June 2006

"U.S. President George W. Bush and Japan Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, a die- hard Elvis Presley fan, today visited the landmark home of Presley in Memphis, Tenn. The world leaders were greeted by anti- whaling protesters from IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare -- http://www.ifaw.org ), an inflatable dancing whale, and a bevy of Elvis impersonators crooning an adapted version of Presley's hit song "Don't Be Cruel." IFAW is calling on Koizumi to end Japan's controversial whaling activities." [Read more]

"Tonight, President Bush heads to Powell, Ohio for a closed press fundraiser benefiting Republican Senator Mike DeWine's struggling reelection campaign. This is the latest effort by Senator DeWine to avoid being seen in public with President Bush even as he collects thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from special interest donors willing to spend $10,000 for a photo with the president or attend a $2,100 per plate dinner. (Akron Beacon Journal, 6/29/06)" [Read more]

"The D.C. Chapter of FreeRepublic.com, an independent grassroots conservative organization, and Accuracy in Media (AIM) will hold a demonstration at noon, Monday, July 3, at the Washington, D.C., bureau of The New York Times, 1627 I St., NW, to call for the prosecution of New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., Executive Editor Bill Keller and reporters James Risen and Eric Lichtblau for giving aid and comfort to al Qaeda by publishing stories exposing national security intelligence programs." [Read more]

"The National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) lauds the House of Representatives for approving measures to increase funding for the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) by $25 million in the Science, State, Justice and Commerce (SSJC) Appropriations Bill. The increased funding will support new programs created by the 2005 reauthorization of VAWA. These increases are on top of a crucial $24.5 million increase for existing programs already included in the SSJC Appropriations Bill by Chairman Frank Wolf (R-VA), Ranking Member Alan Mollohan (D-WV) and other members of the Appropriations Committee." [Read more]

"The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act impacts 128 million Americans suffering from a host of incurable afflictions. We ask the Senate to expeditiously vote on the legislation, without amendments or false alternatives, which have been crafted to provide political cover for the foes of the research." [Read more]

"In an effort to help prevent alcohol-related traffic fatalities during the upcoming Fourth of July holiday and all year long, The Century Council, a national not-for-profit organization funded by America's leading distillers and committed to fighting drunk driving and underage drinking, encouraged Americans to make responsible decisions about alcohol this Independence Day weekend by promoting a high-tech tool that educates adults about how alcohol affects their individual blood alcohol concentration (BAC)." [Read more]

"Media images of lesbians and gay men create the impression that most of them are white urban dwellers who have high incomes and whose main preoccupations are shopping for expensive clothes, preparing gourmet food or eating at upscale restaurants. As a result, a variety of stereotypes and misconceptions exist about lesbian and gay families with children. The Council on Contemporary Families recently drew up a quiz to test your knowledge of this population. The research material was prepared by Gary Gates, Ph.D, a senior research fellow at the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law." [Read more]

"House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today after the People for the American Way delivered to Speaker Hastert and Majority Leader Boehner a petition with 35,000 signatures calling for the immediate reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act:

"I am grateful to every American who signed the citizen petition asking Congress to renew the Voting Rights Act. Democrats agree with the American people: we must act immediately to pass the Voting Rights Act reauthorization." [Read more]

"Today's decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that called the proposed military tribunals at the Guantanamo Bay Detention center illegal under both military justice law and the Geneva Convention was met by enthusiastic support from three vocal critics of the facility: Shafiq Rasul, Ruhal Ahmed and Asif Iqbal, British citizens who were held at Guantanamo Bay for two years before being released without charge. The three have worked tirelessly since receiving their freedom to see justice served for their fellow detainees." [Read more]

"Amnesty International USA's Advocacy Director for International Justice and Domestic Human Rights Jumana Musa released the following statement in response to the U.S. Supreme Court decision today in the Hamdan v. Rumsfeld case. Ms. Musa, an international law attorney, has been Amnesty International's legal observer at the military commission hearings in Guantanamo Bay for the last two years and has monitored the proceedings in person on five occasions. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that President Bush did not have authority to set up the war crimes tribunals at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and found the "military commissions" illegal under both military justice law and the Geneva conventions..." [Read more]

"During the past three months, for instance, http://rushlimbaugh.com traffic ranking has declined 18 percent. He still huffs and puffs away daily on radio, but advertisers might want to double check the size of his audience. If the bottom has dropped out on him online, it likely has had a similar trend line with his radio show." [Read more]

"A prominent national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group today said Israel's targeting of the Palestinian civilian infrastructure is a "war crime" that should be condemned by the Bush administration." [Read more]

"Californians for Population Stabilization (CAPS) launched a TV campaign in California this week warning viewers that US population could reach 500 million by 2050.

The ad campaign launches as the nation is on the verge of crossing the 300 million population mark. Immigration is the primary factor driving US population to 300 million and will play an even larger role in the country's future population growth f new proposals to drastically increase immigration are enacted." [Read more]

"The U.S. Department of Labor today announced $4 million in grants to 55 faith-based and community organizations competitively chosen to help hard-to- serve populations prepare for and succeed in employment opportunities.

"This administration appreciates the effectiveness of faith- based and community organizations in helping workers find jobs and build a brighter future for themselves and their families," said Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. "The grassroots projects funded through this $4 million initiative will reach out to those most in need by providing guidance and support in making use of employment services available through local One-Stop Career Centers." [Read more]

"The U.S. Supreme Court decision today in the case LULAC v. Perry sets the stage for more partisanship, more divisiveness and less competition in elections," said Mary G. Wilson, president of the League of Women Voters." [Read more]

"How can Republicans, who are invoking the issue of patriotism at every turn, claim they are being patriots when they are unwilling to protect our right to vote, our most basic fundamental right as Americans? Today's vote is another example of the Republican-controlled Congress's misplaced priorities. After failing to live up to their promise to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act, Congressional Republicans then spent two days debating a flag-burning measure. The American people want real leadership, not a Congress that ignores their concerns at the expense of their right to vote. Patriotism begins at the ballot box. Democrats believe the first priorities of Americans should be made the first priorities of Congress." [Read more]

"The American Legion ... indeed, the vast majority of Americans, are disappointed that the U.S. Senate has failed to vote in accordance with the will of the people by not passing the flag amendment. While the Senators who opposed the amendment may have failed their constituents, I can assure you that The American Legion will not. We'll be back!," said Thomas L. Bock, National Commander, The American Legion." [Read more]

"THE PRESIDENT: I first met Christian when I went to Walter Reed -- or Brooke Army in San Antonio, Texas. And he said, "I want to run with you." He was in bed -- he had lost both legs. I looked at him, like, you know, there's an optimistic person. But I could tell in his eyes that he meant it. And after a lot of hard work and a lot of compassionate care, this fine man is here on the South Lawn running with the President. And he ran the President into the ground, I might add. (Laughter.)" [Read more]

"The Illinois Coalition Against Tobacco today urged communities throughout Illinois to enact comprehensive local clean indoor air laws, in light of findings from the nationwide report, The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: a Report of the Surgeon General - 2006. Additionally, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich recently amended the state's Indoor Clean Air Act." [Read more]

"With Congress poised to pass new legislation on foreign investment before the August recess, a new study commissioned by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP), an Arlington, Va.-based public policy group, warns that restricting or inhibiting foreign investment could result in "higher interest rates, higher mortgage rates, higher inflation, less innovation, fewer jobs, lower wages, and lower stock prices." [Read more]

"In an open letter to Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley and the Roman Catholic Bishops of Massachusetts, a group of clergy from the state's other leading religious denominations called on the Roman Catholic hierarchy to stop its political campaign to revoke civil marriage rights for same-sex couples. The representatives, board members of the Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry, say that the Catholic bishops' ongoing campaign to deny legal rights to same- sex couples married by other denominations amounts to religious discrimination." [Read more]

"Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, MD (R-Tenn.) will join other Members of Congress to become the 1,000,000th Americans to sign postcards to President Bush urging him to advocate for a UN Peacekeeping force to protect the people of Darfur, Sudan. Nationwide, activists from houses of worship, universities, and other organizations have generated electronic and handwritten postcards to President Bush as part of the Save Darfur Coalition's "Million Voices for Darfur Campaign" ( http://www.MillionVoicesForDarfur.org )." [Read more]

"While the world has enough proven and unproven reserves of oil to meet demand for the next 100 years, much of it lies under countries with economies that do not provide market incentives to encourage production, according to a new report by the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA). The report also points out that the lack of incentives increases the importance of tapping resources in countries with free economies, such as Canada and the United States." [Read more]

"amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, today announced 12 grants and fellowships to investigate the potential of eradicating HIV from the body. These new awards, totaling nearly $1.5 million, represent amfAR's commitment to funding scientific studies that may reveal how to eliminate the virus altogether. Many consider research focused on viral reservoirs, latent virus and acute HIV infection to be the first steps toward an elusive cure for HIV infection." [Read more]

"The Department of Defense (DOD) has confirmed it conducted surveillance, on a more extensive level than previously reported, of student groups at universities in California, New Jersey and Connecticut. Some of that surveillance, new documents suggests, may have been part of an undercover Pentagon operation. The information was released in a June 15 letter to counsel for Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed by the organization." [Read more]

"There is broad consensus on both sides of the aisle that the quality of the debate in the runup to war in Iraq was not good. The path to war was rushed, and it was flawed. We need to understand how that was so, so we can prevent a rush to commit the same mistakes again in the future." [Read more]

"Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) today supplemented its existing Internal Revenue Services (IRS) complaint against Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), and Americans for Tax Reform Foundation (ATR Foundation), conservative, non-profit organizations led by right-wing activist Grover Norquist. The supplemental information was derived from the June 22 Senate Committee on Indian Affairs report, "Gimme Five" -- Investigation of Tribal Lobbying Matters. The original complaint had asked the IRS to investigate activities by Norquist's groups which may violate IRS regulations and require a revocation of their tax- exempt status." [Read more]

"This three-day Christian mobilization will convene Democrats and Republicans alike. Low-income families are too often stuck between liberal and conservative arguments; our country needs a new grand alliance that makes overcoming poverty a nonpartisan cause. Confirmed speakers include: Sens. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Rick Santorum and Sam Brownback.

Rev. Jim Wallis, founder of Sojourners and author of the bestseller God's Politics, will be joined by hundreds of grassroots and faith-based anti-poverty church leaders, lay leaders, social service providers, and activists young and old." [Read more]

"The Court decided to wade into the rising waters of global warming. Given the failure of leadership by the Bush White House, it is heartening to know that some of the brightest minds in Washington recognize that this problem can no longer be ignored.

"Today's decision is a victory for the rule of law. While the ultimate outcome is months away, review of the flawed lower court decision sends a strong message that blatant legislating from the bench will be scrutinized." [Read more]

"The Forgotten Homeland: A Century Foundation Task Force Report" gathers some of the leading homeland security experts to analyze the nation's most significant vulnerabilities and to propose strategies to reduce them. The report addresses terrorist as well as nonterrorist threats and offers ideas for strengthening all aspects of our emergency response -- including our ability to respond to natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina." [Read more]

"Russ Feingold's brazen effort to mischaracterize the words of our military's leaders reflects a commitment that is long on campaign politics and short on national security. A strategy of cut and run in the central front of the War on Terror amounts to a surrender to our enemy. It should not be a surprise that the same man who wanted to censure the President for working to protect Americans, now thinks it is wise to tip our hand to the terrorists." - Tracey Schmitt, RNC Press Secretary [Read more]

"Working to push the Bush administration to more fully and effectively address the ongoing genocide in Sudan, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid today hailed the passage of new legislation that will compel the Defense Department to explain its role in assisting the implementation of the recently signed Darfur Peace Agreement." [Read more]

"The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) announced today that it expects a fourth quarter 2006 completion of a detailed chronology of the decisions that led to the design, implementation and state of the New Orleans flood and storm damage reduction system as it existed prior to hurricanes Katrina and Rita." [Read more]

"The foiling of this terror plot is a vivid reminder that the threat of domestic terrorism is always present. Along with the recent Canada round-up, this marks the second thwarted terror plot in less than two months. America will remain vigilant to defeat terrorists wherever they may be, and House Republicans will continue to give the brave men and women fighting to win the Global War on Terror the resources they need to finish the job." [Read more]

"Seven Florida men have been arrested on charges that include conspiring to provide material support to the al Qaeda terrorist organization and conspiracy to levy war against the United States by discussing and planning attacks on targets in the United States, including the Sears Tower in Chicago and the FBI building and other federal buildings in Florida, the Department of Justice announced today." [Read more]

"The Partnership for a Secure America, a bipartisan group of leading national security experts co-chaired by former Rep. Lee Hamilton (D-Ind.) and former Sen. Warren Rudman (R-N.H.), today urged the United States to continue fully funding the United Nations while simultaneously seeking major reforms of UN operations.

"While the UN is in need of serious reform," said PSA co-chairman Lee Hamilton (D-Ind.), "cutting funding at this critical time would impede important changes that have already started to take place." [Read more]

"July 2, 2006 marks the 30th anniversary of the Gregg V. Georgia decision in which the United States Supreme Court upheld laws written to reinstate the death penalty after all death penalty laws were struck down by the Furman decision in 1972. Leaders of the anti-death penalty movement will speak out about recent developments regarding the issue, noting how the death penalty continues to fail as a public policy in the United States. Also, the United Methodist Church is this year marking the 50th anniversary of becoming the first major Christian denomination to call for the abolition of the death penalty in the United States." [Read more]

"As the keynote speaker for the 31st anniversary of the United States-India Business Council (USIBC), Vice President Richard Cheney enthusiastically endorsed pending legislation in congress to enable U.S.-India civilian nuclear cooperation and to bring India into the international non-proliferation framework. He emphasized that, through the agreement, "India will enter the international non- proliferation mainstream." [Read more]

"The next time you hear a political candidate blast his or her opponent in a negative political advertisement, your natural inclination may be to grab the remote and change the channel. Vanderbilt political scientist John Geer believes you may want to leave the remote alone." [Read more]

"A new report released Thursday by Common Cause concludes that the push to use direct recording electronic (DRE) voting machines was misguided, has resulted in serious security and reliability concerns, and should be reversed. The report also assesses states at greatest risk of having elections compromised due to problems with voting machines, presents information on voting systems used by each state and makes recommendations on safeguarding votes to citizens who must use a DRE in November." [Read more]

"Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid today delivered the following speech on the Floor of the United States Senate, calling for a change in course in Iraq. In the fourth year of the war, Bush Republicans offer no plan and no end. Democrats believe the time for political slogans is past. It is time for a real strategy in Iraq." [Read more]

Reid Calls for a Change in Course in Iraq (1/2)

"Today, the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) strongly condemned the actions of a small group of U.S Representatives who prevented a House floor vote on H.R. 9, legislation to renew the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The House was expected to vote on H.R. 9 this week." [Read more]

"The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children(r) (NCMEC) is hosting its first ever Dialogue on Social Networking Web Sites to discuss the popularity and misuse of this technology and ways to help keep children safer online. Experts from across the country are attending the day-long event including industry leaders from MySpace, Facebook and Xanga; policy-makers; law enforcement officials; academia; and children's advocacy groups. The dialogue will feature panel discussions ranging in topics from "Prevention/Education" and "What is the Industry Doing?" to "The Public Policy Challenges of Social Networking." [Read more]

"With strong, bipartisan leadership, the U.S. House of Representatives today passed legislation to continue one of the most important federal investments in the future of health care for all children," said Lawrence A. McAndrews, president and CEO of the National Association of Children's Hospitals (N.A.C.H.)" [Read more]

"The U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce (USWCC) is extending its outreach and economic development efforts to the global business community this week with the opening of the USWCC / New Deal Marketplace(TM) -- a dynamic network of women-owned storefronts, major U.S.-based firms and international supply chain participants." [Read more]

"Larry Cox, Amnesty International USA's executive director, made the following statement in response to the alleged killing and torture of two U.S. soldiers in Ramadi, Iraq:

"Amnesty International, first and foremost, extends its sincerest condolences to the families of Pfc. Kristian Menchaca and Pfc. Thomas L. Tucker for their tragic loss. We are deeply disturbed by reports that these two soldiers were brutally tortured. These reports, if proven true, may rise to the level of war crimes." [Read more]

"Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid today delivered the following speech on the Floor of the U.S. Senate. America's immigration system is broken, but Republicans in Congress are blocking Democratic efforts to fix it. Though both the House and Senate have passed immigration bills and should now proceed to conference to work out a compromise, Republicans have announced they will block progress and hold hearings instead. Democrats believe America's national security demands comprehensive immigration reform, not Republican obstruction." [Read more]

A third test entry with category chosen.

"Anna Burger, chair of Change to Win, today called on the U.S. Senate to vote in favor of an amendment to the Defense Appropriations bill that would raise the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour. In a letter sent to all U.S. Senators, Burger described the amendment offered by Sen. Kennedy as a chance to take a modest step forward to make work pay in America." [Read more]

"The World Drug Report will be released, marking the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Trafficking. The report presents the most salient trends in the production, trafficking and use of illegal drugs. Leading law enforcement officials will discuss the report's findings, which shed invaluable light on the global illicit drug problem." [Read more]

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