Show rs a - - The Herald Journal Logan Utah Thursday March 13 2003 — AS Nation Q I I ®s© to vS£sSnffv aflErSODSBH Panel urges Bush to fight Pledge ruling WASHINGTON (AP) — Soaring enagy prices ud the precarious nature of Persian Gulf oil are boosting the i WASHINGTON (AP) — will !0U drilling in an t wildlife A showdown is nearing in fee Senate on The House Judiciary whether to allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refugeone of fee Bush administn- - tion's top Gale Norton domestic priorities and both sides say the outcome could hinge on a sin- gle vote Senate Republicans said Tuesday they fully anticipate a provision on developing oil in the refuge known as ANWR to be included as part of a budget measure to be take up by die fell Senate next week The latest tally shows 49 senators ready to vote for the provision when it gets to the Senate floor rme shy of the number needed to overcome strong Democratic opposition according to GOP sources forces in the Senate distributed a memo among many of die GOP offices on Tuesday that urged pro-drilli- ng Pro-drilli- ng AP pinto A hard of musk ox graze in an area of the Arctic National Wikfltfe Refuge in Alaska known as Area 1002 in this undated photo The Bush administration has proposed driNng for oil in Area 1002 Senate Republicans said Tuesday they fully anticipate a provision on developing oil in me refuge known as ANWR to be included as part of a budget measure to be taken up by the full Senate next week an push to try to find one more senator that might be persuaded to shift allegiance and join the prodrilling ranks “Dick Cheney has been working madly to secure the 50th (vote)” said the sod to GOP offices A spokeswoman for Cheney Jennifer Millerwise dismissed the reference to Cheney and said the vice pres-ident at this time was not all-o- ut FBI : War could lead actively engaged in lobbying on the issue although he continues to strongly support developing the refuge’s oil “He’s not contacted any (senators) on this issue she said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee is anticipating that a provision on ANWR will be included by the Senate Budget Committee when it finishes its budget resolution on Thursday according to his spokesman Bill Hoagland Development of the millions of barrels of oil believed to be under the coastal plain of the refuge in the far northeastern comer of Alaska has been at the heart of President Bush’s energy agenda But many leading Democrats including several who hope to challenge Bush in the 2002 election are determined 'to protect the sliver of tundra where ng ANWR's oil is located Such protection has been an obsession for environmentalists who insist that drilling will destroy its value as a sanctuary for polar bears musk oxen caribou and migratpry birds Bush has argued the refuge’s oil — anywhere from 56 billion to 16 billion barrels — should be tapped to reduce America's dependence on foreign crude ! Commit- tee urged the Bush administration on Wednesday to appeal a court decision ruling the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional in public schools The committee voted 22-- 2 on the resolution Two Democrats Rep Jerrold Nadia of New York and Rep Bobby Scott of Virginia voted against it Eight Democrats criticized the resolution as political grandstanding Last month the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco stood by its earlier ruling that the words "under God” violated the Constitution’s prohibition against official religion The White House criticized the ruling but hasn't said whether it will appeal the decision to the Supreme Court The 9th Circuit Court which covers nine Western states has put its decision on hold pending such an appeal “The Pledge is clearly not a religious statement or prayer” said Rep Steve Chabot “It is a statement of allegiance to the ideas and principles upon which our nation was founded” io to hate crimes against Muslims and Arabs WASHINGTON (AP) — A war with Iraq or another terrorist attack could trigger a wave of hate crimes against and in the United States the FBI said Wednesday The FBI in its weekly bul- lain to 18000 state and local law enforcement agencies said most such attacks have been “isolated acts directed at targets of opportunity” rather than the result of a broader conspiracy against specific ethnic gimps The crimes have included murders attempted murders assaults and arson against busi- mosques Arab-ownnesses and Islamic centers “Law enforcement agencies that encounter seemingly unexplained crimes against persons who appear to be of Arab descent should explore the possibility that the act was ethnically motivated” the FBI Arab-America- ns : ed bullainsays After the Sept 1 1 2001 ter- rorist attacks the FBI record- ed a spike in hate crimes against Arabs Muslims and people of Indian Sikh or other ethnic backgrounds who might have been mistaken as being of Arab descent Between the Sept 1 ) attacks and Feb 14 of this year the FBI began 414 hate crime investigations that ' - resulted in 140 state and fed-U- S eral prosecutions The majori- ty of those crimes occurred in a three-wee- period k immedi-Musli- ately following the attacks in New York Washington and Pennsylvania that killed 3000 people “War with Iraq or a terrorist incident is likely to precipitate a similar increase in crimes die against FBI bulletin says Local law enforcement agencies should expedite hate crime investigations and pros-ecutions and assure local Arab and Islamic communities of a commitment to stop the crimes the FBI advised At the national level FBI Director Robert Mueller has met several times with leaders Muslim of and Sikh organizations to rein- force the bureau’s commit- ment to preventing and investigating hate crime Part of the FBI’s effort to interview up to 50000 Iraqis living in the United States is to assure them that an ethnic backlash to war will not be tolerated Some of these same leaders have made presentations the FBI training center in Quanti- co Va aimed at improving agents’ culturalsensitivity and communications skills with Arab and Muslim communi-- ties Arab-American-s” Arab-Americ- an a In brio! Charges filed against Enron execs over broadband venture WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal prosecutors charged two Enron Corp executives on Wednesday with a scheme to generservice ate false earnings through an Interna that flopped In a separate action Wednesday the Commodity Futures Trading Commission charged Enron and a former vice president with manipulating natural gas and agricultural commodity' prices Arrest warrants brought in Houston charge Kevin Howard and Michael Krautz with securities fraud wire fraud conspiracy and making false statements to FBI agents Both are executives with Enron Broadband Services In a related federal court filing the Securities and Exchange Commission charged the pair wife violating a numba of federal securities laws including falsifying Enron records and quarterly reports for a transaction fee SEC said was “a sham from its' inception” The two men who still work for Enron surrendered Wednesday morning to FBI agents movie-on-dema- - nd Census now estimates overcount instead of undercount in 2000 WASHINGTON (AP) — After crunching more numbers the Census Bureau now says it overcounted by 13 million people in 2000 instead of missing more than 3 million The findings released Wednesday show an overcount of whites Asians American Indians on reservations and young children while many blacks and Hispanics were missed during the count The estimate will not affect the government’s official population count of 2814 million in 2000 Census Bureau Director C Louis Kincannon said once-a-deca- FREE CHECKINS At Washington Mutual we never forget that it’s your money That’s why we offer Free Checking an account that’s truly free It's not “essentially free” or “free with some restrictions” Its free plain and simple M MMTMY FEES NO FKES TO TALK II I TELLER RETIRI T0IR HR FEES TO CANCELLER account also comes with no per check charges and no direct deposit requirements HECKS It’s a Our Free Checking checking account that's absolutely free NO FIRE PRINT NO SURPRISES HO KIRDIHS This is where free means free This is where you get treated the way-yo- want to be treated This is where you feel like you come first This is Washington Mutual This is the Home of the Free Feel free to visit one of our Financial Centers and open a new account or call i 1 ' i PI Washington Mutual more nan interest' wamiLCQift de FDtCTiHURd I |