Calling all Katrina no-shows

Posted by William Neikirk at 1:30 p.m. CDT

After the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 on Tuesday to remove protections for government workers who blow the whistle on official misconduct, the name of A. Ernest "Ernie" Fitzgerald immediately came to mind.

Who is that, you ask? Well, once Ernie Fitzgerald was a household name in America. He was a whistleblower's whistleblower. As a civilian Air Force analyst, he disclosed much Pentagon profligacy in the 1960s and 1970s, including a $2.3 billion cost overrun on the C-5 cargo aircraft program.

Posted by Mark Silva at 11:37 am CDT

President Bush, making his first public comments today about an attack by Marines in the western Iraqi city of Haditha last November that left 24 Iraqi civilians dead, vowed "there will be punishment'' if the military's investigation supports Iraqi claims of unprovoked murders by Marines.

“I am troubled by the initial news stories,'' said Bush, who reportedly learned of the incident only after Time magazine called the White House with inquiries about the alleged Haditha massacre. The attack was first reported by Time in January.

Posted by William Neikirk at 11:34 am CDT

Since President Bush said in 2002 that Iraq, Iran and North Korea constituted an "axis of evil," he has come a long way in how he deals with the individual parts of the axis. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's announcement Wednesday that the U.S. is prepared to join with European nations to negotiate with Tehran over its nuclear program is the latest sign that Bush has learned the value of reaching out to allies.

With Iraq, he went to war in 2003, saying Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction and represented a threat to America's vital interests, even though he proved to be wrong about the weapons part. He virtually ignored protests from key allies that war was not the answer, but Bush plunged ahead. Iraq has not been the "cake-walk" that Vice President Cheney thought it would be.

Posted by David Lightman and Mark Silva at 10:20 am CDT

President Bush's choice of Henry Paulson as Secretary of the Treasury has drawn some praise from one key Democrat. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., second-ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, had kind words for Paulson, though Dodd stopped short of an endorsement.

"The next Secretary must be more than a salesman charged with attempting to convince the American people that this administration’s economic policies have somehow helped them, " said Dodd, who is the top Democrat on Banking's Securities and Invesment subcommittee.

Good morning.

Here are a few Washington events of note for Wednesday, May 31, as gathered by the Associated Press.

President Bush swears in the new CIA director, Michael Hayden, actually a ceremonial ritual since Hayden was officially sworn in Tuesday.

President Paul Kagame of Rwanda meets with President Bush and then holds a news conference.

The National Spelling Bee holds its first rounds.

Posted by Frank James at 7:20 pm CDT

The House's general counsel, Geraldine Gennet, wrote Attorney General Alberto Gonzales about developing a procedure to allow the Justice Department to conduct investigations of members of Congress while respecting the constitutional separation of power.

Read the letter below.

Posted By Frank James at 4:30 pm CDT

Much of the reporting about opposition to the Senate-passed immigration legislation has centered on the hostility of House Republicans who call the path to citizenship the bill would provide an unwarranted amnesty to lawbreakers.

But there’s also significant resistance from many illegal immigrant advocates. They argue that the Senate legislation is deeply flawed because it would result in many fewer illegal immigrants achieving legal status than has been commonly reported.

Posted by Frank James at 2:50 pm CDT

Is it constitutional for the Federal Bureau of Investigation to search a congressman’s office? Put another way, is a member of Congress constitutionally protected from such an intrusion in a way no other citizen is?

As with so many things in Washington, the answer is either yes or no, depending on which authority you accept.

Posted by Mark Silva at 8:53 am CDT

President Bush today nominated a new treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson, Jr., chairman of the Wall Street investment banking firm, Goldman Sachs Group.

The replacement of outgoing Treasury Secretary John Snow, announced in a brief Rose Garden ceremony this morning, completes one of the longest-expected turnovers in Washington.

Snow's departure was long-predicted, with critics faulting him for a lack of aggressiveness in pressing for the continuation of Bush's first-term tax cuts.

Posted by Mark Silva at 11:50 am CDT

It's hot, hazy and breezy today on the Memorial Bridge, which spans the Potomac River between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery. The wide, four-lane roadway is cleared of traffic, with only an occasional jogger or walker crossing along the spacious sidewalks on each side, because the president is coming.

Preceded by 10 motorcycles, the president's 15-car motorcade crosses the bridge westward toward the cemetery, the procession of two matching black limousines and several black armored SUVs fanned out along the full width of the roadway. The motorcade steers around the circle on the Arlington side of the river and up to the hillside cemetery, where the president will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns.

Good Morning.

Here are some Memorial Day events in Washington, as gathered by the Associated Press.

Memorial ceremony at the African American Civil War Musuem. 1200 U St. NW.
8:30 a.m. Armed Forces full honors weath ceremony marking John F. Kennedy’s 89th birthday. Kennedy gravesite, Arlington National Cemetery.
8:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. World War II Memorial dedication ceremony.
10:20 a.m. Senior Department of Defense officials will participate in a wreath-laying and remembrance ceremony at Arlington Cemetery, following a performance by the U.S. Navy Band.
11 a.m. Wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, with special military concert. Arlington Cemetery.
12 p.m. Six hundred service members, who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, will march in the National Memorial Day Parade. Service members include Active Duty, National Guard and Reserve from 50 States. The parade starts on Madison Dr. NW., and concludes at 15th St. and Constitution Ave. NW.
1 p.m. Wreath laying ceremony at the U.S. Navy Memorial, 9th St. NW.
1 p.m. Memorial ceremony for Vietnam veterans. Presentation of colors, wreath laying and remarks. Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
3 p.m. Bell ringing on the Congress Bells at the Old Post Office. 12th and Pennsylvania, NW.
3 p.m. National Moment of Remembrance, taps to be played at various sites.
4 p.m. National memorial ceremony for women in military service. Formal military honors, rose petal ceremony, remarks and personal tributes. Women’s War Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery.
4 p.m. Women’s Memorial holds annual Memorial Day ceremony. Participants to include National Guard Maj. Annette Sobel, others. Women’s Memorial, gateway to Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va.
8 p.m. U.S. Navy Band concert at the U.S. Navy Memorial, 9th St. NW.

Posted by Frank James at 12:19 pm CDT

Senate opponents of the immigration legislation that passed in that chamber last week frequently accused the bill's supporters of being so determined to pass it that they would even ignore profound flaws so long they could declare victory and leave town for the Memorial Day recess.

One element of the Senate bill opponents attacked as a glaring defect would allow illegal immigrants who've committed identity fraud by using stolen Social Security numbers to qualify for legal status.

Posted by Mark Silva at 10:45 am CDT

President Bush, commissioning the graduating class of West Point for "a war unlike any our nation has fought before,'' told the graduates of the U.S. Military Academy today that they will enter their Army commands in an era as challenging as that of the Cold War.

This was the 208th graduating class of West Point and the 27th to graduate women -- with 131 women among the 861 graduates today, according to the academy. But this was the first class to have entered West Point since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the president made a point of noting, and Bush advised the Class of 2006 that its military careers are likely to be consumed with a new breed of enemy unlike the warring nations of the past -- radical militants intent on spreading terrorism.

"Unlike the Soviet Union, the terrorist enemies we face today hide in caves and shadows -- and emerge to attack free nations from within,'' Bush said. "The terrorists have no borders to protect or capital to defend. They cannot be deterred -- but they will be defeated.''

Posted by Frank James at 2:32 pm CDT
(Matthew Chayes contributed)

During today's Capitol Hill emegency, which was evidently caused by someone who mistook the sound of pneumatic hammers being used by elevator mechanics as gunshots, the U.S. Capitol Police emailed instructions to members of Congress and their staffs on how to respond when police searchers came knocking at their offices.

Here's the email the Capitol police sent out. The number of knocks and code word were redacted.

Posted by David Lightman of the Hartford Courant at 3:20 pm CDT

After four and a half hours Rayburn House Office Building occupants were given the all clear.

Before the U.S. Capitol Hill Police declared the emergency over, they searched offices by using a special knock on each door and password. At Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro's office, the congresswoman was on the phone at the time of the search.

Posted by Mark Silva at 2 pm CDT

The government slowed down somewhat last year in the classification of top secret and confidential information, and it also declassified slightly more documents than had been opened up the year before.

But the numbers still rank among record-levels: With 14 million decisions made last year to classify information, a slight decline from the 2004 record, and 29.5 million pages declassified last year -- far fewer than the 100 million pages declassified in 2001. And once again, Vice President Dick Cheney, who has refused to report on his office's classification activities since 2003, is missing from the count.

Posted by Frank James at 1:05 pm CDT

Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.) had an immigration press conference this morning in the Rayburn House Office Building before all the commotion broke out over the possibility of a gunshot or gunshots being fired in the building.

If the hubbub over the possible gunshot hadn’t happened, the big Washington story on the cable news shows this morning would have likely been what Sensenbrenner said.

Posted by David Lightman of the Hartford Courant at 11:23 am CDT

Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro (D-Conn.) was among those who were told to stay in their Capitol Hill office Friday after reports that shots were fired in the Rayburn House Office Building.

DeLauro and Rep. Nancy L. Johnson (R-Conn.) have offices in the sprawling building. Johnson was not in the office; she took an early morning flight back to Connecticut.

Posted by Frank James at 10: 25 am CDT

I just talked with with a very calm David Gillies, chief of staff for Rep. Jerry Costello (D-Ill.) who said the congressman's staff is sheltering-in-place in their offices in the Rayburn House Office Building where police are investigating a report of the sound of a gunshot or gunshots.

"We've been told to shelter in place, stay in the office and that's what we're doing. We'll just stay here in the office and continue to do our work. We're out of session today, that helps a little bit. It's very much business-as-usual right now. We'll continue to do our work."

Posted by Frank James at 9:53 am CDT

The U.S. Capitol Police are investigating a report of the sound of gunfire in the basement parking garage of the Rayburn House Office Building. We have no confirmation of any actual shooting, victims etc. As soon as we know more, we'll update.

Posted by Mark Silva at 9:40 am CDT

President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair went to war together. And they have gone down in the polls together.

But the two leaders maintained, during a nationally televised news conference in the East Room of the White House Thursday evening, that their resolve for fighting is unshaken.

Posted by David Lightman of the Hartford Courant at 9:30 pm CDT

Joe Lieberman may not be in the presidential race, but at least he's getting to show flashes of the humor that once earned him the title of "Funniest Man in Washington."

When colleague Chris Dodd said he was preparing for a presidential run, Lieberman joked that the decision sealed his own fate. "We have an agreement," Lieberman said. "When one of us runs for president, the other doesn't." Lieberman ran for president in 2004 and vice president in 2000.

Good morning.

Here are some Washington events of note for Friday, May 26, as collected by the Associated Press.

Vice President Cheney is delivering the commencement address at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair speaks at Georgetown University on the challenges facing the international community before returning to London.

Posted by Mark Silva at 5 pm CDT

When your Justice Department has raided the office of a congressman, executing the first search ever conducted in a Capitol office, and the Republican speaker of the House and Democratic minority leader join forces to protest the intrusion as a violation of separation of powers, and the speaker says the Justice Department is attempting to "intimidate'' him for protesting the search, your next move might just be a 45-day sealing of the material obtained to give everyone a chance to cool off.

That's what President Bush did today, "In the Matter of the Search of Rayburn House Office Building Room Number 2113,'' the office of Rep. William Jefferson, the Louisiana Democrat accused by the FBI of stashing bundles of cash in his home freezer. The president issued the following order today:

Posted by Andrew Zajac at 11:30 a.m. CDT

How mad is Dennis Hastert about last night's ABC report pulling him into the Jack Abramoff scandal?

Mad enough to send ABC News a starchy letter this morning threatening a libel suit, and mad enough to release a copy before he cleaned up the typos, including a possibly Freudian miscue in the spelling of the name of Brian Ross, the reporter who broke the story.

A corrected version was sent to ABC.

Hard to tell what this is beyond a very dramatic gesture. The letter to ABC is dated May 24, which means Hastert and his lawyers had one hour and 39 minutes between the alleged libel and the end of the day to chew things over and write the letter. It's not like there was much time for measured discussion.
Furthermore, the 'actual malice' standard public figures need to demonstrate in order to win libel cases is extremely tough to meet.

Posted by Mark Silva at 7 am CDT

While controversy swirls around Iran’s ambitions for a civilian nuclear power program - which European and American leaders view as ambition for a bomb - a collection of Iranian-Americans from around the United States will assemble today with a call for “regime change’’ in Iran.

The Council for Democratic Change in Iran, welcoming several members of Congress and an expected 500 delegates from around the U.S. to its second annual convention, maintains that the ascent of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, with his hatred for Israel, friendships with Syria and Hamas and designs for a nuclear program, has made the case for a peaceful overhaul of Iran as a secular, democratic state more pressing.

Good morning.

Here are a few Washington events of note for Thursday, May 25, as compiled by the Associated Press.

President Bush meets with Prime Minister Blair and holds a news conference at 6:30 p.m. CDT.

Commerce Department releases the first quarter report on the Gross Domestic Product. 7:30 a.m. CDT

The Senate may pass immigration legislation that could tighten the U.S. border with Mexico and lead to citizenship for 12 million illegal immigrants already in the U.S.

Posted by Michael Tackett at 6:50 p.m. CDT

For a few fleeting network minutes, it seemed, that House Speaker Dennis Hastert was in potentially very deep trouble.

ABC News reported that Justice Department sources told them that the speaker was now under investigation as part of the broad-based lobbying scandal involving Jack Abramoff. Within five minutes, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee had put out its own version of a bulletin.

And Washington's Scandal Industrial Complex was in momentary high churn.

Posted by David Lightman of the Hartford Courant at 3:56 pm CDT

The first big endorsement of the Dodd campaign is in.

“I want you to know, Senator Dodd, I am with you for the Democratic nomination should you decide to run,” talk show host Don Imus told Sen. Christopher J. Dodd Wednesday.

Posted by Frank James at 3:35 pm CDT

House Speaker Rep. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.,) leader of House Democrats, are demanding the Justice Department return all documents seized Saturday by the Federal Bureau of Investigation from the Capitol Hill offices of Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.,) the target of a federal corruption probe.

Members of Congress from both parties and chambers have been vocal in saying that the FBI’s search violated the Constitution’s separation of powers. Republicans and Democrats have finally found something they can agree on.

Posted by Frank James at 1:56 pm CDT

When Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) talks about lotteries we should listen. Gregg won $853,492 by matching four of five numbers in the Powerball lottery last year.

So I noted with interest a comment Gregg made during Senate debate today on the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act.

It was during a discussion of an amendment he introduced that would skew the existing visa lottery towards immigrants with higher degrees in the sciences, the rationale being that will bring greater economic benefits to the U.S.

Posted by Frank James at 12:27 pm CDT

The Hill newspaper which reports on Congress carried an article yesterday on an approaching milestone that snuck up on us.

On June 1, absent any unforeseen circumstances, Hastert will become the longest serving Republican speaker in history. (Texan Sam Rayburn was the longest serving Democratic speaker, with 20 years though they weren’t consecutive.)

Posted by Mark Silva at 12:10 pm CDT

The White House has recruited a new domestic policy adviser for President Bush, replacing the former domestic adviser who resigned earlier this year as he faced arrest for an alleged department store fraud scheme.

The new adviser, Karl Zinsmeister, has written three books about the war in Iraq (he was embedded as a reporter four times) and serves as editor in chief of American Enterprise magazine, a publication of the conservative Washington-based think tank, the American Enterprise Institute. He boasts of a “48-page resume’’ that includes service to the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a Democrat from New York. He will become chairman of Bush’s Domestic Policy Council.

Posted by Frank James at 11:29 am CDT

Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho,) chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, said yesterday evening that his committee will hold hearings Thursday on the theft of a computer disk containing sensitive personal information of more than 26 million veterans.

In a short Senate speech, Craig made the critical point that many federal agencies possess personal data on millions of Americans. So while it’s the Veterans Affairs Department in the news today, it could just as easily be another agency tomorrow.

Posted by Mark Silva at 11:25 am CDT

President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, calling the seating of a government in Iraq a “new era’’ and a “restart’’ for their campaign to build up Iraqi security forces and draw down coalition forces, will hold a televised news conference at the White House early Thursday evening.

The White House is downplaying any expectations for a specific announcement at the 7:30 pm appearance of Bush and Blair in the East Room, where they will field a full run of questions as opposed to the “two-per-side’’ that the White House typically offers when the president plays host to foreign leaders. Expect no “timetables’’ for troop withdrawals, the White House cautions. Instead, a spokesman says, Bush and Blair will attempt to underscore how much confidence they place in the new government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to fulfill their goal of “standing up’’ Iraqi forces and eventually “standing down’’ U.S., British and coalition forces in Iraq.

Posted by Mark Silva at 9:15 am CDT

It didn’t take long for someone to seize upon the commercial opportunities in the National Security Agency’s surveillance of telephone calls.

“NSA records indicate you’re making a lot of calls to Baltimore… Why don’t you just move here?’’ asks a new advertisement in a morning newspaper for Washington-area commuters. The ad pictures President Bush, smiling, and leaning into a telephone in one ear, with his finger stuck in the other ear.

Posted by Jeff Zeleny at 6:20 a.m. CDT and updated at 8:55 a.m. CDT

Rep. Lane Evans (D-Ill.), whose battle with Parkinson's disease has kept him away from the Capitol for much of the year, has been replaced as the ranking Democrat on the House Veterans Affairs Committee.

Rep. Bob Filner (D-Calif.), the No. 2 Democrat on the veterans' panel, will succeed Evans.

"The thoughts and prayers of our Caucus are with Lane Evans as his struggle continues," House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said in a statement, adding that Evans' declining health made it impossible for him to continue to perform his duties on the committee.

Good morning.

Here are a few Washington events of note for Wednesday, May 24, as gathered by the Associated Press.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert addresses a Joint Meeting of Congress. 11 a.m.


The National Assessment of Educational Progress releases the Nation’s Report Card on Science for 2005. 10 a.m.

President Bush visits Pottstown, Pa. to look at a generating station and speak on energy. He later campaigns for congressional candidates.

Posted by Frank James at 1:24 pm CDT

Editor & Publisher, a newspaper-industry publication, has an article today by Greg Mitchell about an extraordinary email exchange between Joe Galloway, a respected war correspondent in Knight Ridder’s Washington bureau who is retiring and Pentagon spokesman Lawrence DiRita.

The exchange is fascinating because Galloway has virtually unmatched credentials as a war correspondent in a career that goes back to the Vietnam War. He won a Bronze Star with V device for valor, the only civilian to be so decorated by the Army during Vietnam. He rescued a soldier under fire at a landing zone. He was also co-author of the highly regarded book "We Were Soldiers Once... And Young: Ia Drang-The Battle that changed the War in Vietnam."

Posted by David Lightman of the Hartford Courant at 12:59 pm CDT

The reaction in the political world to the news Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) is thinking of running for presidency was first: "Huh?" And then: "well, why not?"

Analysts had the same thoughts: He's a proven insider, but wander a few blocks from Capitol Hill and people wouldn't know him. And he needs to raise a lot of money, and he's got to compete with a number of other senators--Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Joe Biden, Evan Bayh--and tap the same financial pool.

Posted by William Neikirk at 11:35 am CDT

House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) protested the FBI's decision to search the congressional office of New Orleans Democrat William Jefferson, saying that it might have violated the separation of powers provisions in the U.S. Constitution. Lines must not be crossed, he said, even if it involves a corruption probe aimed at the congressman.

The speaker said in a statement issued Monday night: "The Founding Fathers were very careful to establish in the Constitution a Separation of Powers to protect Americans against the tyranny of any one branch of government. They were particularly concerned about limiting the power of the Executive Branch." He added that no matter how routine or non-controversial the action, the principle of separation of powers "must be respected in order to prevent overreaching and abuse of power by the executive branch."

Posted by Mike Dorning at 11:15 am CDT

Cook Political Report, a non-partisan political insider’s guide to campaigns around the country, sees Illinois Democratic Rep. Melissa Bean of Barrington strengthening in her bid for re-election.

A freshman member of Congress, Bean unseated long-serving Rep. Phil Crane in 2004 to gain a foothold in a district that historically has been reliably Republican. She is being challenged in her first re-election bid by Republican investment banker David McSweeney.

Posted by Jeff Zeleny at 10:16 a.m. CDT

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) was in the final minutes of an energy speech today – billed as her second major policy address of the year – when she called on Americans to take seriously the burgeoning energy crisis facing the country.

For more than 45 minutes, she had purposefully been speaking in exhaustive detail. She covered virtually every facet of the energy landscape, including such highlights as increasing fuel alternatives like ethanol (Iowa, are you listening?) to offering tax incentives for people who trade in their gas-guzzling cars for an efficient set of wheels.

Posted by Frank James at 8:00 am CDT

Rep. William Jefferson's (D-La.) press conference Monday afternoon didn’t leave reporters much to work with.

Jefferson, the target of a federal corruption investigation for alleged bribe-taking, told reporters that he couldn’t talk about the facts of the case on the advice of his lawyer.

Posted by Frank James at 3:43 pm CDT

In one of those perfect Washington ironies, today was the first meeting of President Bush’s newly created Identity Theft Task Force.

With today’s report that a Veterans Administration employee may have just created the mother-of-all-identity-theft opportunities by losing a computer disk with the sensitive personal information of millions of veterans and their spouses, the task force may need to tackle the federal government’s problems first.

Posted by Frank James at 3:38 pm CDT

The office of Sen. John Kerry issued a press release today about the risk of identity theft to more than 26 million veterans and their spouses because of a computer disk that was taken home by a Veterans Administration employee, then stolen in a house burglary.

Kerry, a decorated U.S. Navy veteran of the Vietnam War, is apparently not among the veterans affected since he was separated from the military in 1969. The VA says veterans from 1975 onward are affected.

The press release says Kerry will offer legislation to require the Veteran's Administration to provide veterans "affected" by the theft with copies of their "credit report."

Actually, the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act also already allows consumers to order a free credit report every 12 months. I assume Kerry and his staff know this and that they are talking about additional reports.

Posted by Frank James at 1:42 pm CDT

Today’s report that more than 26 million veterans and their spouses may now be exposed to identity theft because a federal employee violated government policy by taking home a computer disk with veterans’ personal information, a disk that was later stolen during a burglary of the employee’s home, threatens to be a headache for many people for a long time.

Perhaps the thief doesn’t realize what he has and has already tossed it and the veterans will dodge the danger of identity theft.

Posted by Mark Silva at 11:15 am CDT

If House Speaker Dennis Hastert billed the convention of restaurant owners in Chicago today as the biggest hospitality convention in the Western Hemisphere, it also provided President Bush with a ready love fest.

Carol Dover, head of the Florida Restaurant Association and a major financial supporter of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and the state's Republican Party, rose to commend the president for his good brother.

Good morning.

Here are a few Washington events of note for Monday, May 22, as compiled by the Associated Press.

10 a.m. U.S. SUPREME COURT — Meets to hand down decisions and release orders.

10 a.m. NATURALIZATION CEREMONY — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Servoices Director Emilio T. Gonzalez swears-in 100 new citizens from 42 nations.
Location: George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens, Fairfax County, Va.

8:30 a.m. - 10 a.m. IMMIGRATION — The Hudson Institute hosts a panel on What Makes an American? Historical Perspectives on Immigration. With Amy Kauffman, Hudson Institute; Mathew Spalding, Director of the B. Kenneth Simon Center for American Studies at The Heritage Foundation; Peter Skerry, Brookings Institute and professor of political science, Boston College; Tamar Jacoby, senior fellow, Manhattan Institute; and John Fonte, director of the Center for American Common Culture at Hudson Institute.
Location: Hudson Institute, Betsey and Walter Stern Conference Center, sixth floor, 1015 15th Street, NW.

Posted by Mark Silva at 9:45 am CDT

For a while, the White House was mum about a bicycle accident involving one of the president's bike-mates on a glorious Saturday afternoon at a wildlife refuge.

But today, the White House revealed that it was Michael Wood, the president's nominee to serve as U.S. ambassador to Sweden, who fell and broke his collar bone. This was the only casualty suffered among several riding with the president, however.

Posted by Mark Silva at 8:20 am CDT

As he heads for Chicago on Monday for another in a long series of speeches on "the global war on terror,'' President Bush will be armed with new fodder for his argument that Iraq is succeeding at forming the stable democracy for which more than 2,000 American soldiers and Marines have sacrificed their lives.

With the seating of a new government in Baghdad over the weekend, Bush said today, "the formation of the unity government in Iraq begins a new chapter in our relationship with Iraq.''

Posted by Jeff Zeleny at 10:04 a.m. CDT

Never mind that his book isn't finished. The publicity tour kicked into gear today.

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) addressed a breakfast audience today at the BookExpo convention, hoping to create a buzz in the publishing world about his upcoming book, "The Audacity of Hope: Reclaiming the American Dream."

One day after releasing excerpts of the book, a bound copy featuring passages from his manuscript were sitting above every place setting on tables inside Ballroom A of the Washington Convention Center. Obama joined best-selling authors Amy Sedaris and John Updike on the dais at the nation's largest gathering for booksellers.

He was, in effect, playing the role of persuasive salesman.

Posted by Mark Silva at 9:10 am CDT

Talk about "talking points."

Yesterday, when Vice President Dick Cheney delivered the commencement address at Louisiana State University, he spoke of his first meeting with Donald Rumsfeld in the 1960s. It didn't go so well. Cheney also spoke of his Yale days. They didn't go so well either.

"Asked to leave,'' is how he described his drop-out from Yale. Of course, these were the very same remarks that Cheney delivered two years ago, to the graduating class of Florida State University. It seems the vice president was dusting off a well worn commencement address.

Posted by Mark Silva at 9:06 am CDT

As President Bush finished a week of media blitzing for immigration reform, he insisted once again during his weekly radio address today that any legislation "must be comprehensive'' -- his way of saying that Congress must not only tighten control of the bordes and interior enforcement of immigration laws, but also provide a means for millions of undocumented immigrants already here to remain legally and eventually seek citizenship if they work, pay taxes, obey the laws and learn English.

Bush opened the week with a nationally televised appeal for immigration reform from the Oval Office, he carried that appeal to a border crossing in Yuma, Arizona, on Thursday and now has wrapped up the week with a radio address. The White House this week wasn't ready to say if Bush will invest as much of his time in this debate as he did with a months-long, multistate campaign for Social Security reform last year, but White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said: "The president has laid down his markers for what he wants for policy. He is going to make those views known to members of Congress, and for those who may be skeptical, we are going to do everything in our power to persuade them that the president is right on this.''

Posted by Frank James at 1:13 pm CDT

I received a press release today which you can read below. A shrewd public-relations person for Foreign Policy magazine saw the Senate vote yesterday to make English the official, national language as an opportunity to plug a language-related article in the periodical.

The article is on the sorry state of foreign-language training in the U.S. Among the striking statistics is that only 8 percent of U.S. college students take a foreign language.

Posted by Jeff Zeleny at 11:28 a.m. CDT and updated at 12:16 p.m.

The book world has been good to Sen. Barack Obama.

The success of his autobiography, "Dreams From My Father," led to a $1.9 million advance for two other books. Today, he released the first excerpt from his next title, "The Audacity of Hope."

The official publication date of the book is Oct. 10, but already the marketing campaign is well underway. Even as he was holed up in his apartment today near Capitol Hill, putting the finishing touches on the book, the first selection of the manuscript was posted on his website and sent to his email network of 40,000 supporters.

Posted by Frank James at 7:40 CDT

When Sen. James Inhofe (R-Ok.) earlier this week announced he planned to introduce an amendment to the Senate's immigration legislation to make English the nation's official language I predicted to myself there'd be a cursory debate after which his amendment would be voted down.

It wasn't, after all, an amendment central to the overall bill and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) who has been managing the main bill's progress on the Senate floor has really tried to move things along.

Good morning.

Here are a few Washington events of note for Friday, May 19, as gathered by the Associated Press.

Linton Brooks, administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, discusses nuclear terrorism. 8 a.m.

Vice President Samuel Lewis Navarro of Panama speaks at the Center for Strategic and International Studies on expansion of the Panama Canal. 9 a.m.

Presidsent Bush campaigns for congressional candidates in Virginia and Kentucky and speaks on U.S. competitiveness at Northern Kentucky University.

11 a.m. PENTAGON TOWN HALL — Defense Secretary Rumsfeld and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Peter Pace hold a Pentagon town hall meeting.
Location: Pentagon Auditorium.

Posted by Mark Silva at noon CDT and updaged at 1:15 pm CDT

YUMA, Ariz. – Warming up to new congressional plans for additional fencing along the Mexican border, President Bush made a personal inspection of one of the nation's most porous borders today as part of his stepped up appeal for a far more sweeping approach to immigration reform.

Bush is attempting to underscore his bid for conservative support for his plans, with the White House signaling on Thursday that it supports a Senate amendment this week to construct about 370 miles of new triple-layer fencing along the border in addition to about 500 miles of vehicle barriers.

Posted by Frank James at 11:52 am CDT

Senators in Gen. Michael Hayden's confirmation hearing are engaging in the expected testy exchanges with Hayden, President Bush's nominee to head the CIA, but the mild-mannered Hayden has remained unruffled and given little ground. If the hearings proceed as they currently are, there is little reason to believe Hayden's nomination will face serious trouble, despite the controversy surrounding two programs run by the National Security Agency while Hayden headed the agency.

Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) pressed Hayden on whether he had helped design one of those programs, the monitoring of phone calls between the U.S. and overseas, without a court order, if one party has a suspected tie to al Qaeda. After a little back-and-forth, Hayden acknowledged that he had helped design it: "I think that's fair, senator, yeah."

Posted by Naftali Bendavid at 10:08 am CDT

It's easy so far to see why Gen. Michael Hayden is viewed on Capitol Hill as a top-notch intelligence briefer, and why the White House is counting on Hayden to sell himself, impress senators and overcome the controversies surrounding the administration's intelligence activities.

Hayden opened his testimony in his confirmation hearing by outlining his "vision" for the agency, deftly touching on many of the criticisms lawmakers have had about the CIA since its failure to disrupt the Sept. 11 attacks and its fundamental miscalculation of Saddam Hussein's arsenal.

Posted by Naftali Bendavid at 9:25 am CDT

From its opening moments, it is clear the confirmation hearings of Gen. Michael Hayden to be the director of the Central Intelligence Agency will be only incidentally about Hayden himself. They will be more broadly about all the turbulent issues now being debated not just in the U.S. Capitol but in offices, homes and bars across America: secrecy, privacy, terrorism, civil liberties. How much secrecy is necessary--and how much should civil liberties be abridged--in the interest of fighting a deadly enemy?

It's far from the first time such issues have been addressed in American history. From the Alien and Sedition Acts soon after the nation's founding to Abraham Lincoln's suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus to the FBI's infiltration of peace groups during the Vietnam War, Americans have always argued about how a democracy balances civil liberties with the secrecy and security necessary to fight a war. The Senate hearing chamber is just the latest forum for that debate.

Posted by Mark Silva at 7:04 am CDT

BUFFET, Ariz. - Buffet? They tell us we're headed to Yuma, one of those remote outposts in the far southwestern corner of Arizona where the illegal immigration story is playing out in real time.

But somehow, knowing the nature of these White House trips, it feels like we're bound for the buffet in the press filing center. (Read on for the sumptuous details of said buffet.)

Good morning.

Here are some Washington events of note for Thursday, May 18, as culled from the Associated Press.

President Bush travels to Yuma, Ariz., and discusses immigration.

The Senate Select Intelligence Committee begins hearings on the nomination of Michael Hayden to be CIA Director. 9:30 a.m.

NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue addresses the senior convocation at Georgetown University. 2 p.m.

AAA and the Travel Industry Association of America hold a press conference to release their annual Summer Travel and Memorial Day forecast. 11:30 a.m.

Posted by Jeff Zeleny at 4:55 p.m.

For all the hand ringing taking place about the strength of today's Republican Party, for all the talk about conservatives losing faith in the Bush administration, there is at least one bright spot: the party can still raise money.

Tonight, a Republican National Committee gala is expected to raise $17 million, according to a GOP spokeswoman, who calls the tally a record for a non-presidential election year.

Posted by Frank James at 4:34 pm CDT

New White House Press Secretary Tony Snow was hit with the immigration amnesty question at today's press briefing.

Not only did he deliver a strong argument for those who believe that providing illegal immigrants with a path to legalization isn't amnesty but he also let members White House press corps know that their eye rolling is not going to knock him off message.

Here's what the relevant exchange during today's briefing.

Posted by Frank James at 2:40 pm CDT

A debate over the definition of amnesty took place this afternoon on the Senate floor. Two who participated were Republican senators David Vitter of Louisiana and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska.

Vitter referred to the same Merriam Webster dictionary definition that I did in an earlier posting. He came to a different conclusion, however. Here’s what he said.

Posted by Frank James at 11:37 am CDT

In covering the immigration debate here in the nation's capital, I've thought a lot about the use of the word "amnesty" by opponents of legislation that would provide those who illegally entered the country a path to a legal immigration status.

Those adamantly opposed to any kind of legalization constantly refer to the Senate's proposal as an "amnesty," akin to the 1986 legislation President Ronald Reagan signed into law.

Posted by Mark Silva at 10:10 am CDT

The candid Tony Snow, the president's new admit-what-he-doesn't-know and confront-what-he-does-know press secretary, said today that he knows nothing about the fate of Karl Rove, the president's chief political adviser, as a federal grand jury continues probing the leak of a CIA agent's identity.

"Honestly.. as far as I can tell nothing has changed. I don't want to give you a steer on it,'' Snow told reporters at the White House today. "What I do know is bupkis.''

Good morning.

Here are a few Washington events of note for Wednesday, May 17, as culled from the Associated Press.

President Bush signs the tax bill. 1:45 p.m.

Labor Department releases the Consumer Price Index for April. 8:30 a.m.

The International May 1 Coalition, National Capital Immigration Coalition, others, hold an immigrant rights mass rally and march. 4 p.m. on the National Mall.

Posted by Mark Silva at 8:15 pm CDT and updated at 6 am CDT May 17

Kenny Chesney served as the evening's entertainment for President Bush and his guests after an official dinner honoring the prime minister of Australia in the State Dining Room.

Raising a glass to his guest, Prime Minister John Howard, the president noted Tuesday night that it was Ronald Reagan who once spoke of "morning in America'' as Bush asserted that Americans remain an optimistic people -- "and on other side of the world it's already morning in Australia.''

Posted by Frank James at 2:40 pm CDT

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) sent a letter today to President Bush, raising questions about the nature and extent of Bush administration efforts to learn the identities of journalists' confidential sources within the federal government.

Schumer's letter was a response to yesterday's report by ABC News that its reporters were warned by a federal-government source to change their cellphones because there was a government effort to track down their sources through the use of phone-call records.

Schumer's letter is below.

Posted by Mark Silva at 1:15 pm CDT

The bald-headed John Howard, prime minister of Australia, is having quite a lack-of-hair day at the White House, where President Bush will host an official dinner.

"Somebody said, 'You and John Howard appear to be so close, don't you have any differences?'" said Bush, standing alongside Howard at a brief press availability in the East Room after a private and cordial meeting today. "And I said, 'Yes, he doesn't have any hair.''

Posted by Mark Silva at 12:20 pm CDT

Tony Snow, the president's new press secretary, a seasoned television news commentator and cancer survivor, turned speechless toward the end of his first nationally televised press briefing today.

Someone had asked him about the yellow bracelet he wears.

Posted by Mark Silva at 11:30 am CDT

President Bush maintains the National Guard can handle its newest assignment: serving support roles for the Border Patrol that will enable to patrol to toughen control of the Mexican border.

"The program to put Guard on the border is one that will enable the Border Patrol to do its job better,'' Bush said today, in an East Room appearance with the visiting Australian prime minister.

Good morning.

Here are a few Washington events of note for Tuesday, May 16, as gathered by the Associated Press.

President Bush meets with Australian Prime Minister John Howard and later has an official dinner with him.

Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta speaks on the launch of a new national policy initiative to reduce congestion in America. 11 a.m. National Press Club

The Partnership for a Drug-Free America holds a news conference to release its annual study on drug trends among teens. 10:30 a.m.

Posted by Frank James at 8:32 pm CDT

Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.,) the Senate Majority Leader, warmly embraced President Bush's approach towards addressing the nation's immigration problem.

FRIST COMMENTS ON PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS

“I thank the President for his strong leadership on this issue and look forward to a thoughtful debate in the Senate this week.”

Posted by Frank James at 8:13 am CDT

In something of a twofer, in his reaction to the President's prime-time immigration speech, Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) managed to take a jab at President Bush for both his handling of the immigration issue and his Iraq policy.

"This cannot turn into another long-term military deployment with no clear plan," Durbin said of the president's plan to employ the National Guard on the border, managing to conjure up Iraq without actually mentioning it.

Here's the statement Durbin read to reporters in the Senate TV-Radio Gallery after the president's speech.

All Americans agree we must act now to secure our borders and fix our broken immigration system. But we don’t need a military solution to break a political stalemate. We need political leadership.

But Americans don’t want a plan that’s been cobbled together to win political favor. This cannot turn into another long-term military deployment with no clear plan.

Posted by Frank James at 8:04 pm CDT

Here's reaction from Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) on President Bush's immigration speech tonight. As could be expected, he didn't think much of it.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 15, 2006

“This is a moment when the far right is horribly wrong and leadership is required to set a course for common sense. We need a comprehensive answer to immigration that includes tightening border security, but putting another burden on the backs of the National Guard troops who are serving their second tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan isn’t the right answer. The National Guard which has borne the burden of a broken policy in Iraq shouldn’t have to bear the burden of an incomplete immigration policy. The right answer is to listen to the 9/11 Commission and put the border patrol agents we need right there on the border. It won’t satisfy the right wing, but it’s the right policy.

Posted by Frank James at 7:52 pm CDT

The following is a White House fact sheet meant to add details to amplify President Bush's immigration speech.

Overview: Comprehensive Immigration Reform

Tonight, President Bush Discussed His Vision For Comprehensive Immigration Reform. The five clear objectives of comprehensive immigration reform are securing our borders, creating a temporary worker program, making it easier for employers to verify employment eligibility and continuing to hold them to account for the legal status of workers they hire, dealing with the millions of illegal immigrants who are already here, and honoring the great American tradition of the melting pot.

Posted by Frank James at 7:45 pm CDT

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary
_______________________________________________________________

Embargoed Until Delivery
At 8:01:30 P.M. EDT
Monday, May 15, 2006

THE PRESIDENT DELIVERS AN ADDRESS TO THE NATION

As Prepared for Delivery

Good evening. I have asked for a few minutes of your time to discuss a matter of national importance – the reform of America’s immigration system.

The issue of immigration stirs intense emotions – and in recent weeks, Americans have seen those emotions on display. On the streets of major cities, crowds have rallied in support of those in our country illegally. At our southern border, others have organized to stop illegal immigrants from coming in. Across the country, Americans are trying to reconcile these contrasting images. And in Washington, the debate over immigration reform has reached a time of decision. Tonight, I will make it clear where I stand, and where I want to lead our country on this vital issue.

Posted by Frank James at 7:09 pm CDT

ABC News has updated the story it ran on its "The Blotter" blog earlier today in which it reported that its reporters were warned by a senior official that their phone-call records were being scrutinized by federal authorities chasing down leaks within the Bush administration. My earlier posting about the ABC News report generated many comments.

ABC News is reporting that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has acknowledged that "it is increasingly seeking reporters' phone records in leak investigations."

The administration has been stung by leaks that have led to news reports including stories about secret CIA prisons around world that hold terror suspects and National Security Agency's electronic eavesdropping on some U.S. phone calls. It has responded by attempting to identify reporters' confidential sources which has had a chilling effect on both government officials inclined to talk to journalists and journalists themselves.

Read the item from The Blotter below.

Posted by Frank James at 5:33 pm CDT

A Heritage Foundation scholar released a study today that said if the Senate proposal being debated were enacted, legal immigration would explode over the next 20 years. It was a study certain to become another arrow in the quiver of those opposed to providing a path to citizenship to undocumented workers.

The timing was exquisite, coming on the same day of President Bush’s prime-time immigration speech and that the Senate once again taking up major immigration reform legislation (if at first you don’t succeed….)

Posted by Mark Silva at 12:55 pm CDT

“We’re in a sour time – I readily admit it,’’ Karl Rove, the president’s chief political adviser, said today of sagging public opinion toward his boss and his party. “The war looms over everything. There is no doubt about it.’’

Suggesting that there is “a disconnect’’ between public confidence in the economy and Bush’s political standing because of the war, Rove maintained today that the Republican Party will fare “just fine’’ in this fall’s midterm congressional elections.

Posted by Frank James at 12:10 pm CDT

ABC News has a very disturbing report today, at least for reporters and anyone else who believe that whistleblowers serve an important role in safeguarding American democracy.

On its blog, The Blotter, ABC News reports that a senior government source has told its reporters that the reporters’ phone calls with sources are being tracked by the U.S. government “to root out confidential sources.”

I hasten to say I don't have independent confirmation of the facts underlying the ABC News report. But I thought it was something readers of The Swamp would find interesting. The item follows.

Posted by Mark Silva at 8:45 am CDT

The National Guard forces that President Bush wants to deploy for border protection will serve "non-law enforcement roles'' along the Mexican border while the Border Patrol is "beefed up,'' the White House said today in preparation for a nationally televised address that the president will deliver at 7 pm CDT.

And the White House is brushing aside suggestions that the president is seeking political cover in a contentious immigration debate among the most conservative members of his party, who complain that Bush's idea of immigration reform is misguided. "It's really more about political opportunity rather than political cover,'' White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said today. "What the president is doing is he is seizing upon an opportunity.''

Good morning.

Here are some Washington events of note for Monday, May 15, as compiled by the Associated Press.

President Bush gives a televised address on immigration at 7 p.m. CDT.

The Senate resumes debate on the immigration bill at 1 p.m. CDT.

Posted by Jeff Zeleny at 7:49 a.m. CDT

LYNCHBURG, Va. – When Sen. John McCain arrived in this central Virginia town on the edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains, his official purpose was to be today's commencement speaker at Liberty University, a Christian college founded by Rev. Jerry Falwell.

The senator's appearance, though, was not simply academic. It was a public debut of the newfound – and potentially mutually beneficial – relationship between McCain and Falwell.

Posted by Frank James at 3:32 pm CDT

It's a gorgeous day in the nation's capital, the temperature in the mid-70s and all the white marble buildings blindingly bright, the sun reflecting off their stone.

Perfect weather for an outdoor rally like one I attended today. The Minutemen, the grassroots, anti-illegal immigration group, was in town. It took place in a park across the street from the Russell Senate Office Building.

Posted by Mark Silva at 10:20 am CDT

Tony Snow, the president’s new press secretary, welcomed reporters into his office today with an outreached hand, making a first-day bid for both “cordial’’ and “collegial’’ relationships with the White House press corps.