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Nation in brief

Wounded soldiers dogged by bad debt

By TIMES WIRES
Published April 28, 2006

WASHINGTON - After suffering paralysis, brain damage, lost limbs and other wounds in war, nearly 900 Army soldiers ran up $1.2-million in debt because of the military's "complex, cumbersome" pay system, congressional investigators said Thursday.

The report from the Government Accountability Office said another 400 who died in the wars had $300,000 in debt but the Defense Department doesn't pursue collection of people killed in combat.

"We found that hundreds of separated battle-injured soldiers were pursued for collection of military debts incurred through no fault of their own," said the report. It said that included seeking reimbursement for errors in pay or for equipment left on the battlefield.

The problem became known months ago as soldiers began to complain and lawmakers asked for the report. The Pentagon said it has been working to resolve it.

WASHINGTON - A federal judge refused Thursday to dismiss charges against I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the former top White House aide who was indicted on perjury and obstruction charges last year in the CIA leak scandal.

U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton turned down a motion by lawyers for Vice President Dick Cheney's onetime top assistant, who challenged the authority of special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald to handle the case.

Meanwhile, the New York Times reported that Fitzgerald is expected to decide in the next two to three weeks whether to bring perjury charges against Karl Rove, the powerful adviser to President Bush, citing lawyers involved in the case.

WASHINGTON - Fiscal conservatives won a small but symbolically important victory Thursday in the Senate, killing funding for a seafood promotion program that had been tucked inside a bill for the Iraq war and further hurricane relief for the Gulf Coast.

Led by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and egged on by conservative activists upset with a bevy of add-ons unrelated to the war or hurricane aid, senators voted 51-44 to kill the funding.

"Charlie the Tuna and the Chicken of the Sea mermaid are doing their job just fine without any help of the federal government," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. "Let me save the American taxpayers $15-million right now by telling all Americans now to eat seafood. It's good for you."

The vote was the first successful effort to trim the $106.5-billion measure.

WASHINGTON - Eleven House Democrats said Thursday they would sue the Bush administration, alleging the $39-billion deficit-reducing legislation signed by the president is unconstitutional because the House and Senate failed to approve identical versions.

The lawsuit, led by Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, was to be filed today in U.S. District Court in Detroit.

Ron Bonjean, a spokesman for House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., called it "another attempt by the Democrats to stop us from trying to stop spending."

WASHINGTON - The United States and Canada announced an agreement on Thursday to settle a drawn-out and heated trade battle over softwood lumber, a major home-building component.

The U.S. timber industry said it could support the accord, but Americans should not expect a price break from the deal when they pay for their new house.

Canada's $10-billion in annual shipments to the United States of softwood lumber represent about one-third of the U.S. market.

"This agreement is a historic opportunity to resolve a dispute that has lasted for more than two decades," U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman said.

[Last modified April 28, 2006, 01:17:12]