The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer

JIM LEHRER: Good evening. I'm Jim Lehrer. On the NewsHour tonight the Dole-Gingrich loan. We have excerpts from the Speaker's comments and reaction from House members Boehner and Cardin; Elizabeth Brackett reports from Chicago on welfare reform's impact on legal immigrants; Air Force General Frank Campbell updates the search for a missing fighter jet in Colorado; and essayist Anne Taylor Fleming considers the return of the good life. It all follows our summary of the news this Thursday. NEWS SUMMARY

JIM LEHRER: House Speaker Gingrich will borrow $300,000 from Bob Dole to pay his House ethics penalty. Gingrich made the announcement from the House floor today. He said the loan would be paid back from his own fund over eight years at 10 percent interest. Dole is the former Senate Majority Leader and 1996 Republican presidential candidate. The House imposed the $300,000 penalty on Gingrich in January after he admitted he had failed to get proper legal advice before using tax-exempt funds for political purposes, and he also conceded he submitted untrue information to the committee investigating him. He spoke in the House chamber this morning.

REP. NEWT GINGRICH, Speaker of the House: I will also ask the House to pass a resolution confirming that this is a voluntary action on my part, and that it will establish no precedent for any other member in the future. It is vital that we not go down the road of destroying middle class members by establishing any personal burden in a non-judicial system. [applause]

JIM LEHRER: Gingrich's speech drew extended applause from his colleagues. Later in the day Senator Dole was asked about his generosity.

BOB DOLE: First of all, it is a loan. It's an arm's length transaction between two friends. He could have done better at a bank, better interest rates, but there would have always been a question about maybe banks would be favored in legislation, whatever. And I wanted to help the Republican Party and to help Newt Gingrich get this behind him and behind the party and move ahead with the Republican agenda.

REPORTER: Can you tell us where you got the money from? Does it come from your campaign funds or from personal funds?

BOB DOLE: No, no campaign funds. It's my own money. I've been working for a long, long time, saved some money. It'll come from savings. But I can't loan you any.

REPORTER: That was my next question. That was my next question.

BOB DOLE: Well, maybe--maybe at those rates I could borrow some at 8 and loan it to you at 10.

JIM LEHRER: We'll have more on this story, including congressional reaction, right after the News Summary. Floodwaters continued to rise today in Fargo, North Dakota. Residents worked to reinforce dikes holding back the churning waters of the swollen Red River. Hundreds of citizens have been forced to leave their homes. Officials say the river has risen to more than 39 feet. That's 22 feet above flood stage and surpasses a recordset 100 years ago. Across the river in Moor Head, Minnesota, garbage trucks were parked over storm drain lids to keep the floodwaters from gushing out. Families have been ordered not to use the local water because of contamination. There were warnings today against giving tobacco companies blanket legal immunity. Those warnings came from David Kessler, former Head of the Food & Drug Administration and former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop. Both responded to yesterday's news that two tobacco firms had settlement talks with eight state attorneys general. The states have sued cigarette makers to recover the public cost of treating smoking-related illnesses. One arrangement would have the companies paying billions of dollars in exchange for legal immunity from future lawsuits. U.S. Attorney General Reno today defended her independent counsel decision. On Monday, she rejected a Republican request that she seek such a counsel to investigate allegations of improper fund-raising by Democrats in 1996. Reno spoke at her weekly news briefing at the Justice Department.

JANET RENO, Attorney General: I mean, I take everything based on the evidence and the law. I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't, and so the best thing I can do is ignore the politics, ignore the pressures, pressures from both sides, if they say you do this, or you do that, and just call it like I see it. We have reviewed all the evidence, and at this point we can't find specific and credible evidence that any covered person, any person specifically named by Congress, with whom I would have an automatic conflict, has violated a federal law.

JIM LEHRER: In Colorado today an Air Force general said spy satellites picked up a flash or explosion in the Rocky Mountains. The reading occurred about the same time an Air Force fighter jet vanished in the area two weeks ago. The general said the so- called infrared event could have been a crash or a bomb exploding. The jet carried four bombs. We'll have more on this search for the missing pilot later in the program. Overseas in Israel today, Prime Minister net vowed to remain in power, despite accusations of a government corruption scandal. We have more from Simon Israel of Independent Television News.

SIMON ISRAEL, ITN: A resolution Benjamin Netanyahu arrived at his Likud Party headquarters this evening. The prime minister denounced his accusers and protested his innocence. He vowed he would continue to lead the country into the millennium. The truth, he said, would triumph. There is no certainty he will be indicted. State prosecutors have spent a third day poring over a thousand page police report which recommends that Mr. Netanyahu, his justice minister, and two other officials should face charges of fraud and breach of trust. The scandal centers on the surprise appointment in January of a little-known lawyer, Roni Bar-On, as attorney general in return for political favors from one of Mr. Netanyahu's coalition partners. Mr. Netanyahu's coalition is now seriously threatened. His aides admit it's virtually paralyzed just as the U.S. envoy, Dennis Ross, is struggling to make some headway in the peace process.

JIM LEHRER: And on the Zaire story today President Mobutu and rebel leader Kabila have agreed to hold peace talks. Mobutu had previously demanded a cease-fire before he would participate in negotiations. Kabila and his forces now control more than half of the Central African nation. And that's it for the News Summary tonight. Now it's on to the Gingrich story, welfare reform and legal immigrants, the search for the missing Air Force plane, and an Anne Taylor Fleming essay. FOCUS - PARTY INTEREST

JIM LEHRER: The Dole-Gingrich loan is our lead story tonight. Our coverage begins with this report by Kwame Holman.

KWAME HOLMAN: It took three months, but today House Speaker Newt Gingrich came up with a way to pay the $300,000 penalty ordered by the House Ethics Committee. Gingrich went into a meeting with fellow House Republicans this morning to tell them first. Then he went to the floor of the House of Representatives to tell the nation.

REP. NEWT GINGRICH, Speaker of the House: I have arranged to borrow the money from Bob Dole, a close personal friend of impeccable integrity, and I will personally pay it back. The taxpayers will be fully reimbursed. The agreement will be completely honored.

KWAME HOLMAN: Reportedly, it was Bob Dole, himself, who first made the loan offer to Gingrich--through an intermediary-- two to three weeks ago. Dole and Gingrich spoke on the phone Tuesday morning and got together Tuesday night. Under the terms of the agreement Bob Dole will loan the $300,000 to Newt Gingrich. The Speaker may repay the loan anytime within the next eight years at an annual interest rate of 10 percent. Dole, in a written statement today, said: "I consider this not only an opportunity to support a friend but a long-term investment in the future of our party. Today we bring this story to a close and a united Republican Party moves forward with its positive vision for the next millennium as articulated by one of our most effective leaders, Newt Gingrich." The $300,000 penalty results from an Ethics Committee investigation into Gingrich's use of money from tax-exempt organizations to fund a college course and TV project, both of which the committee determined had clear political objectives. Gingrich was reprimanded and also ordered to pay the penalty because the committee found Gingrich had been less than cooperative during the investigation.

REP. NANCY PELOSI: The point about us making that penalty is that it would prolong the investigation because the information was not accurate and reliable, it came to the committee, is that not so?

JAMES COLE, Ethics Investigator: That is correct. It really relates directly to the burdens that were placed on the House as a result of not getting accurate information in the first place. If we had, if the House had--if the Committee had gotten truthful answers, accurate answers to those questions, in the first place. I think it was the view of I know myself and I'm sure the members of the subcommittee that we wouldn't be here at this time. We would have--we would have resolved this matter long ago.

KWAME HOLMAN: Speaker Gingrich agreed to pay the penalty but wasn't sure how to do it. Using his campaign funds would be legal, he was told, but not politically advisable. There were reports Gingrich's wife, Marianne, initially was opposed to using their personal funds, but that, in fact, is what they're going to do.

REP. NEWT GINGRICH: Marianne and I decided whatever the consequences we had to do what was best, what was right morally and spiritually. We had to put into perspective how our lives have been torn apart by the weight of this decision. We had to take into account the negative feelings that Americans have about government, Congress, and scandals. We had to take into account the responsibility that the Speaker of the House has to a higher standard, and that is why we came to the conclusion of our own choice without being forced; that I have a moral obligation to pay the $300,000 out of personalfunds that any other step would simply be seen as one more politician shirking his duty, and one more politician shirking his duty and one more example of failing to do the right thing.

KWAME HOLMAN: Word that the speaker had decided how to pay his penalty had swirled around Capitol Hill for the past two days. And this morning, the atmosphere on the House floor was politically charged an hour before the Speaker arrived.

REP. BILL PAXON, [R] New York: Mr. Gingrich, our speaker, is stepping forward once again to set a high standard of personal responsibility to pay this reimbursement out of his personal resources, and I believe that every member of this House should step forward and commend the Speaker.

REP. JENNIFER DUNN, [R] Washington: It seems to me that when you have a Speaker of the House that's willing to set a standard in the House of Representatives, maybe a standard the White House can take a little information from, we ought to praise him.

REP. LLOYD DOGGETT, [D] Texas: This decision, though belated, should be accepted by this House on both sides of the aisle, accepted but not applauded, not applauded any more than we would applaud the decision of a major polluter who had injured the public health and welfare through its pollution.

REP. JOHN LEWIS, [D] Georgia: Speaker Gingrich admitted to bringing discredit on the House of Representatives. He has admitted to lying to this House.

KWAME HOLMAN: And five months after returning to private life Bob Dole again was the target of a political attack.

REP. GEORGE MILLER, [D] California: Bob Dole, who was recently hired by big tobacco, we now have the chief lobbyist for big tobacco financing the payoff of the Speaker's fine for lying to the Congress.

REP. DICK ARMEY, Majority Leader: I can't imagine anything that is more deplorable than somebody going on the floor of the House of Representatives and questioning the integrity of Bob Dole just a few short months after the President of the United States gives him the American Freedom Award, the highest honor that can be given by a President to a civilian in this country.

KWAME HOLMAN: As for Newt Gingrich, he spent 18 minutes on the House floor making no mention of the political firestorm surrounding his decision.

REP. NEWT GINGRICH: This House is at the center of freedom. And it deserves from all of us a commitment to be worthy of that honor. Today I am doing what I can to personally live up to that calling and that standard. I hope my colleagues will join me in that quest. May God bless this House, and may God bless America. Thank you. [Applause]

KWAME HOLMAN: Some Republicans in the House have complained recently about Gingrich's leadership during this session of Congress, but for today at least, they all were in support of him, and several Democrats crossed the aisle to congratulate the Speaker as well.

JIM LEHRER: Sorry about the technical video problems on that.

JIM LEHRER: Now, the view of two key House members, John Boehner of Ohio, chairman of the House Republican Conference, and Benjamin Cardin, Democrat of Maryland, who was a member of the Ethics Committee which ruled on the original Gingrich matter. Congressman Cardin, what do you think of the Dole loan arrangement?

REP. BENJAMIN CARDIN, [D] Maryland: First of all I think Mr. Gingrich is using the right thing on personal funds to pay off the penalty, and I was pleased to see that he chose that method. As he said, it was the only right way to do it. As far as the loan, it raises questions that need to be answered. It needs to be lookedat and approved by the Ethics Committee. A member is not allowed to take gratuities or tips, and if this loan is not commercially feasible, what a normal person could have received going to a bank, it raises certain questions as to whether it's a gift. And under our gift rules, we cannot accept gifts, and there's a gratuity statute. So you need to take a look at the loan. We don't have enough information to know whether it is, what a person could have received in a normal circumstance, but our rules are pretty clear about not accepting a loan under terms that would not be available to an average person.

JIM LEHRER: And that is the only question that you would have, Congressman?

REP. BENJAMIN CARDIN: I think that's the key point. The key point is whether he has gotten something of value. If you get a loan for terms that are different than what you could have gotten at a bank, that is something of value under our gift ban. A member is not permitted to take that. The Ethics Committee would need to take a look at it. And, quite frankly, Mr. Gingrich is submitting this to the Ethics Committee for its review, so I expect the Ethics Committee will look into it.

JIM LEHRER: Congressman Boehner, do you agree that's a legitimate question to ask?

REP. JOHN BOEHNER, Chairman, Republican Committee: I think that if you look at the agreement that's been reached between Speaker Gingrich and Sen. Dole, it is a commercial agreement. It requires the interest to be paid at a 10 percent rate. It's clear in the agreement that only Newt can repay the loan out of his personal funds. So he can't go raise money in any other way. He has to pay it out of his pocket. And if, in fact, the Speaker were to die during the term of this, there's a life insurance policy to ensure that it's paid off. So I think the Speaker today took personal responsibility for the errors that he made. And I think that the House today really is going through a healing. Most members of the Congress, both Democrat and Republican, are glad that this affair is over, and I think you'll see the Congress begin to move on with what the American people sent us here to do: balance the federal budget, reduce taxes, solve the problems of Medicare, and working to try to improve the lives of our fellow citizens.

JIM LEHRER: Congressman Boehner, what is--you're a member of the leadership--what is your reading of why it took three months to come to this conclusion?

REP. JOHN BOEHNER: Well, I think that, as you know, the Ethics Committee was disbanded after the inauguration and after dealing with the Gingrich affair. And only a chairman of the committee and the ranking Republican were appointed, we're going through a whole review of the ethics process. The committee didn't set a time limit, and I think that Newt and his wife and his attorneys and his advisers had to work their way through this. And once they did they came to this conclusion, and I applaud the Speaker for taking personal responsibility for what really is a rather difficult time in his life.

JIM LEHRER: Are the stories correct, Congressman Boehner, that the leadership--and I guess that includes you--said to the Speaker, you have to do it with your personal funds; you can't use campaign funds, you can't do it any other way, or there would be a problem?

REP. JOHN BOEHNER: The leadership really did not engage in this. Not at one time during the last three months was there a discussion of this in the leadership. It was between Newt and his wife and his advisers and his lawyers over how this would be dealt with. But he kept it to himself. He worked with his friends and really did not involve the rest of the leadership in those discussions.

JIM LEHRER: Congressman Cardin, you agree, though, that the personal way was the best way?

REP. BENJAMIN CARDIN: I think it was the only appropriate way that he could have done it. I am pleased to see that in his statement he pointed out that the other ways would not have been the right way to do it; that he had to use his personal funds. And hopefully, that will put that issue to rest; that when a penalty is assessed, you should use personal funds to pay it.

JIM LEHRER: Congressman Cardin, one of your Democratic colleagues, Congressman Doggett--we just had it in that clip we just ran--said that the Speaker did not deserve to be applauded this morning for violating the rules of the House of Representatives. What's your view of that?

REP. BENJAMIN CARDIN: Well, it's never a good day for Congress when one of our members has been reprimanded and subject to a major penalty. And complying with that is not a good day for Congress. Again, using personal funds, hopefully that will put that issue aside, but there are still going to be questions on where he's getting the money from on the loan. It is an eight- year loan. It's not paid at all during the period of eight years, not even the interest. We don't know about the collateral. I think those issues are going to still remain until the committee, the Ethics Committee, has had a chance to look at it to see whether, in fact, it is a standard type of a loan that he could have received from a financial institution.

JIM LEHRER: Congressman Cardin, I don't want to put too fine a point on this, but do you think the applause and the congratulations that the Speaker received were for choosing to go to the personal route? Is that what that was all about this morning?

REP. BENJAMIN CARDIN: This is a collegial body. Sometimes we don't show it very well. We do have our partisan differences. But I don't think anyone wants--we understand that this is a difficult decision for the Speaker as to how to pay for this. It's affecting his family. So I think it was more of a collegial response than any specific thing that he said. Yes, the overwhelming majority of the members of the House were--wanted him to pay for it from personal funds, and he has complied with that.

JIM LEHRER: Congressman Boehner, you wanted him to do that, did you not?

REP. JOHN BOEHNER: Well, certainly paying this reimbursement to the committee--and we shouldn't call it penalty or fine--it was a reimbursement to the committee for the expenses that were incurred in the investigation that would not have been necessary if, in fact, Newt's attorney and Newt in reviewing documents would have covered them more closely. But the issue today I think was one of Newt taking personal responsibility for his actions for trying to bring the House together and bringing credibility back to the House. It was real interesting that not only was there a standing ovation for members from both sides of the aisle, but afterwards, members came up to Newt from both sides of the aisle to shake his hand. There's a healing process that members want to see occur here in the House, and I was glad to see that bipartisan response today because I think today that process begins.

JIM LEHRER: All right. Congressman Cardin, you're no longer on the Ethics Committee, is that right?

REP. BENJAMIN CARDIN: That's right. Actually, we had--the members of the committee have not been appointed yet, but I will not be one the next Ethics Committee.

JIM LEHRER: All right. Take us through the process now. The--as you say, the chairman and the ranking member have been appointed. They sent a letter today to--this afternoon to the Speaker and said they would review this in light of Rule 51, I believe it was. Explain what that means and what the--what the review process will involve, and when that would be finished. When is this thing going to be over?

REP. BENJAMIN CARDIN: That's a good question. Rule 51 is our gift ban, that you cannot accept--

JIM LEHRER: The one you were explaining earlier.

REP. BENJAMIN CARDIN: And it specifically provides that a loan can be a gift it is not in compliance with standard economic conditions.

JIM LEHRER: And who makes that judgment?

REP. BENJAMIN CARDIN: It'll probably be the Ethics Committee. It will, I assume, submit more of the details. He indicated-- Mr. Gingrich indicated that it will be collateralized. We don't know what type of collateral is being provided. The committee will--

JIM LEHRER: You mean, he might have to put up a house or a car or something that amounts to $300,000.

REP. BENJAMIN CARDIN: Exactly.

JIM LEHRER: I see.

REP. BENJAMIN CARDIN: And we don't know that today. We don't have the information about it. So the committee will take a look at it, and if they come to the conclusion that Mr. Gingrich did not get any special favors in this loan, then it will be, I assume, approved. I agree with Mr. Boehner. I think all of us want this matter completed as soon as possible. We want to get onto the work of Congress. And Democrats and Republicans are anxious to get this chapter behind us.

JIM LEHRER: Do you think it's a matter of weeks, a matter of months, a matter of days before this thing could be resolved?

REP. BENJAMIN CARDIN: I hope it's a matter of weeks. I don't think anyone wants it to be prolonged. It probably will take more than days because we don't have a full Ethics Committee. And my understanding is that that committee will not be appointed until at least next week.

JIM LEHRER: So it's not over yet, Congressman Boehner?

REP. JOHN BOEHNER: Well, it is, in effect, over. Newt making the agreement to pay it out of personal funds I think really takes this issue and puts it in the closet. I don't think that the Speaker would have proceeded if he hadn't gotten good advice from the chairman of the Ethics Committee and the ranking Democrat on that Committee. Not that--not that they are going to preclude what the full Ethics Committee will do. But I think there was strong indication from those two that this was appropriate and it was a proper way to do it. And I think, in fact, this case is over.

JIM LEHRER: What about the collateral issue that Congressman Cardin raised?

REP. JOHN BOEHNER: Again, I think that's an issue between Newt and his lawyers and the Committee, but I feel confident that that issue will be resolved.

JIM LEHRER: The healing process you mentioned, Congressman Boehner, also involves the Speaker, himself, does it not, and his leadership of the House? Do you think this now puts him on that road to recovery as well?

REP. JOHN BOEHNER: Well, I think the Speaker has had three or four good weeks. I spent 11 days in East Asia with the Speaker, where he had a very good trip. Over the last 10 days that he's been--we've been back in session I think he's back at being Newt, and I think that it's clear to me that Newt wants to lead again; that he was trying to do his planning, trying to take his time, trying to deal with these issues that he's had to deal with in a real serious way. But I think that today was not a negative for Newt. It was a positive because of the way he dealt with it. I chaired the Republican Conference this morning when Newt shared with all of the members--

JIM LEHRER: He told you all first, right?

REP. JOHN BOEHNER: He did. He told us how he was going to proceed, and the members were absolutely overwhelmed with positive things to say. And so this is another positive step for Newt, and I think that you're going to see him continue to be our Speaker and continue to be our leader.

JIM LEHRER: Is that how you read it as a Democrat, Congressman Cardin?

REP. BENJAMIN CARDIN: Well, I think we all want to move forward. We want our Speaker to succeed as far as leading the House. We want to work together as Democrats and Republicans and have a very positive agenda for the people. Again, no one wants to see any member violate the rules of our House and have to be held up for a sanction, particularly Speaker of the House. The Speaker has submitted this agreement to the Ethics Committee, and the reason why we cannot conclude it is that he has submitted to the Ethics Committee. They're going to have to take a look at it, but, yes, we want to move forward, Democrats and Republicans. We want a healing process here. We want to tone down the partisan differences, but we also have to understand that this is a serious matter. It was a serious violation of the House rules. It was not a voluntary payment. It was a penalty that was imposed by a strong vote of the House of Representatives. And yes, we would like to put this chapter behind us.

JIM LEHRER: Do you--what's your reading of where this now puts Speaker Gingrich in terms of power and the ability to lead the Congress?

REP. BENJAMIN CARDIN: Well, that's a decision that we're going to have to watch to see what happens. I think it will be more in the actions of the Congress. If he can lead the full House of Representatives, Democrats and Republicans, so that we can work together, work with the Senate, work with the White House, and have a constructive session, that will be the real test of his leadership. And it's not just what he does within the Republican Caucus and dealing with the Republican members of Congress. He's the Speaker for all members of the House, and I would hope that he will reach out and try to work with all the members.

JIM LEHRER: Gentlemen, thank you both very much.

REP. JOHN BOEHNER: Thank you, Jim. SERIES - LEGAL IMMIGRANTS

JIM LEHRER: Still to come on the NewsHour tonight how welfare reform is affecting legal immigrants, the search for an Air Force plane in Colorado, and an Anne Taylor Fleming essay. Elizabeth Brackett of WTTW-Chicago has the immigrant story.

SPOKESMAN: Who is President today? Bill Clinton.

ELIZABETH BRACKETT: Russian refugee Boris Rubin is trying hard to learn enough American civics to pass the test to become a citizen but his English is so poor he doesn't think he will make it--neither does his 85-year-old mother-in-law.

ROSA KOSTOVESKAY: Who is the President of the United States?

ELIZABETH BRACKETT: A few blocks away there is tension as these two Russian refugees drill each other for the test. They've been doing this since a letter arrived from the Social Security Administration in February. The letter said they would lose their supplement security income, or SSI, in August if they haven't become citizens. SSI is a federal cash grant for the elderly and disabled who have little income or assets. Social workers have come to see if they understand the letter, which was written in English.

SOCIAL WORKER: What they're saying is that you may lose your benefits unless you become citizens.

ELIZABETH BRACKETT: The family will lose their benefits as a result of welfare reform. Previously, legal immigrants couldget SSI after their first five years in the country. Refugees and those with political asylum were immediately eligible. The new law bars legal immigrants from ever receiving SSI benefits and food stamps. Refugees and those with political asylum are eligible for their first five years in the country then are cut off. There are a few exceptions. Legal immigrants who can prove they've worked in the U.S. for 10 years, or are on active military duty, or are veterans. The Social Security Administration predicts that 500,000 legal immigrants will lose their benefits this August. In Illinois, it's projected that 22,000 legal immigrants will lose their SSI, a cash grant of no more than $484.00 a month.

MARY MAHLER, Social Security Administration, Chicago Region: It's a very serious situation.

ELIZABETH BRACKETT: Mary Mahler is with the Social Security Administration in Chicago.

MARY MAHLER: We have people who are very elderly. I mean in Illinois alone we have 100 people who are over 100 years old who are getting SSI. And of those 100 people, 10 of them will definitely be suspended. And they came into the country with the understanding that as long as they followed the rules, they came in legally, that, you know, they would be taken care of. And the rules have changed.

ELIZABETH BRACKETT: But Illinois Congressman Philip Crane, a strong supporter of welfare reform, says the need to balance the budget means the country can no longer afford to support non-citizens.

REP. PHILIP CRANE, [R] Illinois: It would be marvelous if we could afford this but the estimates are in the absence of reform over the next 10 years it's going to cost American taxpayers, working Americans, over 380 billion dollars in increased taxes. It was never understood by our ancestors when they came to these shores that you came to the United States for a free ride.

PROTESTERS: We want jobs

ELIZABETH BRACKETT: Welfare reform has brought protest. In Chicago those protesting against cuts for legal immigrants were marching alongside those objecting to cuts for mothers and children on welfare.

SPOKESPERSON: What kind of a country do we live in when we ask this nation's elderly and disabled legal permanent residents to give up their benefits to balance the budget?

ELIZABETH BRACKETT: Protester Barbara Otto heads a coalition trying to save SSI.

BARBARA OTTO, The SSI Coalition: The supplemental security income program took 40% of the hit in federal welfare cuts. and that is largely falling on the back of the nation's elderly and disabled populations. And that is part of the problem. This is not what we were thinking of when we talked about ending welfare as we knew it.

ELIZABETH BRACKETT: Congressman Clay Shaw was one of the architects of welfare reform.

REP. CLAY SHAW, [R] Florida: This strictly, as far as the non-citizens were concerned, was a budgetary consideration. We found that it was large sums of money, somewhere around $18 billion, and we just needed to save this money. We also found that this was being an attraction, that we were becoming the nursing home for the world, and we found that this just simply was not the best way to go, and was not the way the taxpayers would have us spend their money.

SPOKESPERSON: Boris is, he's 60 years old, and having a very difficult time studying--

ELIZABETH BRACKETT: Elena and Boris Rubin became refugees after the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear plant left many family members ill. They say they were told they would be eligible for government benefits by a U.S. immigration officer in Moscow. The three of them have been living on $1300 a month SSI grant since they arrived six years ago, money 85-year-old Bella Dubovskaya thought was secure.

IRENA BEREZIN, Council for Jewish Elderly, interpreting for BELLA DUBOVSKAYA: They thought it was similar to a pension. She worked her whole life in Russia, and that is what they heard back in Russia before they immigrated. She doesn't sleep at night, she has terrible headaches because she just has no idea what is going to happen to her.

ELIZABETH BRACKETT: Rosa Kostovetskay's 84-year-old mother is even in worse shape. After several strokes she is bedridden and her daughter cares for her at home. The family left the Ukraine five years ago to escape the persecution they felt as Jews.

TRANSLATOR SPEAKING FOR ROSA KOSTOVETSKAY: It's a lot of pressure on her particularly because she doesn't know what's going to happen with her mother, if they're going to lose the apartment, and then what is she going to do with her mother? She said the only choice is they are to be homeless.

ELIZABETH BRACKETT: The Immigration & Naturalization Service has just redefined what it takes to get an exemption from the citizenship test--a change that may help these families.

TERRENCE O'REILLY, INS: We have finalized the rule that will allow individuals who through the certification of licensed practiced physicians and clinical psychologists in the United States may be exempt from the English language and civics requirements.

ELIZABETH BRACKETT: Rosa Kostoveskay's mother will probably be exempt from taking the test under the new rules but there is a catch-22. The INS says even if a person is too disabled to take the test, they must be able to take the citizenship oath and understand what they are saying--something Kostoveskay says her mother couldn't do.

ROSA KOSTOVESKAY: My mother, she is a very sick woman.

ELIZABETH BRACKETT: The INS also says age alone is not enough to exempt a person from the citizenship test. So it is unclear whether immigrants like Roman Shlyakhesman, Boris Rubin, or Bella Dubovskaya could get an exemption.

TEACHER IN ENGLISH CLASS: What is your first name?

ELIZABETH BRACKETT: The fear of losing their income has sent immigrants scurrying to English classes. The Council for Jewish Elderly in Chicago sponsors this class. The average age is 75. And, for most, it is tough going.

JOHN KIESELHORST, English Teacher: I'm not entirely sure that any of them are going to get fluent enough to pass the citizenship test. At this point we are hoping that we can get some of them to that point. There are others that face extreme pedagogical difficulties. Some of them can't hear very well. Some can't see very well. Most of the ones we are teaching here don't know the Latin alphabet. They write in Cyrillic script, the Russian script.

ELIZABETH BRACKETT: Refugees and those with asylum do have five years of benefits, which Congressman Crane says should be enough time to learn the language.

REP. PHILIP CRANE: I mean you don't have to reach an Einstein level of comprehension, but to reach some basics in mastery of our language, that's not that difficult. And in fact I can't believe that most of those people didn't kick up a lot of English on the streets, as I indicated I did when I was in the army in Germany.

ELIZABETH BRACKETT: Another big problem is the long lines at the Immigration Office. It now takes seven to nine months to get through the citizenship process in most states. And in another catch-22 legal immigrants can't apply to become citizens until they have been in this country for four years and nine months, meaning refugees and those with asylum will lose their benefits before they get through the system.

SPOKESPERSON: We see far reaching effects for our whole community--

ELIZABETH BRACKETT: Fearful immigrants from many countries told their stories to public officials at this community meeting in March.

CHEL PHACH, Cambodian Association of Illinois interpreting for woman : She say that her name is Mrs. Ult. She came to the United States. She received SSI, and if the government--I think that Your Honor here is going to cut her SSI--the only thing is she is going to die.

KYUNG HWAN SUN Translator - SUE KANG, Korean American Senior Center : I don't have many years to live in this world but I don't know how I am going to be living in this world without an income.

SAM SVOISKY Translator - JANE TANNENBAUM, Council for Jewish Elderly : He says here in this bag he has a second letter that says that his SSI is going to be terminated. But he has his violin, and there is one store somewhere where he lives, where he can play violin and maybe he could earn $10 or $15 so that he doesn't die of hunger.

ELIZABETH BRACKETT: Moved by what they heard state legislators promised results.

REP. JAN SCHAKOWSKY, Illinois State Representative: I will be fighting for legislation that will have the state make up some of the benefits that have been cut at the federal level.

ELIZABETH BRACKETT: A package of legislation that would enable the state to pick up the cost of the benefits has been introduced in the Illinois legislature. The bills would, in effect, create a state SSI and restore food stamps and Medicaid, but there's little support for the bills in the legislature in a state where, like most states, there's already a struggle to meet the state's balanced budget requirement.

ELIZABETH BRACKETT: Illinois' Governor Jim Edgar says cutting SSI benefits was not what he had in mind when he and other Republican governors pushed for welfare reform. And he says there is no way his state can pick up the cost of the benefits.

GOVERNOR

JIM EDGAR, [R] Illinois: It's about a $150 million price tag, and we don't have $150 million. We have made the decision we are going to continue to fund Medicaid for legal immigrants. We no longer have to do that, but we feel that we should do that, and that's about $110 million. But SSI and food stamps are two areas that the state has never been involved in. The federal government has always assumed that responsibility. And we don't have the resources to pick up another federal program if they have ended.

ELIZABETH BRACKETT: After President Clinton signed the welfare reform bill last August 22nd, he promised to fix provisions dealing with legal immigrants. And many immigrants still think he will.

INTERPRETER SPEAKING FOR ELENA RUBIN: She believes that President Clinton won't allow this law to take effect.

ELIZABETH BRACKETT: The President has proposed changes but they are bogged down in budget negotiations. Plus, there is strong reluctance in Congress to reopen welfare reform legislation.

REP. CLAY SHAW: The president would like for us to amend the SSI bill from the welfare bill that he signed into law and was passed by the Republican Congress.. He would like for us to change the law as to the SSI payments to people who were here on the date of enactment of the welfare bill. On the Republican side we're resisting that. We don't think we should do that. And we're not going to.

ELIZABETH BRACKETT: Shaw says there is some movement toward a transitional block grant paid to states in proportion to their immigrant population, though it would not come close to replacing the cuts. And with the August deadline fast approaching, even those who must administer the new law are concerned.

MARY MAHLER: It's very stressful for our employees. They want to help people, they want to administer the law at the same time. But they are kind of torn.

ELIZABETH BRACKETT: What do you think will happen to these people?

MARY MAHLER: I think that's a real good question. I'm not sure.

ELIZABETH BRACKETT: Meanwhile, in two other states, New York and California, lawsuits have been filed challenging the provisions of the welfare bill that denies benefits to legal immigrants. FOCUS - MISSING PLANE

JIM LEHRER: Now to the mystery of a missing U.S. Air Force plane and to Elizabeth Farnsworth.

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Two weeks ago, on April 2nd, Air Force Captain Craig Button took off from the Arizona Desert on a routine training mission. He flew an A-10 Thunderbolt attack plane in formation with two other A-10's. The planes left David-Monthan Air Force Base and headed for a bombing range in Southern Arizona. Button abruptly broke ranks and headed Northeast, some 800 miles off course, toward Colorado. Then Button and his $9 million attack plane, carrying four 500-pound bombs, disappeared. It seem as if life imitated art--in this case the 1995 movie "Broken Arrow." In that film an apparently model Air Force pilot, played by John Travolta, steals a Stealth bomber and its nuclear weapons.

ACTOR: The nukes are gone.

ACTOR: We've got ourselves a broken arrow?

ACTOR: Broken what?

ACTOR: Broken arrow. It's a Class 4 strategic theater emergency. It's what we call it when we lose a nuclear weapon.

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: In real life Captain Button had an unblemished record too, but his model was the more heroic Tom Cruise character in "Top Gun," according to Button's father, an Air Force veteran himself.

ACTOR: ["Top Gun"] Maverick, you'll get--when you get this ship--and if you don't, give me a call. I'll fly with you.

TOM CRUISE: Sir.

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Richard Button said his son, like the Tom Cruise character, had always wanted to be a pilot, and that he loved acrobatic flying. Skiers near the Vail ski mountain reported hearing a loud bang like an explosion on the day the plane disappeared. Someone else saw a mysterious glow. Air Force and Colorado's Civil Air Patrol have scoured the wilderness, flying more than 300 millions with helicopters, small planes, and high-tech spy planes like the SR-71 Blackbird. The Blackbird flies at three and a half times the speed of sound at an altitude of 60,000 feet and uses infrared cameras to detect unusual shapes in the snow. The search has narrowed to an area encompassing about 476 square miles, with most of the attention focused on the remote, snow-covered peaks of New York Mountain on the South and Red and White Mountain on the North. Two feet of new snow at the end of last week hampered the search.

COL. GREG KEELTHER, U.S. Air Force: The snow has a crust on it that will allow your feet to go in about 10 inches or so, except that every once in a while you find a hole, in which case, in my case, I went in up to my knee. And then you climb out of the hole and press on.

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Now, warm weather has heightened the danger of avalanches, another threat to Army bomb experts combing rough terrain with metal detectors.

MAJOR CHUCK MITCHELL, U.S. Air Force: It's a lot like looking for a needle in a haystack with three feet of new now on it. It's really tough to find a haystack in the first place, much less a needle.

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: The A-10 is a low-flying, easily maneuverable twin-engine jet built expressly for close air support of ground forces. It was widely used in the Gulf War. The Air Force has been unable to locate a downed pilot and plane only once in the last twenty-eight years.

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: And with us now is Air Force Lt. General Frank Campbell. As the commander of the 12th Air Force he is in charge of the search mission. He joins us from Eagle, Colorado. Thank you for being with us, General. What's the latest on the search today?

LT. GEN. FRANK CAMPBELL, U.S. Air Force: [Eagle, Colorado] Today we are continuing our visual search in the area in and around Eagle, Colorado, and we are investigating two new sites that were passed to us early this morning from intelligence analysts looking at imagery taken earlier in the week. We probably will put one ground team in this afternoon to investigate one of those sites.

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Let's go back to the beginning for a minute. After Captain Button veered off course, he was not responding to radio messages, right? Was that unusual in itself from the very beginning?

LT. GEN. FRANK CAMPBELL: Yes, that was unusual.

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: And then he was also not emitting a radar signal, but that wasn't unusual, is that right?

LT. GEN. FRANK CAMPBELL: Actually, it's a radio signal that is a transponder that responds to a cue from the ground that enhances the radar signature of aircraft. And that's not unusual because we don't have the wing men in a formation of aircraft have their transponder on.

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Let me go back to the radio just for a minute. Do you have any explanation for why he might not have responded to the radio? Could it have just been turned off?

LT. GEN. FRANK CAMPBELL: We don't think so because one minute prior to that he had responded on the radio.

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: All right. Now, how--explain how you tracked his flight from Southern Arizona to Colorado.

LT. GEN. FRANK CAMPBELL: Initially we looked at raw radar returns; that is, radar returns that are not enhanced by this radio transponder I referred to earlier. Those radar raw returns were from the Western Air Defense sector. We then asked a series of the Federal Aviation Administration's radar sites to go back in and give us their raw information. They normally look at only the enhanced transmissions. And we analyzed those in a computer program and were able to tie Captain Button's apparent track with that track from the Western Air Defense sector. Gaps in the track between the Albuquerque Center, which owns most of the radar sites down in the Arizona sector, were then bridged to radar data in the Colorado area, which are from the Denver Center sites, and we were able to track Captain Button all the way up to this area which is near Vail, Colorado.

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Were there also sightings from people on the ground?

LT. GEN. FRANK CAMPBELL: Yes, there were. There were sightings from people on the ground in and around the Phoenix area, both Southeast and East of Phoenix, Arizona, then in Central Arizona a little more at a town called Young. From there, the next sightings we picked up were in the area around Telluride, Colorado, some around Aspen, Colorado, and then a number of sightings here around Eagle County Airport in Colorado.

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: What did people report seeing?

LT. GEN. FRANK CAMPBELL: They reported seeing an aircraft that--if they knew what aircraft looked like, they would tell us that it was an A-10--the ones that didn't know what it looked like described it to us, and we were able to tie it to characteristics similar to an A-10, and this aircraft was alternately described as maneuvering or flying straight and level, in some cases circling.

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: So from these do you assume that the pilot--that Captain Button was able to be controlling his aircraft? Originally there were some thoughts that maybe something happened to him; that he was oxygen-deprived or something.

LT. GEN. FRANK CAMPBELL: Well, we do believe that Captain Button was flying the aircraft. One reason is because when it was last visually seen by the instructor pilot, it was at a fairly low altitude, around 7,000 feet. And in order to come up into this area, the aircraft had to climb considerably, and in order to do that, Captain Button would have had to be flying the airplane because the auto pilot in the A-10 will not avoid the terrain and climb the aircraft automatically. We don't assume anything about his physical condition at this time because we don't know enough to be able to speculate or we don't know enough to be able to draw a conclusion.

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: How did you narrow down the area to more or less 476 miles?

LT. GEN. FRANK CAMPBELL: We narrowed down the area to an area around the New York mountain range, which is close-by here at Eagle County Airport, because that's where our radar information terminated, and it corresponded with numerous visual sightings in this area. Additionally, we have run numerous attempts at calculating the fuel that would have been remaining in that A-10 at various flight altitudes, and all of those indicate that he would have been very low on fuel in this immediate vicinity. Additionally, we had our other national sensors that sensed an infrared event in this area at about the time that the sightings and the radar data all came together here in Eagle County Airport.

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: General, what ordinance was on the plane?

LT. GEN. FRANK CAMPBELL: The aircraft was carrying four Mark-82, five hundred pound general purpose bombs, and it had seventy-five rounds of 30-millimeter ammunition in its cannon.

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: And would the bombs have blown up on impact?

LT. GEN. FRANK CAMPBELL: The bombs--if they were still attached to the aircraft on impact--if the aircraft crashed--could have possibly exploded. They might not go off what we call high order, which means that they would go off in their most efficient manner. They could have had a sympathetic explosion with the aircraft if the aircraft exploded.

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Now, if somebody--when you were out there, if you had found the airplane, how dangerous would those bombs be, if they hadn't exploded, assuming they didn't explode?

LT. GEN. FRANK CAMPBELL: They would be very dangerous for anyone who is not a professional explosive ordinance disposal expert to deal with. We've repeatedly asked the public, if they do find this aircraft or any remains of the aircraft, please don't go near it. Call us, and we will put an expert team in there, because in addition to the bombs and the 30-millimeter ammunition, the ejection seat has explosive charges and a rocket pack that's highly volatile. Additionally, we have high pressure oxygen on the aircraft, and we don't want the public to be injured dealing with anything associated with the crash.

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Could Captain Button have parachuted out at some point?

LT. GEN. FRANK CAMPBELL: We don't like to speculate at that. Certainly the possibility is there.

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: What do you think happened, General, at this point? What do you think? I know you don't want to speculate, but what's your best guess?

LT. GEN. FRANK CAMPBELL: I'm not making guesses at this time. We're dealing with the evidence that we have at hand, continuing to focus our search, and we'll continue to do that until we've satisfied ourself that our search is just not fruitful, and we're becoming redundant in it.

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: In your interviews with people--I know you've--I've read you've interviewed several hundred people who knew Captain Button. Have you found any worrisome indications about him?

LT. GEN. FRANK CAMPBELL: We have not. We continue to find nothing that indicates Captain Button was anything but an officer that exemplifies our core values as an officer in the United States Air Force. He was an excellent pilot by all accounts and of high integrity.

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Well, General, thank you very much for being with us. Good luck in your search.

LT. GEN. FRANK CAMPBELL: Thank you very much. ESSAY- THE GOOD LIFE

JIM LEHRER: Finally tonight essayist Anne Taylor Fleming considers the return of the good life.

ANNE TAYLOR FLEMING: Remember when these places were all the rage, when the spandexed crowds were sweating their way to flatter abs and longer lives. For a while there America, or a certain part of America, anyway--the lifestyle conscious baby boomers--was on a health binge. Someone was always trying to sell you on the latest diet, or at-home exercise device, or tell you what not to eat or drink, or smoke. What a difference a few years makes. Welcome to Arnie Morton's Steakhouse in Beverly Hills, part of a national chain. Forget the delicate nouvelle cuisine of yesterday. These places are now all the rage. Up scale steakhouses are now the fastest growing part of the restaurant business. After trailing off for a number of years, annual consumption of beef in the country is now way back up to 70 pounds per capita. So settle back and let the waiter beguile you with a hunk of meat--$30 a pop for the choice steaks. Don't stop there. Throw in the house salad, slathered in Blue Cheese dressing and the crispy fried potatoes. And if you really want to be trendy, be sure to order the over-sized $6.50 martini. For the young, the martini confers sophistication and class, allowing them to rebel against the "just say no" brigade and partake of the rituals and romance of a bygone era. It's no accident that old-time crooner Tony Bennett is considered hip now. For the aging baby boomers, on the other hand, the re-indulgences stem from the realization that all the sit-ups and diets in the world cannot stay the hand time--the thickening of the flesh--the loss of hair. And with all the talk now of genes there's a sense that one's physical destiny is preordained no matter how good you are. So we might as well have a little fun. What we're seeing is a pendulum swing. For 20 years in this country we've been on a clean living kick, set off in no small part by the surgeon general's report on smoking, which was followed by warnings against all sorts of other things, from depletion of the ozone to eating movie popcorn. We tried to clean up our act, along with the environment, but now indulgence beckons us back. Speaking of indulgence, the capper to the meat and martini meal is the after-dinner cigar. Cigar sales, which fell from nearly 11.2 billion a year in 1973 to a low of 2.1 billion in the early 90's, are also making a big comeback, with cigar bars popping up all over town and women lighting up, as well as men. This restaurant now sells a hundred a week, at $7 to $25 apiece, a 300 percent increase over just a year and a half ago, just as martini sales are up 50 percent. No doubt, the health brigade is aghast. Deaths from heart disease and even cancer have gone down with the decline in the consumption of fat and alcohol. But the nay sayers to the nay sayers would say relax, we're not talking about a steak every night or twelve cigars a day. We're talking a return to moderated indulgence, the occasional steak or stogie or straight up martini. And being out among the retro crowd here it's hard not to be caught up for a moment in the greasy fill of their appetites. I'm Anne Taylor Fleming. RECAP

JIM LEHRER: Again, the major stories of this Thursday, House Speaker Gingrich will borrow $300,000 from Bob Dole to pay the penalty for violating House ethics. The flooding Red River in North Dakota broke a 100-year record by rising above 39 feet, and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu vowed to remain in office, despite the prospect of being indicted in a government corruption scandal. We'll see you on-line and again here tomorrow evening with Shields & Gigot, among other things. I'm Jim Lehrer. Thank you and good night.