WHITEWATER HEARINGS, ANTI-CRIME BILL, HEALTH CARE DISCUSSED BY BOND

When it comes to issues, the Whitewater hearings, health care and a $32 billion anti-crime bill are foremost on Senator Christopher "Kit" Bond's mind.

Bond, R-Missouri, was at the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport Monday to speak about those topics.

Bond said there is far more to discuss about the Whitewater hearings than the recent hiring of independent counsel Kenneth Starr, who replaced Robert Fiske.

"There are two phases that I think are most important right now," said Bond. One deals with questions about a possible cover-up of Vince Foster's death; the other with how truthful some of President Bill Clinton's aides have been during the hearings, he said.

"I had hoped that there wouldn't be this general attitude of doing whatever was necessary to protect the president, but I'm afraid that's exactly what's been going on," said Bond.

Bond said: "There is cause for concern about what has been told to the committee. It turns out there are some things that are flat-out wrong.

"There are a lot of people working for the president who just haven't been forthcoming," he said. "We're getting tired of all of this. We've been hearing testimony all day and night, and it doesn't seem as though we're getting anywhere."

Bond doesn't believe the Clinton-Mitchell health-care package will get the necessary votes in Congress.

"The first Clinton-Mitchell health-care package, which came with a mandate that everyone would have coverage, just didn't fly," said Bond. "The second phase of that was really nothing more than slapping a few more coats of paint on the original package.

"I believe there should be a health-care package that provides for everyone to have access to coverage. But to tell everyone that they must comply with a mandate just won't get the 50 votes from Congress that is needed. I think there are 70 to 75 moderate Democrats and Republicans who would vote for a universal access package."

One of the most important phases of the anti-crime bill, said Bond, is how severely it deals with juveniles and the emphasis on making convicted felons serve the majority of their sentence.

"Part of the package that Carol Mosley-Braun and I worked on, which would have forced 13-year-olds who have committed certain crimes to be tried as an adult, was taken out," said Bond. "When you've got someone who is committing a violent crime, you're no longer dealing with a child. This is someone who should be tried as an adult."