News stories from Sunday October 2, 1977

Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:

The administration responded to congressional opposition to its proposed tax on domestic oil by threatening to impose duties of $15 billion a year on imported oil. Secretary of Energy James Schlesinger said in a television interview that the duties could be applied under the Trade Adjustment Act and would not require Congress's approval. The duties would raise the prices of petroleum products by about the same amount as the proposed tax on domestic crude -- 7 cents a gallon. [New York Times] Substantial housing subsidies for the working poor would be reinstituted by the Department of Housing and Urban Development in a sharp break with the policy of the previous administration. A budget request for authority to subsidize 50,000 housing units has been sent to the Office of Management and Budget. These subsidies were cut off in 1973. [New York Times] A struggle over welfare policy between the Carter administration and Congress could affect the shape of the nation's welfare system and, potentially, the Social Security system, for years to come. The Senate Finance Committee, headed by Russell Long, wants to push through piecemeal changes in the welfare law, but this strategy is opposed by Joseph Califano, Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare. Mr. Califano says the committee's changes would undermine the administration's plan for reform. [New York Times] The N.A.A.C.P. charged Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Representative Edward Koch, the Democratic candidate for Mayor, with dividing New York City "along racial and ethnic lines" by opposing the assignment of public school teachers by race. The civil rights organization said Senator Moynihan's recent Senate speech on the issue was "a despicable appeal to passion and prejudice, which he purportedly seeks to reduce in New York City." [New York Times] One of four Americans is exposed at work to conditions thought to be capable of causing death or disease, a federal study, the first of its kind, has found. Exposure to toxic chemicals was found to be widespread in some industries. The study said that fewer than 5 percent of the nation's workplaces have industrial hygiene services which would prevent or reduce exposure to hazardous substances or to such dangers as radiation and excessive noise. [New York Times] Israel rejected "with both hands," in the words of Finance Minister Simcha Ehrlich, the joint American-Soviet declaration on the aims of a new Middle East peace conference.The Soviet-American statement on the Mideast was welcomed by Arabs generally and by the Palestine Liberation Organization, which, according to Palestine sources, sent instructions to the Palestinian delegation at the United Nations to support the proposals. The P.L.O. gave special praise to the declaration's recognition of the "legitimate rights of the Palestinian people." [New York Times] India's birth control program has been sharply modified by the new government, which has eliminated all elements of compulsion. The policy change was made in reaction to the sterilization operations enforced by Indira Gandhi. Prime Minister Morarji Desai has made it clear that birth control will be entirely voluntary. [New York Times] President Carter has switched his policy on the conflict in the Horn of Africa. Alter briefly trying to compete for influence with the Soviet Union, the administration has stepped back from a direct role despite the Soviet Union's increasing involvement in Ethiopia and its continuing military ties with Somalia. Deciding that Moscow's efforts are bound to fail, the United States is exploring new openings with its former ally, Ethiopia, to be in a better position when both sides seek peace. [New York Times] Argentina is seeking foreign bids to help with its major program of oil exploration off the coast of Tierra del Fuego. The government had decided that it does not have the money and technology needed to carry out the multimillion dollar project. Petroleum geologists believe that the exploration area of 600,000 square miles, extending 200 miles offshore, might hold a production potential comparable to Britain's and Norway's North Sea fields. [New York Times]