C-span1 10am est.
Speech
Bush Campaign Rally
White House Travel, Domestic Trip
Springfield, Missouri (United States)
ID: 182938 - 07/30/2004 - 0:30 - No Sale
Bush, George W., President, United States
Posted on 07/06/2004 4:03:50 AM PDT by OXENinFLA
Since "Free Republic is an online gathering place for independent, grass-roots conservatism on the web. We're working to roll back decades of governmental largesse, to root out political fraud and corruption, and to champion causes which further conservatism in America.", I and others think it's a good idea to centralize what the goes on in the Senate (or House).
So if you see something happening on the Senate/House floor and you don't want to start a new thread to ask if anyone else just heard what you heard, you can leave a short note on who said what and about what and I'll try and find it the next day in THE RECORD. Or if you see a thread that pertains to the Senate, House, or pretty much any GOV'T agency please link your thread here.
If you have any suggestions for this thread please feel free to let me know.
Here's a few helpful links.
C-SPAN what a great thing. Where you can watch or listen live to most Government happenings.
C-SPAN 1 carries the HOUSE.
C-SPAN 2 carries the SENATE.
C-SPAN 3 (most places web only) carries a variety of committee meetings live or other past programming.
OR FEDNET has online feed also.
A great thing about our Government is they make it really easy for the public to research what the Politicians are doing and saying (on the floor anyway).
THOMAS where you can see a RECORD of what Congress is doing each day. You can also search/read a verbatim text of what each Congressmen/women or Senator has said on the floor or submitted 'for the record.' [This is where the real juicy stuff can be found.]
Also found at Thomas are Monthly Calendars for the Majority and Minority
Roll Call Votes can be found here.
THE WAR DEPARTMENT (aka The Dept. of Defense)
THE DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM FOR AMERICA WEB PAGE...
This sure doesn't sound like KERRY'S stances....
NTS
check CARPER (d-Del) speech from Dem convention...........IRAN electricity.
Statement by the Press Secretary
July 30, 2004
STATEMENT BY THE PRESS SECRETARY
The President has signed H.R. 4916, the Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2004, Part IV, which provides an extension of highway, highway safety, motor carrier safety, transit, and other programs funded out of the Highway Trust Fund.
###
Hummmmmmmmmmmmm
Is that Nancy??
WOW .. looks like they all recently got their Botox booster shots
I've heard snipits about them two.
Hummmmmmmm BENAFLECK [no space intentional] standing next to JF'nK? This could be a good thing.
FNC is reporting Kerry & Edwards is 1 hour late for the rally to starting their bus tour
And that Several People have passed out due to heat while waiting
OMG!! Really??
They didn't say how many, just that several people needs medical assistance because the passed out due to the heat
Apartments Evacuated, Surrounded After Shots Fired
UPDATED: 8:22 AM EDT August 3, 2004
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Residents of a Baymeadows apartment complex were evacuated from their homes overnight when a man reportedly armed with a high-powered rifle began firing during a domestic dispute.
Channel 4's Hetal Gandhi reported that 40 buildings at the St. Johns Plantation apartments were evacuated after residents heard several shots at 1:30 a.m.
"The person in the apartment gotten into some kind of an argument with his girlfriend and fired several rounds with a rifle," Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Sgt. Larry Schmitt said.
That woman is safe and police do not believe the man has a hostage. SWAT team negotiators are in contact with him, but authorities are not saying who the man is or what he wants.
Dozens of SWAT team officers have surrounded the apartment complex for more than five hours, and residents are still out of their apartments.
Another SWAT standoff that began Monday afternoon is still under way.
Heavily armed officers swarmed the streets after getting a call that a man was holding a woman inside a house on Sunnyside Drive off Atlantic Boulevard in San Pablo.
Police said the man first wouldn't talk to them, but eventually they convinced him to release the woman, but he has refused to leave the house.
Police said they'll arrest him on misdemeanor charges as soon as they get a warrant.
POSTED: 12:17 pm EDT August 4, 2004
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Southtrust building at 301 Riverplace Drive on the Southbank is being evacuated after police received warning.
Police spokesman Ken Jefferson said they are responding to unconfirmed information that there may be "a device" on the 13th floor of the tower.
At least 300 people, including children from a day-care center, have left the building.
Southbank Office Tower Being Evacuated
POSTED: 12:17 pm EDT August 4, 2004
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Southtrust building at 301 Riverplace Drive on the Southbank is being evacuated after police received a warning.
Police spokesman Ken Jefferson said they are responding to unconfirmed information from a telephone call that that there may be "a device" on the 13th floor of the tower.
A manager with Southtrust bank told Channel 4's Bruce Hamilton that all employees were asked to leave "as quickly as possible."
Two young consertives students on C-span WJ till 10am est.
Should be fun when they get calls.
OH, HOW TIMES HAVE CHANGED.
SUPPORTING THE ACTIONS TAKEN BY THE PRESIDENT WITH RESPECT TO IRAQI AGGRESSION AGAINST KUWAIT (Senate - October 02, 1990)
Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, I support this resolution which I believe sends an unequivocal signal to Saddam Hussein that the Senator is in total agreement with the President and the international community in actions taken thus far to force the Iraqi, withdrawal from Kuwait.
In so doing, it should be pointed out that this resolution is not a Gulf of Tonkin resolution on the Persian Gulf. Quite the contrary, this resolution reflects the near unanimity of the global community in condemning this aggressive act by a brutal dictator.
Unlike our experience in Vietnam , the United States is not acting unilaterally in the Persian Gulf. We are not acting in the absence of an international consensus in support of our presence in the region. The emphasis that the President is placing on the role of the United Nations is a critical element of our policy in dealing with this crisis. The President has done a superb job in mobilizing the international consensus, as manifested by the eight resolutions passed by the U.N Security Council in response to the Iraqi invasion.
The success of U.S. policy will be largely contingent upon the maintenance of this international solidarity. It is imperative that the United States continue to operate under the auspices of the United Nations.
While the resolution is not statutorily binding upon the President, I would like to differ with its characterization offered by our distinguished
colleague from Oregon [Mr. Hatfield]. Subsection (b) of the resolved clause expresses support for the President's actions, or continued action, in `accordance with the decisions of the United Nations Security Council and in accordance with United States constitutional and statutory processes, including the authorization and appropriations of funds by the Congress.'
Mr. President, I believe this phase appropriately defines the limit of our support. We are telling the administration that Congress will support continued action so long as this action is in accordance with the decisions of the U.N. Security Council, in accordance with the U.S. constitutional and statutory processes. I would submit that since the War Powers Resolution is part of our statutory process, this resolution is covered in the legislation we are considering today.
And quite frankly, if the Congress is so predisposed to correcting a perceived policy miscalculation, the ultimate weapon we have is the power of the purse. As one who fought and bled for my country, the failure of the Congress to cut off funding for the Vietnam war for so many years represented the ultimate derogation of the responsibilities of this institution.
I am a strong supporter and advocate of the War Powers Resolution. But the War Powers Resolution, and its invocation, should not be used as an excuse for not exercising the most effective tool we have to decide these issues--the power of the purse.
Mr. President, I am supporting this resolution because it is my belief that it does not authorize the President to operate unilaterally either apart from the U.N. framework, or without specific authorization from the
Congress. The success of the President's policy, thus far, has been the international consensus behind our efforts and those of our allies--a consensus which has contributed to, and strengthened, the broad base of support among the American people.
I would caution anyone in the administration who would be inclined to engage in a twisted or convoluted interpretation of this resolution that we are not giving the President carte blanche to wage offensive military action unilaterally. All our actions must be predicated upon support from the Congress, the American people, and under the continued sanction of the United Nations.
I am concerned that the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait may be an ominous omen of the potential dangers facing the global community in the post-cold war era.
The global community has emerged from 45 years of superpower competition, during which the threat of unclear confrontation was never far from our consciousness. Fortunately, the cold war did not bring our worst fears to fruition.
The end of the cold war era, however, does not mean the world is safe from global catastrophe. The greatest danger to international security and stability can come from traditional regional hot spots which, if left unattended, could be the spark that could turn local confrontations into more widespread conflagration.
Today, we are confronted by a regional power, Iraq, which has attacked a weaker state, Kuwait, for both territorial gain and control of an important resource. The crisis is even more threatening by virtue of the fact that Iraq has developed a chemical weapons capability, and is pursuing a nuclear weapons development program. And Saddam Hussein has demonstrated a willingness to
use such weapons of mass destruction in the past, whether in his war against Iran or against his own Kurdish population.
That is why I support President Bush's response thus far to the crisis and our demand--the demand of the international community as manifested through the Security Council resolutions of the United Nations--for the unconditional and total Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait.
The fundamental issue associated with the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, in my estimation, has nothing to do with oil prices or who controls how much of the world's petroleum reserves. The fundamental issue has nothing to do with our rushing in to support, or prop up, so-called feudal monarchies in the Persian Gulf.
Even the question of energy independence, or the failure to develop a national energy policy, is peripheral to what should concern us, our Western allies, and our new-found allies in the region.
If local or regional aggressions are allowed to go unchallenged, then the entire global community could open itself up to nuclear and/or chemical weapons blackmail, particularly if a despot's appetite has been whetted by local or regional successes.
That is the potential reality being played out in the Persian Gulf today. Yes, there are risks inherent in the current massive development of U.S. military power in the region. But one has to weigh those risks against what, potentially, could be a more catastrophic outcome. Do we want to risk this possibility?
While the threat of all-out nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union has hung so heavily over the world for the past 45 years, there has also been concern for local and
regional conflicts escalating into nuclear or chemical wars. We have succeeded, for the most part, in keeping that genie in the bottle. It would be disastrous if that genie were ever allowed to pop out of the bottle. It would establish a precedent that would make it difficult to influence other potential hot spots around the globe.
We are currently in a transition period from the cold war era to an era in which the superpowers no longer have surrogates over whom they could exercise influence in times of crisis. Saddam Hussein has certainly proven that to his former ally, the Soviet Union. There are leaders, such as Saddam Hussein, who will exploit this new reality to pursue their own nefarious ambitions.
Yet, no one nation alone can carry the burden for responding to such threats which could escalate into confrontations with global implications. We need to focus on strengthening the capabilities of the U.N. to meet future aggressions, because, unfortunately, there are other Saddam Husseins lurking in the world's future. The global community has to be prepared to respond quickly and credibly to avert larger catastrophies which might lurk in our future.
We have to get serious about the conventional arms race around the world. Iraq is a frightening example as to the need for the international community to get serious in bringing to an end the proliferation of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons throughout the world. We have to get serious about nonproliferation.
The current crisis, and the response of the international community to the Iraqi aggression, does provide us an opportunity to strengthen a multilateral capacity to deal with future threats.
The President speaks of a new world order. And to a large degree we are seeing the unfolding of a new world order. But for the principle of collective security to become a functional reality, we have to take the leadership in supporting a system based upon the rule of international law.
If there is one lesson, among many, to be learned from this crisis, it is the fact that the West, and the United States as the leader of the West, has to realize that unilateral action will threaten seriously our own long-term security. In the coming decades, we could find ourselves in a world at least as dangerous and unfriendly as that of the cold war. Only by promoting a truly international security system based on the rule of international law and the United Nations can our Nation hope to promote both our own and wider global security.
The fact that the President has been sensitive to the need for responding to this crisis under the United Nations auspices and framework, has been a very important consideration in my support for his policy. He has been skillful in working with the United Nations to establish an international partnership to respond to this aggression. In the process, I believe the United States is making an important contribution in the long overdue requirement for strengthening multilateral responses to present and future crises which do and will, face this global community of ours.
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