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== == == == == == == . . . . . . .. .. A united front to stop police brutality plus celebrating a centuries-old tradition and a one-of-a-kind restaurant with a taste of all its own.
Good evening, everybody. We will have those stories for you in a moment plus a chance to talk live with a prominent Maryland lawmaker. Right now, we're going to check in live with Newsnight's Camilla Carr, who is at the Baltimore Convention Center. Camilla. Yes, I am. This is the site of the 25th annual American Indian Pow Wow, sponsored by the Baltimore American Indian Center. There is, as you can see, dancing, crafts, and we're going to be telling you more about what's going to be happening here in just a bit. Back to you. We'll look forward to it. Thanks, Camilla. Calling it a movement, a movement that is for public safety. Hundreds of protesters marched along Route 450 today in Prince George's County. A coalition of national organizations formed this year to raise awareness of police brutality cases, organized the two-day rally.
Today's march was another attempt to have, by the enough is enough movement to have a new grand jury investigate the shooting death of an African-American man by Prince George's County police officers in 1993, the Archie Elliott case drew national attention because Elliott was handcuffed in the front seat of a police cruiser when the officers fired nearly two dozen bullets at him, the original grand jury declined to indict the officers. We've now decided to move to the state house, to Governor Glenn Denon, who has the option to call for a special prosecutor. And we believe that with the marching feet of these hundreds of people, we're going to see him respond in a way that the state's attorney in Prince George's County has failed to respond thus far. I think we've contributed too much to this country, and we've not been treated fairly. And so I'm really here looking for justice.
When you stand up, you don't only cleanse the system, you cleanse yourself. So I have a vested interest in this. From one end of this country to the other, I'm embarrassed to have to go to bed and wake up every morning, living in a country as filthy as this country. The rally continues tomorrow with a march to the state house. Now once again this week, we're going to give you a chance to talk with a key Maryland lawmaker tonight. We'll be opening the phone so you can call us with a question or comment in the studio with us now as Congressman Bob Erlich of the second district of Maryland. Welcome back to MPT. It's great to be back, Jeff. Let's talk about the Los Angeles case first. That's been in the news this week, President Clinton indicated that it strengthens his case for additional gun control measures and hate crimes legislation. How do you feel about it? Well, first I'd like to know how many existing statutes were violated prior to the incident. As you know, every time one of these horrible incidents occurs, you have the left saying more gun control and the right saying has nothing to do with anything.
Of course, with respect to most issues, the truth is somewhere in the middle. Most people understand that when it comes to people who are certainly unbalanced, most statutes that are on the books, or in many cases, those statutes have already been violated many times over. It only further strengthens the conviction of folks who have a lot of preconceived notions about the effectiveness of gun control. If further strengthens people on the other side, that gun control doesn't work. Most people are somewhere in the middle. Unfortunately, these incidents drive the debate in really sometimes inane ways, not really substantive ways. As you saw in the House floor, just a few weeks ago, well, it puts pressure on Congress to do something. Well, that's the issue, Jeff. Do what? Colorado, those kids, those murders, what they violate, 19 state and federal gun control laws. I have written a letter to, in fact, a limb tag, our fine United States attorney asking her about, and we're going to have a meeting in two weeks.
I've invited all the state's attorneys, and she's invited all the state's attorneys from surrounding subdivisions to talk about enforcement of existing gun control statutes. You can be on the left. You can be on the right. We can agree and disagree on the effectiveness of gun control. One area, however, where everybody agrees, we have a lot of laws on the books. Let's enforce them. If you use a gun, you know you're going to do the time. If people actually know that, you may see a decrease in gun-related crime. You've seen that in other cities around the country. I'm looking forward to this meeting is going to be a lot of publicity about it. It's a great United States attorney. If she needs more assets, I'm in a position, hopefully, to advocate for her to get those assets to actually prosecute folks with respect to gun-related crime. Well on the other side of the equation, the response to the call to do something from the right is to crack down on the access the young people, especially have to violent video games, sexually explicit programming, that sort of thing. And my response again, Congress has declined to do that.
And I declined in many respects to do that as well. Nobody talked about parents during that whole debate. An entire debate on the floor, and you had people of goodwill right left from public and Democrat going to the floor and making very emotional cases, but almost never is the element of parental supervision brought in. We live in a free society. That means your kids will be exposed to some things that are going to make you uncomfortable. Because of parent, however, you have a job, and that's a supervisor of children. And the federal government or the state government, particularly the federal government, cannot come in every instance and protect you from doing the job you should be doing. You've, on a personal level, we congratulate you on the birth of your son. I'm thinking about these issues a lot more seriously than I've been talking about. Does it change your perspective on the internet, which the wrong click of a mouse takes care? It isn't child into the most obscene material imaginable. It's a cliche, but it's true. When we were growing up, it was more difficult than our parents. And today, I think young people, it's more difficult, in fact, than it was for us, because
there's so much out there. But is it to the point where it's impossible for a parent to shield their kids? No. Never. Priddle supervision, being close to your kids, knowing where your kids are and knowing what they're doing, that's timeless. Let's face it. When society can become more complicated, we can have the internet, we can have videos, we can have the movies, we can have TV, we can have radio. But the bottom line is good parenting is timeless. From a political standpoint, and you're involved in the house leadership, trying to defend your majority in the next election, are you comfortable going into the next election saying that what we ought to do on gun control is enforce the laws we have and what we ought to do in terms of the other side of the equation is see more parental responsibility. You're saying we're not going to do anything, and that's the right course, but is that going to sell next year? Well, I upset sometimes folks on the right by reminding them there is a first amendment in this country, and reminding them that big brother, you're always screaming about big brother when it comes to gun control, but now you want big brother coming into your bedroom
or coming to your house, well, do you do a better job rather than looking to the federal government? Tell us some folks on the right, on the left you have a fair amount of people out there who are just convinced that more gun control will stop incidents like this. I think most people would disagree with that. That's not to say I have 100% or a zero-sum view with respect to gun control. I voted for some statutes that I think make sense, keeping some of the automatics out of the hands of teenagers, make sense to me, juvenile Brady Bill. If you commit a crime as a teenager, you forfeit your right as an adult to own a gun. Now, some folks on the right may be upset about that, but I think that's good policy. You can't worry about who you're going to play, Kate, who you're going to please, who you're going to upset on this issue. You take what you think is best, and you go with it. Let's take a phone call. May is on the line for Montgomery County. May welcome. Go ahead. May are you there? Oh, yes. Go ahead. The reporter was going to take this, I had seen Ted Cappell's program two nights ago,
and he compared our system with the Canadian system. Why can't we have a similar program? I'm sorry, ma'am, are we talking about guns or health care or... The Canadian system of gun control. And they have a far lower crime rate, and certainly less murders. Okay. Thanks very much. We have a less free society to do not have the second amendment. We have a different culture. And of course, some folks on the right may counter that inquiry with how come state legislatures that pass right to carry laws have far fewer violent crime than other states. So, Jeff, it's a tough issue. You're not going to please everybody. You shouldn't try as a public official. You do what you think is right. Some gun control works. If it keeps guns out of the hands of bad guys and folks with mental impairment and kids, I'll support it.
If it fundamentally infringes in the second amendment, I will not support it. All right. Let's talk about something where Congress has acted in the past couple of weeks, the question of taxes and a big tax cut. And passing a bill to President Clinton promises to veto the idea going into this congressional break from the Republican leadership was, let's go sell this to the American public and force the president to sign it. How's it going? Well, the fallback position, by the way, was, nobody really expects the president to sign this. I have to tell you. That may have been what you see on the evening news, but if you're a good poker player, you go with your best hand, particularly when you're done with Bill Clinton. And the Republican leadership, I think, quite rightfully thought, we go with our best hand, return 27 cents out of real surplus dollars to the American people. A lot of moderate Democrats and moderate Democrat senators to our seller particularly have now come out for $300 to $500 billion tax cut. If the Democrat center will begin and has already begun, actually, to put additional pressure on the president, you're going to see two sides meet in the middle.
I predict we'll have a somewhere around a $400 billion tax cut. And that'll happen this year? I believe it will happen this year. Let's take another call. Jack is on the line from Frederick County. Jack, go ahead. Oh, yes. I'd like to ask, since the first gun laws were enacted, the murder rate hasn't changed since it's been one-hundredth of one percent of the population. What more can gun laws do? We're talking to years. Sir, we need to hook you up with the lay from Montgomery County and you two can go at it. And Jeff, I'm glad there's two folks called in, because Sir, your point is very well-taken. I think some gun control laws, in fact, many gun control laws make some people feel better. They hate guns. But most people want to see impact on the bottom line. That is, guns in the hands of bad guys. And so, Sir, your point is well-taken. That is a test that I use with respect to every initiative I see in this area. We'll keep guns out of the hands of kids, criminals, and folks who should not have guns. What about the idea of background checks at gun shows?
I supported background checks. And that's where are we on legislation on that? Well, we'll see what the conference comes out with. The Republicans were at one day, some folks on the right were at no days. The president was at three days. We'll see. For the length of time that the president is now, if you walk into a commercial establishment and purchase firearm, you have to do it. It makes sense to do it at a gun show as well. All right. Polls find huge public support for some sort of patient's rights legislation or limits on HMOs. And again, there we don't have any legislation yet. Are you guys going to be able to produce a bill? Well, we had a bill last term. This really boils down to two issues. Most of the issues have been agreed to, have been compromised. You're looking at the ability to sue the tort liability aspects of it and an external appeal process. They're really the two remaining issues. I think you're going to see a bill. You're going to see a limited right to sue, ultimately, where even if you're not happy
with an external appeal process. In other words, an independent panel of doctors does not give you the result you want. You can sue, but it will probably only be in federal court and not a jury trial. That is what I think we're going to end up with. Often it's taken other phone call. Bob's on the line from Carroll County. Bob, go ahead. Mr. Arlick, I have a question for you. Have you been keeping an eye on the process that's taken place over the last couple of weeks by the land that was donated from the Mellon Trust and the Chesapeake Corporation to the state of Maryland? Are you familiar with that? I have not been taking a closer look at that. No, sir. You are from over there on the Eastern Shore, right? No, sir. That's not my decision. I apologize. I thought you were on the stretch. That's Wayne Gilchrist. Well, in that case, since you're not familiar with it, I guess you probably don't have the answers to my question. So I'll... Sir, can you ask it quickly?
What's the issue? Well, first of all, does this remove the land from the tax base that the Eastern Shore has been working with with the state of Maryland for the last how many years? And the second thing is, they seem to have retained control over the resources that are on the land and contend that they will manage those lands in perpetuity, and my question is, will they be taxed on the resources that will be removed from those lands? Okay, sir. Mr. Gilchrist's office, I'm sure, will be glad to assist you. And Wayne is a bit of an expert on that. It does call us in terms of environmental stuff. The drought, which is not a huge federal issue, but certainly impacts people in Baltimore. Well, it comes to dollars, it is, because folks obviously the state is now looking to the federal government for help and help will be there. What do you hear from your constituents on that? In Baltimore County, is there a concern that maybe we need additional public works or where do you think the next step lies after this immediate crisis, if you can call it that way?
In particular, Jeff, there are some things the federal government really can't do with the state government, any government, and that is control the clouds. It's a heck of a business. You have great compassion for farmers. Government is there to step in, in dire situations. We are the driest state in the nation I understand today, the government should step in accordingly. All right, let's talk about something where the federal government has a clear responsibility, and that's foreign policy and military action. Kosovo was something, the action there was something you initially supported and were later critical of, looking back on the bombing campaign. What should we have done differently? Well, I guess I cannot be accused of being a Monday morning quarterback since I became a quarter back in the third quarter this time. I think most folks and most people I represent were comfortable with the idea of humanitarian missions, particularly in this case, where you had a clear case of what was going on. How we want to bound it, however, as it became clear of the weeks, really concerned me,
other members of Congress, a lot of folks I represent, Americans bombing hospitals, bombing nursing homes, bombing the corner butcher store, and my view was not a particularly effective way to achieve our policy. We have a mess there now, as you know. That's an entire show in and of itself, the Balkans. But with respect to your question, how we spend our military dollars, what the peace division really is, the fact we have flyers, our flyers retiring at historic rates, and very bothersome rates, by the way. They're just not re-uping. We ran out of missiles, the Apaches could not get there in time. Really shows you, in my view, what a phony concept the peace dividend really is. We're near the only superpower in the world. By far the only superpower in the world. And you have obligations. You better spend the dollars wisely when you're military. You can't do military spending on the cheap. I have to quickly ask you in 10 seconds about politics. You've raised a lot of money for a federal campaign, a lot of money for a state campaign. What's your next challenge?
My next challenge is going back to Congress, and I'm going to duck your questions. No decisions at this time. Not surprised by that. We'll look for your listening tour to continue. Congratulations, Bob. Really, thanks very much for joining us. My pleasure, Jeff. Looking for a special treat for the taste buds. Coming up later on Newsnight, Maryland, we'll take you to a one-of-a-kind restaurant in the District of Columbia. But first, when we come back, we're going to hear more from the 25th annual Baltimore Americans Indian Center annual power. We'll be back. Water use has dropped in Maryland, but Governor Glenn Denning says he does not anticipate making any changes to the mandatory restrictions anytime soon. Police in Fairfax County are investigating over 30 cases of ornaments stolen from vehicles in recent weeks. Police say the thieves often wear the ornaments as jewelry. District of Columbia Police have bought nearly 500 guns this week, as part of a no-questions asked amnesty program.
These are paying $100 for each handgun, automatic rifle, or sought-off shotgun. Culture and tradition are coming together tonight at the Baltimore Convention Center for the 25th annual American Indian powwow. Newsnight, Maryland's Camilla Carr is there for the celebration. Camilla. Thanks, Jeff. Jeff, there are about 12,000 American Indians in Maryland, over 6,000 of them live in the Baltimore region. They are primarily from the Lumbie tribe, and they migrated here during the 1950s from North Carolina to work in the factories and they stay. This is largely a cultural event, a chance for the American Indians in the Mid-Atlantic to come together and renew their culture as well as share it with the public. And on that note, what I would like to do is introduce you to one of the dance troops here, the sorry, ego dance troop. Thank you.
Okay, and joining me now is the executive director of the Baltimore American Indian Center, Milton Hunt. Thank you for joining us, Milton. Tell us a little bit about that dance troupe, because it's more than just cultural. Well, the Sore Negroes are our own young people from our own community, where they have learned the traditions of the Native American dance, of the eastern woodland people, and what you
just saw was a very proud and a tribal dance, where our young people are showing their true essence of their culture. Isn't this also part of the substance abuse prevention program, though, to keep the kids involved in cultural activity? What we've found is, children that are involved in their heritage and their culture tend to be more engaged into self-image and making themselves in a culture awareness. We find that this is a good way to use prevention to teach them their culture to build a self-esteem in the value system that's important to us. Well, right now, we're looking at some singing, but there's more than singing and dancing here. There's also lots of arts and crafts authentic. Well, that's right. Hand-made Native American jewelry and artisans here from around the country will have silver and turquoise. It's just beautiful jewelry, pottery and painting. So we invite you all to come down and join us this weekend at the Baltimore Convention Center. Okay. Let's describe what we're seeing here. Right now, that's some of the artifacts. Some of that pottery is from a pueblo in Santa Fe, and I believe that looks like that's starting to be...
Dreamcatcher? Is that a dream? That's a dreamcatcher there. Okay. And that is another handmade, authentic Native American craft that you can buy here. This is a larger dreamcatcher here with what we call Vine, and that's a feather there of some bird of prey there. We're also looking at some other dreamcatchers, and then obviously what attracts everyone is the turquoise and the jewelry and the silver. More pueblo pottery? Yes. That's actually from Acamo. It's pueblo high above the desert outside of Santa Fe, I believe. You know, behind all this culture, there's some really serious issues, though, Milton. And looking at it from your perspective, what do you think are some of the major issues facing the American Indian here in Maryland? Number one, and this continues to be their biggest struggle is education. Seventy-six percent of all Native Americans never graduate from high school. So that means one out of four don't have a chance to compete in this economic system that we live in. So that is something we've got to correct, and this has been something that's been going on for over 50 years now.
So we have to change it, and we have to start teaching our people the importance of education. Next we have substance abuse problems, which continues to plague our people. We have diabetes issues on a health concern, where 50 percent of all Native Americans have diabetes. So we have some very pressing issues. What makes it such a problem is we're such a small group of people. When we experience this kind of devastation in our community, it just can almost wipe us out to a large degree. We were just talking briefly, and you think that the federal government needs to rethink its policy towards the American Indian. Absolutely. I would say that because seventy-six, or I think the statistic now, sixty-six percent of all Native Americans live off reservation. So what you find is Native Americans are leaving the reservation to come to be in urban settings. So we need to take a look at the numbers that are here and service them when they meet their needs. So basically, some of that federal money should be coming to the cities rather than as much that goes to the reservation. Well, if eighty percent of the funds are going to service thirty-three percent of people,
obviously we've got to re-look at that and rethink that and think, what is the best source of using our funds in our revenue? Well, I just want to remind people that this goes on all weekend. Let's head. What about the times? Well, we're going to be here tonight till nine. Then tomorrow we open the doors at seven a.m. I'm sorry, until nine, tomorrow night. And then on Sunday from nine to six, we'll have a special performance by the Aztec dancers. And you don't want to miss them. They're world-renowned, they've come just to be with us this weekend. So you certainly want to come out and see them. In fact, I did see them and they do this incredible dance with fire. Oh, my goodness. And just so everyone knows there isn't admission charge. It's eight dollars for adults and five dollars for kids and folks because this is at the Baltimore Convention Center there. You can take the light rail and there is parking. So please do not pass up this opportunity. Back to you, Jeff. Thanks, Camilla. And, well, I was not going to do it, but we ought to ask for a rain dance. Any rain dances on the agenda?
I checked. I don't think so, but I knew you were going to ask. So I did check, Jeff. Yeah, exactly. Well, actually, they're waiting for you to come down here and join in. Can't pass that up. Well, as we know, it continues tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. through six. That's at the Baltimore Convention Center. Well, somebody think about if you're dining out this weekend, one Washington DC restaurant owner says that good eating and good living are one in the same. But I will take a look at what's new on the menu in America's first certified organic restaurant. When it comes to dining out, the possibilities are endless. Chinese buffets offer some tasty choices, or does the idea of oven baked pizza make your mouth water, grabbing a quick bite could mean a trip to burrito brothers, or is a steak dinner at Ruth Chris, more to your liking. Our region's access to fresh seafood opens an ocean of options. And now you can add environmentally friendly to that list.
America's first certified organic restaurant is tucked away in northwest Washington DC, serving new American cuisine for about 20 years. Restaurant Nora achieved organic certification just last April. That means that nearly 100% of the ingredients used here have been raised through environmentally friendly methods. If the food is grown in a way where it is full of life and energy, then when we eat it it would give us life and energy. And when I cook with it it would give my customers life and then so I just did that that's the way to go. Oh, Nora Puyall says she wanted to prove that it could be done. In fact, she's so proud of that achievement, it's printed on all of her menus. But insisting on pure products can be a challenge. Defined chocolate was very difficult, salt was very difficult. Some of the black pepper, there's still items that are very difficult.
Her efforts are not just limited to what's on the plate. The wine served at this restaurant is made from grapes that are grown without man-made pesticides. There's organic beer at the bar. You know it's an environmental issue and so it doesn't stop only this food, it's part of your life. She insists on using phosphate-free detergents to wash the linens and the servers where uniforms made with environmentally friendly fibers. Maintaining restaurant Nora's organic certification is this man's stock entree. Chef Stephen Bartter tracks down the organic products used in the kitchen. That means juggling the drop-off schedules of more than 80 different vendors. Because can be considerably higher, because organics are a little bit more difficult to grow in process. We really care about the customers' health. We really do care that everything's organic and that we're trying to take the food to a different
level. Puyall agrees. A environmentally friendly dining is a message she would like her customers to take home after every meal here. People that come and say, for me, I come here because the food tastes so good. But I said that's exactly the point. It tastes so good because it's organic, seasonal organic food. Well sure, looks good. The strict dress code at restaurant Nora is, come as you are. Contrary is cost between $15, $19, and $25, the average first will spend about $50 for dinner and wine, including DC tax and a tip. Thanks for watching Newsnight Maryland Tonight Monday on our program. How many shots does it really take to protect your child from disease? Find out why some healthcare experts are raising questions over what's become a medical tradition, hope you'll join us then, now for all of us here at MPT, thanks for watching, and have a good night.
T-dot-or, or call our talk back live at 1-800-586-1461.
Series
NewsNight Maryland
Episode Number
531
Episode
Ehrlich / Pow wow
Producing Organization
Maryland Public Television
Contributing Organization
Maryland Public Television (Owings Mills, Maryland)
AAPB ID
cpb-aacip/394-96k0pcsk
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Description
Episode Description
NewsNight Maryland Show #531 Ehrlich/PG County March
Date
1999-08-13
Asset type
Episode
Topics
Public Affairs
Media type
Moving Image
Duration
00:29:38
Embed Code
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Credits
Producing Organization: Maryland Public Television
AAPB Contributor Holdings
Maryland Public Television
Identifier: NNMD 531 (MPT14898) (Maryland Public Television)
Format: Betacam
Generation: Master
Duration: 00:30:00?
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Citations
Chicago: “NewsNight Maryland; 531; Ehrlich / Pow wow,” 1999-08-13, Maryland Public Television, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed March 28, 2024, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-394-96k0pcsk.
MLA: “NewsNight Maryland; 531; Ehrlich / Pow wow.” 1999-08-13. Maryland Public Television, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. March 28, 2024. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-394-96k0pcsk>.
APA: NewsNight Maryland; 531; Ehrlich / Pow wow. 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-394-96k0pcsk