News In Brief

The House took up campaign-finance reform, but GOP leaders prevented debate on a bipartisan measure that apparently had majority support. Their procedural tactics, which included limiting debate to four GOP bills, prompted furious protests from Democrats and criticism from some Republicans in sometimes angry exchanges. Two relatively uncontroversial bills were approved, banning noncitizens from making political-campaign contributions and clarifying public-disclosure requirements.

The US Supreme Court struck down a federal harbor-use tax imposed on goods exported by ship from US ports. The court ruled unanimously that a harbor tax passed by Congress in 1986 - a source of hundreds of millions of dollars in government revenue - is unconstitu- tional. The court also upheld a ban on the use of lie-detector results in military courts, saying in an 8-to-1 ruling that it did not violate the constitutional rights of defendants.

The White House said the congressional budget process is heading for gridlock. Franklin Raines, director of the Office of Management and Budget, said the Senate's budget proposal and a $217 billion transportation bill in the House could leave Congress with too little money to fund priorities of Democrats or Republicans. Congress is in the process of drafting broad budget resolutions; later it will turn to appropriation bills and tax legislation.

The Senate Commerce Committee was to take up a new tobacco settlement crafted by its chairman, John McCain, (R) of Arizona. McCain said the proposal would give the tobacco industry an annual $6.5 billion limit on its legal liability. The White House reacted favorably to the announcement of the new liability figure, but the tobacco industry said it was "fundamentally flawed" and threatened to fight it. The bill would impose a $1.10 increase on the price of a pack of cigarettes by 2003, less than the $1.50 Democrats and others have suggested. (Related story, Page 1.)

The government must pay supervisory costs of the Teamsters Union presidential election rerun, a federal court ruled. In a 2-to-1 decision, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York said if the US wants the election supervised, it must bear the cost. A new election, which is expected to cost about $7.4 million, was ordered last August after the 1996 outcome was nullified because of fund-raising abuses. But a new vote has yet to be scheduled, and Congress has not provided funding for it.

The release of a report discounting any residual threat to the US from Cuba was delayed by Defense Department Secretary William Cohen, who said he would take "several days" to review it. The Washington Post said the classified report concludes, in part, that Cuba's diminished armed forces are geared toward defense.

The House authorized $147 million to help upgrade US defense systems to counter reported ballistic-missile development in Iran and North Korea. The bill is a response to Iran's development of a Shahab-3 missile and recent deployment in North Korea of a No Dong-1 missile.

The Federal Reserve was expected to leave key interest rates untouched after weighing the threat of Asia's economic woes against the risk of the US economy overheating.

Consumer confidence fell in March from a 29-year high the previous month amid rising concerns that the economy will begin to slow. The Conference Board said its index of consumer confidence fell to 134.3 in March from a revised 137.4 in February.

Muhammad Abdul Aziz, who spent 19 years in prison for killing Malcolm X, was introduced as the new head of the same Nation of Islam mosque in New York that the late civil-rights leader once guided. Aziz and two other men were found guilty of the Feb. 21, 1965 slaying of Malcolm X, but Aziz has always proclaimed his innocence. Above, Minister Benjamin Muhammad (r.), formerly known as Ben Chavis and formerly head of the NAACP, introduces Aziz at a press conference.