Hoyer Touts Democrats' Record For Securing Nation

By Alexa Gitler - Talk Radio News Service

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Monday at The Center for Strategic and International Studies that Democratic leadership under the Obama administration has handled the threats that have endangered America’s security and the worlds’ effectively.

“We have done this through four ways: strength, development, democracy, and fiscal discipline,” said Hoyer.

Hoyer said the increased funding of American military equipment and the leadership of President Obama has led to the kill and capture of hundreds of terrorist leaders. The House's leading Democrat said this sparked an increasing interest into the development of cyber security as a form of national defense.

He also stressed the necessity and extreme importance of living our Democratic and American values here at home.

"Throughout America’s history, the nation has been the advocate of democratic movements around the world and it is important that the role only grows stronger," Hoyer said. "This can only happen through continued support of the American people."

“The eight years of the Bush administration showed what we already knew that democracy cannot be imposed by force, that elections alone do not equal democracy, that democratization and economic growth do not always go by hand in hand and that failing to lead by example weakens democracy around the world” he said.

Supreme Court Backs Second Amendment

By Rob Sanna - Talk Radio News Service

The Supreme Court upheld the Second Amendment with a 5-4 vote in the McDonald vs. The City of Chicago case. The court ruled that the right to keep and bear arms be extended to state and local governments declared it unconstitutional for cities and states to ban guns.

Executive Vice President of the National Rifle Association Wayne LaPierre called the decision a "landmark case that makes the second amendment a real part of constitutional law." He said this case is a real victory because it defends the constitutional rights Americans have.

Paul Helmke, President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said the decision did not come as a surprise because arguments against gun laws were very similar to arguments made in the District of Columbia vs. Heller case in 2008, where the court also struck down gun bans. He also noted that the decision will have little direct impact, given Chicago and D.C. are the only cities with gun bans, and it is likely the cities will rewrite these laws and continue to limit gun ownership.

Helmke said that the definition of the Second Amendment is still very narrow and the right to bear arms is not unlimited. Laws that limit gun possession such as registration are still constitutional and are likely to remain law even if challenged in future lawsuits, he added.

The lead attorney who argued against gun bans in the Heller case and the McDonald case, Alan Gura said that he will continue litigation with the Chicago until public policy complies with the Bill of Rights. The city will not challenge registration laws, but Gura said they intend to focus on removing "unbelievable bureaucracy" which makes it very difficult for citizens to own guns.

Today At TRNS

Legal Affairs Correspondent Jay Goodman Tamboli will be covering the release of opinions at the Supreme Court and the confirmation hearings of Elena Kagan at the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The Washington Bureau will be covering:

The Second Amendment Foundation is holding a media availability following the release of the Supreme Court's decision in McDonald v. City of Chicago, which challenged the City of Chicago's handgun ban. Attorney Alan Gura; Second Ammendment Foundation Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb; and plaintiff Otis McDonald will be talking.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, (D-Md.) will be delivering remarks on "Using All Our Tools: Democrats' National Security Strategy."

Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and Director of the National Economic Council Lawrence Summers is delivering an address on technological opportunities, job creation and economic growth.

Soccer Captures America

By Ellen Ratner, Bureau Chief - Talk Radio News Service

There have been only two times that I have seen the press act out of character. The first was in the mid-'90s and six of us were touring one of Mother Teresa's facilities in Africa. After a tour arranged by Catholic Relief Services, several members of a group of six reached into their pockets and gave a donation. The rest of the group followed suit.

The other time was this week when the U.S. soccer team won the round, bringing the United States further than it had ever been in the World Cup. A loud cheer broke spontaneously in the basement of the White House press room, and the White House press office made an announcement over the loud speaker. Never even for the Olympics have I seen or heard the press office or the White House press corps so excited. This was the spirit of America in the normally very reserved press corps.

Soccer was something that was played in junior high school when I grew up, and no one thought of it as a sport that you would watch on television, let alone get excited about. Why, all of the sudden has this taken the United States by storm, and why are we all so excited about it?

There is only one reason: We are a nation of immigrants and the immigration patterns of the last 50 years have made soccer a national sport. Immigration has changed. When I was growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, in the '50s and '60s, there were two kinds of non-American cuisine restaurants: Chinese and Italian. There were tons of Hungarians and many other Slavic immigrants, but no cuisine to match. Differences were to be minimized, not celebrated.

We have always been a nation of immigrants, but where our migration patterns have come from influence what we eat and how we play. It also influences how we love, as immigrants tend to be married and have a lower divorce rate. Immigration has been a contentious issue at various times with the first immigration laws past in the late 1880s. In the 1920s the first quota acts were passed to restrict Europeans and Jews from entering the United States in large numbers. There was often quite a bit of blame for social and health problems blamed on Italians and Jews who lived in tenements in large cities. The immigrants were considered less intelligent and less able than the "Americans." Instead of the local 711 stores, immigrants owned "creameries," which were turn-of-the-century equivalents.

Several researchers have noted that the percentage of immigrants in the population has gone from a high of 14.8 percent in 1890 to a low of 4.7 percent in 1970. It now stands at about 12-13 percent of the total U.S. population. What has changed is the population make up of the legal immigrants. (Illegal immigrants are mostly from Mexico and Central America and make up about 4 percent of the population) The top six countries currently donating to our legal immigrant population are: Mexico, China, Philippines, India, Cuba and Colombia. ArabAmericans at the 2000 Census were less than 2 percent of the population, but they love soccer, too.

Mexico hosted the World Cup in 1970 and has built several soccer stadiums. Soccer is the No. 1 spectator sport in China and illegal betting on the game is rampant. In India it is so popular that it is replacing the British game of cricket. South America idolizes itssoccer players, and Colombia is no exception.

The folks who don't like our current immigration patterns can complain and carp all they want, but the deed is done. We are as influenced by the current migration patterns of our immigrants as we were at the turn of the century by Jews, Italians and Irish.Soccer has captured the imagination of our country, and we can thank our most recent citizens for the pleasure.