1 The head of the U.S. House of Represenatives said Wednesday he was willing to meet with a federal mediator to discuss the protracted U.S. Major League Baseball strike, but thought congessional intervention was 'a very bad idea.'
2 Telling reporters that he and Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole were prepared to discuss the situation with mediator W.J. Usery, Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich also reiterated that he thought Congress should be focusing on other issues.
3 'The fact is, if you start settling (labor disputes) industry by industry, how many should we solve,' he said. 'I just think it's a very bad idea to politicize it.'
4 Gingrich said he did not think that Congress had 'the wisdom to intervene in a single industry that has nothing to do with national safety.'
5 'We are not in a position today to rush into any decision. I am not closing the door. . I just do not think that Congress should rush into it,' he said.
6 Sen. Nancy Kassebaum, who heads the Labor and Human Resources Committee, also scoffed at the idea.
7 'I believe it is a bad idea for Congress to step into the middle of the dispute between the baseball owners and players,' the Kansas Republican said.
8 Gingrich's comments came the day after President Clinton gave up his efforts to settle the six-month MLB players strike. Clinton said he wanted Congress to 'step up to the plate' to save the 1995 season.
9 However, Labor Secretary Robert Reich said today that 'if the president is going to have the authority to lock heads and force arbitration, Congress has got to give it to him.'
10 'If the American public wants baseball in 1995 they've got to let their views be known,' Reich said on ABC's 'Good Morning America.' Reich said Clinton was busy with serious national and international problems, but 'a lot of people care about baseball and the president wanted to give it his all. At least he tried.'
11 Wednesday's comments came a day after both left the players union represenatives and the club owners left the capital following the latest failed negotiations.
12 Usery had submitted his recommendations for ending the strike on Tuesday. Owners were willing to accept them, the players were not.
13 The main points of Usery's proposal had a luxury tax for players salaries for clubs that spend over dlrs 40 million; reduce free agency eligibility from six to four years and the eliminate salary arbitration.
14 The luxury tax would penalize teams that spend over dlrs 40 million on players salaries at 25 percent, meaning the amount the club spent over 40 million would be taxed at 25 percent. The average club salary last year was just over dlrs 40 million.
15 Free agency allows players to sign with any club after four years of service in the majors, without any compensation to the losing club. Arbitration is a system whereby if a player is not eligible for free agency, and he and his club cannot agree to a salary, both the player and club submit a salary figure and an arbitrator picks one or the other.

Telling reporters that he and Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole were prepared to discuss the situation with mediator W . J . Usery , Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich also reiterated that he thought Congress should be focusing on other issues .
focusing
What are some examples of other issues Gingrich referred to?