Archive for March 19, 2007
Congress: On Prosecutors and the War
Democrats learned a few things from Republicans over the years, and one of them was how to name legislation in a way that makes opponents seem like they are attacking apple pie.
As a result, the Senate is planning to today begin consideration of the “Preserving United States Attorney Independence Act of 2007,’’ a measure (S.214) that would seemingly attract few enemies.
But the bill with the high-minded title will actually open the door to floor debate over the administration’s hotly disputed plan to fire eight United States attorneys and put its new choices in place without Senate confirmation under an obscure provision of the Patriot Act.
The new measure, authored by Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, would repeal that provision and allow the White House to appoint interim prosecutors for up to 120 days. If a permanent replacement had not been confirmed by that time, the federal district court would then be able to name a temporary United States attorney as was the case before the process was changed with little notice last year.
But the Senate debate is not likely to be confined to the replacement process. Democrats – and a few Republicans – hope to keep the pressure on the White House to more fully explain what was behind the firings. Senator Patrick Leahy, Democrat of Vermont and chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said Sunday that he intended to subpoena Karl Rove and others to testify even if the White House objects.
“I want testimony under oath,’’ Mr. Leahy said on ABC’s “This Week. “I am sick and tired of getting half-truths on this.”
The change in the law does have some Republican support and even administration allies are likely to vote for it, particularly if it would help the controversy over the firings to go away. But with Democrats believing they have the president, Mr. Gonzales and Mr. Rove on the defensive on this issue, they are unlikely to let up.
In the House, Democratic leaders spent the weekend trying to round up stray Democrats to put together enough votes to pass the emergency war-spending bill this week and avoid an embarrassing defeat.
Democrats can count on very little Republican help – certainly no more than a few votes – in passing the measure that would establish a September 2008 deadline for removing most American troops from Iraq.
Trying to hold Republicans in line, Steven Hadley, the president’s national security adviser, said on ABC Sunday that the Democratic approach was “mandating failure, and that is forfeiting the sacrifice we have made in Iraq.’’
If no Republicans back the spending bill, Democrats can lose only 15 defectors and still get a bare majority. The leadership was optimistic that enough Democrats would eventually rally behind the bill to approve it later in the week.
Sanctions no longer justified, Palestinian official says
Ramallah – International sanctions imposed on the Palestinian government are no longer justified, new Palestinian Information Minister Mustafa Barghouti said Monday.
The government programme presented Saturday by Prime Minister Ismail Haniya is ‘very flexible, very democratic and very peaceful. There is no justification for keeping the embargo,’ Barghouti, who also serves as government spokesman, told a news conference in Ramallah.
Defending the programme, he said it called for calm, accepted a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders and ‘honours,’ not only ‘respects’ passed interim peace deals calling for a two-state solution.
‘The government has met every condition and provided every necessary step to end the siege,’ Barghouti, of the Independent Palestine faction, said.
He called on Israel to reciprocate these Palestinian steps and release what he said amounted to 800 million dollars in custom duties owed to the Palestinian Authority (PA).
This money, said Barghouti, makes up almost 70 per cent of the Palestinian budget.
Israel collects at least 50 million dollars a month in customs on goods imported to the Palestinian autonomous areas via its ports and airport.
But it froze the money after the radical Islamic Hamas movement took office one year ago, citing fears it would used to fund militants.
Barghouti is one of several independents in the Hamas-led unity government, which in addition to 12 Hamas members includes also six Fatah officials.
Politics 