A prep course for the month-long World Cup soccer tournament, a worldwide pheno

 French and issued an official dictionary of some 3,500 new terms , such as `` r

estauration rapide '' instead of fast food and `` disque audionumerique '' inste

ad of compact disc , to replace Anglicisms that have crept into the language . H

owever , a walk through Paris is proof that Americana is well entrenched . A tin

y sandwich shop just off the Place de la Bastille , for example , seemed typical

ly French except for the Hollywood chewing gum , the Jack Daniels whiskey , the 

Getaway pinball machine in the corner , and the framed photo of a Harley-Davidso

n motorcycle on the wall .

 WASHINGTON When the House Ways and Means Committee gets back to work on health 

care legislation next week , it will have a new chairman but the same set of pro

blems to face . Knowing that he would likely be forced to relinquish leadership 

of the panel because of looming criminal charges against him , Rep. Dan Rostenko

wski , D-Ill. , had worked feverishly in recent weeks to make as much progress a

s possible . As his starting point , Rostenkowski had used a bill that was barel

y approved by the Ways and Means health subcommittee , which is chaired by Rep. 

Fortney H. `` Pete '' Stark , D-Calif . Making modifications in closed-door nego

tiations with individual Democrats , Rostenkowski managed to get within one vote

 of the 20 that he needs to win committee approval . Five Democratic members rem

ain uncommitted . Rostenkowski 's thrust ended Monday , when a federal grand jur

y indicted him on 17 felony counts of fraud , embezzlement , conspiracy and obst

ruction of justice in what prosecutors characterized as more than 20 years of al

leged corruption . Under rules of the Democratic Caucus , the Chicago Democrat h

ad to step down as committee chairman while the charges are pending . The incomi

ng chairman , Rep. Sam Gibbons , D-Fla. , has already alerted the committee that

 he plans to offer his own first draft , but aides believe that it will be simil

ar the one that had been shaped by Rostenkowski . Previously , Gibbons had suppo

rted the so-called single-payer system , in which the government finances health

 care . However , because it would involve a massive tax increase , that system 

appears to have no chance of passage . The Ways and Means approach is significan

tly different from those under consideration in the other committees . It includ

es the single most controversial feature of Clinton 's plan : a requirement that

 employers pay the bulk of their workers ' health care costs . However , unlike 

Clinton 's proposal , it would cover the remaining uninsured with a new form of 

Medicare . In that area , it is a step toward a single-payer system , which pres

umably would make it more attractive to Gibbons . Before his departure as chairm

an , Rostenkowski had also suggested that a broad-based tax could be necessary t

o make up for a $ 50 billion shortfall in the bill a proposal that caused shudde

rs at the White House . That issue is likely to wait until after the Congression

al Budget Office produces its cost estimates of the Ways and Means subcommittee 

bill . Similar deliberations are going on in four other committees in Congress t

wo in the House and two in the Senate and House leaders hope that a breakthrough

 on Ways and Means could help clear the logjam on some of the other panels . Non

e of the five committees managed to make their self-imposed Memorial Day deadlin

e for producing a bill . Because so many committees share jurisdiction over the 

issue , and because it involves so many powerful interests , House and Senate le

aders cannot rely on the normal legislative process to produce a single bill tha

t can become law . Thus , it has always been clear that the actual legislation w

ould be written after the committees had done their preliminary work . However ,

 because no committee has yet produced a bill , any sense of momentum has been d

rained out of the process , and that has made members of both the House and Sena

te even more skittish about voting for such a controversial measure in an electi

on year . The loss of Rostenkowski appears certain to put more pressure on Energ

y and Commerce Committee Chairman John D. Dingell , D-Mich. , who also has been 

unable to find the votes he needs . Sources said the Energy and Commerce Committ

ee is considering a `` two-bill solution '' that could involve approving a versi

on of the president 's plan and one that would lean more toward a competing prop

osal offered by committee member Rep. Jim Cooper , D-Tenn. Cooper 's bill is les

s regulatory , but also does not reach what Clinton has said is his bottom line 

requirement : guaranteeing that every American will have health coverage . The f

inal House committee considering the bill , the Education and Labor Committee , 

is not considered a true testing ground for health legislation , because it is a

mong the most liberal in the House . Even there , however , reaching an agreemen

t is proving more difficult than expected . The disarray in the House appears ce

rtain to accelerate health care legislation in the direction that it was already

 headed toward resolution in the Senate . There , Democrats still have some hope

 of bringing moderate Republicans on board , particularly if they can soften the

 employer mandate so that the burden on the smallest businesses might be lighten

ed . ( Optional add end ) The Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee has alr

eady begun drafting a bill , with Republicans joining Democrats on many of the v

otes thus far . However , it has not yet dealt with the core issues that divide 

the two parties . Those appear most likely to be worked out in the Finance Commi

ttee , where Republicans are stronger in number . The Democratic and Republican 

staffs of the committee are working together over Congress ' weeklong Memorial D

ay recess in hopes of producing a set of options when the committee members retu

rn . Separately , U.S. . District Judge Norma H. Johnson scheduled a June 10 arr

aignment of Rostenkowski at the federal courthouse here where cases involving hi

gh-profile political figures and scandals ranging from Watergate to Iran-Contra 

have been tried . Times staff writer Ronald J. Ostrow contributed to this report

 .

 ROME As he launches a weeklong tour of Europe , President Clinton is braced to 

hear protests from Pope John Paul II Thursday over U.S. support for a draft U.N.

 document that calls for expanded contraception programs worldwide and endorses 

a woman 's right to abortion . The potential confrontation comes as Clinton begi

ns what is supposed to be a triumphant trip , commemorating the 50th anniversary

 of D-Day with a series of major addresses and emotion-laden events at the U.S. 

cemeteries overlooking Anzio Beach in Italy and Omaha Beach in France . His depa

rture from Washington Wednesday set the tone . Beneath a towering monument to th

e first Army division to storm ashore in Normandy , Clinton asked Americans to w

atch Monday 's televised D-Day ceremonies and `` say a simple thank you '' to th

e generation that won World War II . For a moment at work Monday , he counseled 

, `` You might pause and reflect , 50 years ago on this day , at this hour , the

 men and women of America saved democracy in Europe and changed the course of hi

story for the world . '' In viewing the ceremonies , Clinton said , `` I hope yo

u will think about how we can honor their legacy by carrying it on . That is the

 greatest honor of all . '' But even before leaving on the eight-hour flight to 

Rome , Clinton received a letter from the United States ' six Catholic cardinals

 charging that the U.N. document was `` morally objectionable '' and would tramp

le `` the rights and religious values of people around the world . '' At issue i

s a non-binding declaration that is to be ratified at the International Conferen

ce on Population and Development in September in Cairo , Egypt . Clinton has rev

ersed 12 years of strict anti-abortion policy under two Republican administratio

ns that barred the United Nations from using any U.S. funds for organizations pr

oviding abortion services . Instead , U.S. delegates helped write a draft that c

alls for stabilizing the world 's population at 7.27 billion by the year 2015 by

 improving the status of women and providing easier access to abortion and contr

aceptives in the Third World . In March , John Paul sent a letter to Clinton and

 other heads of states warning that the Cairo conference would be a `` serious s

etback for humanity . '' Administration officials said Clinton would stand by th

e U.S. position . `` On this , we will respectfully acknowledge our agreement , 

'' a senior official traveling with the president said . Another official said ,

 `` It 's very important in developing countries that women have medical and oth

er information as they 're making decisions about planning their families . It '

s not that we 're advocating any type of forced sterilization or anything like t

hat . '' But the White House does hope to avoid the sort of public confrontation

 over abortion that marked the meeting of the president and the pope in Denver l

ast August . Then , to Clinton 's obvious discomfort , the pope exhorted America

ns to `` defend life . '' This time , citing the pontiff 's convalescence from r

ecent hip surgery , the White House and Vatican haven't planned any public remar

ks while the two men are together , though that is still possible . They are sch

eduled to meet privately for 45 minutes in the Papal Library in John Paul 's pri

vate quarters . First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and other officials will then 

join them for a picture-taking session . The meeting is one of the first events 

on Clinton 's eight-day tour of Italy , England and France . The Italian leg of 

the journey celebrates the June 1944 Allied liberation of Rome . ( Optional add 

end ) Wednesday , in an embarkation ritual sure to be repeated during the trip ,

 the presidential couple walked from the White House and laid carnation wreaths 

at a stone honoring the World War II dead of the `` Big Red One , '' the First I

nfantry Division . Gen. Gordon Sullivan , Army chief of staff and a former comma

nder of the unit , stood by . `` In Europe , '' Clinton told an invited crowd of

 300 , mainly World War II veterans , in a six-minute speech , `` we will be rem

embering the sacrifices of the generation that fought that great war . They have

 given us 50 years of freedom and strong nationhood . They have nurtured generat

ions of young Americans and given us a chance to work with the rest of the world

 to bring the Cold War to an end and to build toward the 21st century . '' Besid

es praising the fighting troops , Clinton lauded `` Rosie the Riveter and her co

-workers '' in the `` home front army of democracy '' those who stayed to build 

the planes , grow the crops and mine the coal , including the children who colle

cted scrap metal and rubber for production lines . After the war , Clinton noted

 , the same generation `` built the strongest middle class in all of human histo

ry '' through such initiatives as the GI Bill . `` This week , let us all , from

 the president to every other citizen , do our best to say a simple thank you , 

'' Clinton said . `` Thank you for what you did . Thank you for the years you ha

ve given us . Thank you for the example you have set through sacrifice and coura

ge and determination . ''

 With huge increases predicted in the number of Haitian boat people fleeing to t

he United States , Jamaica agreed Wednesday to let the United States interview t

he refugees in Jamaican waters to determine if some of them deserve political as

ylum . The agreement represents a minor victory for President Clinton as he trie

s to shore up a Haiti policy that protects Haitians in danger of political perse

cution but not those seeking escape from poverty and that attempts to restore ou

sted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to power . Prime Minister P.J. Patterson s

aid Wednesday Jamaica had given the United States permission to use Jamaica 's t

erritorial waters to process Haitian refugees . The agreeement is to last six mo

nths , Patterson said . Up to now , the U.S. Coast Guard has been returning all 

the boat people it finds on the open seas to Haiti . Critics have blasted Clinto

n for the policy , saying the Haitians face torture and death upon their return 

to their country . Large numbers of the refugees are supporters of Aristide , wh

o was overthrown by the Haitian army in 1991 . They say they are fleeing politic

al terror and deserve asylum in the United States . But U.S. officials have said

 most of them are seeking jobs and are therefore not eligible for asylum . The n

umber of Haitians taking to the seas has been picking up since Clinton announced

 May 8 that he was changing policy , and that the United States would begin inte

rviewing boat people . Almost 1,500 have been picked up by the U.S. Coast Guard 

since then . All have been returned to Port-au-Prince . Some human rights advoca

tes in Haiti have said the number will increase even more sharply once the new p

olicy goes into effect . Administration officials have said that probably only a

bout 5 percent of the Haitians would receive asylum . But it is believed that ma

ny Haitians will see those as good odds and worth the dangerous journey . Those 

not receiving asylum will be returned to Haiti . According to State Department o

fficials , the Clinton administration achieved another Haiti policy victory in r

ecent days . The officials said the Dominican Republic appears to be beefing up 

patrols along its land border with Haiti , in an effort to cut off the flow of o

il and other contraband items barred by the U.N. . Security Council embargo agai

nst Haiti .

 WASHINGTON For years , the neighborhood surrounding Capitol Hill has been a hig

h-crime area . Now the crime wave looks to be moving under the Capitol dome itse

lf . With the indictment Tuesday of Rep. Dan Rostenkowski , D-Ill. , the powerfu

l chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee , criminal proceedings involvin

g members of Congress are growing in number . Two other former lawmakers are cur

rently in federal prison for financial misdeeds , another is free pending appeal

 of a bribery convicton last fall , and still another is awaiting sentencing on 

charges of misusing public funds . Three other former legislators recently serve

d time for bribery and related offenses . In addition to Rostenkowski , two othe

r senior legislators also are under indictment and at least two more appear to b

e the targets of FBI investigations . In this century , only in the late 1970s w

hen Congress was rocked by the so-called Koreagate and ABSCAM bribery scandals h

ave so many members been in prison , just out of prison or facing the prospect o

f prison as now . Even that accounting does not include the ethical lapses that 

did not lead to criminal prosecutions : the House Post Office and banking scanda

ls , which implicated dozens of members , the sexual misconduct allegations agai

nst Sen. Bob Packwood , R-Ore. , the exertions to protect savings and loan owner

 Charles W. Keating Jr. by five senators , or the questionable financial transac

tions that forced the resignations of Democratic leaders Jim Wright and Tony Coe

lho in 1989 . Some attribute this confluence of scandal not to declining ethics 

but to intensifying scrutiny from the news media , public and prosecutors that h

as made behavior criminal that once was tolerated , if not endorsed . But others

 insist that the climate on Capitol Hill is encouraging legislators to confuse i

ncumbency with immunity and power with license . ( Begin optional trim ) `` Ther

e is a clear environment up there that the rules aren't to be enforced , '' says

 Fred Wertheimer , president of Common Cause , a group that monitors government 

ethics . `` It does enormous damage to the institution because it allows lowest 

common denominator ethics to set the public standard for the institution . '' Th

e flow of charges has been steady enough to guarantee a good living for lawyers 

who specialize in defending public officials charged in corruption cases . `` Fo

r me , it 's been constant , '' says attorney Stan Brand , who has represented m

ore than two dozen legislators since leaving his post as counsel to the House of

 Represenatives to open his own firm 10 years ago . ( End optional trim ) Over t

he years , congressional scandals have covered the gamut of human misbehavior . 

Legislators have fallen into the bottle or the arms of prostitutes . Almost all 

the prosecutions of sitting legislators in recent years , however , have involve

d bribery , tax evasion or misuse of public funds . The list includes : New York

 Democratic Rep. Mario Biaggi , who served 26 months in a medium-security federa

l prison for an extortion conviction in a case involving Wedtech Corp. , a South

 Bronx company that spent lavishly in its search of defense contracts . Fellow N

ew York Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia also was convicted twice of extortion in t

he case and at one point served three months in prison , but each conviction was

 later overturned by a federal appeals court . Former Rep. Lawrence J. Smith , a

 Florida Democrat who served three months last year for tax evasion and lying to

 the Federal Election Commission about using campaign funds to pay off a gamblin

g debt . Pat Swindall , a former Republican representative from Georgia , is sch

eduled to remain until February 1995 in the minimum-security U.S. penitentary ca

mp in Atlanta after a perjury conviction in a case involving a personal loan . U

ndercover agents told him that the loan involved the proceeds of laundered drug 

money . Swindall has filed a brief with the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals , 

claiming new evidence and seeking to reopen his case . Former Democratic Rep. Ni

cholas Mavroules of Massachusetts is to be confined until September at a medium-

security federal institution in McKean , Pa. , after pleading guilty last year t

o an array of bribery and tax evasion charges . Albert Bustamante , a former Dem

ocratic representative from Texas , was sentenced last fall to 42 months in pris

on for accepting a bribe but is free on bond while appealing his conviction to t

he Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals . Carroll Hubbard Jr. , a former Kentucky Demo

cratic congressman , pleaded guilty in April to falsifying campaign reports , us

ing public employees to work on his wife 's campaign for Congress and obstructin

g justice . While awaiting sentencing on June 30 , Hubbard has solicited his for

mer colleagues to send letters to the judge urging leniency . In addition to Ros

tenkowski , two other legislators are currently under indictment : Sen. David Du

renberger , R-Minn. , on charges of fradulently billing the Senate for use of a 

condominium he secretly owned , and Rep. Joseph M. McDade , R-Pa. , who was indi

cted in May , 1992 , on charges of accepting bribes and illegal gratuities from 

defense lobbyists . Published reports also have indicated that the FBI is invest

igating at least two other legislators : California Republican Rep. Jay Kim , on

 charges of illegally funneling money into his 1992 campaign from a business he 

owned , and California Democrat Walter R. Tucker , as part of an investigation o

f corruption in Compton , Calif. , where Tucker formerly served as mayor . Does 

this constitute a congressional crime wave ? Compared to other professions , the

 frequency of ethical transgression in the contemporary Congress appears relativ

ely high but not entirely out of line . Over the last 20 years , about three doz

en members of Congress either have been convicted of criminal offenses or censur

ed by the House and Senate . That averages out to about 3.5 legislators in any t

wo-year congressional session or put another way , about one serious ethical san

ction per 150 sitting legislators at any given time . ( Begin optional trim ) Co

mpare that to lawyers . In the period from 1989-1990 , the latest for which comp

lete figures are available , about 4,500 practicing lawyers were publicly sancti

oned by the American Bar Association . That averages out to roughly one serious 

ethical problem per 190 accredited lawyers over the two-year period . But compar

ed to historical standards , today 's Congress might not look so bad . Throughou

t the 19th century , and even well into this century , Rostenkowski might have h

ad considerable company in the activities for which he was indicted allegedly pa

dding his payroll and diverting official accounts to his personal use . It is ag

ainst the backdrop of such history and the 20th century equivalents involving th

e now-defunct urban political machines that attorney Brand labels the current su

rge of congressional prosecutions `` part of the overcriminalization of life in 

America . '' Brand attributes the rising number of cases not to deteriorating et

hical standards but `` higher level of scrutiny , more rules , less tolerance fo

r old ways not illegal ways but mores and more aggressive prosecutorial theory ,

 taking peccadilloes and violations of House rules or Senate rules and making th

em into criminal cases . '' ( End optional trim ) Prosecutors are devoting more 

energy than ever before to rooting out public misconduct . Since 1976 , the Just

ice Department has operated a public integrity section that investigates Congres

s and other public officials : with 26 attorneys , it has 18 cases under active 

litigation and another 172 under investigation . To most reformers , the real me

asure of Congress ' ethical problems are found not in such egregious examples of

 misconduct , but in the corrosive workaday trading of money and favors permitte

d under current campaign finance and gift laws . For these critics , the working

s of Congress testify to journalist Michael Kinsley 's maxim that in Washington 

the real scandal almost always involves behavior that is legal .