with my head high and my shoulders straight because I am proud of what we accomplished. I am proud of the efforts we made. And I am proud of the fight that we fought. I am proud of serving in the Administration of a great President. I am not ashamed of anything in my professional or personal conduct. And although I do not agree with what you are doing, or the way that it is being done, I do understand your interest in obtaining the facts, and I have taken an oath to tell the truth in helping you to do so. In closing, Mr. Chairman, and I thank you for this opportunity, I would simply like to thank the tens of thousands of Americans who have communicated their support, encouragement, and prayers for me and my family in this difficult time. moved away from voting based on race, religion and national origin. In the last couple of decades, something new has occurred that bothers me because it reflects a basic change that I think could be harmful to the cause of creating Americans, not hyphenated-AmericanBilingual education encourages two languages rather than one. It emphasizes differences rather than similarities. It adds what has been estimated as $7 billion to our education bill s. each year. In me 1970s, I was an executive with a large food company. Our workforce was divided into three departments, one where English was spoken, one where Spanish was spoken, and one where Polish was spoken. In visits to this plant, it was not possible for me to communicate with the people who did not speak English. I sent letters to the speaking group, but it took years before they understood that performance was the basis for getting and keeping a job and receiving promotions. Many of the workers believed that they had to pay supervisors to ga and keep a job and receive promotions and wage raises. non-Engli- non-Engli- o e uuiu.uk. xjctung to snow an understand these speaking people was even more difficult. A commitment to leam the language ot your new country is critical t coming a good citizen. Those unwilling to make that commitment t pecome Americans are losing out on many opportunities. If I were a judg interviewing prospective citizens before swearing them in, I believe that and knowledge capability in the national language would be importam Surveys indicate that Americans believe that all Americans should know an be proficient in English. Each referendum on this language issue is won by th concept. This makes good sense. Penalizing us to maintai multiple language proficiency, is costly, not just $7 billion, but in a group c peopfr who don t really want to be a part of this new nation. Thats Straight Talk! non-Engli- STAHLE Publisher Managing Editor I States allowed the executive to encourage them to do battle and then abandoned them. The Congress of the United States left soldiers in the field unsupported and vulnerable to their communist enemies. When the executive branch did everyting possible, within the law, to prevent them from being wiped out by Moscows surrogates in Havana, in Managua, you then had this investigation to blame the problems on the executive branch. It does not make sense to me. "In my opinion, these hearings have caused serious damage to our One thing is, I think, for certain: that you will not investigate yourselves in this manner. There is not much chance that you will conclude at the end of these hearings that the Boland Amendment and the frequent policy changes therefore were unwise, or that our restrictions should not have been imposed on the executive branch. You are not likely to conclude that the Administration acted properly by trying to sustain the freedom fighters in Nicaragua when they were abandoned. And you are not likely to conclude by commending the President of the United States who tried valiantly to recover our citizens and achieve an opening with strategically vital Iran. It is also difficult to comprehend that my work at the N.S.C., all of which was approved and carried out in the best interests of our country, has led to two massive parallel investigations, staffed by over to me that one of those investigations is 200 people. It is criminal and that some here have attempted to criminalize policy differences between coequal branches of government and the executives conduct of foreign affairs. I believe it is inevitable that the Congress will, in the end, blame the executive branch. But I suggest to you that it is the Congress which must accept at least some of the blame in the Nicaraguan freedom-fighter- s matter. Plain and simple, the Congress is to blame because of policy toward the fickle, vacillating, unpredictable, contras. the democratic resistance, Nicaraguan I do not believe that the support of the Nicaraguan freedom fighters can be treated as the passage of a budget. I suppose if the budget doesnt get passed on time again this year there will be, inevitably, another extension of a month or two. But the contras, the Nicaraguan freedom fighters, are people, living, breathing, young men and women who have had to suffer a desperate struggle for liberty, with sporadic and confusing support from the United States of America. Armies need food and consistent help. They need a flow of money, or arms, clothing, and medical supplies. The Congress of the United Evry man Kan boast ov on admirtr. 33 N- O- BUT my FOUNTAIN PEN SCRATCHES LIKE HECK |