
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 8, 1990                   TAG: 9003081984
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A/2   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

BRIEFLY . . .

A group of House staffers spent more than $28,000 traveling to London, Paris, Rome and other European cities, planning a trip for lawmakers who then decided to stay home. Rep. Doug Barnard Jr., D-Ga., says he suspects "cold feet" among House members worried about cold winter weather in Europe and bad publicity back home.

The House Wednesday failed to override President Bush's veto of a bill to create a commission on the year-old Eastern Airlines dispute. The vote of 261-160 to override fell about 20 short of the two-thirds majority needed.

Former New York state Sen. John Dunne, President Bush's choice as the Justice Department's civil rights chief, appears headed for likely confirmation by the Senate. Sen. Howard Metzenbaum, D-Ohio, said that while he was "having great difficulty" supporting Dunne's nomination, "I'm not sure President Bush would appoint anybody better than you. Regardless of how I vote, you're going to be confirmed."

Members of Congress are urging the Bush administration to appoint a special envoy of "prominence and stature" to coordinate discussions about the American hostages in Lebanon.

"All signals suggest that an opportunity for release exists," Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., told a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee Wednesday - amid a flurry of news reports suggesting movement in the hostage situation.

Slaughter said she and Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y., first proposed an envoy to tackle the hostage question two years ago.

by CNB