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Rep. Ellison: "Stand By Their Words"
July 17, 2007
Last week the House passed the Responsible Redeployment from Iraq Act with the largest vote in favor of redeployment to date. As debate rages in the Senate, House Democrats are giving a series of one-minute speeches on Iraq. Rep. Keith Ellison (MN-05) implores Senators to back up their calls for a new direction with votes for a new direction:

Rep. Ellison:

"Senator Domenici, again, correctly stated 'there's nothing to wait for.' We agree, that's why this House voted last week to bring most of our troops home by next April. The Senate has a chance to take that same action this week, I hope that these Senators will stand by their words and join us in changing the course. Thank you."

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Conyers, Judiciary Members Ask AG for Documents, Information on Alabama's Siegelman Case and Allegations of Other Selective Prosecutions
July 17, 2007
Today, Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers and Reps. Linda Sánchez (CA-39), Artur Davis (AL-07), and Tammy Baldwin (WI-02) sent a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, asking him to provide documents and information about several prominent prosecutions and convictions of Democratic officials or operatives across the country. The Committee is exploring claims that former Alabama Democratic Governor Don Siegelman's recent conviction, among others, may have been part of a pattern of selective, political prosecutions by a number of U.S. Attorneys across the country.
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NIE Makes Clear That We Must Do More to Protect Americans From Terrorism
July 17, 2007
The Bush Administration's unnecessary, ill-conceived, and ill-planned war in Iraq has made America less secure by turning our nation's full attention away from fighting terrorism. As the National Intelligence Estimate released this morning makes clear, nearly six years after the 9/11 attacks the group responsible, al-Qaeda, remains the most serious terrorist threat facing our country. Al-Qaeda has regained its strength, terrorist attacks have increased, and extremists are using the war in Iraq to attract new recruits.

We must do more to protect the American people from terrorism. Today, the Democratic-led House took a strong step toward protecting America doing by agreeing to go to conference on legislation to enact the recommendations made nearly three years ago by the independent 9/11 Commission.

Blog Post
Vice President Cheney Invited to Testify on Klamath Salmon Kill
July 17, 2007
From the Natural Resources Committee:

Cheney Invited to Testify on Klamath Salmon Kill

Washington, D.C. -- U.S. Rep. Nick J. Rahall (D-WV), Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, today confirmed that Vice President Dick Cheney, a former Member of the Committee, has been invited to testify at a July 31 oversight hearing on his apparent role in influencing scientific and policy decisions at the Department of the Interior.

As reported in The Washington Post on June 27, 2007, Cheney's intervention in the development of a 10-year water plan for the Klamath River resulted in the 2002 die-off of an estimated 77,000 salmon near the California-Oregon border -- and the subsequent collapse of the West Coast salmon-fishing industry.

Blog Post
Chairman Waxman on Politicization of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy
July 17, 2007
From the Oversight Committee:

Politicization of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy

Washington, D.C. -- Today Chairman Waxman released new documents regarding politicization of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

The documents reveal that at the request of Sara Taylor, the former White House Director of Political Affairs, John Walters, the nation's drug czar, and his deputies traveled to 20 events with vulnerable Republican members of Congress in the months prior to the 2006 elections. The trips were paid for by federal taxpayers and several were combined with the announcement of federal grants or actions that benefited the districts of the Republican members.

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Energy Committee Hearing on the FDA and Food Safety
July 17, 2007
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Justice Department Refuses to Provide Witness on Voting Section
July 16, 2007
Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers and Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Subcommittee Chairman Jerrold Nadler announced they have postponed a scheduled oversight hearing on the Justice Department's Voting Rights Section of the Civil Rights Division because the Department refused to make Voting Section Chief John Tanner available to testify. The hearing was scheduled to take place tomorrow, July 17 at 10 am. In a letter to the Attorney General, sent today, they expressed their disappointment and urged him to reconsider the decision:

The Honorable Alberto Gonzales

Attorney General of the United States

U.S. Department of Justice

950 Pennsylvania Ave., NW

Blog Post
"(Wish We Had Some!)"
July 16, 2007
On Thursday we noted a new report from the Pentagon's Inspector General which "found that a program to deliver special armored vehicles to protect military personnel in Iraq from roadside bombs has been marred by delays and questionable contracting practices that may have endangered troops." Rep. Louise Slaughter (NY-28), who requested the report, issued a release summarizing it:

Blog Post
Editorials Support a New Direction in Iraq
July 16, 2007
"Don't Stay the Course"

Hartford Courant -- July 16, 2007

"Mr. Bush is right in saying that "war fatigue" ails the country. More important than fatigue, however, is a loss of faith in Mr. Bush's leadership...We are in the fifth year of the war. More than $300 billion and 3,600 U.S. dead later, it's past time for the White House to concentrate on real threats. Those who expect the White House to develop a feasible alternative to get America out of an impossible civil war aren't asking for the moon."

"Getting Out of Iraq"

Philadelphia Inquirer -- July 15, 2007

Articles
New York Times: A New Populism Spurs Democrats On the Economy
July 16, 2007
"Democrats are talking more and more about the anemic growth in American wages and the negative effects of trade and a globalized economy on American jobs and communities. They deplore what they call a growing gap between the middle class, which is struggling to adjust to a changing job market, and the affluent elites who have prospered in the new economy."
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