| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"¥oÃ-Lance Van Ness-¥LxS" |
| Date: |
04 Mar 2006 03:56:18 PM |
| Object: |
Bush PunishesThose who Opposse Ports Deal |
No Iraq Trip for Legislator Who Opposed Deal on Ports
By Carl Hulse
The New York Times
Saturday 04 March 2006
Washington - Representative Peter T. King's prominent opposition to a
proposal to allow a Dubai company to take over some terminal operations at
American ports may have earned him some punishment from the Bush
administration: He has been grounded.
Mr. King, the New York Republican who is chairman of the House Homeland
Security Committee, confirmed Friday that a few days after he first
threatened legislation to hold up the port deal, the Pentagon informed him
that it could not provide an aircraft for his planned March Congressional
delegation to Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East.
A Feb. 22 e-mail notice to Mr. King's office said the legislative
affairs branch of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's office had
determined "they do not have any aircraft to support" the official trip to
Baghdad and other points. "Please advise if the CODEL will now pursue
commercial air," it concluded, referring to the Congressional trip. Mr. King
said he did not know if the paucity of aircraft was related to his leading
role in the port dispute, but he was suspicious.
"It is very coincidental," said Mr. King, who talked reluctantly when
pressed about the canceled trip, which had first been unintentionally
disclosed by another lawmaker. Mr. King said that he did not intend to make
an issue out of it or allow it to affect his stance in the port dispute.
At the Pentagon, a spokesman said that the decision on the trip was
simply due to a lack of resources and that the port fight played no role.
"We support as many trips as possible subject to the operational
requirements of our military forces and the capacity of the command to
support the visit," said the spokesman, Bryan Whitman. "Often Congressional
requests to travel exceed our capacity to support."
The conflicting views illustrate the tension between Congress and the
White House over a policy fight that has caused one of the deepest rifts of
Mr. Bush's tenure with his Republican allies on Capitol Hill. The
president's quick threat to veto any legislation blocking the takeover by
the state-owned company DP World has been a sore point. Mr. King and other
Republicans on Capitol Hill have been outspoken in challenging the
administration on the port plan and their comments cannot have gone
unnoticed at the White House.
Mr. King said the trip had been on the radar for months and all but a
few minor details had been wrapped up. He said lawmakers had already
adjusted their schedule once to avoid conflicting with another Congressional
visit to Iraq in an effort not to strain American officials and troops. Four
Republicans and two Democrats were scheduled to go to Iraq after a stop in
Jordan to review a facility for training the Iraqi police.
Lawmakers have regularly visited Iraq and the surrounding region during
the war, using military aircraft. Mr. Whitman, in his statement, said,
"Congressional travel to observe our military is important to understanding
our operations in theater."
Mr. King has broken with his party at points in his House career,
including opposing the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. But he has a
conservative record on foreign policy issues and has been a strong supporter
of Mr. Bush in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. Mr. King demonstrated
that he had the confidence of the Republican leadership last year when he
was named to the vacant chairmanship of the Homeland Security Committee, and
Speaker J. Dennis Hastert of Illinois has been supportive of Mr. King in his
challenge to the Dubai decision.
Two Congressional leadership aides, who would only speak anonymously
because of the nature of the dispute, said Friday that some Congressional
trips had been held up because of security concerns or a lack of aircraft,
but the aides said they were surprised Mr. King's trip could not be
accommodated.
.
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| User: "Sanders Kaufman" |
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| Title: Re: Bush PunishesThose who Opposse Ports Deal |
04 Mar 2006 06:16:35 PM |
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"¥oÃ-Lance Van Ness-¥LxS" <s@art.net> wrote in message
news:dud2ds$507d$1@news3.infoave.net...
Mr. King, the New York Republican who is chairman of the House Homeland
Security Committee, confirmed Friday that a few days after he first
threatened legislation to hold up the port deal, the Pentagon informed him
that it could not provide an aircraft for his planned March Congressional
delegation to Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East.
A Feb. 22 e-mail notice to Mr. King's office said the legislative
affairs branch of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's office had
determined "they do not have any aircraft to support" the official trip to
Baghdad and other points. "Please advise if the CODEL will now pursue
commercial air," it concluded, referring to the Congressional trip.
That's a coups against our legislature - and is no small thing.
--
"I love torturing these people." - Sgt. Mike Bell, US Army - Kandahar,
Afghanistan
..
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| User: "default" |
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| Title: Re: Bush PunishesThose who Opposse Ports Deal |
05 Mar 2006 08:47:33 AM |
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On Sun, 05 Mar 2006 00:16:35 GMT, "Sanders Kaufman"
<bucky@kaufman.net> wrote:
"¥oÃ-Lance Van Ness-¥LxS" <s@art.net> wrote in message
news:dud2ds$507d$1@news3.infoave.net...
Mr. King, the New York Republican who is chairman of the House Homeland
Security Committee, confirmed Friday that a few days after he first
threatened legislation to hold up the port deal, the Pentagon informed him
that it could not provide an aircraft for his planned March Congressional
delegation to Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East.
A Feb. 22 e-mail notice to Mr. King's office said the legislative
affairs branch of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's office had
determined "they do not have any aircraft to support" the official trip to
Baghdad and other points. "Please advise if the CODEL will now pursue
commercial air," it concluded, referring to the Congressional trip.
That's a coups against our legislature - and is no small thing.
If we had a legislature it would be an affront - but those rubber
stamp weenies aren't going to incur the wrath of Saddam, I mean George
Bush His Holiness Scum Sucking Dictator to the so-called Free World.
--
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