Turtle Mountain Indian reservation

[Guest guest]

http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35472-2001Jul22.html

That's Not Pork, That's Mold

By Lancaster and Helen Dewar

Washington Post Staff Writers

Monday, July 23, 2001; Page A21

Very often these days, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.)

can be found on the Senate floor, next to a big chart. The chart invariably

purports to show how the Bush tax cut has imperiled the budget surplus, to

say nothing of Social Security and defense. " Their budget plan does not add

up, " he said Friday.

But Republicans say that on the topic of fiscal recklessness, Conrad is in

no position to point fingers. Their evidence? At Conrad's request, the $6.5

billion supplemental spending bill that cleared Congress last week includes

$5 million " to address mold problems on the Turtle Mountain Indian

reservation " in North Dakota.

Sounds pretty trivial, right? Conrad doesn't think so. " There are 200 homes

affected, they have black mold throughout them, and we've got two children

who have now died who were living in those homes, " he said. " I invite

anybody who thinks that's pork to spend a night in one of those houses. "

Black mold has been linked to a variety of health risks, including

neurological and immune-system problems, according to information supplied

by Conrad's staff.

In any event, Conrad said, the request didn't bust the budget because it

stayed within the overall limits of the spending bill.

STRANGE BEDFELLOWS: The supplemental spending bill is not particularly

controversial, but it does have one prominent critic: House Majority Leader

K. Armey (R-Tex.), who was one of just 30 members to vote against

the measure Friday. He objected to a tiny item authorizing the District to

spend $800,000 of its own money to install cameras to catch speeding

motorists.

It turns out that the conservative Texan and the American Civil Liberties

Union have something in common. In a joint statement posted on Armey's Web

site, Armey and the ACLU warn of " a troubling expansion in the way

technology is being used in the surveillance of ordinary Americans. "

" In Colorado, " they said, " the Department of Motor Vehicles is moving ahead

with a plan . . . to create a database containing computerized

three-dimensional facial maps of all those applying for driver's licenses. .

.. . [T]he Colorado database could allow the public movements of every

citizen in the state to be identified, tracked, recorded and stored. "

Armey apparently feels that if Congress passes the supplemental bill, Big

Brother will soon be taking up residence in the capital.

STEPPING DOWN: Republicans no longer want to serve as presiding officers of

the Senate.

As part of the power-sharing pact when the Senate was evenly divided,

Republicans agreed to let Democrats alternate with them in presiding over

the Senate -- normally a ministerial chore, albeit one that can be important

at times.

After Democrats took control of the Senate early last month, Senate Majority

Leader A. Daschle continued the practice of allowing senators of both

parties to preside. According to Daschle, however, Minority Leader Trent

Lott (R-Miss.) told him Wednesday that " his colleagues . . . no longer

wanted to preside. "

" Senate Republicans feel their time is best spent working to get back into

the majority, " Lott spokesman Ron Bonjean said. " They would like to give the

honor of presiding over the Senate to the Democrats so they can enjoy their

majority. "

THE WEEK AHEAD: The House takes up patients' rights and three appropriations

bills. The Senate deals with appropriations and nominations.

© 2001 The Washington Post Company