Boxer Calls On Iran To Release Imprisoned Backpackers

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and a collection of other Senate Democrats called upon Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to release three Americans imprisoned after allegedly straying onto Iranian soil while backpacking last August.

“Enough is enough,” Boxer said during a press conference Tuesday in the U.S. Capitol. “We call on [Ahmadinedjad] today to immediately release the three [Americans] on humanitarian grounds.”

Boxer added that if the Iranian government is unwilling to release the prisoners, then they should at least allow their families to visit them in prison by granting travel visas. Additionally, Boxer asked for the prisoners be given permission to contact their families via telephone.

The California Senator stressed the urgency of the situation, explaining that Swiss authorities who visited the prisoners reported that two of the Americans are in poor health.

The Senators’ call for the backpackers’ release coincides with Ahmadinejad’s visit to New York for an international conference on nuclear policy. According to Boxer, attempts by the prisoners’ families to arrange a meeting with the Iranian president in the city have been fruitless.

The Iranian government has refused to release the backpackers amid concerns that they were engaged in espionage, a charge that Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Penn.) dismissed as “absurd.”

“They are pawns in an international struggle,” Specter said.

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) added that evidence shown to the Senators from intelligence officials has further dissuaded the Senators from entertaining the notion that the Americans were spies.

The three backpackers have been identified as Shane Bauer, Sarah Emily Shourd and Joshua Fattal. Both Bauer and Shourd are journalists.

Senators Face-Off Over Kerry-Boxer Bill

By Leah Valencia, University of New Mexico- Talk Radio News Service

Senators faced off over the cost of the Kerry-Boxer climate change bill Tuesday when co-author Sen. John Kerry testified that he believed although the legislation would increase energy costs, a lack of action would cause worse problems for the environment and U.S. security.

"Are there some costs? Yes sir, there are some costs," said Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) in his testimony before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. "[But] none of them factor in the cost of doing nothing."

However, some Republican members were not so willing to brush aside the prospect of higher energy costs.

"Cap and trade is very expensive. This is something the American people can't tolerate and I don't think they will," said Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), the committee’s ranking member.

The Clean Energy Jobs And American Power act seeks to reduce greenhouse emissions by 20 percent within the next decade.

Kerry added that working to reduce dependency on fossil fuels would allow the U.S. to be a leader in developing new technologies, and thus creating new jobs.

"America's leadership is on the line here," Kerry said.

White House Officials agreed with Kerry's assertion during their testimonies before the committee.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu warned that if the U.S. does not act fast to be on the forefront of developing green technologies, other countries would.

Many committee members, including some Democrats like Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), questioned the feasibility of the ambitious bill.

AIDS Relief Organization Honors Congress

by Holly Jackson

Sen. Barbara Boxer and Rep. Barbara Lee were among twenty-six members of congress named as honorees by the Global AIDS Alliance Fund on Monday for their legislative efforts in fighting the AIDS epidemic.

The event, “Spreading Hope: The Congressional Leadership Awards in the Fight against HIV/AIDS,” ran concurrently with the opening day of the Democratic National Convention.

Although the group said it strives to make the fight against AIDS a bipartisan issue, it favors Sen. Obama’s AIDS strategy, with many at the event referring to Sen. Obama as the next President. Senators Obama and Hillary Clinton were also named as honorees, but were not in attendance.

Moderator David Munar of the AIDS Action Council said, “The drivers for change are coming from the Democratic Party.”

The organization also asked candidates for U.S. Congress to sign a pledge to provide leadership in fighting AIDS domestically and abroad, saying the U.S. needs to devise national AIDS strategy to combat the disease.

Actor Danny Glover, the Chairman of TransAfrica Forum, said “There is a country where a new epidemic, a new infection happens every nine minutes.” Glover continued, “There is a city where one out of 20 people are infected with HIV. That country is the United States and that city is Washington, D.C.”

Glover also said there were serious problems with President George W. Bush’s legislation “President’s Emergency Plan on AIDS Relief” (PEPFAR) approach to fighting global AIDS. The legislation requires that one-third of funds provided to AIDS-infected nations must be used for abstinence-only programs. Glover’s organization, TransAfrica Forum, is an African-American lobbying organization for Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean for AIDS relief funding.

The Global Aids Alliance Fund will also be present at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis next week.

“Lieberman- Warner Climate Security Act” breezing through Senate

Following a vote on the “Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act” in the Senate, a news conference with remarks by Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.), Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) was held in advocacy of the bill and how it will help keep our environment clean. The senators speaking at the press conference expressed their satisfaction with the bipartisan support the bill has received from other members of the Senate.

Concerning the bill, Senator Kerry described the role the next President will play in “getting this done” to solve the problem of global warming. Kerry mentioned that our nation has to set an example to other world powers such as China and India about properly funding initiatives to keep the environment clean.

Boxer talked about how, because Americans are concerned about climate change, this bill will pass more quickly than the Clean Air Act that took roughly a decade to pass. In an emotional moment, she told the story of a “beautiful” letter she received from ailing Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) about his appreciation and support for the bill.

Lieberman comically mentioned that, due to the success the bill had in acquiring Senate support, this morning’s vote was “A small step for mankind, and a giant step for the U.S. Senate.” He said the bill would help move American history in a direction it needs to go toward, with Boxer adding that funding for fuel alternatives could also help make our country less dependent on foreign oil.

Climate change laws critical to survival say senators

Senators Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.), John Kerry (D-Mass.) Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.), and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) spoke at a news conference in the Upper Senate Park about the upcoming climate legislation. Boxer, chairwoman for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said that she could not have sent the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act to the floor without a bipartisan effort in the Senate. She presented a graph that showed rising gas prices since 2000. According to Boxer’s chart, in 2000 the price of gas stood at $1.47/gallon. Current gas prices average $3.94/gallon. Boxer added that President Bush opposes the bill because it has the potential to increase gas prices by a total of $0.50 by the year 2030.

Kerry emphasized the importance of the bill, stating that it goes to the core of the problems facing future generations and that it will enhance future legislation. Kerry said that this legislation affects the United States’ ability to survive, declaring “this is a bill and this is an effort whose time has come.”