Nxxx,2006-10-02,A,001,Bs-BK,E3 Late Edition New York: Today, sunny and season- able, high 70. Tonight, clear, except patchy fog, low 57. Tomorrow, sunny and much warmer, high 78. Yester- day, high 68, low 59. Details, Page A16. VOL. CLVI . No. 53,720 Copyright © 2006 The New York Times NEW YORK, MONDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2006 ONE DOLLAR Former Pages ROBERTS COURT Describe Foley MAY BE DEFINED As Caring Ally IN SECOND TERM Congressman Praised, but Gossip Is Recalled WILL FACE DIVISIVE ISSUES By RACHEL L. SWARNS WASHINGTON, Oct. 1 — In the hi- Decisions on Business and erarchy of Congress, the high school Race May Show Where students who serve as Congressional pages fall somewhere near the bot- New Center Falls tom, seemingly invisible as they scurry through the hallways of the Capitol ferrying messages to power- By LINDA GREENHOUSE ful lawmakers who often fail to give them a second glance. WASHINGTON, Oct. 1 — If Year 1 In that rarefied world, Represent- was the transition for the new Rob- ative Mark Foley, the silver-haired erts court, Year 2 is likely to be the Republican from Florida, stood out. test. He took pains to befriend the 16- During the first term under the and 17-year-old aides, several for- leadership of Chief Justice John G. mer pages said in interviews on Sun- Roberts Jr., the justices were able to day. He chatted with them on the find common ground with some reg- ularity by agreeing not to decide House floor, they said, sent hand- much. By the time the term ended in written notes and urged them to keep late June, the extent to which the in touch when they left Washington members of the newly configured for their hometowns. court were prepared to confront ei- In 2002, he even stood up on the ther precedent or one another re- floor of the House, his eyes welling mained unclear. with tears, and commended the Chances are high that the new young men and women for their year Candace Feit for The New York Times term, which begins on Monday, will of service. In his speech, Mr. Foley be different. The cases that the court A worker helping to clean up toxic sludge last week in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. The sludge, dumped from a tanker, has been blamed for eight deaths. mentioned several of the high school has agreed to decide — 38 so far — students by name, describing a hand- offer few off-ramps, requiring in- written note to celebrate one young stead that the justices proceed to rul- man’s graduation and a lunch with ings that will define the new court in Global Sludge Trading Votes for Pork Across the House Aisle another at Morton’s steak house. both substance and style. Ashley Gallo, a 21-year-old former Less than six weeks from now, for led three others in voting against a page who is now a senior at Western example, the court will hear the Bush Ends in Tragedy politically vulnerable Louisiana Michigan University, said on Sunday administration’s defense of the Par- By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK Known for Iraq Stand, Democrat’s proposal to divert that many of her friends had viewed tial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003. WASHINGTON, Oct. 1 — For more money intended to be spent on base Mr. Foley as one of the few law- While there are some secondary is- For Ivory Coast than a decade, Representative John Murtha Made Name closings to research prosthetic limbs makers who made a real effort to sues, there is no escaping the fact P. Murtha of Pennsylvania has oper- for veterans. It failed by one vote. reach out to young people. that at the end of the day, the Su- ated a political trading post in a back by Making Deals For their “nays” on that and other “You didn’t have a lot of inter- preme Court will have to declare By LYDIA POLGREEN corner of the House of Representa- matters, all four Democrats were re- action with the members because whether the federal statute is consti- and MARLISE SIMONS tives. warded. In the weeks after the vote, most of them treated you like a kid, tutional. In doing so, it will have to ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, Sept. 28 — A gang of about two dozen Demo- they claimed credit for a total of but he was pretty friendly,” said Ms. grapple with the meaning of a 5-to-4 It was his infant son’s cries, gasping crats mill around his seat. A pro- more than $250 million in earmarks Gallo, who served as a page in 2001. decision that struck down a similar and insistent, that first woke Salif cession of others walk back to re- in the 2006 appropriations bills. Mr. “He would talk to people,’’ she said. state law six years ago. The adminis- Oudrawogol one night last month. quest pet spending projects, known Murtha alone brought home about “He would say, ‘Here’s my e-mail tration will argue that if the federal The smell hit him moments later, as earmarks. And Republicans come $80 million for his district and $120 address if you want to keep in touch.’ statute cannot coexist with that wafting into the family’s hut, a nox- by, asking him to enlist some of those million for his state, according to I don’t think anyone thought any- precedent, the court should overrule ious mélange reminiscent of rotten Democrats to join them on close Taxpayers for Common Sense, a non- thing of it. They saw him as a mentor the earlier case. eggs, garlic and petroleum. votes. “Whether they get what they partisan group that tracks such or a reference.” Two cases on whether public Mr. Oudrawogol went outside to in- want in the bill or they get the votes projects. Mr. Foley’s resignation on Friday, school systems can take race into ac- vestigate. Beside the family’s com- they are looking for, nobody ever Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Associated Press Mr. Murtha, who announced a bid following the disclosure of his sexu- count in maintaining balance in indi- pound, near his manioc and corn leaves completely disappointed,” this spring to become the next House ally explicit Internet and cellphone vidual schools do not confront the fields, he saw a stinking slick of said Representative Paul E. Kanjor- Democratic leader, acknowledges messages to pages, left many former court’s precedents quite as directly. black sludge. ski, a Pennsylvania Democrat often In the last year, Democratic and that some Democrats grouse about pages shaken. And on Sunday, they But coming only three years after a “The smell was so bad we were found in what is known as the Murtha Republican floor watchers say, Mr. his history of leading others across burned up the phone lines and sent sharply divided court permitted the afraid,” Mr. Oudrawogol said. “It corner. Murtha has helped Republicans the aisle. (Several Democrats said e-mail messages flying as they continued use of race in university burned our noses and eyes.” Outside Washington, Mr. Murtha, round up enough Democratic votes as much, but none would speak pub- reached out to their old friends who admissions, the decisions in these Over the next few days, the skin of a Vietnam veteran and longtime to narrowly block a host of Demo- licly.) He confirmed working with remain tight-knit years after leaving cases will provide the first clear in- his 6-month-old son, Salam, bloomed hawk, may be best known for his cratic proposals: to investigate fed- Republicans on the Iraq war spend- Capitol Hill. dication of where the center now lies with blisters, which burst into weep- break with the president over the eral contracting fraud in Iraq, to re- ing vote that blocked the Democratic Patrick McDonald, 21, a senior at on questions of race and public policy ing sores all over his body. The whole Iraq war last fall. But inside the Cap- form lobbying laws, to increase fi- corruption investigation, but said he Ohio State University, said he took after the retirement of Justice San- family suffered headaches, nose- itol, he is best known for turning ear- nancing for flood control, to add $150 did not remember the others. He said Mr. Foley up on his invitation to keep dra Day O’Connor. Justice O’Connor bleeds and stomach aches. marks into power. As the top Demo- million for veterans’ health care and he always acted on principle, work- in touch and sent him an e-mail mes- held the balance of power on such How that slick, a highly toxic cock- crat on the House military spending job training, and to exempt middle- ing with Republicans either because sage asking about internship oppor- questions for years, and wrote the tail of petrochemical waste and caus- subcommittee, he often delivers class families from the alternative he agreed with them or to uphold pri- opinion three years ago in the case minimum tax. vate agreements about spending tic soda, ended up in Mr. Oudrawo- Democratic votes to Republican Continued on Page A15 from the University of Michigan Law gol’s backyard in a suburb north of leaders in a tacit exchange for ear- In one case that particularly irked bills. School. Abidjan is a dark tale of globaliza- marks for himself and his allies. Democratic partisans, Mr. Murtha “You just need to get the things The business community is watch- tion. It came from a Greek-owned done, so you give them the votes to ing several cases closely, particular- tanker flying a Panamanian flag and get the things done,” he said in an in- MORE ON THE FOLEY CASE ly an appeal of a $79.5 million award leased by the London branch of a terview.