Washington Journal

By ADAM C. SMITH, BILL ADAIR, JOHN BALZ and SARA FRITZ

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 1, 2000

Senate campaigns ignore RU-486 okay

The most significant abortion development in years -- the Food and Drug Administration's approval of the abortion pill RU-486 -- drew nary a whisper from Florida's main Senate candidates.

Both Republican U.S. Rep. Bill McCollum, a consistent opponent of abortion rights, and Democratic Insurance Commissioner Bill Nelson, a less consistent supporter of abortion rights, were content to leave the matter out of their contentious Senate race.

In Congress, McCollum voted in 1998 to prevent the FDA from testing and developing drugs that would chemically induce abortions. But as his Senate campaign geared up, he missed two similar votes on the FDA testing, in 1999 and 2000.

McCollum campaign spokeswoman Shannon Gravitte said he was probably busy campaigning, but that he would have supported the bans, just as he would support subsequent efforts to ban the use of RU-486, or Mifeprex.

"His concern, of course, is that it would encourage more abortions," Gravitte said of McCollum.

Nelson said through a spokesman that "now that the FDA has approved it as safe" he would oppose any efforts to ban the drug. "I do not believe the government should interfere in a woman's right to choose."

As a congressman in the 1980s, Nelson consistently supported the National Right to Life Committee's anti-abortion agenda. His stance shifted, however, as he prepared to run for governor in 1990. He began more frequently opposing abortion restrictions, and today he campaigns as an abortion rights advocate.

Mack may find future in medical research

Sen. Connie Mack has earned a reputation as one of Congress' biggest supporters for medical research. Now that he's retiring, the Florida Republican says he may go to work for a company or foundation involved in research.

Mack said Friday that he has spoken with a top official at the National Cancer Institute to see "what kind of focus I should take" in finding a new position that promotes medical research.

Mack said he is not interested in being a lobbyist and will not work full time, but he might have several positions with different groups, or be a consultant.

Under Senate rules, Mack is free to work for any company or association when he retires, but he cannot lobby anyone in Congress for at least one year.

Security concerns may slow government Web site

A week-and-a-half and already the government's newest e-initiative is about to get hammered.

Last week, Uncle Sam launched FirstGov.gov, a portal meant to be the definitive resource for information about everything in the federal government. But the General Accounting Office has serious concerns about the site's security, and the information contained in the thousands of state, local and federal databases. At a house subcommittee hearing next week, FirstGov.gov developer Dr. Eric Brewer, also the chairman and founder of Internet software provider Inktomi, is likely to be on the hot seat defending his creation.

Anti-HMO Gore sought backing from HMO head

Last week, presidential candidate Al Gore was bashing HMO operators in a speech to seniors at the Coliseum in St. Petersburg. But it was only a little more than four years ago that Gore was personally wooing one of the nation's most prominent HMO executives, Bernard Masters, chairman of the now-defunct Health Power HMO in Ohio.

In February 1996, Gore accepted an invitation to go to Masters' home in Columbus for a fundraiser that yielded $250,000 for the Democratic Party. A few months later, Masters was a paying guest at one of the infamous White House "coffees" that raised millions of dollars for the Clinton-Gore ticket.

Masters' HMO no longer exists, however. It folded in April 1999, claiming that the federal government did not provide sufficient reimbursement to compensate it for treating low-income Medicaid patients.

- Staff writers Adam C. Smith, Bill Adair, John Balz and Sara Fritz contributed to this column.

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