A Blog Called Hope

Senate Republicans are apparently back to their old, dirty tricks again. This today from the Washington Post:

The Senate today shelved a measure that would have required the withdrawal of most U.S. troops from Iraq within nine months, the latest in a series of defeats this week for Democratic-sponsored provisions that sought to restrict the Bush administration’s Iraq war policy.

The vote on the measure, an amendment to the 2008 defense authorization bill, was 47 to 47. That was 13 votes short of the 60-vote threshold the amendment needed because of the inherent threat of a Republican filibuster.

The Republican’s efforts didn’t sit well with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, who just released the following statement:

“I share Rhode Islanders’ frustration at President Bush’s failure to change course in Iraq. That’s why I’ve voted for every measure that would put pressure on the President to redeploy our troops and seek a new direction. It’s time – long past time – for our troops to come home.

“I’m proud that Rhode Island’s own Jack Reed is among the leaders of our fight. His amendment today would have set a smart, responsible strategy to safely redeploy American troops – but once again, the Republican minority in the Senate has used Senate rules to block the way.

“We face a simple question: is it in the long-term best interests of our nation for American troops to remain in Iraq? Americans have overwhelmingly answered no. I will keep fighting to bring our troops home safely, and bring them home soon.”

Congressmen Jim Langevin and Patrick Kennedy today sent a letter to Congressman James L. Oberstar, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee asking that the needs of Rhode Island be kept in mind as the Committee prepares to develop a legislative response to bridge safety nationally.“While small, Rhode Island’s high population density and significant maintenance costs pose challenges to state leaders trying to upgrade our aging roads and bridges,” said Langevin. “Mr. Kennedy and I will continue to advocate for our constituents and make sure the state Department of Transportation has the resources to keep the traveling public safe.”

This letter was written after inspections revealed Rhode Island’s bridges were substandard. The inspections were prompted by the tragic collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis this summer.

“Anything that could potentially jeopardize safe travel through our state or shake the confidence of our citizens or visitors is completely unacceptable and must be addressed immediately,” said Kennedy. “However, it is clear that Rhode Island will need federal assistance to help solve our state’s aging infrastructure. As the Committee moves forward to respond to this national need, we are asking for support in light of the urgency of this matter.”

This today from Congressman Langevin’s office:

Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) presented Congressman Jim Langevin with the 2007 Congressional Award at its annual Americana Gala in Washington, DC, on September 13. Langevin was recognized for his long-time support of the Paralyzed Veterans of America, as well of issues of concern to all veterans and all individuals with disabilities.

“I have had the privilege of meeting with local and national members of PVA over the years, and I am truly humbled to receive this recognition,” said Langevin, co-chair of the Bipartisan Disabilities Caucus. “While we have made great progress in some areas, we still have a long way to go to make sure that all of our paralyzed veterans are given the care and resources they deserve. I am proud to be part of a Congress that is on the verge of passing the biggest increase in VA funding in over 75 years. I will continue to make my voice heard and to make a difference.”

There are currently about 25 million brave veterans and 51 million people with disabilities—with 11,000 new spinal cord injuries reported annually. PVA works tirelessly to create an America where veterans’ benefits and health care are fully funded; where everywhere is barrier free for everyone; where wheelchair sports are mainstream; and, where the scientific community is amply funded to strive for new treatments and cures.

From the Whitehouse team:

U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) will join Roger Williams University law students and faculty on Constitution Day, Monday, September 17, for a conversation on the need to restore the independence and credibility of the U.S. Department of Justice in the wake of the controversial tenure of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Whitehouse, Rhode Island’s former United States Attorney and Attorney General, has played an active role in the Senate Judiciary Committee’s investigation into what went wrong at the Justice Department under the Bush administration.

Senator Whitehouse is also the author of legislation aimed at restoring a critical safeguard against political interference at Justice. During the Clinton administration, a total of only seven people at the White House and the Justice Department were permitted to initiate discussions of ongoing cases or investigations. Bush administration officials changed that policy, eventually authorizing more than 40 people at the Department and more than 900 in the White House to initiate such conversations. Whitehouse’s bill, now before the Judiciary Committee, would require the Department of Justice and the White House to notify Congress if officials beyond those named in the Clinton-era rule were authorized to discuss pending investigations.

From the New York Times:

WACO, Tex., Aug. 27 — Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, whose tenure has been marred by controversy and accusations of perjury before Congress, has resigned. He is expected to announce the decision to reporters at 10:30 Eastern time this morning in Washington.

Mr. Gonzales, who had rebuffed calls for his resignation for months, submitted his to President Bush by telephone on Friday, a senior administration official said.

Mr. Bush has not yet chosen a replacement but will not leave the position open long, the official said early this morning, speaking on condition of anonymity because the resignation had not yet been made public.

Mr. Bush repeatedly stood by Mr. Gonzales, an old friend and colleague from Texas, even as Mr. Gonzales faced increasing scrutiny for his leadership of the Justice Department, over issues including his role in the dismissals of nine United States attorneys late last year and whether he testified truthfully about the National Security Agency’s surveillance programs.

From Congressman Langevin:

“When I traveled the District this summer, my constituents told me — loud and clear — that they are fed up with the President and his policies – in particular those policies implemented by the nation’s top law enforcement officer. This resignation is the right thing for Attorney General Gonzales to do, as the public’s confidence in him has been severely compromised. The position of Attorney General is too critical to suffer from lack of credibility. I look forward to the President nominating a professional who can get us past this dark chapter for the Justice Department.”

From Congressman Kennedy:

“For months, it has been clear that AG Gonzales is unwilling and incapable of solving the serious problems facing the Department of Justice. While his resignation is overdue, I hope that it will mark an end to this painful chapter in the proud history of the Department.

There are serious problems at the Department of Justice, and we cannot afford to let them fester any longer. I urge President Bush to nominate an individual who will be able to work with Congress in the honest and open fashion that eluded AG Gonzales.”

From Senator Whitehouse:

“It’s been clear for months that Alberto Gonzales’s resignation is in the best interest of the country.  This is also good news for the Department of Justice, but a great deal of work remains to be done to restore Americans’ confidence in this great Department, to restore its traditions and spirit, and to restore its ability to fairly and dispassionately enforce the law.  Fortunately, there are many people of both parties who know and love this Department who I’m sure would be glad to help.

“I hope that whoever the President nominates to be he new Attorney General at this critical time will put the interests of the Department, its employees, and the American people foremost – before partisanship, and before politics.”

Next week, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse will host another in a series of community dinners, speaking one-on-one with Rhode Islanders to answer questions and share ideas:

Event: Senator Sheldon Whitehouse Hosts Community Dinner

When: Wednesday, August 22, starting at 6 p.m.

Where: Rose Larisa Memorial Park, 800 Bullocks Point Avenue, Riverside

Earlier tonight Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse appeared on NBC 10 to discuss his recent trip to Greenland to observe alarming signs of global warming as well as the Democrats’ effort to stabilize Iraq and get our troops home as fast as possible.

Here’s the video:

Congressman Kennedy’s slot on the powerful Appropriations Committee continues to pay big dividends to one of Rhode Island’s leading industry’s. Thanks in part to Kennedy’s efforts, defense initiatives in our state received around $24 million.

“In reviewing the vast number of defense-related firms throughout the country, it is clear to me that Rhode Island ranks among the highest when it comes to designing quality tools for our military in protecting our national security. Rhode Island’s defense industry is a critical component of our economy, and I am pleased that this bill funds so many of the important projects they are tackling,” said Kennedy.

• BEAMHIT – Laser Marksmanship Training System for active Army (LMTS)- $5 MILLION
• RAYTHEON – Project Athena Beta Site-$8 MILLION. Project Athena is an open architecture system of systems for Maritime Domain Awareness using proven NORAD building blocks. It integrates wide area surveillance capabilities, multiple sensor inputs and geo-registered ISR data and data bases using a proven fusion engine and visualization processor. (Congressman Jim Langevin also supported this funding.)
  
• ASPEN-AEROGEL Flexible Aerogel Material Supplier Initiative-$2 MILLION. This initiative will address the critical production capacity issues for these essential, high temperature flexible aerogel materials in order to transition from the nascent pilot plant, low rate of production-stage to the domestic production of high quality, low-cost materials.
  
• TPI MILITARY AND INTERSTATE COMM. – $3 MILLION. The Military and Commercial Truck Commercial Weight Reduction Program will design and build prototype lightweight roofs and other components for the Line Haul Truck Platform. All prototypes built will be ready for road testing by the Army.
• CURESEARCH- COG USOC – Consortium on Pediatric Cancer- $2 MILLION. In order to meet the needs of military families who have children with cancer, the COG developed the Uniformed Services Oncology Consortium (USOC). This funding will expand ongoing research by Children’s Oncology Group with the Department of Defense, and improve investigations of the genetic, epigenetic and signal transduction pathways. CURESEARCH has facilities nationwide and Congressman Kennedy was proud to work with his Congressional colleagues on this project.
• CYBERKINETICS-Neural Control of External Devices- $1 MILLION. Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems will use these funds to accelerate the development of products which are critical pieces of enabling technology for individuals within the Military healthcare system who are suffering from disability due to ALS, Spinal Cord injury, strokes or other motor diseases. These funds will accelerate the development of products which will revolutionize the field of prosthetics.
  
• AMERICAN METALCASTINGS-Castings for Defense Readiness- $2 MILLION. This Defense Logistics Agency’s (DLA) Castings for Improved Defense Readiness program will provide rapid, cost-effective solutions in the procurement of high-quality critical castings used in new technology and procurement processes to maintain or improve weapon systems’ reliability, availability, and maintainability.
• MIKEL Advanced Intercept & Rangigan System – $1 MILION. Current sonar and combat systems for US undersea war fighters do not provide an accurate and timely picture necessary to make critical decisions required to maintain tactical control, avoid collisions and safely execute a variety of peacetime and wartime missions. These funds will help develop technology providing early warning to vessels being prosecuted by active search and localization sonar and under torpedo attack.
  

Yesterday’s New York Times has a great editorial about the mounting evidence that Alberto Gonzales and Bush’s Justice Department singled people out for criminal prosecution to help GOP candidates win targeted races.

Putting political opponents in jail is the sort of thing that happens in third-world dictatorships. In the United States, prosecutions are supposed to be scrupulously nonpartisan. This principle appears to have broken down in Alberto Gonzales’s Justice Department — where lawyers were improperly hired for nonpolitical jobs based on party membership, and United States attorneys were apparently fired for political reasons.

Of the many in Congress who have spoken up against Gonzales’ misdeed, none have been louder or carried more credibility than Rhode Island’s own Sheldon Whitehouse, himself a former U.S. Attorney.

As Democrats in Congress pass legislation fulfilling their promises to the American people, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democratic National Committee have joined forces to launch a Month of Action on Iraq that will begin with a national television advertising campaign highlighting the Democratic Congress’s accomplishments and calling on President Bush to work with Democrats to end the war in Iraq. Here’s the video: