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October 22, 2007 Reid: President's New Iraq Funding Request Again Demonstrates His Priorities Are Not Those Of The American People Reid also reiterates importance of improving flawed temporary surveillance law the President signed in August Washington, DC—Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made the following statement today on the floor of the U.S. Senate. Below are his remarks as prepared for delivery: “Today the President is asking Congress for more than $40 billion in additional funds for the war in Iraq and for Afghanistan. That would bring the total he has asked for in emergency funds for this year to nearly...

Dean: Bush Republicans Are Leaving Millions of Children Behind October 18, 2007 Washington, DC - Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean issued the following statement after Republican members of the House of Representatives voted to uphold President Bush's veto of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, denying health care to ten million children. Just yesterday, a new CBS News poll showed 8 in 10 Americans support expanding the program. [CBS News, 10/17/07] "Today, Republicans in Congress chose to side with President Bush and leave millions of children behind. Bush Republicans will spend billions of dollars on their failed strategy in...

Press Releases Contact: Brendan Daly/Nadeam Elshami 202-226-7616 For Immediate Release 10/17/2007 Pelosi Statement on President’s Press Conference Today Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement today in response to President Bush’s press conference this morning attacking Congress. Below her statement is a brief fact sheet on some of the accomplishments of the New Direction Congress: “The President’s criticisms today only highlight that his Administration opposes the priorities of the American people and the New Direction Congress. While the Democratic Congress works to pass children’s health insurance, to protect Americans while preserving civil liberties, and to end the...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Sunday that Congress cannot end the war in Iraq without President Bush’s approval. Voters, she told Fox News Sunday, “want it to end and they had expectations that Congress could end it.” But, she added, “You know we can’t without a presidential signature.”That is a difference in tone from the defiant stand she took when campaigning for Congress and when she took over as speaker.  However, the statement is part of Pelosi’s campaign to educate voters on the complex political obstacles Democrats face on the Iraq issue and reduce the expectations that she says...

CLAREMONT, N.H. (AP) - Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards criticized Rush Limbaugh on Friday for referring to some members of the military as "phony soldiers." For his part, Limbaugh said he was referring only to one soldier recently convicted of lying about his service. Edwards and the campaign of fellow Democrat Chris Dodd took issue with the radio talk show host's characterization of Iraq war veterans who have spoken out against the war. Limbaugh was responding to a caller who argued that anti-war groups "never talk to real soldiers." "They like to pull these soldiers that come up out of...

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) on Thursday demanded an apology from conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh, who called soldiers who oppose the Iraq war “phony.” “This disgusting attack from Rush Limbaugh, cheerleader for the chicken-hawk wing of the far right, is an insult to American troops,” Kerry said. “Mr. Limbaugh owes an apology to everyone who has ever worn the uniform of our country, and an apology to the families of every soldier buried in Arlington National Cemetery.” Speaking on Wednesday with a listener who said he used to be in the Army, Limbaugh described veterans who call for withdrawal...

I applaud the thousands of people, many of them poor, who traveled from around the country to protest in Jena, La., last week. But what I’d really like to see is a million angry protesters marching on the headquarters of the National Republican Party in Washington. Enough is enough. Last week the Republicans showed once again just how anti-black their party really is.

I applaud the thousands of people, many of them poor, who traveled from around the country to protest in Jena, La., last week. But what I’d really like to see is a million angry protesters marching on the headquarters of the National Republican Party in Washington. Enough is enough. Last week the Republicans showed once again just how anti-black their party really is. The G.O.P. has spent the last 40 years insulting, disenfranchising and otherwise stomping on the interests of black Americans. Last week, the residents of Washington, D.C., with its majority black population, came remarkably close to realizing a...

Best-selling author John Grisham, taking his first major public step in presidential politics by planning to host an event Sunday near his home in Charlottesville, Va., for New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, said the current administration is built around "bad people with evil intent" and contends President Bush played politics as thousands died in Iraq. Grisham talked about this weekend's event during an interview Thursday to discuss his new book, "Playing for Pizza," a fictional account of a Davenport and University of Iowa football player trying to revive a fractured career in Italy. "The war is an immoral abomination that...

Senators urge President to avoid making the same mistakes twiceWashington, DC — Senate Democrats today sent the following letter to President Bush, urging him to direct the Intelligence Community to produce an updated National Intelligence Estimate on Iran. With Iran’s nuclear weapons program a growing focus for the nation, Democrats want to ensure the Administration presents the Congress and the American people with up-to-date and accurate intelligence about Iran’s capabilities and intentions. The text of the letter, signed by Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, Assistant Democratic Leader Dick Durbin, Intelligence Committee Vice-Chairman Jay Rockefeller, Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Carl...

Washington, D.C.—Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid issued the following statement today after Republicans blocked the Webb-Hagel Amendment to enhance military readiness: “In blocking this bipartisan bill, Republicans have once again demonstrated that they are more committed to protecting the President than protecting our troops.  They have shown they will allow President Bush’s flawed war strategy to continue to strain our military rather than allow the availability of troops to dictate our operations.  And they believe it is in our national security interest to push our brave troops and their families beyond their breaking point.“Democrats disagree.  We care deeply about rebuilding our...

A presidential election must be approaching: liberals are playing the Republicans-are-evil-racists card. People will recall the notorious NAACP commercial from the 2000 campaign suggesting that, for the sin of failing to adopt a hate-crimes law to its liking, George W. Bush was the equivalent of someone who dragged a black man behind his car on a chain.On today's "View," Joy Behar [file photo] offered a similar slur: GOP = KKK.Talk had turned to the fact that most of the Republican presidential candidates declined to participate in two Latino-oriented debates held earlier this year. The leading candidates have now indicated that...

Murtha: GOP will turn on Iraq when ’08 pick is made By Mike Soraghan September 17, 2007 House Appropriations Defense subcommittee Chairman John Murtha (D-Pa.) said Monday that he expects that Republican lawmakers will begin abandoning President Bush’s Iraq policy after the GOP picks a presidential candidate next year. “As soon as the primaries are over, you’ll see Republicans start jumping ship,” Murtha said in remarks at the National Press Club. Murtha also predicted that, despite the unpopularity of Congress, Democrats will make broad gains in next year’s election because voters are upset with the war. “People are frustrated, but...

September 17, 2007 Reid Statement On Mukasey Nomination To Attorney General WASHINGTON, DC—Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made the following statement today in response President Bush’s nomination of Michael B. Mukasey as the next Attorney General: “I’m glad President Bush listened to Congress and put aside his plan to replace Alberto Gonzales with another partisan Administration insider. Judge Mukasey has strong professional credentials and a reputation for independence. A man who spent 18 years on the federal bench surely understands the importance of checks and balances and knows how to say no to the President when he oversteps the Constitution....

For Immediate Release 09/17/2007 Pelosi: ‘Next Attorney General Must Restore Public Trust That Has Been Eroded by Bush Administration’ Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today on President Bush’s nomination of retired federal Judge Michael B. Mukasey for U.S. Attorney General: “The President today nominated a former federal judge with a distinguished career to be the next attorney general. “An Attorney General must be independent from political influence and have deep respect for the Constitution of the United States. The next Attorney General must restore the public trust that has been seriously eroded by the subversion...

September 13, 2007 Senator Jack Reed Responds To President Bush's Address On Iraq Washington, DC—Senator Jack Reed tonight will deliver the Democratic response to the President Bush’s address to the nation on Iraq. Excerpts of his speech follow: “…Tonight, a nation eager for change in Iraq heard the President speak about his plans for the future. But once again, the President failed to provide either a plan to successfully end the war or a convincing rationale to continue it. The President rightfully invoked the valor of our troops in his speech, but his plan does not amount to real change....

The Reviews Keep Coming In: Unimpressed by Fred Thompson's Campaign Roll-out, Conservatives Are "Still Looking" It's been only one week since lobbyist turned Senator turned actor Fred Thompson announced his candidacy for president, but it's been plenty of time for conservative commentators to see what they need to and call him unimpressive. Today two prominent conservative columnists criticized Thompson and said Republicans were unenthusiastic about his presidential prospects and would keep on looking for a candidate to rally behind. According to the columnists, conservatives' worst fears have been realized. Fred Thompson is just not the candidate they've been waiting for....

Pelosi: ‘Choice is Between Democratic Plan for Responsible Redeployment and President’s Plan for 10-Year War in Iraq’ Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement today in anticipation of President Bush’s address to the nation tonight on the war in Iraq. Below her statement is a fact sheet that the President’s policy is more of the same: “Tonight, the President is expected to announce a stay-the-course strategy that puts us on a path for 10 years of war in Iraq. “The President’s war in Iraq has dangerously overstretched our military, left America less protected against terrorism, and more...

Leading Democrats on Sunday preemptively assailed the expected findings on Iraq due this week from the top U.S. general in Iraq as "dead, flat wrong" and said that President George W. Bush's calls for continued patience there would simply extend an "unconscionable" and "completely unacceptable" policy. The pointed comments from the Democrats, including Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and a presidential hopeful, and Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, seemed designed to undercut the impact of the much-awaited reports from General David Petraeus and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador in Baghdad. "This president has no...

Press Release of Senator ReidWashington, DC— As we approach the sixth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Democratic Senators Robert Menendez and Bob Casey joined Matt Bennett of Third Way at a press conference today to discuss Democrats’ efforts to help make America more secure and how President Bush’s flawed strategy in Iraq is distracting us from targeting a resurgent Al Qaeda. Far from keeping Osama bin Laden on the run, as President Bush promised in 2001, he is building up his terrorist network and now plans to release a videotape ahead of next week’s anniversary of...