LIKE SHIPS IN THE NIGHT

By Viveca Novak/Washington

One would have thought there was brouhaha enough over reports earlier this year that Bud Shuster, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, spent nights at the home of lobbyist Ann Eppard. Or that Eppard, a former top staff member for Shuster, still heads up the Pennsylvania Congressman's fund raising. Now there is a new flap. It seems Eppard worked with a lobbyist who represents Carnival Cruise Lines and its trade group to get Shuster's support for a "technical amendment" to the Coast Guard reauthorization bill. Tacked on at the last minute by a member of Shuster's committee, the amendment would, among other things, but most distastefully, shield cruise-line companies from lawsuits by women who are raped aboard their ships. Its wording allows the lines to escape liability for emotional distress and other noneconomic injuries as long as those injuries don't result from what is referred to as "substantial physical injury." Several Senators have threatened to filibuster the final bill if it contains the provision when it emerges from conference committee. Most cruise lines are already exempt from many U.S. regulations. Carnival founder Ted Arison--a billionaire who gave $100,000 to the G.O.P. in 1988--renounced his U.S. citizenship in 1993, thereby escaping U.S. estate taxes.

--By Viveca Novak/Washington