Nation IN BRIEF : WASHINGTON, D.C. : D’Amato to Delay Whitewater Hearings

Incoming Senate banking chairman Alfonse M. D’Amato (R-N.Y.) said he will defer Whitewater hearings indefinitely to stay out of the way of independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr. After an hourlong meeting with Starr and outgoing committee chairman Donald W. Riegle Jr. (D-Mich.), D’Amato told reporters he could not say when Senate hearings might begin, but that they will not start in late January or early February as he has suggested in recent weeks. He predicted that when they do resume, they probably will stretch into the 1996 election year.