By a vote of 203-202 - an unexpectedly narrow margin - Republican leaders overcame determined Democratic opposition and a White House veto threat to win passage of a District of Columbia spending bill that contains the voucher program.
The voucher experiment, a key element of the GOP's national education reform package, would offer poor, inner-city school children "scholarships" of up to $3,200 each to cover tuition costs at nearby parochial, private, or public schools.
The surprisingly close vote suggests a difficult journey for the GOP voucher proposal. A conference committee must reconcile the House measure with a Senate bill that does not contain a voucher program. In addition, the White House has notified House leaders that senior administration officials will urge President Clinton to veto the bill if it reaches his desk with the voucher proposal.
"Establishing a private school voucher system in the nation's capital would set a dangerous precedent for using federal taxpayer funds for schools that are not accountable to the public," the White House said in its critique of the House bill.
The finding, from instruments on the Galileo spacecraft orbiting Jupiter, suggests that Europa may have all three of the ingredients scientists consider essential for life: an energy source, liquid water and organic molecules, said planetary scientist Thomas McCord of the University of Hawaii.
"This doesn't mean there is life on Europa," said McCord, lead author of a study to be published today in the journal Science. "The exciting thing now is the evidence that Europa may have all three of the ingrediants."
Europa is already known to have water and internal heat sources.
Dale Cruikshank, a research scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center, said the work of McCord and his team should sharpen the research concentra
tion on Europa, which already "is the subject of very special interest."
"This finding increases the plausibility for life on Europa," Cruikshank said. "It also supports the idea that there were organic molecules streaming throughout the solar system."
As President Clinton stood in the Rose Garden with leaders of eight weapon-makers celebrating an agreement some called historic, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) was firing off missives to the three companies, which are among the 10 largest handgun producers in the country.
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