May 28, 2008

Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement today in response to President Bush's remarks at the U.S. Air Force Academy: "The President's remarks today brought cynicism to what should be an occasion of great pride, the commencement ceremony at the Air Force Academy. In his remarks, President Bush rightly compared the valor of our men and women in uniform today to those who fought in World War II, yet he still opposes our bipartisan efforts to send our brave troops to college, just as we did after World War II. Full release

Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement today in reaction to the continued detention of Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. San Suu Kyi, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, is the leading advocate for democracy and human rights in Burma. She has spent the majority of the last 18 years under house arrest despite winning the country's last democratic election in 1990, which was annulled by the military regime. Full release

For a candidate who regularly brags about his experience as a Washington insider, John McCain has a troubling pattern of flubbing key facts and echoing obviously false statements about his own record. To help voters keep track of all the gaffes and distortions, the Democratic National Committee today released a list of John McCain's top 10 misstatements and outright deceptions. Full release

John McCain claims to be an expert on foreign policy. Yet in the course of his presidential campaign he has taken two very different stances on the same issue -- nuclear nonproliferation. Last December, Senator McCain wrote in Foreign Affairs magazine that the idea that "nuclear technology can spread without nuclear weapons eventually following" is a "mistaken assumption" that undermines the nuclear nonproliferation regime. Yet just months later, in McCain's major foreign policy speech yesterday, he said he would provide nuclear power to countries under international supervision to promote nonproliferation. [Foreign Affairs, December 2007] Full release

Today the DNC issued the following statement: "Last night members of the DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee received a 17 page memo that outlined a staff analysis of the Michigan and Florida challenges. Included in the materials were copies of the challenges, and an overall timeline re-capping the process from the decision in 2004 to establish a Commission on Presidential Nomination Timing and Scheduling, through to current events. Full release

A new national study analyzing how Medicare budget cuts proposed by the Bush Administration will impact rural America's seniors and nursing homes finds Texas will be the second hardest-hit state in the nation, prompting the Texas Health Care Association (THCA) to warn that yet another funding cut related to long term care financing simply adds to the already significant challenges posed by rising energy and food costs, and a state Medicaid payment rate that ranks 49th in the nation in terms of accurately meeting facility reimbursement rates. Full release

With its primary on June 3, South Dakota's 2007 population of 796,000 includes a higher percentage of the non-Hispanic white-alone population and a higher percentage of the American Indian and Alaska Native population than the nation as a whole, according to U.S. Census Bureau statistics. About 68 percent of South Dakota's voting-age citizens cast a ballot in the 2004 general election, which was higher than the national rate of 64 percent. Full release

Yesterday, Obama Admitted "He Was Wrong" To Tell A Story About How His Uncle Helped Liberate Auschwitz: "Democrat Barack Obama Admitted On Tuesday He Was Wrong To Say His Uncle Helped Liberate The Nazis' Auschwitz Concentration Camp After Republicans Said Soviet Troops Freed The Camp." ("Obama Admits Reference To Auschwitz Was Wrong," Reuters, 5/27/08) Full release

The following Op-Ed from The Wall Street Journal, written by Amir Taheri, is being issued by the Republican National Committee: In a report released this week, the International Atomic Energy Agency expressed "serious concern" that the Islamic Republic of Iran continues to conceal details of its nuclear weapons program, even as it defies U.N. demands to suspend its uranium enrichment program. Full release

As the Senate is poised to vote on the Lieberman-Warner America's Climate Security Act, a new poll finds an overwhelming majority of Americans oppose the higher energy costs the bill would impose. The poll, conducted by the National Center for Public Policy Research, found 65% of Americans reject spending even a penny more for gasoline in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The number rejecting raising gas prices to combat global warming has increased by 17 percentage points -- or 35% -- in just over two months. The National Center conducted a similar survey in late February. Full release

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