Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, October 10, 1995 TAG: 9510110027
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CODY LOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LYNCHBURG LENGTH: Medium
Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich pledged Monday night to start paring away at the national budget next month if President Clinton doesn't come up with an acceptable budget compromise.
Referring to a continuing resolution that has kept the federal government operating in the absence of a budget, Gingrich predicted that on Nov. 14, the day after the resolution expires, "essential government workers will be going to work" but some others will not.
"We'll see who is missed," he said, suggesting that those who are not could be permanently out of work, including Labor Secretary Robert Reich.
Gingrich was the featured speaker on the second night of Super Conference 1995, an annual event at Liberty University featuring workshops and lectures for pastors, their church staffs and wives. The pastor of Gingrich's home church in Georgia, the Rev. Ike Reighard, is a member of the Liberty Board of Trustees.
Most of the conference events take place in Liberty's Vines Center, a multi-purpose arena. Monday night's crowd, estimated at about 7,000, appeared to include most of the Liberty student body as well as a sizable contingent of townfolk curious to hear the speaker.
"We basically know what he's going to say," Jeffrey Weiss of Lynchburg said before Gingrich arrived. "We just wanted to see him in person." Weiss and his wife, Krista, are 1994 Liberty graduates.
"It's a nice change to hear a person in politics speak toward Christian values," Krista Weiss said.
Liberty junior Peter Zipf paraded around the upper deck of the Vines Center, waving a large American flag above his head to the delight of those around him.
"I'm feeling patriotic, sir," Zipf explained to a reporter. He is a recent basic-training graduate of the Virginia National Guard with political aspirations, he said.
Zipf's boisterous mood was reflected in thousands of faces and wild applause as Gingrich entered the arena.
The Rev. Jerry Falwell, chancellor and founder of Liberty, introduced Gingrich, telling him, "I don't know if a more partisan crowd has ever gathered in one place at one time than here."
Gingrich focused his remarks on what he sees as the spiritual and religious bedrock of American culture and history, as well as a plea for an expanded volunteer role for religious congregations.
Promising sound bites for the reporters in attendance, Gingrich decried what he saw as the excesses of the O.J. Simpson trial. "The lawyers of America are ruining the process of justice," he declared to rousing applause.
While defending the jury system, Gingrich insisted lawyers, juries and judges in the Simpson trial "should have approached the case in a prayerful way.
"If there is not a spiritual component, how can we talk about justice?''
Gingrich went on to blast "liberals" who question the religious beliefs of the Founding Fathers. He said he will write letters in January to every governor and state legislature asking them to enact laws requiring the teaching of the Declaration of Independence in every public-school grade level.
That would force teachers to have to deal with such terms as "Creator" and "sacred honor," Gingrich said.
"America cannot be understood if you block people from learning about the Founding Fathers' understanding of God's role in the nation's founding,'' he said.
In a brief news conference after the address, Gingrich said he believes Gov. George Allen is "doing a great job" and that he was flattered many Republican officeholders signed a state contract modeled on the national Republican Party's "Contract With America."
Memo: ran in the New River edition Oct. 11.