Clinton, Chelsea: Dad Hails Grad

President Clinton spoke at his daughter Chelsea's high school graduation ceremonies today in Washington. Clinton told Chelsea's graduating class that he and his wife had raised their daughter for moments such as graduation and that they are very proud of her. But the president admitted he sometimes wishes she was a little girl again and that he's sad that she'll be leaving for Stanford University in California this fall. He told his 17-year-old daughter to remember, "we love you," and that no matter what anyone says, she can come home again.

Some Democrat Donors Faked Names

Federal investigators looking into donations to President Clinton's 1996 re-election campaign reportedly have concluded that some of the contributions came from fictitious individuals. The New York Times is reporting that investigators have discovered that the Clinton campaign received checks from several phony corporations and, in one case, from a checking account in the name of a woman who died in 1986. The Times says some of the checks were solicited by John Huang, the former Commerce Department official who is at the heart of the investigation into possible fund-raising illegalities.

Disaster Bill Veto Threatened

The White House warned Republican congressional leaders today to drop unacceptable conditions from a disaster relief bill or face a presidential veto. Congress gave its final approval yesterday to an emergency aid bill that President Clinton refuses to sign because it includes unrelated language opposed by the president. Those include provisions setting conditions on future budget negotiations and dictating the way the next census is conducted. White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry urged Congress to send that measure to the president without any delay so he can veto it and send it back. Senate Republican leader Trent Lott says Congress will continue passing the same bill if Clinton vetoes it. McCurry says that "borders on being ridiculous."

U.S. Envoy Visits Vietnam War Crash Site

Pete Peterson, the first post-war U.S. ambassador to Vietnam, visited a site where excavators are seeking remains from U.S. soldiers missing since the Vietnam War. Peterson's visit to the crash site in a remote area of northern Vietnam's Thanh Hoa province is his first face-to-face experience since his arrival in Vietnam in May of the painstaking process by which joint U.S. and Vietnamese teams are seeking to resolve the fate of the 2,124 American MIAs. Peterson is a former U.S. fighter pilot who spent most of the war in a brutal North Vietnamese prisoner of war camp. Searchers marked today's occasion by handing Peterson a brick from his former place of captivity in Vietnam, the infamous "Hanoi Hilton" jail.

Poll: Money Talks in US Politics

A new poll has found that two-thirds of Americans believe large political contributors have more influence on U.S. lawmakers than the constituents they represent. The poll of 1,404 adults was conducted for the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics by Princeton Survey Research Associates. The poll also has found that three-fourths of respondents believe elected officials care more about getting re-elected than about doing what is best for the country. The survey has found little difference between the views of registered Republicans and Democrats and voters were equally disenchanted with both parties.

Snowe Wary About Ralston

A leading member of the Senate Armed Services Committee says she has serious concerns about the possible nomination of Air Force Gen. Joseph Ralston as the nation's top military officer. Maine Republican Olympia Snowe says she and other committee members will talk to Defense Secretary William Cohen about Ralston. Ralston is a leading candidate to become chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff despite revelations he engaged in an adulterous affair 13 years ago. Snowe said she was concerned about Cohen's open support of Ralston just weeks after Lieutenant Kelly Flinn, the first female B-52 pilot, was forced to resign from the Air Force to avoid a court martial on adultery and other charges.

US Ends Sierra Leone Mission

The Pentagon says a U.S. Navy helicopter carrier that participated in evacuating about 2,500 people from Sierra Leone is heading for the Mediterranean. U.S. officials say the USS Kearsarge and its force of 1,200 U.S. Marines departed the coast of the west African nation today and is steaming toward its normal station. The evacuees, including 451 Americans, were taken out of the Sierra Leone capital, Freetown, by helicopter after a military coup that toppled an elected government and transferred from Kearsarge to neighboring Guinea.

Indonesia Assails US Critics

Stung by criticism from some members of the U.S. Congress, Indonesia today cancelled its participation in an American military training program and scrapped plans to buy nine U.S.-made F-16 warplanes. Indonesia has come under fire from some U.S. lawmakers, particularly over its human rights record and East Timor, the former Portuguese colony that Indonesia occupied in 1975 and annexed the following year. The U.S. Embassy in Jakarta says in a statement: "While we regret this decision, it is of course up to Indonesia to determine its own defense requirements."

Cyprus Vows Concessions to US

The foreign minister of the Greek Cypriot government says he is ready to make concessions concerning the future of Cyprus if the Turkish Cypriots follow suit. Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders are expected to meet July 9 in New York under U.N. auspices for their first direct talks in three years about the future of Cyprus, divided since 1974. Ioannis Cassoulides met with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in Washington today just two days after the White House appointed Richard Holbrooke as special U.S. emissary for Cyprus. Turkish troops invaded Cyprus in 1974 following a short-lived Greek Cypriot military coup in Nicosia. The island has been divided since then.

UN Chief Urges US Partnership

In a commencement address at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology today, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged Americans to follow the course of internationalism in partnership with the United Nations. Annan earned a masters degree in management at MIT 25 years ago. He pleaded to the graduates "to work indefatigably to anchor the United States firmly to the course of internationalism, to its historic mission as an agent of progressive change..." One of the Ghanaian diplomat's main concerns since taking office in January has been an apparent erosion of the historic U.S. commitment to the United Nations.

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