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

, D-N.Y. , a senior member of the committee who has been close to Rostenkowski .

 `` We made a commitment to the American people and the president , '' Rangel sa

id . `` We should not complain that we couldn't do it because one of our members

 has a personal problem . '' House Republicans , who want a much more minimalist

 bill than the president or House leaders , hope Rostenkowski 's ouster could he

lp their cause . His predicament `` deals a fatal setback to health care reform 

unless the Democrats in the House recognize what the Democrats in the Senate hav

e recognized , and that is that a bill needs to be bipartisan , '' said Rep. Nan

cy Johnson , R-Conn . Even supporters of comprehensive national health care worr

y that this is one more setback in a series of problems surrounding this issue .

 Without Rostenkowski 's skill as a legislative negotiator , they fear , the hea

lth issue could be in for more delays . `` Gibbons is no Rostenkowski , '' one f

ormer congressional staffer said . Rostenkowksi is famous for his ability to sit

 down with members , find out what their concerns are and craft a bill . `` You 

could give him your cards and he would play the hands for you , '' Rangel said .

 `` You could trust him with your hole card . '' Gibbons was described by severa

l political observers as someone who is rigid once he makes up his mind to somet

hing and less of a compromiser . `` He 's not the kind of guy who brings people 

together , '' one analyst said . ( Begin optional trim ) Gibbons , who sat in on

 many of the health subcommittee sessions this spring , has had a longstanding i

nterest in health care , and has supported the subcommittee bill , especially th

e provision that would insure the poor and uninsured through an expansion of Med

icare . But on the Ways and Means Committee he has been much more involved in tr

ade issues as chair of that subcommittee . Committee-watchers say other than pos

sibly beginning hearings on welfare reform , health care is the only big item on

 the committee 's plate . What Rostenkowski 's role will be as a member but not 

chairman of the committee was unclear Tuesday . Some lawmakers suggested just ha

ving him in the room will be important and so they were glad to hear he will fig

ht the charges rather than accept a plea bargain and resign from the House . Oth

ers said he is likely to be preoccupied with his legal issues and may not or sho

uld not be engaged in the debate at all . `` No one is above the law , '' Rep. S

ander Levin , D-Mich. , a member of the committee , said in a statement . `` Lik

e all citizens , Rep. Rostenkowski is entitled to his day in court , but under t

he rules he must relinquish the chairmanship of Ways and Means Committee . This 

rule must be followed both in letter and in spirit . '' ( End optional trim ) So

me health experts suggested that Rostenkowski 's role in the health reform effor

t has been overemphasized that that the real problem how to pay for such an expa

nsive effort remains whether he is at the helm or not . `` We want to do health 

reform where no one pays and everyone gets coverage , '' said one health policy 

expert . `` Health reform is in trouble because you can't do it for free . ''

 In ROSTY-TIMES ( Eaton , Times ) sub for 11th graf ( Correcting quote attribute

 ) xxx for winning . '' He was also true to his roots on another issue . In a mo

tto coined by Chicago ward boss Paddy Bauler more than a half-century ago and ha

nded down through the political generations : `` Chicago ISn't ready for reform 

. '' PICK UP 12TH GRAF : Neither was .. .

 UNITED NATIONS The U.N. . Security Council demonstrated growing impatience with

 bickering clan leaders in Somalia Tuesday , renewing the controversial U.N. mis

sion there for only four months and warning it could wind down the operation in 

mid-July if there has been no progress toward peace . The Clinton administration

 is bringing to bear on the huge U.N. mission in Somalia its new , cautious poli

cy on U.N. peacekeeping approved in early May . U.S. diplomats pressed for the m

ission to be renewed for only 45 days . In a compromise , Council members voted 

15-0 to the four-month extension instead of the previous six-month periods and t

o reassess the mission before the end of July . `` This resolution puts those mo

st responsible for obstruction of forward movement on notice ; it is time for So

malis simply to get on with the job of moving toward political reconciliation , 

'' said Ambassador Edward W. Gnehm Jr. , the U.S. deputy permanent representativ

e to the United Nations . Despite U.S. impatience , the Council decided to give 

Somalia the `` last chance '' Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali said it de

served after the United Nations spent some $ 2 billion in a year and a half to r

escue the east African country from famine and clan warfare . But Somalia has fo

rced the United Nations to ponder how long it should wait for warring leaders to

 settle their differences before U.N. officials pull back their support and conc

lude they have done all they can . In a gloomy May 24 report , Boutros-Ghali tol

d the Council that security in Somalia is `` deteriorating , '' with forces alli

ed with militia leader Gen. Mohamed Farah Aideed on the offensive to seize new t

urf in several regions . The 13 major clans have refused to honor a commitment t

hey made March 24 to disarm voluntarily , Boutros-Ghali reported . Because of th

e infighting and rampant banditry , `` the emergency situation continues and the

 welfare of large numbers of Somalis remains at risk , '' the secretary general 

warned . He said any immediate draw-down of U.N. forces could plunge the nation 

back into the war-induced starvation that killed hundreds of thousands of Somali

s in 1992 . In all , 11 countries withdrew their troops from Somalia in the wake

 of the United States ' pullout in March , including all the units with sophisti

cated equipment . Although 19,000 troops remain on the ground , Boutros-Ghali ad

mitted `` the deficiencies in capacity that resulted from the withdrawal of the 

United States forces have not been made up in full , especially with regards to 

air operations and night capabilities . '' The current forces are too few to pro

tect U.N. humanitarian and training programs throughout the country , U.N. offic

ials said , yet the cost of the mission for the next four months is $ 310 millio

n , of which the United States will pay 31 percent . After helping lead the U.N.

 mission into a shooting war in Mogadishu a year ago , the Clinton administratio

n abruptly began to pull out U.S. troops after 18 American servicemen were kille

d in a battle with Aideed 's force in October . Washington then led the drive in

 the Security Council to rewrite the mandate for U.N. troops to eliminate forced

 disarmament and stress negotiations by clan leaders to set up a new government 

. The U.N. special envoy in Somalia , Lansana Kouyate , succeeded in drawing Aid

eed back into the negotiations with a coalition of 12 other clans . But a final 

conference to establish the framework for a new national government has been rep

eatedly delayed amid jockeying for position by Aideed and other leaders . Some o

bservers have questioned whether these talks are the right approach . In its mos

t important achievement , the U.N. mission has set up 55 district-level councils

 of recognized village leaders . But it is unclear whether the clan leaders will

 respect this grass-roots authority as they bargain among themselves . `` Many S

omalis to whom I spoke expressed grave reservations at the prospect of the warlo

rds , by whose hands so much Somali blood was spilled , becoming their new ruler

s , '' wrote Malcolm Harper , the head of the United Kingdom United Nations Asso

ciation , after a recent visit . The troubles of the Somalia mission cast a clou

d over U.N. operations in the rest of Africa , especially in Rwanda , where more

 than 200,000 people have been killed in a tribal killing campaign . The experie

nce of Somalia made many countries skeptical about how effective U.N. peacekeepi

ng troops could be , even in large numbers , in halting a bloody civil war . At 

the same time , many countries that might have sent troops to Rwanda have exhaus

ted their resources in Somalia .

 WASHINGTON Hoping to calm an uproar over abuse of presidential helicopters , th

e White House disclosed Tuesday that aides have taken 12 trips using the aircraf

t but officials said none involved misuse of the flights . The disclosure came a

s the former official forced to resign last week for using one of the choppers f

or a golf outing said he alone not top White House aides will cover the $ 13,129

 cost of the trip . Thirteen White House aides last Friday agreed to put up mone

y to reimburse the government for the cost of the trip by former White House adm

inistrative chief W. David Watkins and two other aides . But Watkins said in an 

interview that he changed his mind Sunday after reading news accounts that quote

d former colleagues at the White House who were angered by the obligations he ha

d forced on them . Watkins said the $ 13,129 cost of the trip was far more than 

the $ 2,500 to $ 3,000 he was told the trip would cost . `` I did not want to cr

eate any financial burden for anyone , or create any ill will toward me , '' sai

d Watkins , a millionaire who worked for Clinton as a businessman or aide for mo

re than a decade . In detailing other trips on presidential helicopters , the Wh

ite House released a memo briefly describing the flights , which took place betw

een April 29 , 1993 , and May 24 , 1994 . Officials said the flights which exclu

ded presidential and military journeys showed no misuse of the sophisticated air

craft . But congressional Republicans who have pressed for a full accounting of 

the trips said the description did not provide sufficient detail . `` This is ju

st an outline , '' said Cheri Jacobus , an aide to Rep. Roscoe Bartlett , R-Md .

 `` The White House 's information has been inconsistent , sporadic and incorrec

t . We want to know more . '' Bartlett and half a dozen others have been demandi

ng more information since it was disclosed that the three White House officials 

used one of the $ 2,380-an-hour helicopters to go golfing last Tuesday at the Ho

lly Hills Country Club , near New Market , Md. . One entry on the White House in

ventory was an April 29 , 1993 , flight to Camp David by Watkins and the two top

 officials of the White House military office for `` camp familiarization . '' S

uch a flight `` may not be absolutely necessary , '' said a White House spokeswo

man . `` You can drive . '' But she insisted that the trip `` was appropriate ..

 . because in many instances the president uses helicopters . '' The inventory l

isted four trips within the Washington area for `` orientation and training . ''

 Listed on board were various White House administrative , security and communic

ations officials . ( Optional add end ) Three flights were classified , includin

g a `` special training mission '' that had an unlikely mix of passengers : Hous

ing Secretary Henry A . Cisneros , deputy budget director Alice M. Rivlin and mi

litary personnel . Another trip , a flight by Secretary of State Warren Christop

her to give a private speech in Williamsburg , Va. , was described as `` reimbur

sable State Dept. use '' meaning the expense would be paid with taxpayer funds ,

 but from a different federal account . And another was a trip in which White Ho

use advance staff , military officials and communications aides flew to Norfolk 

, Va. , to examine an aircraft carrier Clinton will use this week in ceremonies 

to commemorate the 50th anniversary of D-day . In another step to try to restore

 confidence , White House Chief of Staff Thomas F. `` Mack '' McLarty released a

 memo providing that from now on , the staff chief or his deputy must approve fl

ights . In their absence , approvals can come from officials of the White House 

counsel 's office but no longer , as before , by the chief of administration .

 SANTA ANA , Calif. . Citing a crash that killed five people here last December 

, the Federal Aviation Administration has adopted a policy that will require sma

ller planes to stay farther behind Boeing 757 jetliners to prevent airplane acci

dents caused by their potentially hazardous wake turbulence . But the regulatory

 agency 's action part of a detailed set of new policies on 757s falls short of 

safety recommendations made by the National Transportation Safety Board earlier 

this year . And aviation safety experts and pilots ' advocates termed the change

s merely a `` first step '' toward making the skies safe for aircraft landing an

d taking off behind 757 jetliners . FAA Administrator David R. Hinson outlined t

he policy in recent days in a letter to NTSB Chairman Carl W. Vogt . Beginning J

uly 1 , the FAA will require air traffic controllers handling landings to keep a

ircraft four miles behind 757s instead of the current three miles to protect the

m from the miniature tornadoes produced by rapid air movement across the larger 

aircraft 's wings . The NTSB in February had recommended that the FAA adopt mini

mum separation distances of up to six miles behind 757s . The FAA , however , is

 not bound by NTSB recommendations . At least two accidents that claimed 13 live

s and three other serious incidents have been linked to 757 wake turbulence sinc

e December 1992 . Because it could potentially decrease the number of flights at

 the nation 's airports and increase costs for the hard-hit airline industry , t

he FAA has been reluctant to increase separation distances between 757s and tail

ing airplanes . Researchers have speculated that the 757 's unique , sleek-wing 

design may be the cause of the turbulence that can be unusually powerful for an 

aircraft of its size . Both the fatal accidents occurred when corporate jets fle

w into wake turbulence as they were preparing to land . The Santa Ana crash occu

rred when a twin-engine corporate jet was on a landing approach to John Wayne Ai

rport . The jet , which was 2.1 miles behind a Boeing 757 , went out of control 

and slammed nose-first into the ground . All five aboard , including the top two

 executives of the In-N-Out Burger chain , were killed . The NTSB is still inves

tigating the accident , but turbulence from the 757 is said to have played a par

t . The other fatal crash occurred in Billings , Mont. , in 1992 . Eight people 

were killed . NTSB spokesman Mike Benson said the safety board will review the F

AA 's new policies and draft a formal response over the next several weeks . Bob

 Flock , a spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association , said , `` We think it

 's a good beginning . It certainly addresses part of our concern . But it doesn

't , for instance , address separation on departures . '' ALPA , the largest pil

ots ' organization in the world , recently issued its own advisory on 757s , rec

ommending that pilots of smaller aircraft even MD-80s , Boeing 737s and DC-9s re

main five miles or at least `` two minutes '' behind 757s on final approach , Fl

ocke said . The organization also has recommended that pilots ask the control to

wer for extra time when taking off behind 757s , Flocke said , to give more time

 for the 757 turbulence to diminish . Despite concerns from other corners of the

 aviation industry , the FAA said it believes that the four-mile separation is s

afe enough for now . `` The FAA believes that this interim increased separation 

will provide an extra margin of safety without unnecessarily impacting system ca

pacity , '' FAA Administrator Hinson wrote in a May 20 letter outlining the chan

ges to NTSB Chairman Vogt . ( Optional add end ) The four-mile separation , Hins

on wrote , recently was adopted by the Civil Aviation Authority in Great Britain

 and `` has significantly reduced the number of reported incidents '' there . As

 part of its new policies on 757s , Hinson said , the FAA is embarking on a two-

year test with the help of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to 

determine the precise level of danger 757 wake turbulence poses . The four-mile 

separation limit will remain in effect until testing shows whether additional di

stance is warranted , Hinson said . Leo Garodz , a former FAA manager who was am

ong the first to bring the 757 wake turbulence problem to the agency 's attentio

n in 1991 , said the new policies represented an `` initial step , '' but nothin

g more . `` It 's a beginning , but it 's only a beginning , because there 's go

ing to be another accident , because things are not that precise at airports whe

n there is a heavy traffic load , '' Garodz said .

 WASHINGTON A federal grand jury indicted House Ways and Means Committee Chairma

n Dan Rostenkowski on corruption charges Tuesday , alleging that over the past t

wo decades he stole nearly $ 640,000 from taxpayers and then tried to thwart an 

investigation into the alleged wrongdoing . Rostenkowski , an Illinois Democrat 

who over the past 35 years rose to become one of the most powerful members of Co

ngress , defiantly rejected a plea bargain over the weekend and vowed to fight i

n court to regain his reputation . The 17-count indictment , resulting from a tw

o-year federal investigation , charged that over a 21-year period , Rostenkowski

 defrauded taxpayers of $ 638,000 and violated federal elections rules by misrep

orting $ 56,000 in campaign funds spent for his personal benefit . It alleged th

at he carried out his criminal scheme by putting `` ghost workers '' including a

 future son-in-law on his House payroll to perform personal services ; trading s

tamps and postage vouchers for cash at the House post office ; charging the gove

rnment for expensive gifts to friends ; and creating fake car leases to get taxp

ayers to put up most of the purchase price of seven personal vehicles . In addit

ion to charges of embezzlement , mail and wire fraud , conspiracy , concealing m

aterial facts and aiding and abetting , Rostenkowski was accused of obstructing 

justice by urging a subpoenaed witness not to tell the grand jury of doing perso

nal engraving work allegedly paid for from House funds . Indirectly , the indict

ment also alleged , Rostenkowski used the House payroll to renovate and clean hi

s home , rent campaign offices and get his laundry picked up . At the House stat

ionery store , the Justice Department charged , Rostenkowski bought $ 42,500 in 

hand-carved chairs , crystal Capitol replicas , china and luggage as personal gi

fts or for his own use , passing them off as for official use . In February , wi

th the investigation nearing U.S. . Attorney Eric Holder 's recommendation of an

 indictment , Rostenkowski wrote the Treasury a reimbursement check for $ 82,095

 for possible misuse of official resources in ordering the gifts . After months 

of news reports and leaks from the investigation , only two aspects of the indic

tment were newly made public Tuesday : The witness-tampering count and a charge 

that many of the ghost workers had to kick back part of their paychecks to Roste

nkowski 's Chicago office manager , who allegedly kept `` thousands of dollars '

' on hand for undisclosed purposes . According to Holder , the engraver was one 

of `` at least '' 14 virtually do-nothing employees on Rostenkowski 's official 

payroll . They allegedly received a total of $ 529,200 from the government while

 mainly handling such personal chores as mowing the congressman 's vacation-home

 lawn , keeping the books for his family insurance business and photographing hi

s daughters ' weddings . The indictment will complicate matters for President Cl

inton , who was counting on Rostenkowski to help shepherd his health care legisl

ation and other key parts of his agenda through Congress . `` Like all Americans

 , Chairman Rostenkowski has the right to contest the charges made against him a

nd to have his day in court , '' Clinton stated . `` Chairman Rostenkowski and o

thers have helped create real momentum for health care reform , and I am confide

nt that legislation will pass this year . '' Although required by Democratic cau

cus rules to give up his chairmanship until the charges against him are resolved

 , Rostenkowski said he intends to remain in office and run for a 19th term in N

ovember . `` I am confident that I will be vindicated , '' he said in a statemen

t Monday . But at a news conference Tuesday afternoon in which he outlined the f

elony counts against Rostenkowski , Holder said , `` We don't bring cases when w

e think we cannot win them . '' Holder said Rostenkowski 's alleged conduct was 

`` very reprehensible , very offensive '' and `` a betrayal of the public trust 

for personal gain . '' The federal statutes involved carry maximum total prison 

time of 110 years and $ 365,000 in fines , but under complex sentencing guidelin

es , U.S. . District Judge Norma Holloway Johnson probably would order the defen

dant to serve `` several years in jail '' if convicted on all counts , Holder sa

id . ( Optional add end ) Holder expected an arraignment before Johnson in about

 10 days , but he said a trial date would be hard to predict because defense mot

ions could cause long delays . The trial probably would be held in Washington , 

Holder said . The indicted legislator made no public comment Tuesday . Rostenkow

ski 's lawyer , Robert Bennett , reportedly had recommended to his client the ac

ceptance of a deal for a one-count felony guilty plea and a few months ' jail ti

me . Bennett said Tuesday he had `` nothing to add '' to Rostenkowski 's stateme

nt . Rumored to be on the way out as Rostenkowski 's lawyer , Bennett was still 

representing the defendant Tuesday . The investigation of Rostenkowski was promp

ted by corruption scandals at the House post office , in which former House Post

master Robert V. Rota and eight other individuals have pleaded guilty . Between