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Press Release
Pelosi: Congress Passes Largest Investment in College Financial Aid Since the GI Bill
September 7, 2007
"'This legislation cuts the interest rates on student loans in half, saving nearly 7 million students who take out need-based federal loans about $4,400. It increases the maximum Pell Grant scholarship more than $1,000, giving 5.5 million students help to afford the expanding cost of college. The bill makes an investment in the 2.3 million students who attend Historically Black College and Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Asian American and Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions, and other minority serving schools. It also ensures that we have highly qualified teachers in our classrooms - a key proposal of House Democrats' Innovation Agenda - by providing upfront tuition for highly qualified teachers who agree to teach in a high needs school."
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Press Release
Pelosi on Reported Administration Plan to Leave All U.S. Forces in Iraq
September 7, 2007
Washington, D.C. - Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today on conflicting news reports about the intentions of the White House and General David Petraeus to withdraw one brigade next year or to maintain the current troop level in Iraq.  Below her statement is a fact sheet on Iraq's high level of violence and lack of political reconciliation:

'Recent reports - the National Intelligence Estimate, and the GAO and Jones Commission reports - all document the widespread failure of the Iraqi government to meet critical political reform benchmarks set by President Bush himself in January.

'The stay-the-course strategy by General Petraeus and the President to leave all troops in Iraq has been rejected by the American people.

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Blog Post
On Reported Administration Plan to Leave All U.S. Forces in Iraq
September 7, 2007
Recent reports -- the National Intelligence Estimate, and the GAO and Jones Commission reports -- all document the widespread failure of the Iraqi government to meet critical political reform benchmarks set by President Bush himself in January.

The stay-the-course strategy by General Petraeus and the President to leave all troops in Iraq has been rejected by the American people.

We need a new direction in Iraq that will protect our troops, promote stability in the region, and make America more secure.

Blog Post
House Passes Largest Investment in Student Aid Since GI Bill
September 7, 2007
The House has just passed the final House-Senate agreement on the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, H.R. 2669, which would make the largest single investment in college financial aid since the GI Bill of 1944. The bill will now go to the President's desk, and he has pledged to sign it into law.

Chairman George Miller of the Education and Labor Committee, the sponsor of the bill, spoke in favor:

Blog Post
Emanuel on Iraq Report: We don't need a report that wins the Nobel Prize for creative statistics or the Pulitzer for fiction
September 7, 2007
As the Gavel noted yesterday, the Washington Post reported U.S. military leaders and the White House are "cherry-picking" data on violence in Iraq to bolster their claims that the President's failed war strategy is working. In order to support this claim, military and Administration calculations are based on a system of categorizing and excluding statistics that "selectively ignored negative trends" and "puzzled" senior intelligence officials and the nation's chief auditor and head of the Government Accountability Office.
Press Release
Pelosi -- SCHIP Bill a Giant Step for America's Children
September 6, 2007
"'When people ask me what the three most important issues facing the Congress, I always say the same thing: our children, our children, our children. Their health; their education; the economic security of their families; the retirement and security of their grandparents; healthy, safe neighborhood and environment in which they can thrive; and a world at peace in which they can participate."
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Blog Post
Homeland Security Chairs Call for Moratorium on Spy Satellite Program
September 6, 2007
Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie G. Thompson, Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing, and Terrorism Risk Assessment Chair Jane Harman, and Subcommittee on Management, Investigations, and Oversight Chairman Christopher P. Carney sent the following letter to Michael Chertoff, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, and Charles Allen, Assistant Secretary for Intelligence & Analysis, Department of Homeland Security regarding the Department's new spy satellite program:

September 6, 2007

The Honorable Michael Chertoff

Department of Homeland Security

Washington, D.C. 20528

Mr. Charles Allen

Office of Intelligence and Analysis

Department of Homeland Security

245 Murray Lane

Washington, D.C. 20528

Blog Post
More Evidence Raises Credibility Question About White House Report On Iraq
September 6, 2007
"In congressional testimony Monday, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, is expected to cite a 75 percent decrease in sectarian attacks." [Washington Post, 9/6/07]

According to a report in today's Washington Post, U.S. military leaders and the White House are "cherry-picking" data on violence in Iraq to bolster their claims that the President's failed war strategy is working. In order to support this claim, military and Administration calculations are based on a system of categorizing and excluding statistics that "selectively ignored negative trends" and "puzzled" senior intelligence officials and the nation's chief auditor and head of the Government Accountability Office.

The White House is entitled to their opinion, but they are not entitled to their own facts.

WHITE HOUSE STATISTICS CONFUSE AND DISTORT

Blog Post
Chairman Lantos: The Administration won't listen
September 6, 2007
This morning, the House Armed Services Committee and Foreign Affairs Committee held a joint hearing entitled "Beyond the September Report: What's Next for Iraq?" receiving testimony from the Honorable William J. Perry, Major General John Batiste, and General John M. Keane. Chairman Lantos explained, "The Administration won't listen -- not to Congress, not to the American people, and not to the military and foreign policy experts who have repeatedly told both our committees that the current course in Iraq is failing, and failing miserably.
Blog Post
Armed Services Hearing on Gen. Jones Report
September 6, 2007
The Armed Services Committee is currently holding a hearing to receive testimony on the Independent Assessment of Iraqi Security Forces. General James Jones, USMC (ret), Chairman of the Independent Commission on the Security Forces of Iraq, will testify along with three other members of the Commission. The Commission's report (pdf) stated:

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