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The. Good evening I'm wrong Smith and this is Maryland week. Thousands of illegal aliens in Maryland have a new opportunity. Senator Paul Sarbanes explains his role on the Select Committee. Gary Hart's departure raises new questions about media ethics and the SNL crisis. He's two years old. Maryland a week is made possible by Waverley press incorporated and the Williams and Wilkins company. And by Maryland National Bank. Creating innovative
solutions to the challenges of the 80s and beyond. With the Iran-Contra hearings underway. We'll talk to Senator Sarbanes about his role on the Select Committee. Gary Hart says he's bent not broken as he withdraws from the presidential race. We'll talk about the media's role in his downfall. After two years there are some renewed hope for those old ct Savings and Loan depositors. And John Grassley has a report on the why's and wherefore's of the amnesty being offered millions of illegal aliens. With us to discuss these stories this evening are Cynthia Benjamin's of the Prince Georges Journal. Michael Powell of the Frederick news post. And John fair hall of the Baltimore evening sun. Well this week saw the long awaited much anticipated start of the congressional hearings into the Iran-Contra affair. One of the members of the Select Committee investigating this is Maryland senior United States Senator Paul
Sarbanes who joins us live from the interfaith meetings that are in Colombia Senator Sarbanes Thanks for being with us this evening. My pleasure. Ron nice to be with you. This is going to seem perhaps like a strange question but there is so much publicity in the news media about the hearings and the testimony that some people get confused about it what should we be looking for as interested citizens when we read the coverage and when we see what's going on. Well I think the most important thing to be looking for is to get an overall view of this private on accountable not or that have been put into place to carry on covert activities that had a fund raising capacity and then would go out and do all these projects around the world on accountable to anyone and in effect under the auspices of the United States government that's what Secord was running the Congress did know it was going on it was on accountable to the Congress or to the people. Money was being raised from other countries on the intercession of U.S.
officials other countries would make a contribution private donors were giving money. And of course they were making these huge markups on arms sales and then they had a they established themselves a Treasury and then they would go out and engage in these covert operations and in Central America salable of arms to Iran money for DEA agents they bought a ship they were going to use that in another endeavor often off the coast of another country. And this thing could have gone on and on and on they could have been world wide covert enterprise I think. Senator is this a constitutional question in essence. That is one branch of the government trying an end run against the Enron rather a go around the checks and balances. Well it's certainly the hot and that's a that's a very perceptive question but it's something beyond that you had here not only a breakdown of checks and balances between the Congress and the executive branches of our government. You got a breakdown of checks and balances
within within the executive branch itself. This operation was circumventing all established procedures in the executive branch itself including you know the established Departments of Defense and State in the CIA and everything else. Let alone doing an end run around the Congress and congressional oversight with respect to government policy. Senator Sarbanes do you get many phone calls or letters from constituents to your office about the the Iran-Contra affair. Mike we get some. I wouldn't say an overwhelming number but more than more than just a passing few. You think this because this issue is so confusing to so many people involved this so many countries involved is just a confusing issue to understand. Well it's not an issue that that is hitting home immediately like say an economic issue would be if you had high unemployment or high interest rates. It's an issue that is Hoppen them we're now going back over trying to find
out what happened and what can be done to prevent a reoccurrence of this thing so it's not current in that sense. Senator what do you think these proceedings are going to tell us about not only what President Reagan knew but were prepped by President Reagan's attitude toward the lawbreaking that we know occurred. Well that's a good question because I think you should be asking not only who knew what and when but who didn't know and why they didn't know. In other words you need to look at who is making decisions how decisions were being made and how they were being made how they're being implemented and who was doing it in other words how was our government functioning. We were a great power and if you look at this thing. We're behaving as though some the Hunta had taken over the country and was running the policy of the United States in significant areas of foreign and security policy. And you had some secrets being kept quote from the Defense Department the State Department and the Congress and you had these
sleazy arm dealers who engage in the international trade in the know and part of part of the enterprise. Are you confident Senator that we're going to be able to prevent this sort of thing from occurring again. Not absolutely confident no because of it's more a breakdown of of the individuals involved than it is of the system that's what the Tower Commission said about the working of the National Security Council. We the National Security Council and its staff have a very important function to do what do you do when you get a few. People in there are prayer prepared to roam all over the lot ignoring statutory restraint ignoring executive branch procedures in effect using the name of the government to carry on this private activity you've had two fundraisers now have already pleaded guilty. As a consequence of the actions of the independent prosecutor a senator My name is Cynthia Benjamin's I'm with the Prince George's Journal. How disruptive has all of this
been to our foreign relations. Well Cindy I think it's obviously had an impact. Frankly I think the Congress is trying very hard to keep moving on the other substantive items on the agenda. And one of the reasons these select committees were established to look into this matter rather than letting a number of the regular committees do it is so that the regular committees could go on with the rest of their work. Now the administration unfortunately as I continue to take a very rigid and inflexible attitude towards the Congress on dealing with other problems that are on the national agenda so we've had a major conflict with the president on the highway bill and on the clean water bill courses veto was overridden in both instances. We've got a major budget fight going on now. I think the administration ought to try to. Cooperate more with the Congress in order to address the country's problems. Senator before we let you go can we get your views very briefly on the withdrawal of Mr. Hart
from the Democratic race for president. It's your party. Do you have any observations you know this soon on on what it might mean in the presidential sweepstakes now we have a number of very able candidates that are in that race I assume that not everyone is going to get into it is into it yet. And we'll just have to wait and see how that develops but we've got some some colleagues of mine from the Senate and House governors Sam soundlessly 1:3 all of all of whom are are are quite able and I wouldn't be surprised to see the possibility of some of those who've indicated that they have that they weren't going to run might reconsider not enter that race. Senator could I pin you down just do you think Sam Nunn might be one of those. Well Sam certainly won you've got Dale Bumpers who said he wasn't going to run who could get back in again Governor Cuomo could well re-enter the race you have other people that are that are considering considering this race so I think it's why Joe Biden has been working very hard. Governor Dukakis It was a law school classmate of mine a very bright and
able political leader Congressman Gephardt from the house so you've got and the cellular Simon and Gore I mean the list goes on and on and on I think the list is going to get longer not shorter I think you're probably right Senator Sarbanes thank you so much for being with us this evening on Marilyn week we do appreciate it. Well we're talking about of course ladies and gentlemen less than a month after announcing his candidacy former Colorado Senator Gary Hart today withdrew from the race for president. His campaign shattered by the story of Donna Rice and her visit to Hart's house in D.C. last weekend. A lingering question is whether the Miami Herald which staked out the senator's helmet broke the story and subsequently the rest of the nation's media went too far. We asked some of you whether the news media should report in detail on the private lives of elected officials and candidates. No I don't believe that it is I don't think it has anything to do with politics in general or hell that person would carry out their office. I think the news media is too detailed with their their quest to find out the truth. I think it's important for
officials in public office to have a good upstanding background but I think that they really dig too deep in their personal life is a personal life. If it concerns national matters then it's important. But if it's only for themselves it's not what they do with their homes or their bedrooms is their business. You know. In the office and I. Think it's fair. I would not like to think they should do it out of people. With negative reports about a political candidate influence your vote for the candidate you know and say yes it depends on what situation is I really don't care were them not listening was a homosexual or. Oh love the baby. His wife just so he does his job good. For you to do. That it represents me. And I think that your sexual attitude. Displays what kind of kind of person I was. I think that's very important especially when it comes to my boat and who I'm going to be voting for. I think folks might be interested to know that within the media there has been much debate
on whether on whether we've gone too far to John Farah what do you think. I think it's worth keeping in mind Ron what the mayor what the Miami Herald did do and what it didn't do. First of all the Miami Herald has made clear that they did not undertake random surveillance of Gary Hart's house without having some clue as to what might be occurring. They only came to Senator Hart's house townhouse in Washington because they had gotten a tip that a woman who was having a relationship with Senator Hart was on her way from Miami to Senator Hart's home. The reporter followed the woman encounter at the house. And then called all the reporters and editors into the scene onto the scene. That was one reason why they lacked enough reporters and editors to do a complete surveillance leaving that hole in the story the two hours in the back door and all that. The Miami Herald also did nothing illegal did it they didn't tap phones it didn't use listening devices it just used surveillance which is certainly a time honored
journalistic thing. And also one that looks awful. I mean there's no doubt about the fact that you've got people sitting in cars. They're not actually spine through the windows but they were getting as close as they could it just reminds you of this you know the sleazy private detective kind of thing trying to track down a man cheated on his wife it looks bad and I think the press all the news media has been taking a lot of criticism for it and lot of it probably rightly deserved. Obviously the president has been sitting back and trying to analyze whether it was right or wrong. Cynthia what's your of it here. Well I I would hate to see it. This become a general practice I think there are instances in which a person's private life is public business. I think there are instances where people can use their power an older person over a younger person as in the instance of Congressman Gerry Studds from Massachusetts who had an affair with the page. I think that that was a clear incidents of abuse Prosit Bill abuse of a power relationship and that those things can be brought to light simply to remind people that there are some standards occasionally.
What about that what about the thought that that if you enter the arena of this this this arena of running for the president which is the one you're going to be one of the most scrutiny of anything I could think of that you understand then that this sort of thing may happen. Gary Hart must've known that in in fact that the New York Times Magazine story last Sunday was a attempt to dispel the rumors about his womanizing. The man's already been through this once before he's had some past problems with the press and with his credibility. He walks into a boxing ring and if he didn't think the press and a lot of people in the country were going to take some good punches at him then he was very naive he knew it had to be coming. You know his campaign officials were basically warning him is the press is reported this week to get his act together. We should talk about for a second another story that occurred that was published late in the week by The Washington Post the day after the couple days after the Miami Herald story. The post is sort of taking credit for helping to drive out Gary Hart from the campaign by virtue of having
contacted heart before he made his decision and said Would you comment on this evidence we have about a relationship of longstanding that you had with a woman in Washington. Now the post properly reported that their phone call helped influence Gary Hart. I think it's more controversial the fact that their story in the on the front page made mention of there having been any relationship provided virtually no detail also. Senator Hart former Senator Hart says that the system's at fault the media's at fault that the system must be changed in the media must examine itself in this regard. Quickly do you believe that is so or is he just. You are made to believe it but it will not help it as long as there is competition within the press you will always find at least one newspaper that will do that would do this type of journalism. I think that there's really no basis for being so convinced that a person's private behavior is definitely a barometer of what their public behavior. All right well thank you very much. Tuesday was amnesty day the beginning of a year
long government program that offers illegal aliens a chance to begin the process of becoming full American citizens. However the program is not without its share of problems as we see in this report from John Grassi generations of immigrants have brought to America a variety of backgrounds that have made our society diverse. In recent years many of those who came here did so illegally. But now under a one year amnesty program created by the new federal immigration law as many as four million illegal aliens will have a chance to become citizens in Maryland this could affect people who have lived here previously in the shadow of the law. Among those who plan to apply for amnesty are two illegal aliens who have lived in fear of deportation by the Immigration Service for years. Their names are not important but their hopes and concerns are compelling. Do you think it'll be difficult to have to turn to the INS for the amnesty program after having spent a number of years trying to avoid the INS. Yes yes and no. 2 will remain away.
And right on the other hand I'll be happy. The keys are back home. Which I haven't seen in a long time. So. I think. This is my chance. I know that you're married and that while there's a chance that you may qualify your husband may not be that something concerned you. Yes yes my husband is not. I think this is so boring you know because I have three children. If my husband has said to me the one government agency charged with enforcing the new immigration law and administering the amnesty program is the Immigration and Naturalization Service or as it's known by thousands of illegal aliens. Let me get a. Louis Crowe Chetty is deputy director of the INS in Baltimore. Many of the illegal aliens potentially involved in the amnesty program have spent years trying to avoid the INS. How difficult do you think it will be for them to now turn to the INS
for relief. Well it's certainly going to be taking a 180 to reverse themselves all of a sudden put trust and faith into I an ass who in the past has been pretty much an enforcement agency to enforce the Immigration Nationality Act. However it's just going to have to be something that they're going to have to put faith in. This is a one year program. The window was only be open for one year if they want to remove themselves from the shadow. They have to come forward during this one year. There is concern that families might be split up under the amnesty program. Is that a concern the INS is addressing. Yes it is. It's a very real concern and it's a very legitimate concern. The United States government the INS is not going to initiate deportation proceedings to remove the family members to separate the family. You can look over the course a little since the initial immigration laws. That we have always worked toward family unification.
This question has been asked of the immigration people and their response has been well we're not happy about it. But there's nothing in the act that specifically gives us the power to grant amnesty to family members who did not independently qualify themselves. Robert Coburn is an attorney who specializes in immigration law. Now we have the amnesty program. We're supposed to be the most generous grant that this country can give to the aliens and they're saying yes my father could qualify. And his wife and children do not independently qualify what he would be given a special status by INS John Kars secretary for social concern programs at the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington. In your opinion is it fair to require illegal aliens who are applying for amnesty to have these documents that many of them may have no access to. Given the provisions of the law which require that a person be here since 1981 this means some way to demonstrate that. I hope they will take the word of a pastor the word of them
Poyer I hope they will understand that many of these people have never worked under their own name or their own so security that this program is going to have to be adapted to the realities of immigrant life and watch the receipts and documents and affidavits and not part of immigrant life. While the new immigration law and its amnesty program may have created the number of new problems and concerns for our nation's illegal aliens it does mark an important step in an effort to bring some order to a previously uncontrollable situation. From our own week I'm John grassing. Let me ask you Cynthia Benjamin since you cover a part of the state which has sort of a concentration of illegal aliens is this program going to work. What are the feelings about the people down there about it who are will be directly affected by it. Well a lot of aliens are really making tentative calls to find out about the program but really waiting to see before they actually walk down to an office and make themselves known they've been hiding for a long time and they're not about to
take any risks and tell they can see what's what's going to be being asked of you there long time. Enemy as their benefactor that's an absolute thing psychologically. Absolutely and the people who are coming forward are probably the people with with the most documentation the people with the best cases and the most certainty and some of them seem to have been getting a lot of help ahead of time and are ready to move forward you have any numbers on how many in Maryland or how many people living in Maryland might be illegal. It's hard to get a handle on exact numbers but but some people estimate a hundred fifty thousand for the state. Others say that's the tip of the iceberg. In Prince George's county estimates are six to eight thousand. However there was a survey done of El Salvadorans in Prince George's in Montgomery County that estimated about 20000 just from the also it was a deal legal sure all of them. Absolutely those are illegal aliens. Is there a risk if you're let's say you're here and you've been hiding for a while and you go before the INS with your documentation. And it's not
enough. Have you put yourself at risk. Now after you've been hiding for so many years to suddenly be deported from the country. I would say clearly that that's that's that's very likely to happen. For one thing people would be revealing a lot of the documentation that they may have been using aliases assemblies borrowed Social Security card a number and so on and not be giving up their address on where they're staying and absolutely you have to take at face value I suppose the INS has said they are not going to take advantage of of this program to capture people and deport them. On the other hand there are clearly a lot of impediments right and there's not so much what the INS will do is the worry that they have and if there were a loss for the whole 365 days like they do. That's another way that it's close there's another big worry that everybody has out there legals as well as illegals and that's the reaction of employers around the country there have been many many instances and some in Maryland. I'm told of employers who were simply fired off every fired everybody who they suspected of being an alien legal or otherwise.
And it's going to get harder because they're going to have to have a work permit that will have a photograph on it once they go through the stop application process. And anybody who doesn't have one and doesn't have papers it's going to be much easier to pick out if you folks see where NBC News was a little startled to find that one of their correspondents wasn't legally able really. The program they had no idea and he mentioned something very interesting I forget his name a col I think changed but he said that he'd been living in so much trepidation about being found out that he overstayed his visa and so he was he was I think in Chicago he was one of themselves or one of the interesting things that people will realize about this program is that in some way or another it affects everyone. If you wrong go get another job someplace else. They have to demand your credentials you have to fill out a form. It has to be verified by an employer. And we all know you are a citizen. Everyone applying for a job now has to go through this and this is something new in America. This is something that you know were one of those societies where you don't have to carry your idea around all the time like you do in so many so maybe we'll see little change in that next year I think is a lot of people in
some ways it's boost the spirit of a lot of people American when you think you study the history of my children study the history of our country and this is what this is the feeling that they get from looking at what's happening now during this next year. This is what this country was founded on and now they see that again there's a one other topic that we must discuss this evening before time runs out. The SNL depositors whose assets have been frozen it's now been two years since. And John I think you were covering that story when she when it happened the story that would never end. You said it's true it's as of yet it still hasn't and the depositors the thousands of the Bosnians who still primarily own court and first Marilynne savings alone depositors who are still waiting for their money. Are now hopeful as a result of developments at the end of the week that the governor and the Schaefer administration may be looking at a proposed bond bailout if you will about 500 million dollars which depositors could then in exchange for giving up some of their deposit they could get immediate payment but this would require a special session there as you know they're also what they're hoping for that special session of the
legislature and Michael you say you don't think that's going to happen it's very very unlikely already some of the legislative leaders have said there is no way that they're going to have a special session on this it's not that they oppose necessarily the plan that the governor may put together it's just that they don't believe that that that's the method to go about it you know to move that quickly on it. As John said it's been two years since we were all hanging out down a Redwood Street in Baltimore watching the lines of depositors and you know you cannot You're not going to be able to quickly snap this thing together and close it up. Not for a long time. There's this bond issue also you run into that the problem of perhaps affecting the state's credit rating they will have to clear that with the New York brokerage houses bond houses before. That's correct what they did anything that's correct one way or the other the state's going to have to pay a price now there's a deadline for repaying the depositors in 1909 But that deadline can be changed by a law just same way it was created by a law. But we do know that one point or another the state's going to have to pay off the debt that all court that liquidation of all court is not going to cover. That's right
that's been clear for some time but it's just the house that we don't know yet. Well you've heard what we have to say about the issues and now it's your turn. Last week on our opinion poll we asked Are you willing to serve on jury duty. Sixty eight percent of you voted yes while 32 percent who called voted no. This week we want to get your thoughts on one of the topics we've discussed tonight specifically the news media's role in examining the lives of public officials. Our question is should the news media report in detail about the private lives of elected officials to vote yes the media should report in detail. Dial 1 800 4 4 3 9 4 4 6 to vote no dial 1 800 4 4 3 9 4 4 5. These numbers are toll free anywhere in Maryland yes 1 800 4 4 3 9 4 4 6 and no. 1 800 4 4 3 9 4 4 5. If you get a busy signal please try again because we do want your vote. And we'd like to hear from you through the mail to send your thoughts on the news media's role in examining the lives of elected
officials or comments you have about any other subject we've discussed this week. Our address is Maryland wake Maryland Public Television Owings Mills Maryland 2 1 1 1 7. That's Maryland week Maryland Public Television Owings Mills Maryland 2 1 1 1 7. And that's it for this edition for the Maryland week team. I'm Ron Smith Wishing you a good weekend and a good Maryland week. Maryland a week is made possible by Waverley press incorporated and the Williams and
Wilkins company. And by Maryland National Bank. Creating innovative solutions to the challenges of the 80s and beyond. Why. Oh.
Maryland week is made possible by Waverly press incorporated and the Williams and Wilkins company headed by Maryland National Bank creating innovative solutions to the challenges of the 80s and be young.
Series
Maryland Week
Producing Organization
Maryland Public Television
Contributing Organization
Maryland Public Television (Owings Mills, Maryland)
AAPB ID
cpb-aacip/394-956djwm4
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Description
Episode Description
#117: Sen. Paul Sarbanes Guest (Master)
Episode Description
In this episode of Maryland Week Senator Paul Sarbanes comments on a private network being put in place to carry out covert operations; activity and fundraising was done throughout the world unbeknownst to the people and congress. Another discussion topic was Gary Heart withdrawing his candidacy to the presidency after only one month, after a newspaper wrote a scandalous story about him; this topic goes hand in hand with the question the Maryland Week anchor asks: does the media dig too deep into politicians' personal lives to drum up news? Also being discussed is the topic of illegal aliens being able to apply for American citizenship.
Broadcast Date
1987-05-08
Created Date
1987-05-08
Asset type
Episode
Genres
News
News Report
Interview
Topics
News
News
Journalism
Rights
Copyright 1987 Maryland Public Television
Media type
Moving Image
Duration
00:30:00
Embed Code
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Credits
Anchor: Smith, Ron
Associate Producer: Bailey, Latanya
Associate Producer: Jacobson, Suki
Copyright Holder: MPT
Director: Smith, Michael
Editor: Martin, Daryl
Executive Producer: Marshburn, Everett L.
Interviewee: Carr, John
Interviewee: Crocetti, Louis
Interviewee: Koven, Robert
Interviewee: Sarbanes, Paul
Producer: Grassie, John
Producing Organization: Maryland Public Television
Reporter: Clark, Garth
Reporter: Grassie, John
Reporter: Powell, Mike
Reporter: Fairhall, John
Reporter: Benjamins, Cynthia
AAPB Contributor Holdings
Maryland Public Television
Identifier: 35353.0 (MPT)
Format: U-matic
Generation: Master
Duration: 00:30:00?
If you have a copy of this asset and would like us to add it to our catalog, please contact us.
Citations
Chicago: “Maryland Week,” 1987-05-08, Maryland Public Television, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed March 29, 2024, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-394-956djwm4.
MLA: “Maryland Week.” 1987-05-08. Maryland Public Television, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. March 29, 2024. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-394-956djwm4>.
APA: Maryland Week. Boston, MA: Maryland Public Television, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-394-956djwm4