
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, April 7, 1990                   TAG: 9004070144
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

BUSH: HELP FOR STUDENTS ON THE WAY

President Bush said Friday that he would issue an executive proclamation to formalize and broaden the measures he ordered late last year to help Chinese students extend their stays in the United States.

The move, announced at a convention of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, came in response to criticism from members of Congress and others who said Bush had failed to issue the proclamation as he promised to do after vetoing a bill to protect the Chinese students.

After vetoing the bill on Chinese students in December, Bush said he was issuing an executive order to make it easier for students fearing persecution by the Beijing government to remain in the United States.

An executive order is a formal document that is printed in the Federal Register and has the force of law.

Bush and his staff repeatedly said afterward that he had issued the order.

But in fact the president only issued an "executive directive," which does not carry the power of law and can be amended or revoked without public notice.

Bush said Friday that the difference was "a technical matter."

"But I did say `executive order,' so this will formalize it in an official executive order fashion," he said.

by CNB