World IN BRIEF : SOVIET UNION : Bill to Ease Travel Falls Short of Votes

Despite pleas by Mikhail S. Gorbachev's government, the national legislature failed to muster enough votes to pass a bill liberalizing travel and emigration by Soviet citizens. A deputy prime minister, Stepan Sitarian, tried to refute arguments that the bill would force the government to spend more money on passports and means of travel. "We need to fix the highways anyway, even if the law is not adopted," he said.