Here's what newspapers around the nation are saying:
The New York Times
BIRTH DEFECTS: Americans who remember the thalidomide disaster in England . . ., when many mothers who had taken the drug had babies with serious birth defects, were grateful that the Food and Drug Administration kept it off the market in this country. But now the FDA has come under fire (from companies that manufacture them) for taking too long to approve drugs and medical devices. Congress is considering legislation that is designed to speed things up, but that may go too far in loosening regulatory safeguards. (And) Dr. David Kessler, the FDA Commissioner, insists that internal management reforms (already have reduced) approval time for new drug applications from an average of 33 months in 12987 to 19 months in 1992. With the FDA already making good progress, Congress should be wary of pressing it to move too fast in approving new drugs. Haste could prove hazardous.
The Atlanta Constitution
RAPE CHARGE: It became an international incident, straining U.S.-Japan relations and threatening the American military's mission in Asia. But a central question in the case of three U.S. servicemen charged with a rape in Okinawa was whether the accused would get justice in Japan. The guilty verdicts and sentences handed down to the trio . . . show the answer: Yes. The convictions are supported by overwhelming evidence and . . . the sentences (seven years for the two convicted of the rape of a 12-year-old girl and six and a half years for the third, who was convicted of conspiracy) must be judged as not only fair by Japanese standards, but lenient by what would have been expected in an American court. Yet relatives and supporters of the servicemen . . . continue to maintain they were railroaded and used as political scapegoats. That just doesn't wash.
Chicago Tribune
PRACTICE ART: It has long been debated whether the second-oldest profession is journalism or espionage, and the two do have many purposes in common; to gather great heaps of information, often in hostile environments or from antagonistic sources . . . . But there the similarities end. Journalists file their reports for anybody . . . while spies practice their art solely in the service of their presidents and potentates. That's why recent comments by John Deutch, the director of central intelligence, are so worrisome. In testimony before Congress, Deutch disclosed the CIA retains the right to solicit U.S. journalists as spies and to give his own operatives forged press passes to pose as working journalists . . . although the use of journalists, clergy and Peace Corps workers as spies is banned by federal law. Deutch is wrong . . . . Any blurring of the line . . . jeopardizes the lives of real journalists. Every reporter stopped by armed thugs at a military checkpoint knows the inherent personal danger posed by Deutch . . . .
Newsday
RUNNING OUT: The Senate Whitewater committee ran out of time and money on Feb. 29, but it still wants more of both to embarrass President Bill Clinton. Senate Democrats have threatened a filibuster to keep Chairman Alfonse D'Amato, R-N.Y., from getting $600,000 to continue an open-ended investigation that could stretch to Election Day and beyond. The Democrats are right about this. In fact, their counteroffer to D'Amato - $185,000 to wrap up his inquiry in five weeks, at most - is too generous. After 41 days of hearings and 121 witnesses, D'Amato has nothing of substance to show for $950,000 the committee has already spent. It's time to hand off to Whitewater independent counsel Kenneth Starr and see how far he can carry the ball.