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Kerry expected to get top foreign affairs panel post November 19, 2008 11:10 AM By Bryan Bender, Globe Staff WASHINGTON -- More than three decades after he first appeared before the panel as a 27-year-old Vietnam veteran-turned-antiwar protester, Senator John F. Kerry is widely expected to be named the new chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a position that will give him enormous influence over international relations.

A citizens committee appointed by the Texas Department of Transportation has issued a series of recommendations on what should be done to deal with increasing congestion on Interstate 35, 1200 WOAI news reports. The committee said stretches of Interstate 35, which runs from Laredo to Gainesville and is the most heavily traveled Interstate highway in the country, have 'pushed the limit of the road's design capacity.' Gabby Garcia of TxDOT says the committee reacted strongly against Governor Perry's 'Trans Texas Corridor' toll road plan, saying the TTC 'has come to represent what Texans do not want in transportation project delivery....

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein is in line to become the first female chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee. The opening was created Friday amid a chairmanship shuffle sparked by the announcement that Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia was stepping down as head of the Senate Appropriations Committee. A number of gavels will change hands as a result, sending the current Intelligence Committee chairman, Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., to the Commerce Committee, and opening up the powerful Intelligence Committee post for Feinstein, according to a former Hill aide who spoke on condition of anonymity because the deliberations were ongoing. Feinstein,...

Welcome to the most grassroots-driven platform development effort in the history of American politics! The Republican Party is seeking your input as we develop the policies and principles upon which we should stand for the next four years. On this website, you can share your thoughts, participate in polls, and communicate directly with the policymakers who will be shaping the party's agenda. All comments and feedback will be reviewed and taken into full consideration as we prepare for our convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul. We hope that this process will guarantee the greatest amount of public input into any platform in...

AUSTIN — Maybe Texas’ transportation problems are a lot simpler to understand than recent fights over toll roads make it seem, North Texas leaders told state senators Wednesday. “My first recommendation: You need to provide a lot more revenue for transportation,” Michael Morris, transportation director for the North Central Texas Council of Governments, told the Texas Senate transportation committee. That was hardly the only suggestion from Mr. Morris or the many others who spoke to the committee, which is seeking input as it readies an approach on toll roads, TxDOT and more for the next legislative session. But it might...

Continuing a lifelong practice of helping rural East Texans, Nolan Alders attended a meeting in Austin Tuesday as a member of the citizens' advisory committee for the Trans-Texas Corridor highway project. Alders was among 18 representatives of communities that run along the route of the proposed highway, which runs from Laredo to Texarkana. The committee members prepared for their roles as community representatives, and heard comments from state transportation leaders, including Texas Department of Transportation Executive Director Amadeo Saenz and Commissioner Ted Houghton of the Texas Transportation Commission. TxDOT literature says the TTC-69 committee — and another committee to represent...

As the state's population continues to grow in its urban centers, expansion plans for the highway system continue to be the focus for transportation improvements. The Trans Texas Corridor proposal is aimed to alleviate traffic congestion, improve air quality and provide safer traveling for drivers, among other goals. In 2002, Texas Governor Rick Perry released the plan to create the passageway, which spans northeast from Laredo to Oklahoma and is set to total 4,000 miles in the next 50 years. The $140 billion project calls for the incorporation of new toll roads, commuter railways, power lines and gas pipelines, while...

BELTON - There appears to be no easy way to address the challenges that inflation has brought to the Texas Department of Transportation. “We’ve seen 60 percent inflation over the last five years for transportation projects,” said Chris Lippincott, a TxDOT spokesman. To look to the federal government for assistance would appear foolhardy at this point as the Federal Highway Trust Fund is expected to become insolvent by 2009. The fund was created in 1956 to ensure a dependable source of financing for U.S. interstates and highways. “The Federal Highway Trust Fund is expected to go into the red very...

Lufkin Mayor Jack Gorden has been selected by the Texas Transportation Committee to serve on a citizens' advisory committee for putting together information regarding the proposed Interstate 69/Trans-Texas Corridor. According to Texas Department of Transportation officials, advisory committee members represent a cross-section of community and business leaders, landowners, local transportation experts and others. "Our goal is to enhance the public dialogue and meaningfully involve more Texans in transportation decisions," said Texas Transportation Commission Chair Hope Andrade. "These committees will have an important seat at the table as we work together to shape the future of transportation for our state." Gorden...

Second Lt. Cynthia Peters, 8th Cavalry Regiment’s women’s affairs representative, speaks with a curious participant during the first-ever Hawr Rajab Women’s Committee meeting Feb. 7. Photo by Sgt. Luis Delgadillo. FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU — Leaders of the newly-formed group sat before colleagues, government officials, community and Coalition leaders, but the audience they addressed was much larger; what some would even consider the backbone of their community. The first meeting of Hawr Rajab’s Women’s Committee began Feb. 7 with a press conference at the Hawr Rajab boy’s school and a discussion of topics vital to the community’s welfare.If the orators...

Yesterday evening, members of the House of Delegates were given their new committee assignments. There were a lot of changes made, and some were quite interesting. The most interesting - and amusing (in my opinion) is that Delegate Brian Moran - the Democratic Caucus Leader, and Delegate Ward Armstrong - the House Minority Leader, have been assigned to Finance this year. Finance is the committee that deals with tax and fee increases. Keep in mind, that Delegate Moran is running for Governor. Democrats of late have managed to get elected in part, by saying they would not support tax increases....

The Texas Department of Transportation will hold several local meetings early next year to offer answers on the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor. In 2007 TxDOT released a tentative outline for the cross-country Interstate 69, which is currently planned to come through Texarkana. The highway would be a straight shot from Canada, through the United States and into Mexico. TxDOT will hold nearly a dozen “town hall” meetings and 46 public hearings to encourage public input and address concerns. “We want to hear the public’s ideas and we want to answer their questions,” said TxDOT Commissioner Ted Houghton. “Their comments will help...

Clinton's Tennessee committee includes 2 felonsAssociated Press - December 24, 2007 2:55 PM ET NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Hillary Clinton's 100-person Tennessee Steering Committee reportedly includes two people convicted of felonies in the 1980s. Gladys Crain of Halls was convicted in 1981 on federal charges connected with a scheme to rig bids on a state highway construction project, and former state House Majority Leader Tommy Burnett of Jamestown was imprisoned in 1984 for failure to file an income tax return. Clinton's Democratic presidential campaign did not immediately return a phone call from The Associated Press seeking comment. The Tennessean newspaper...

Seeking “a more productive and informative conversation about transportation,” Texas Department of Transportation officials have scheduled a series of town hall meetings along the Interstate 69/Trans Texas Corridor, including in Rosenberg. Also this month, the department issued a formal request for proposals from potential “private sector partner,” for “detailed plans on how to finance, design, construct, operate and maintain I-69/TTC.” A panel of TxDOT officials will answer questions from the public about the massive highway project, starting at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 24, at the Rosenberg Civic Center, at 3825 State Highway 36. A portion of the controversial project is is...

FORT HUACHUCA — The head of the House Armed Services Committee will visit the post Friday and Saturday. Isaac Newton “Ike” Skelton IV, the Democratic representative from Missouri’s 4th District, will be coming to the post, and later travel to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, to receive mission briefings and to meet with soldiers and airmen and their families, according to C.J. Karamargin, spokesman for U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, whose 8th Congressional District includes both military installations. Democrat Giffords, who is a member of the committee, invited the chairman to look at key installations in her district, Karamargin said....

WASHINGTON - The chairman of the Senate Budget Committee said today he will vote against the nomination of Jim Nussle of Iowa as White House budget chief. Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., voted in favor of the nomination in committee "to move the process forward." Conrad said he would oppose the Nussle nomination on the Senate floor Tuesday to protest the fiscal policies of President Bush. "I do not make this decision lightly," Conrad said. "This is not a vote against Mr. Nussle personally. But I refuse to have my vote for Mr. Nussle portrayed as a sign of support for...

Boston, MA - Today, Governor Mitt Romney announced the members of the Romney for President National Faith and Values Steering Committee, a coalition of supporters who will advise Governor Romney on matters of faith and values. "The men and women of our National Steering Committee represent decades spent defending faith, religious expression and traditional values. I believe that our Party and our nation must stand for strong families, traditional marriage and the sanctity of human life. I am proud to be joined by these leaders in our campaign to change Washington," said Governor Romney. Serving as a Chair of the...

NEW EVIDENCE REVEALS WHY THOMPSON COMMITTEE SHUT DOWN WITHOUT EXPLORING SALE OF CLINTON TRADE MISSION SEATS TO DONORS Entergy Corporation, a Large Clinton Donor Which Put Together Joint Venture With Lippo and Communist Chinese Government on Ron Brown Trade Mission, Also Big Donor To Republicans TRADE MISSIONS CONTINUE TO BE KEY TO CAMPAIGN FINANCE SCANDAL Larry Klayman, Chairman and General Counsel of Judicial Watch, the group that sued the Clinton Commerce Department over its illegal sale of seats on foreign trade missions in exchange for political contributions to the Clinton-Gore Campaign and the Democratic National Committee, and which deposed John...

Republican National Committee members think they will get a secret ballot on today's election of a new general chairman, which would protect members opposed to the White House's push to fill the new slot with an advocate of an amnesty for illegal aliens. "If we get the secret ballot as promised, then every member will feel free to express his or her view without the fear of coercion or intimidation," said RNC member Curly Haugland of North Dakota. The move to create a new top office on the committee and fill it with Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida is scheduled...

When historians get around to chronicling the first half of the 21st century, let's hope they don't write that America lost its war against terror by default. Any change of direction from Washington now will be taken as a concession, and will certainly be read by Hamas, Hezbollah and the Taliban as a signal that they are on the right track. But, what choice do we have? How can we achieve victory when we are fighting a war that has no specific goal? In our effort to bring peace and democracy to the world, we seem to have confused the...