CRIME BILL CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF

In a major triumph for the President, a measure to stall the crime bill was shot down in the Senate. The move failed by a 61-to-39 vote, with six Republicans defecting from the party line. One Democrat, Richard Shelby of Alabama, jumped ship and voted against the White House position. Clinton praised the Senate, but much of the action in the vaunted upper chamber was downright embarrassing. Among the notable lows: New York's Al D'Amato singing a barnyard song to rally the opposition. Expect a vote on the crime bill tomorrow or Saturday.

Quotes of the Day »

RAY KELLY, New York City Police Commissioner, on the arrest of a New Jersey man in one of the nation's most baffling missing-children cases, the disappearance more than three decades ago of 6-year-old Etan Patz.
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