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Then Rahm called her. And she hung up on him, too. I hereby offer one of my kidneys in exchange for the audio. Mint condition! Aside from a little Jack Daniel’s damage. In a series of hang-up and follow-up calls that appears to have taken up much of the afternoon, Ros-Lehtinen first received a call on her cell phone, from a Chicago phone number, and was informed by the caller that Obama wished to speak with her. When a man sounding like Obama got on the line, Ros-Lehtinen cut him off, saying, “I’m sorry, but I think this is a...

Define R.I.N.O.: A Republican In Name Only. Examples of the type of Republican covered under this definition are: Rep. Mark Kirk [R-IL] Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen [R-FL] Rep. Michael Ferguson [R-NJ] Rep. Christopher Shays [R-CT] Rep. Michael Castle [R-DE] These five supposed Republican are nothing more than jackasses in elephant's clothing. Rep. Mark Kirk has introduced a bill, H.R. 6257: Assault Weapons Ban Reauthorization Act of 2008, which would "reinstate the Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act."

Washington - Madison Democrat Tammy Baldwin joined the only other openly gay member of Congress, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), on Wednesday to unveil a new House caucus focusing on gay rights. The group, called the LGBT Equality Caucus, has received the support of 50 other members of the House, most of them from California, New York and the Northeast. None of Wisconsin's seven other House members has joined the caucus. Baldwin said she hopes to use the caucus, formed to advocate for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans, to inform other lawmakers about issues important to those communities. "Corporate America...

Over the last few weeks, State Department officials have reported major diplomatic breakthroughs that will roll back North Korea's nuclear weapons program, allow Pyongyang to be removed from the U.S. state sponsors of terror list, and normalize relations between our two countries. North Korea reportedly has agreed to disable its nuclear facilities and has, as it has done many times before, promised to give a full accounting of its nuclear program. The latest deadline is Dec. 31, 2007. Congress has been asked to support this agreement, which State Department officials claim will benefit our nation and promote regional stability. Then,...

Two influential Republican members of the U.S. House have castigated the Bush administration for failing to brief Congress on Israeli bombing of a suspected nuclear facility in Syria last month. In an op-ed piece in Saturday’s Wall Street Journal, Rep. Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, senior GOP member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, the senior Republican member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, wrote: “[The Bush administration] has thrown an unprecedented veil of secrecy around the Israeli air strike. It has briefed only a handful of very senior members of Congress, leaving the...

U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen admitted on Friday, through a spokesman, that she did call for the death of ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro during an interview with a British documentary-maker whom she had earlier accused of altering the video. ''Yes, it's in the documentary, she said that,'' said Alex Cruz, the congresswoman's spokesman. Ros-Lethinen did not want to respond further, Cruz said, because ``she's focused her energies on issues that are more important for the community. ''Neither she nor I have seen the raw footage, without editing, but if that's in the documentary, she said it,'' Cruz said. Since last...

MIAMI Dec 10, 2006 (AP)— A congresswoman says a video clip showing her calling for Fidel Castro's assassination footage is fake, though she adds that she wouldn't mourn the Cuban leader's death. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., appears in the 28-second clip being circulated on the Internet by the makers of a new British documentary, "638 Ways to Kill Castro." In it, she says: "I welcome the opportunity of having anyone assassinate Fidel Castro and any leader who is oppressing the people." However, the Havana-born lawmaker, recently tapped to become the top Republican on the House International Relations Committee, says the...

WASHINGTON - With Cuban President Fidel Castro ailing, the Bush administration said the United States is prepared to support a democratic transition on the island. Castro, who underwent surgery for an intestinal problem, surrendered power temporarily to his brother, Raul, No. 2 in the chain of command. White House press secretary Tony Snow said there are no plans to reach out to Raul Castro. "Raul Castro's attempt to impose himself on the Cuban people is much the same as what his brother did," Snow said. "The one thing that this president has talked about from the very beginning is his...

According to actor and comedian Richard Belzer, American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan are too uneducated to be expressing support for the U.S. military mission since they're just "19 and 20-year-old kids who couldn't get a job" and "they don't read twenty newspapers a day." Belzer, who's best known as Detective John Munch on NBC's "Homicide: Life on the Street" and "Law & Order: Special Victim's Unit," is a frequent guest on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher." On one previous appearance, he threatened to walk off the set when told columnist Ann Coulter was also appearing, calling her a...

Below is the roll call vote.The link you provided is the final vote on the whole bill. It appears to have received bipartisan support. Just before that vote, another vote was held on the amendment by Rep. John Conyers which inserted the "Hate Crimes" provision. Amendment #25 - Roll #469   AYES NOES PRES NV REPUBLICAN 30 194   6 DEMOCRATIC 192 5   5 INDEPENDENT 1       TOTALS 223 199   11 REPUBLICANS VOTING AYE DEMOCRATS VOTING NO Bass Biggert Boehlert Bono Castle Dent Diaz-Balart, L. Diaz-Balart, M. Fitzpatrick (PA) Foley Gerlach Johnson (CT) Kelly Kirk Kolbe...

London, Jul. 20 – Several members of the United States Congress are expected to introduce a bill on Wednesday calling on the U.S. judicial authorities to begin legal proceedings against Iranians who were involved in the seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran in November 1979 and the subsequent captivity of 52 American hostages for 444 days, the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat reported today. The bill’s principal sponsor, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Florida Republican who chairs the Sub-committee on the Middle East and Central Asia, said she and her colleagues in Congress want U.S. courts to try those suspected of taking...

AP) - NEW YORK-Critics of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy are gaining new allies, including a few conservative congressmen and a West Point professor, as they press on multiple fronts to overturn the ban on out-of-the-closet gays and lesbians in the armed forces. As part of their strategy, opponents of the policy are now highlighting the ongoing struggles of Army and Marine recruiters. The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network say in a new report that many highly trained specialists - including combat engineers and linguists - are being discharged involuntarily while the Pentagon "is facing extreme challenges in recruiting...

A "hate crimes" bill that specifically covers crimes based on "gender identity" and sexual orientation will be introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday, a homosexual advocacy group said. "Transgender and gay Americans deserve the same clear protections against hate crimes as other Americans," said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. "We're proud that for the first time legislation will be introduced that explicitly covers the entire gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community and the community will have an unambiguous shot at equal protection under hate crimes law." The Human Rights Campaign says it has worked "side-by-side" with...

ARMY SGT. ROBERT Stout received a Purple Heart after an exploding grenade in Iraq last May left shrapnel in his face, arm and legs. He would like to remain in the military, and he said in an interview that he would reenlist were it not for the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. But Sgt. Stout is through denying that he is gay, so he recently declared his sexual orientation to the Associated Press. Now he'll be lucky if he's allowed to serve out his tour, which ends in May, without being kicked out of the service. U.S. policy, even the...

Republican lawmaker urging end to `don't ask, don't tell' policy BY STEVE ROTHAUS Knight Ridder Newspapers MIAMI - (KRT) - At odds with her party's leadership, Republican Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida is urging the Pentagon to end ``don't ask, don't tell'' and allow gay men and lesbians to join and remain in the military. ``We've tried the policy. I don't think it works. And we've spent a lot of money enforcing it,'' said Ros-Lehtinen, a member of the Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations, who became a co-sponsor of the bill on Tuesday. ``We investigate people....

In case you haven't heard, the Marriage amendment got shot down in the house: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,134134,00.htmlHere's the Republicans voting Nay: Bass Biggert Bono Castle Cox Dreier Foley Frelinghuysen Gerlach Gibbons Gilchrest Greenwood Hobson Hostettler Houghton Johnson (CT) Kirk Knollenberg Kolbe Leach McInnis Ose Paul Pryce (OH) Sanders Shays Simmons Here's the republicans not voting: Boehlert Cannon Diaz-Balart, L. Diaz-Balart, M. Dunn Hunter Nethercutt Ros-Lehtinen Tauzin Be sure to contact these people & show your appreciation. Here's the list of Dems voting FOR: Berry Bishop (GA) Boucher Boyd Carson (OK) Chandler Cooper Costello Cramer Davis (AL) Davis (TN) Edwards Etheridge Ford Gordon...

Cuba deposited $3.9 billion in a Swiss bank, and U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Miami wants to know where the money came from. Cuba says the money, deposited between 1996 and 2003 in the United Bank of Switzerland (UBS), came from legitimate sources. According to the state-run newspaper Granma, the Cuban government said the cash was "obtained from sales in the hard-currency stores, tourism-related activities and other commercial services in foreign banks." Ros-Lehtinen, a Cuban-born Florida Republican and chairwoman of the House International Relations Subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia, wants to know the source of those deposits,...

MIAMI - U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen endorsed Mel Martinez for U.S. Senate on Wednesday, calling the former Housing and Urban Development secretary the Republican who could best attract independent-minded voters in the general election. Ros-Lehtinen, a prominent Cuban-American lawmaker from Miami, called Martinez a "good Republican yet able to reach out to Democrats and independents and that's the key to winning this race for Republicans." "We want somebody who will help the president and yet can reach out to Democrats and independents and Mel has that electability," Ros-Lehtinen said in an interview. "He's got the oomph, the energy, the enthusiasm."...

WASHINGTON - A high-level British delegation is heading to Damascus to warn Syria that the U.S. is serious about clamping down on suspected help it's giving Saddam Hussein's toppled regime, sources said yesterday. British Foreign Office Minister Mike O'Brien is expected to be in Damascus as early as tomorrow to warn President Bashar Assad that he shouldn't doubt that, if pushed, President Bush could use force to end Syrian help for the fallen Iraqi regime. O'Brien also will visit Iran during the trip - another Iraqi neighbor that has been warned to butt out of the war. Yesterday, U.S. and...