Riders of the right
There were these three riders. One got stuck onto a
defense appropriations bill and made it. The second rider got
successfully filibustered and fell off an appropriations bill.
The last rider recently tumbled off a debt-ceiling bill.
The use of ‘‘riders” to senate bills, hooking bizarre pieces
of legislation to essential bills, is as archaic as the senators
who promote them. In the case of these three riders, they are
particularly bad pieces of legislation.
As of next July, a rider to a defense appropriations bill will
make anyone who hasn’t registered ineligible for financial
aid — the successful rider.
In August, Senator Jesse Helms began his first race to
incorporate social legislation via amendments to important
bills by tacking an anti-abortion bill to the Senate Appro
priations bill.
This time some young blood decided to fight the old
senator with some of his dusty practices. Senator Bob
Packwood successfully filibustered the amendment. An aid
to Packwood said that this was the first time our senator has
used the ol‘ filibuster, but the improper use of procedure not
to mention the cloaked court-stripping implications of the bill
was enough to force Packwood onto the floor to talk the
Helm’s rider to death
But the righteous North Carolina Senator decided to try
again and attached another rider — this time an amendment
to establish organized school prayer in the public schools —
to a debt-ceiling bill Filibustering again, the senate managed
to stop this latest rider of the Right.
Traditionally the use of the rider has been to promote
controversial, special interest, or poorly researched pieces
of legislation. There is no rule against the attachment of
non-germane amendments to a bill.
But why should the American public have to put up with
such outdated and wasteful politics?
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letters
Condemnation
The recent massacre of about
1,200 people in a Palestinian
refugee camp in West Beruit
deserves outright condemna
tion of all decent people
The slaughter of innocents is
nothing new to the Israelis
Judging by their own Talmudic
accounts of how they con
quered Palestine after their
release from Egyptian slavery,
they firmly believed that they
have divine sanction of their
genocidal campaigns against
non-Jewish, indigenous
populations Apparently, this
belief is still in vogue among
Israeli leaders for one can
almost hear Begin replacing the
names of the earlier peoples
destroyed by the Jews with
words'like 'Palestinians. PLO,
terrorists" and so on
But, times change Indis
criminate mass slaughter in the
furtherance of political goals is
no longer a viable option, if it
ever was The murderous
assault of Lebanon has been
met with world wide outrage
and some soul-searching
among some decent people in
Israel itself The United States
enjoys a unique position with
the Israelis and it is time to put
an end to their madness in
Lebanon Enough is enough!
Ease Musa
Muslim Student Assoc.
Destructive
Many people have worked
diligently for a number of years
to create a sense of community
among the people of Eugene
and Springfield and to improve
the climate for students and
faculty in these communities
Your article, "The Other City,
went a long way toward de
stroying that effort
The citizens of Springfield,
many of whom are University
faculty, staff, and students, have
been important allies in our
battles for better treatment by
the state legislature. They saw
themselves as important
advocates for you and for other
students here In matters where
support from the county was
vital, the Springfield commis
sioner has always been helpful.
One of the results of the
closer cooperation that had
been built was an increase in
projects involving the two cities,
the county, LCC and the
University These projects have
been very beneficiai to the
University One example is the
Cooperative Museum Commis
sion which operates WISTEC
and the planetarium, used often
by University faculty Within that
complex rest our hope for a new
Museum of Natural History
facility to house our collections,
many of which are now stored
away This partnership, as with
many such consortia, is delicate
because all participants must
give up something which is the
basis for cooperative endeavor
I regret that you failed to
highlight the many positive
aspects of Springfield Its res
idents have worked hard to
build an attractive and vital city
Under the constraints of a
devastating economic climate,
they have added a new city hall,
a senior activity center, a mu
seum, and made additions to
their hospital They should be
applauded, not censured
Perpetuating destructive
stereotypes, even under the
guise of satire, does a disser
vice to us all
Curtis Slmlc
University Relations
joan nyland
suitable for comment
Sen Jesse Helms (Repub
lican, North Carolina) recently
lost his rider to get prayer put
into the public schools His
amendment to the debt ceiling
bill was filibustered by, among
other people, Sen Bob
Packwood and conservative
Arizona Sen Barry Gold water It
was a bill which just hadn't
reached its time — or perhaps
had passed it.
Needless to say, I find Helm's
bill a rather intriguing challenge
to the doctrine of separation of
church and state and if one is
willing to look beyond the esca
pist tactics of the New Right, a
rather intriguing idea — praying
in public school
I’m in rather a unique position
to comment on this subject I've
had seven years of parochial
school and nine years of public
education So I’ve prayed and
studied and studied and prayed
I’d like to tell Helms a few things
I’ve learned in the processes
You cannot ever force
anyone to pray It is an ex
I
tremely personal activity If one
allowed or mandated communal
prayer in the public schools it
would have to be so generic as
to be meaningless — a spaghetti
sauce to please all those who
hate oregano, garlic, fennel,
and basil
One assumes (ugh) that the
public school system functions
to teach literacy and encourage
thinking In the United States,
the school also functions to en
culturate immigrants and instill
patriotism — at least teachers
used to lead the class in the flag
salute If test scores and the
need for remedial courses
before students enter the
Universty are any indication, the
schools already have more
tasks than they can properly
handle
Prayer does not necessarily
have to do with religion, but it
often does Religion is and
should be taught at home Even
Helms, I think, would agree that
parents should direct the
religious and moral education of
their children, not teachers or,
oh my god, school boards
The supporters of the Helm's
bill, including Pres Reagan,
contend that we lose a freedom
by not allowing organized
prayer in our public school sys
tem The argument goes
something like, "One atheist
dictates to the majority what
they can do " Reagan calls the
prevention of prayer, an
"outrage" and has been seen
lately lighting candles in sup
port of school prayer, explain
ing the school prayer issue is
"as vital to the future of the
country as any we face "
Well, I don't know whether
Helms prays out loud, down on
his knees or with Reagan in the
Oval Office but, the majority out
there wishing to pray could foil
the atheists by praying silently I
know that might not fool Big
Teacher who wants control of
our minds every waking moment
of the classroom, but once in a
while civil disobedience is good
for the soul
-1
Oregon doily _
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