The Joint Chiefs of Staff told a congressional panel Tuesday afternoon that the nation needs a substantial boost in military spending. But some policy analysts dispute those assertions. The following researchers are available for interviews: WILLIAM HARTUNG A senior fellow of the World Policy Institute at the New School for Social Research and author of…

Two of the most important trends during the past year seem certain to have major impacts in 1999 and beyond — the momentum of “merger mania” and the unraveling of America’s safety net. Experts critical of these developments can be contacted directly by editors, reporters and producers: ** Merger Mania ** ROBERT WEISSMAN Co-director of…

WASHINGTON — While former Chilean dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet continues to face the possibility of prosecution in Spain for human-rights abuses, a former high official in his regime is the subject of growing controversy in Washington. An article published Tuesday (Dec. 22) in Investor’s Business Daily condemns Jose Pinera’s role in Chile and raises questions…

In a little-noticed speech on the House floor last Thursday, Rep. David Skaggs (D-Colo.) said: “President Clinton acted in violation of the Constitution in ordering these attacks without authority of Congress.” Among the legal scholars available for comment are: MICHAEL RATNER Attorney, Center for Constitutional Rights in New York City FRANCIS BOYLE Professor of International…

DENIS HALLIDAY The former head of the U.N.’s “oil-for-food” program, Halliday told the Institute for Public Accuracy on Friday afternoon: “The military strikes constitute a futile and short-run irrational action of desperate men.” More Information GWENDOLYN MINK A professor of politics at the University of California at Santa Cruz, Mink said: “If there is a…

BISHOP THOMAS GUMBLETON A Catholic Bishop from Detroit, Gumbleton has just returned from Iraq. More Information ERIK GUSTAFSON A U.S. soldier during the Gulf War and now the executive director of the Education for Peace in Iraq Center, Gustafson said: “The people of Iraq are not their government. Dictators are answerable to no one. And…

MICHAEL RATNER An attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights, Ratner is author of a forthcoming American Journal of International Law article titled “Bypassing the Security Council: Use of Force and the Iraqi Inspection Regime.” On Wednesday afternoon, Ratner said: “Clinton’s repeated attacks on Iraq and his bombing of a pharmaceutical plant in the Sudan…

ALAN HIRSCH The author of For the People: What The Constitution Really Says About Your Rights, Hirsch has just written A Citizen’s Guide to Impeachment. Says Hirsch: “The guide is not intended to make the case for or against impeachment, but to help people follow and understand the process. It also discusses a range of…

JOYCE HORMAN Horman is the widow of American Charles Horman, whose execution by Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s forces in the days after the 1973 coup was the subject of the film “Missing,” starring Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek. Ms. Horman has continued to pursue the case legally. MICHAEL RATNER An attorney with the Center for Constitutional…

GWENDOLYN MINK “The president and his defenders cry ‘sexual McCarthyism’ as a defense against charges that he perjured himself in a sexual harassment case. These appeals to sexual privacy are both damaging to women and hypocritical,” says Mink, a professor of politics at the University of California at Santa Cruz and author of Welfare’s End.…