Congress Drops Gondola Compensation
Filed at 2:41 p.m. EDT
By The Associated Press
Washington (AP) - Congressional bargainers killed $40 million the Senate had approved for families of victims of last year's accident in which a Marine jet sent a gondola plunging onto an Italian mountainside.
In March, the Senate had included the provision in a measure financing efforts to help Central America rebuild after last fall's Hurricane Mitch, aiding cash-strapped U.S. farmers, and other items. But when House and Senate negotiators completed a compromise bill for Central America and to pay for the conflict with Yugoslavia, compensation for victims of the gondola accident was dropped.
The provision had been sponsored by Sen. Chuck Robb, D-Va., a former Marine who since last summer has been trying to persuade the Pentagon to compensate the families. Pentagon officials have said they support compensating the families, but under a treaty that requires such matters to be pursued in Italy's courts.
``It's regrettable the families are the victims, and our allies will continue to interpret this action as an unwillingness'' for the United States to bear the consequences of the accident, said Robb spokesman John DiBiase.
On Feb. 3, 1998, a Marine Corps EA-6B Prowler jet on a training mission in the Italian Alps sliced the gondola cable, sending the 20 skiers on an eight-second, 370-foot plunge to their deaths.
Under Robb's provision, up to $2 million would have been paid for the family of each victim. The House did not approve that provision.
President Clinton has said the United States would make amends for the accident.
Italian officials criticized the congressional action.
``They have made fools of us for the second time,'' Justice Minister Oliviero Diliberto said.
``It's another insupportable slight to the ... victims of a slaughter that still, today, one year later, hasn't found justice,'' Diliberto said, referring to what Italians took as unfairly lenient sentences for the crew of the Marine jet.
The head of the defense committee of Italy's lower house, Valdo Spini, called Congress' action ``disconcerting and surprising.''
The downing of the gondola triggered demands from some that Italy evict U.S. forces from bases in Italy. The bases are now key in airstrikes on Yugoslavia.
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Carl Remick