Skip to main content

Media

Latest News

Blog Post
September 18, 2007
The Judiciary Committee is currently holding a hearing, "Warrantless Surveillance and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act: The Role of Checks and Balances in Protecting Americans' Privacy Rights (Part II)." Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell and Assistant Attorney General for National Security Kenneth Wainstein will testify.

Watch the hearing live via committee webcast or on C Span 3.

Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers gives opening remarks:

Blog Post
September 18, 2007
Today Chairman Waxman of the Oversight Committee wrote a letter to State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard describing allegations that, according to seven current and former officials, Mr. Krongard has repeatedly interfered with on-going investigations to protect the State Department and the White House from political embarrassment.

Excerpts from the letter (pdf) below.

On the broad allegations:

Blog Post
September 18, 2007
Image removed.

Today, the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming launched a new web site. The committee plays a key role in raising the visibility of global warming and energy issues, informing Congress and the public, and assuring we make real progress. You can learn about global warming impact zones, calculate your carbon footprint, and learn what steps you can take to help reduce the threat of global warming at http://globalwarming.house.gov.

Blog Post
September 18, 2007
Rep. Laura Richardson (CA-37), sworn in just two weeks ago, joined Rep. Michael Arcuri (NY-24) to applaud the College Cost Reduction Act, which will be sent to the President today and which he has agreed to sign into law. The Act will make the largest single investment in college financial aid since the GI Bill of 1944, boosting college aid by roughly $20 billion over the next five years. Under the legislation, the maximum value of the Pell Grant scholarship will increase by $1,090 over the next five years, reaching $5,400 by 2012, up from $4,050 in 2006, thus restoring the Pell's purchasing power. Some students will see an immediate boost of almost $500 in their Pell Grant scholarship in the 2008-2009 school year alone.
Blog Post
September 17, 2007
Former Fed Chief Alan Greenspan Denounces Republican Fiscal Irresponsibility

"Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan sharply criticizes President George W. Bush's administration and Republican congressional leaders in his memoir for putting political imperatives ahead of sound economic policies..." [Reuters, 9/15/07]

"In the 500-page book, 'The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World,' Mr. Greenspan describes the Bush administration as so captive to its own political operation that it paid little attention to fiscal discipline." [New York Times, 9/15/07]

Greenspan says, "'Deficits don't matter,' to my chagrin became part of the Republicans' rhetoric." [Washington Post, 9/15/07]

Blog Post
September 17, 2007
Oversight Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman released the following statement this afternoon following the press accounts that Iraq had revoked the license of U.S. contractor Blackwater:

Blog Post
September 17, 2007
The President today nominated a former federal judge with a distinguished career to be the next attorney general.

An Attorney General must be independent from political influence and have deep respect for the Constitution of the United States. The next Attorney General must restore the public trust that has been seriously eroded by the subversion of federal law enforcement for partisan purposes and by the Bush Administration's persistent disregard of constitutional rights.

Confirmation hearings will provide an opportunity for the nominee to answer tough questions on checks and balances and the role of Congress in its oversight and legislative responsibilities, including its ongoing review of the U.S. attorney scandal. Confirmation hearings will also provide vital information on Judge Mukasey's approach to the new, flawed FISA law and our civil liberties.

Press Release
September 17, 2007
Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today on President Bush's nomination of retired federal Judge Michael B. Mukasey for U.S. Attorney General.
Blog Post
September 17, 2007
Pelosi gets an Oregon earful

Oregonian editorial - September 15, 2007

The House speaker's Portland forum on global warming can only add to the momentum for change

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's stinging criticism of the Bush administration's Iraq policies grabbed all the headlines, and rightly so, upon her quick visit to Portland this week.

But the secondary story, the global warming forum that brought her to Oregon, is noteworthy, too -- not for any splashy pronouncements or revelations, but for what her visit meant for Oregonians and the nation as a whole.

Blog Post
September 15, 2007
Congressman Tom Lantos (CA-12), Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, delivered the Democratic Radio Address this morning.

In his address, Chairman Lantos discusses President Bush's failed policies in Iraq and the need for a New Direction saying, "to win the war against international terrorism, we must stop frittering away our resources -- military, diplomatic, and economic -- on an endless religious war in Iraq. With its TV ads, the President's address, and every other available means, the Administration is pulling out all the stops to make the case to 'stay the course' for an endless war in Iraq. We all heard the President on Thursday night. We can expect the Administration to continue asking for more money, more patience, and more sacrifices from our troops - all in the belief that our continued intervention in Iraq will eventually bear fruit.