May 2001

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Democrats, Bush Agree On California Judges 5/30/2001 10:14 PM The Bush administration and California's two Democratic senators have reached agreement on a process for judicial nominations in the state that will give each party significant ability to veto potential judges. Under the deal, which Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer announced yesterday, "you won't get someone from the extreme right or the extreme left" as a judicial nominee, said Feinstein aide Jim Lazarus. U.S. District Judge Dickran Tevrizian, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, said the arrangement will lead to candidates "between the 45-yard lines" -- meaning not too far from the center. Read the article Bush to Attend Moakley Funeral 5/30/2001 10:12 PM President Bush will head the Washington delegation attending Rep. Joe Moakley's funeral Mass on Friday in Boston, a White House spokesman said Wednesday. Bush has invited members of Congress -- the Massachusetts delegation, the Republican and Democratic leadership, and members who sat with Moakley on the House Rules Committee -- to fly with him aboard Air Force One to the Democratic lawmaker's South Boston funeral. Read the article Lott Blasts Jeffords for 'Coup of One' 5/30/2001 10:11 PM Outgoing Majority Leader Trent Lott accused Vermont Sen. James Jeffords on Wednesday of mounting a "coup of one" that stripped the GOP of Senate control and handed power to the Democrats. "The American people, and the people of Vermont for that matter, did not vote to put the Democrats in control of the Senate," the Mississippi Republican said. "The decision of one man ... has, however else you describe it, trumped the will of the American people." Read the article Conservatives to GOP — Stick to Your Guns 5/29/2001 10:21 PM With Democrats in the majority when the Senate comes back from vacation next week, Republicans are plotting their next move. But one thing conservatives say the GOP should avoid in the wake of the Jim Jeffords defection is suddenly acting like Democrats. The Vermont senator's break with the Republicans put a spotlight on the GOP's dilemma of keeping the moderate and liberal members of its party happy while advancing the conservative elements of its legislative agenda. Despite the concerns, some prominent Republicans don't see a leftward lurch anytime soon. "I don't think you're going to see a shift center-left in the Republican Party," said Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb. "What you will see is — I believe, I hope — more of a reaching out, more of an accommodation for other points of view." Read the article Florida Congressman Scarborough to Resign Seat 5/29/2001 5:50 PM Rep. Joe Scarborough of Florida, a member of the Republican Revolution of 1994, wiped away tears Friday and said he will resign this year to spend more time with his two young sons. "The realization has come home to me that they're at a critical stage of their lives and I would rather be judged at the end of my life as a father than as a congressman," he said. Scarborough, 38, will step down Sept. 6 after seven years in office. Gov. Jeb Bush immediately scheduled a special election for Oct. 16, with primaries on July 24 and Sept. 4. Leaders from both major parties said the seat will likely remain in Republican hands. Read the article Pentagon Scaling Back Expectations 5/29/2001 5:46 PM The secretive policy reviews that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld undertook three months ago to begin modernizing the military are likely to result in less radical change that commonly believed, his spokesman said Tuesday. "I think there was a widespread perception that there would be many more near-term announcements of dramatic change than what we're actually going to see," said Rear Adm. Craig Quigley. In fact there have been no dramatic changes yet. Even for one of President Bush's highest national security priorities -- missile defense -- Rumsfeld has yet to come up with specific program changes. Read the article Bush Rejects Plea for Energy Price Caps 5/29/2001 5:42 PM Face to face, President Bush rejected California Gov. Gray Davis' plea for federal caps on soaring electricity bills Tuesday and called for an end to feuding and finger-pointing. Unswayed, the governor said California was getting "a raw deal," and would sue the federal government for help. On a three-day mission to improve his West Coast political prospects, Bush played down his private meeting with Davis in favor of an unusually busy public schedule highlighting his efforts to conserve electricity at federal installations, ease summer energy costs to the poor and boost the state's long-term resources. Read the article Senate GOP Regroups After Jeffords Defection 5/25/2001 11:03 AM Senate Republicans are regrouping after the departure of Vermont Sen. Jim Jeffords from their party, as they face a new political landscape that makes them the minority party in the chamber. "A lot of people are very kind of shell-shocked at the change. This is a major change, and it has significant ramifications for a lot of individuals," said the No. 2 Senate Republican, Don Nickles of Oklahoma. Moderate and mainstream Republicans aired their grievances during a two-hour caucus Thursday, blaming the GOP leadership for not listening to Jeffords and the rest of them or taking their positions seriously. Read the article Former Democrat Explains his Party Switch 5/25/2001 11:01 AM CNN Correspondent Jeanne Meserve spoke with one of the five-party switchers currently serving in the U.S. Senate, Republican Richard Shelby. In 1994, one day after the Republicans gained control of Congress, then-Democratic Shelby of Alabama jumped the fence. Read the article GOP Wary as Daschle Takes Control 5/25/2001 11:00 AM Sen. Tom Daschle spoke soothingly Thursday of bipartisanship. But the Senate's next majority leader also signaled that Democrats will confront President Bush on schools and health care as fast as they can. That juxtaposition of unruffled calm and an unflinching willingness to play political hardball at times is what Bush and Republicans will face from Daschle, the 53-year-old South Dakota Democrat poised to assume his chamber's top job. Read the article Bush Disagrees With Senator Jeffords 5/24/2001 4:08 PM Stung by defection and defensive about blame, President Bush rejected Sen. James Jeffords' assertion that Bush was leading the GOP out of America's mainstream. "Respectfully, I couldn't disagree more," Bush said Thursday. "Our agenda for reforming America's public schools and providing tax relief for every taxpayer represents the hopes and dreams of Main Street America." At the start of a speech on his social welfare agenda, Bush addressed Jeffords' decision to leave the Republican Party and hand control of the Senate to Democrats. Read the article Jeffords Defection a New Headache for Lott 5/24/2001 9:47 AM Trent Lott will be losing a lot more than a singing partner since Sen. James Jeffords left the Republican Party. Republican colleagues of Lott, the Senate's majority leader, were quick to declare on Wednesday that he was not to blame for Jeffords' apparent decision to leave the party and throw control of the Senate to the Democrats. There didn't seem to be any move afoot to oust Lott from the party leadership post he won after Bob Dole left in 1996 to run for president. But Lott was already on difficult grounds with some in his own party because of the losses Republicans suffered in last November's election that left the Senate divided 50-50. Read the article Miller Issues 'Word of Warning' to Democrats 5/24/2001 9:46 AM U.S. Senator Zell Miller (D-GA) today issued the following statement regarding his party affiliation: "While I am certain that in the future I will often vote with President Bush and the Republicans on many issues, I will not switch to the Republican Party and have no need to proclaim myself an independent. "I said the day that I came to the Senate that "I will serve no single party, but rather 7.5 million Georgians." That is exactly what I have done every day since, and that is exactly what I will continue to do regardless of the makeup or the leadership of the Senate. "But a word of warning to my fellow Democrats at this time: What is sorely needed around here is much more getting along and much less getting even. The poisonous partisanship that has pervaded this place on both sides of the aisle must end." Read the article Jeffords Leaves GOP, Throwing Senate Control to Democrats 5/24/2001 9:45 AM Sen. James Jeffords of Vermont left the Republican Party as expected Thursday, becoming an independent and throwing control of the Senate to the Democratic Party for the first time since 1994. Jeffords made the announcement Thursday morning at a hotel ballroom in Burlington, Vermont. The announcement had been put off for a day as moderate Republicans asked Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Mississippi, to create a new moderate leadership position in the Republican Party to keep Jeffords from leaving. "For the past several weeks I have been struggling with a very difficult issue," Jeffords said. "Increasingly I find myself in disagreement with my party," he said. "I will leave the Republican Party and will become an Independent," Jeffords said, prompting cheers from supporters in the room. Read the article Dems Have Jeb Bush in Their Crosshairs 5/23/2001 11:09 PM All of a sudden, prominent Florida Democrats are stampeding toward decisions on a possible challenge to Republican incumbent Gov. Jeb Bush. The latest is former three-term U.S. Rep.Pete Peterson of Marianna, who announced his decision Tuesday to resign as ambassador to Vietnam so he can return to Florida. Democratic leaders have been wooing Peterson for months to consider making a run for governor. Peterson, a former Air Force pilot who spent several years as a prisoner-of-war in Vietnam, resigned just four days after former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno said she was interested in the governor's race. Read the article Zell Miller Stars in Act 2 of "Will He or Won't He?" 5/23/2001 11:06 PM The second most-watched man on Capitol Hill yesterday was Zell Miller. The Georgia Democrat, a freshman senator who strongly backed President Bush's tax cut plan and broke with his party leadership on several other issues, briefly became an intriguing sideshow in the party-switching drama starring Sen. James M. Jeffords (R-Vt.). Jeffords' anticipated announcement today that he is leaving the Republican Party to become an Independent, turning over control of the evenly divided Senate to the Democrats, could be offset only if Republicans could entice a Democratic senator to defect. Miller, whose independent, maverick ways have baffled and exasperated his party's leadership, appeared to be the GOP's last, best hope to retain power. Read the article Vermont's Independent Streak 5/23/2001 11:05 PM Sen. James M. Jeffords's anticipated departure from the Republican Party may be rocking Washington, but political iconoclasm is merely par for the course here in the fiercely independent-minded Green Mountain state. This is, after all, the land of socialist Rep. Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, and legislators who blazed the way on civil rights -- from abolishing slavery to establishing same-sex civil unions. Although a midterm party defection can lead to punishing political repercussions elsewhere, Vermonters suggest that this could be one of the few places where Jeffords can not only get away with switching sides, but may actually be rewarded for it. Read the article GOP Missteps, Jeffords's Feelings About Agenda Led Toward Exit 5/23/2001 11:04 PM When President Bush sat down in front of the Oval Office fireplace with Sen. James M. Jeffords on Tuesday afternoon, he posed the question directly. "Is there anything I or my administration has done to make you feel slighted?" Bush asked the Vermont Republican. "No," Jeffords replied, according to White House aides. But the truth was that Jeffords's slow-motion decision to leave the GOP, which he is expected to announce in his home state this morning, was the product of both the senator's increasing alienation from the policies of his party and miscalculations by Republicans in the Senate and the White House over how to handle him. Read the article In His 26-Year Career, Jeffords Often Tested GOP Leaders' Patience 5/23/2001 11:03 PM For much of Sen. James M. Jeffords's 26-year career in Washington, the amiable but taciturn New Englander has tested the patience of GOP leaders while he and other moderate Republicans sought compromise with the Democrats. Jeffords has frequently broken with his party -- as he did in backing most of President Bill Clinton's domestic agenda and then voting to acquit Clinton on both counts at his impeachment trial -- but each time he and Republican leaders found a way to paper over their differences. Read the article Switch Could Revive the Art of Compromise 5/23/2001 11:02 PM If Democrats ascend to power in the Senate, President Bush would be deprived of control over much of his ambitious legislative agenda, thwarting his conservative vision of government on issues ranging from Social Security to the federal judiciary to the nation's health care system. At the same time, conservatives and liberals alike predict that Bush would need to abandon the unilateral governing style that has marked his first months in office and produced a rapid victory on the tax plan that has been his top priority. Instead, future success would hinge on his ability to work collaboratively with Democrats, giving them the equal say in setting the federal agenda they believe they have deserved since last fall's disputed presidential election. Read the article Jeffords of Vermont Will Bolt GOP, Dems to Control Senate 5/23/2001 11:01 PM Sen. James Jeffords Wednesday abruptly postponed until Thursday his widely anticipated announcement that he is bolting the Republican Party, saying he wants to be back home in Vermont when he makes the declaration. "I wanted to be with my Vermonters when I made the decision," Jeffords told reporters on Capitol Hill. Jeffords intends to abandon his party and become an independent, a switch that would end GOP control of the Senate and crimp President Bush's ability to pass his agenda. The move will give the Democrats control of the Senate for the first time since they lost it in the 1994 elections. Read the article Senate Passes $1.35 Trillion Tax-Cut Plan 5/23/2001 10:59 PM The Senate on Wednesday passed an 11-year, $1.35 trillion tax cut offered by President Bush, who may be able to sign the bill by the end of the week. Twelve Senate Democrats joined all 50 Republicans in backing the measure, easily passing it by a 62-38 tally. The bill was sent on to a joint House-Senate committee, where differences between the two bills will be worked out before it goes on for Bush's signature. Read the article House Impeachment Leaders Are Managing Just Fine 5/22/2001 9:17 AM Rep. Asa Hutchinson (R-Ark.) has landed a job with the Bush administration. So has former representative Charles T. Canady (R-Fla.) -- although he works in Tallahassee, not Washington. Is their former colleague, James E. Rogan (R-Calif.), next? Hutchinson, named by President Bush to head the Drug Enforcement Administration; Canady, general counsel to Bush's brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R); and Rogan, who recently joined a law firm, share one indelible link: They were part of the team of House impeachment managers who unsuccessfully prosecuted former president Bill Clinton in the Senate. Remember? There were 13 of them, all Republicans, and for a time they were at the center of one of the fiercest political storms in U.S. history. When it was over, Clinton still occupied the Oval Office and the Democrats vowed revenge in the 2000 elections. Read the article Senate Passes WWII Memorial Bill 5/21/2001 10:13 PM The Senate passed a bill Monday aimed at putting construction of a World War II memorial on the fast track. "This memorial is long overdue," said Sen. John Warner, a Virginia Republican who served in the war. "It indeed is a symbol of the sacrifice of the entire generation." Still, in hopes of easing concerns that the measure ended all oversight of the memorial, senators included a provision by Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., that allows ongoing review of the process by three commissions that have oversight. Read the article Bush Gives Clinton Pal a Lift Home 5/21/2001 10:12 PM President Bush gave a lift home aboard Air Force One to one of President Clinton's most vocal and reliable defenders during controversies, from impeachment to pardons. Former White House counsel Lanny Davis, his wife and young child flew from Connecticut to Washington with Bush on Monday after all of them attended Yale University's commencement. Read the article Ford Wins Award for Issuing Nixon Pardon 5/21/2001 5:01 PM Former President Ford was honored Monday with the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for pardoning his predecessor, saying he took the step in 1974 because he needed to get on with " the problems of the country." "When I became president, the country was in total turmoil with the war in Vietnam and the Watergate scandal," Ford said during a news conference before the awards ceremony at the Kennedy presidential library. "It was important to try and heal the wounds of those two tragedies," he said. "The only way to clear the desk in the Oval Office was to get Mr. Nixon's problems off my agenda and get my total attention on the problems of the country." "It was an extraordinary act of courage that historians recognize was truly in the national interest," said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, who acknowledged he'd criticized Ford at the time. Read the article Self-Deprecating Bush Talks to Yale Grads 5/21/2001 2:18 PM It was a self-deprecating President Bush who faced student protesters Monday as he returned to the Ivy League university he scorned while making his name in politics as a down-home Texan. "To the C students, I say, 'You too can be president of the United States,"' Bush said at the 300th commencement of Yale University. With his wife, Laura, in the front row and hundreds of graduating students booing and holding small protest signs behind her, Bush accepted an honorary doctor of laws from the university that first gave him a history degree in 1968. Read the article GOP Backers Defend Bush Nominee Olson 5/21/2001 2:11 PM Top Republican defenders of Theodore B. Olson, President Bush's nominee to become solicitor general, argued yesterday that even if Olson were to have been involved in the controversial "Arkansas Project," there was nothing wrong about such participation, and that his other qualifications for the job outweighed any questions about his testimony during confirmation hearings. "What if he [Olson] did have an involvement in the Arkansas Project? Is there something illegal about that?" Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) said on NBC's "Meet the Press." Former Whitewater independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr, on ABC's "This Week," contended that Democratic complaints that Olson was "evasive" in his testimony amount to "flyspecking." Read the article Jeffords Sits on Fence 5/21/2001 2:05 PM The office of Sen. Jim Jeffords is responding to a report about offers from Senate Democrats for committee chairmanships as a way of winning the Vermont Republican to the other side of the aisle. "This is not about committee chairmanships," said a Jeffords spokesman. "Regardless of party label, Sen. Jeffords will continue to do what's best for Vermont and best for the country." The senator is not giving interviews to respond to the swirl of rumors that he may be switching political parties. A switch would hand control of the evenly divided Senate to the Democrats, giving them a 51-49 advantage. Read the article Aide Says Bloomberg Leaning Toward New York Mayoral Bid 5/16/2001 5:08 PM Financial news service founder Michael Bloomberg is "leaning very strongly" toward running for mayor of New York and is considering announcing his decision June 5, an aide said Wednesday. The release of a possible announcement date brought Bloomberg, 59, the billionaire founder of information giant Bloomberg LP and a Republican political neophyte, a step closer toward an effort to replace Rudolph Giuliani as mayor of the nation's largest city. Read the article Pennsylvania's Bill Shuster Wins Father's Old Seat in U.S. House 5/16/2001 5:03 PM Bill Shuster won Tuesday's special election to replace his father in the U.S. House. Incumbents won mayoral primaries in Pittsburgh and in York, where the mayor fears he could face charges in a killing during race riots more than 30 years ago. Shuster, a Republican like his father, was considered the favorite in the heavily GOP district in south-central Pennsylvania. The political neophyte had raised twice as much money as his Democratic opponent. Read the article Governor Holds Tight to Power, Even as Twins Arrive 5/16/2001 5:03 PM Even as she was undergoing a Caesarean section to give birth to twins, acting Gov. Jane Swift's aides were saying she would be fit to preside over a meeting three days later. Swift, a young Republican woman in an overwhelmingly Democratic state, wasn't relinquishing her tight grip on power -- not for a minute. Her toughness has drawn praise from some. But others wonder if the hardball of Massachusetts politics has forced her to hang on too tight. Read the article House Considers Fast-track for WWII Memorial 5/15/2001 5:45 PM House lawmakers determined to see construction begin on a World War II Memorial are trying to push through a bill that would put the project on a faster track. Critics say the effort could set a precedent that would eliminate safeguards aimed at preventing the nation's capital from becoming too cluttered with monuments. The bill being debated in the House Tuesday would order construction of the memorial to begin "expeditiously" and make all previous decisions regarding the memorial "final and conclusive" and not subject to judicial or administrative review. The Senate has not yet acted on the bill, although a companion measure has been introduced by Sen. Tim Hutchinson, R-Ark. Read the article Cheney Makes a Pitch to Unions 5/15/2001 5:36 PM Vice President Cheney told labor leaders yesterday that the administration's energy policy would create thousands of jobs and asked the unions to spread that word on Capitol Hill, the leaders said. Most unions endorsed then-vice president Al Gore in last year's presidential race, and several labor leaders said President Bush has had little to do with them since taking office. James P. Hoffa, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, called the policy "the beginning of finding a solution to many of the problems we're having," but said he still needed to be assured that all the profits would not "go to Big Oil." Read the article Cheney Has No Presidential Wishes 5/14/2001 10:08 PM Vice President Dick Cheney explains his lack of presidential ambition in three words: "age and health." But he is quick to add he feels fit to serve as president. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't," Cheney said Monday during an Associated Press interview in his West Wing office. As a presidential candidate, George W. Bush tapped Cheney to head his running-mate search last year and ended up picking Cheney for No. 2. Cheney had said he did not aspire to the top job, and his view has not changed with a taste of the White House, he said Monday. Read the article For What It's Worth, Bipartisanship is the Norm 5/14/2001 2:19 PM When Sen. Zell Miller of Georgia came out last January in support of President Bush's tax cuts, Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, quickly joined him in introducing the bipartisan Gramm-Miller tax cut bill. It didn't matter that Miller was the lone Senate Democrat to back Bush's proposal. What counted was that the legislation now had bipartisan sponsorship, a premium in a Congress where the Senate is split 50-50 and Republicans have a slim margin in the House. While House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt decries "the real death of bipartisanship" on this year's budget outline, Republicans and Democrats are joining together at less visible levels every day in hopes of improving the chances of their legislation. "When you have two legislators who have done their homework" on an issue "and come from separate political parties, it can be highly beneficial," said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. Read the article Democrats Vie to Stand Out in the 2004 Crowd 5/14/2001 2:18 PM Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) started the bidding with a bill on Internet privacy co-sponsored with none other than Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). Then there's a bill to protect patients' rights with Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) and his new across-the-aisle friend, John McCain. And there will be little suspense when Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman formally unveils a long-discussed compromise bill to end the partisan stalemate over background checks for gun show sales. Appearing with him at an event tentatively scheduled for this week will be co-sponsor John McCain. Spot a trend? Kerry, Edwards and Lieberman are all Democrats thinking of themselves as future presidents. And all are busy thinking of ways to get others to think of them that way, too. This year's new entry in the age-old Washington game of getting "mentioned" as a White House contender is for ambitious Democrats to join hands on a popular issue with McCain, the porcelain-rattling Republican with a demonstrated appeal to independents. Read the article United States, Mexican Lawmakers Finding Much to Talk About 5/14/2001 2:16 PM Mexican and American lawmakers said Saturday that their countries have entered a new era in which they can discuss disagreements without rancor. "I think we have changed the tone of our conversations," Mexican Sen. Silvia Hernandez said as delegations from the countries' Congresses wrapped up an annual conference. "We have gone from confrontation to dialogue." U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., agreed. "We approach each other without recriminations, without the kind of rhetoric and finger pointing that has all too often characterized the relationship in the past." Read the article Powell: US Coaxing Russia on Missile Defense 5/14/2001 2:14 PM Secretary of State Colin Powell said Monday the United States hopes to coax Russia into accepting the view that changes in the global security situation require a reexamination of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty of 1972. Powell acknowledged in an interview with CNN that the Russians remain unconvinced about the administration's desire to build a national missile defense system to deal with the new realities. Read the article Ex-Doobie Brother is Missile Defense Ace 5/14/2001 2:14 PM Studio musician Jeff "Skunk" Baxter started out strumming for Steely Dan, then played funky guitar solos for the classic rockers The Doobie Brothers. But now, the son of the '70s drug culture is advising the government on its nuclear defense strategy. Baxter is a self-taught missiles expert who heads to the Pentagon several times a year to get briefed on Son of Star Wars, the defense plan backed by President Bush. Read the article 'Hillbilly' Spoken Here, Miller Says 5/14/2001 2:12 PM It's bad enough that Sen. Zell Miller (D-Ga.) has defied his party's leadership on key issues such as President Bush's tax cut and Attorney General John D.Ashcroft's confirmation. Now he's calling his fellow Democrats names -- or so it seems to some, although the senator's office says it's all a misunderstanding. Since his appointment to the Senate 10 months ago to replace the late Paul Coverdell (R), Miller has seemed to enjoy tweaking Democratic leaders by embracing much of Bush's agenda. He further irritated Democrats recently by hinting he might switch to the GOP, a grave threat in the 50-50 Senate. Read the article Ashcroft's Faith Plays Visible Role at Justice 5/14/2001 2:07 PM The Bible study begins each day at 8 a.m. sharp, with Attorney General John D. Ashcroft presiding. A group of employees gathers at the Main Justice building in Washington, either in his personal office or a conference room, to study Scripture and join Ashcroft in prayer. Ashcroft held similar meetings each morning as a U.S. senator and sees the devotionals as a personal matter that has no bearing on his job as attorney general, according to aides. Spokeswoman Mindy Tucker said Ashcroft wants to "continue to exercise his constitutional right to express his religious faith." Any employee is welcome, but not required, to attend, his aides said. But within the massive Justice Department, with about 135,000 employees worldwide, some who do not share Ashcroft's Pentecostal Christian beliefs are discomfited by the daily prayer sessions -- particularly because they are conducted by the nation's chief law enforcement officer, entrusted with enforcing a Constitution that calls for the separation of church and state. Read the article Breaux Positions Himself Against Bush for 2004 5/10/2001 4:24 PM Three-term Sen.. John Breaux, D-LA., has asked a liberal arts college in New Hampshire -- the state where the first presidential primary is traditionally held -- for an opportunity to participate in a lecture series that traditionally features Presidential candidates. Officials at St Anselm's College in Goffstown, NH, right outside Manchester -- the state's largest city -- say Breaux contacted them recently expressing interest "and asking to be invited" to speak at the college's "New Hampshire Institute of Politics." Read the article House Holds Back $244 Million From United Nations 5/10/2001 4:22 PM The House of Representatives on Thursday passed a controversial proposal to pay $582 million in back dues but hold back another $244 million to the United Nations until the world body reinstates the U.S. on a human-rights panel it was voted off last week. On a vote of 252-165, the full House passed a compromise measure intended to send a strong signal to the United Nations that the United States would not tolerate the expulsion of the U.S. last week from two high-profile U.N. panels. The separate actions were taken on the same day in secret ballots. The controversial issue threatened to pit the Bush administration, which wants to pay back the dues owed the U.N., and leading Republicans in Congress who wanted the U.S. to hold back at least some if not all of the money owed. Read the article Bush Names Experienced Drug Crusader to Cabinet Post 5/10/2001 4:21 PM Naming John P. Walters to head the Office of National Drug Control Policy, President Bush said Thursday he is ordering a full review of the United States' policies and strategy in fighting the war on drugs. Bush said during a Rose Garden ceremony that he was keeping the drug policy director post in his Cabinet. The president pledged to pay "unprecedented attention" to helping drug-addicted Americans get treatment, and resolutely rejected the prospect of legalizing drugs. "The only human and compassionate response to drug use is a moral refusal to accept it," Bush said. "Drug legalization would be a social catastrophe... [it] would completely undermine the message that drug use is wrong." Read the article Ashcroft Calls Americans 'Target of Choice' for Terrorists 5/9/2001 6:32 PM Calling Americans the "target of choice" for international terrorists, Attorney General John Ashcroft said Wednesday a new office created by President Bush to combat terrorism will complement Justice Department efforts. Speaking at the second day of a three-day Senate hearing on the issue, Ashcroft outlined some sobering statistics for lawmakers. "Americans comprise only about 5 percent of the world's population," he said. "However, according to our State Department statistics, during the decade of the 90s ,36 percent of all worldwide terrorist acts were directed against U.S. interests." Read the article Jeb Bush Signs Florida Election Reform into Law 5/9/2001 6:31 PM Florida Gov. Jeb Bush on Wednesday signed into law a sweeping package of election reforms six months after a controversy over hanging chads threw the presidential election into disarray. "My hope is that people will see that we have resolved the problem," Bush told CNN . "Other states ought to look at this as a model because if there is another close election in another state, I guarantee you that they will not be able to withstand the incredibly scrutiny that occurred in Florida." Read the article Cheney to Lead Anti-Terrorism Plan Team 5/9/2001 6:29 PM Vice President Cheney will oversee development of a plan for responding to terrorist attacks in the United States, while a new office within the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will coordinate terrorist response efforts by more than 40 federal agencies, the Bush administration announced yesterday. Testifying at a joint hearing of three Senate committees, FEMA Director Joe M. Allbaugh said he would soon be establishing an Office of National Preparedness to coordinate federal programs and assist local governments in responding to terrorist attacks involving so-called weapons of mass destruction. Read the article Bush Names 11 for U.S. Judgeships 5/9/2001 6:28 PM President Bush nominated 11 lawyers to federal appeals courts Wednesday, urging the Senate to "rise above the bitterness of the past" and rapidly confirm his diverse, mostly conservative first slate of judicial candidates. "I now submit these nominations in good faith, trusting the good faith will also be extended by the United States Senate," Bush said. After taking care to mollify Democrats with two nominees previously tapped by former President Clinton, Bush asked the evenly divided Senate "to provide a prompt vote to every nominee ... I ask for the return of civility and dignity to the confirmation process." Read the article GOP Pushes Bush Budget Through House 5/9/2001 6:26 PM Republicans pushed a 2002 budget through the House on Wednesday, a first stride toward enactment of the big tax cuts and spending restraint favored by President Bush. The $1.95 trillion measure was approved by a near party-line 221-207 vote that underlined the GOP's desire to deliver a crucial victory to the president just four months into his term. Passage in the evenly divided Senate also seemed assured as White House officials and Senate Republicans said they would get a crucial handful of votes from Senate Democratic moderates. That vote seems likely Thursday. Read the article Rumsfeld Moves to Strengthen Air Force Space Efforts 5/8/2001 10:31 PM The Bush administration is moving to cement America's lead as a space-faring nation by putting more emphasis on its military programs in space and devoting a four-star general to the task. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, announcing a revamping of space-defense policies Tuesday, said America must "pay careful attention to protecting and promoting our interests in space." The Pentagon's space programs encompass a wide variety of activities, from satellites to detect and track ballistic missiles to military communications and intelligence-gathering efforts. Read the article Bush Holds Up on Cox, Kuhl, Keisler Nominations 5/8/2001 10:28 PM President Bush, about to announce his first judicial nominations, is delaying plans to name Republican Rep. Christopher Cox to the federal appeals bench after opposition from California's two Democratic senators, officials said Tuesday. Two other nominations also are being delayed in a battle between Republicans and Democrats. Democrats have threatened to hold up the president's nominees, partly in retaliation for the delays that met some of former President Clinton's judicial nominations and partly in a fight over senators' power to veto presidential choices. The White House is expected on Wednesday to send a list of about 11 candidates to the Senate for confirmation to the federal bench. Bush had planned to send more, but shaved his first list down, saving candidates who would be harder to confirm in the evenly split Senate until later, officials said. Read the article Republican Congressman Asa Hutchinson to Head Drug Agency 5/8/2001 10:24 PM Rep. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, one of the House prosecutors in former President Clinton's impeachment trial, is President Bush's choice to head the Drug Enforcement Administration. Three administration officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Hutchinson's nomination as head of the agency is expected to be announced in several days, barring a last-minute hitch in the background review process. Hutchinson, 50, would succeed acting Director Donnie R. Marshall. The position is subject to Senate confirmation. Read the article GOP: We Have the Votes Needed to Push Ahead on Budget 5/8/2001 10:21 PM Republicans eager to advance President Bush's tax and spending plans said Tuesday that they believe they finally have the votes to push a 2002 budget through Congress this week by splitting a coalition of moderate Senate Democrats. After hours of closed-door talks, Republicans solved a simmering tax-cut fight with moderate Democratic senators. They also answered Democrats' insistence for an extra $6 billion for schools by crafting nonbinding language saying that providing additional money for education would be a high priority. "I believe we do," said Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., when asked if Republicans finally had the decisive votes in hand. "I haven't got a final count yet because we're growing the vote." Read the article Pentagon To Abandon War Strategy 5/7/2001 3:07 PM Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld is ready to unveil a new military strategy that, among other things, would formally abandon the two-major-war measure that has been used to determine the size of the military for a decade, The Washington Post reported. The paper said in Monday editions that Rumsfeld is scheduled to meet with President Bush this week to seek final approval for the new strategy, said to involve some of the biggest changes in the U.S. military in a decade. Rumsfeld has been working on the reorganization plan since the Bush administration took office in January and the final version will be the blueprint for budget proposals outlining defense spending for the next several years. Read the article Thurmond's Every Step Shakes Capital 5/7/2001 2:56 PM Despite her 91 years, Mary Thurmond Tompkins still manages to send packages of cookies, fresh asparagus and cheese straws, a local delicacy, to her big brother in Washington, D.C. She's not the only one offering him good cheer and sustenance. The health of Republican Sen. Strom Thurmond -- born under Teddy Roosevelt, challenger to Harry Truman, elected under Dwight Eisenhower and now the oldest and longest-serving senator in history -- is the object of intense scrutiny these days. At 98 and increasingly frail, Thurmond is the central figure in a political drama that has the nation's capital on tenterhooks. As President Bush tries to push his agenda through a Senate deadlocked 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats, keeping Thurmond in office and casting reliably conservative votes is key to his party's success. Should he be unable to finish his eighth and final term in January 2003 — a month after he would turn 100 — a successor appointed by South Carolina's Democratic governor could tip Washington's balance of power. Read the article FBI Director Shares Evidence With Bush on 1996 Bombing Attack 5/7/2001 2:11 PM FBI Director Louis Freeh has given the Bush administration a list of people he believes the United States should indict in the 1996 bombing that killed 19 American servicemen in Saudi Arabia, according to a published report. Freeh, who announced last week that he will retire in June, recently briefed President Bush on case, The New Yorker reports, and told the magazine that the it is "the only unfinished piece of business that I have." Read the article Queen Victoria's Oval Office Desk 5/7/2001 2:09 PM When George W. Bush placed his broad-brimmed Texas hat on the Oval Office desk in January he laid claim to 1,300 pounds of antique oak that has become a presidential emblem. The White House has two centuries of stories behind it. The curious tale of the desk made from the timbers a 19th century British warship, is among the best. The story's elements include a lost explorer, a botched rescue mission, a ship frozen in the ice and a monarch's gratitude. It continues with more than a century of American presidents conducting their business across a desk that commemorates a long-ago gesture of international friendship. Read the article