Senators Hold Press Conf. on War Supplemental Funding Bill and Detainee Photos

By Courtney Ann Jackson- Talk Radio News Service

U.S. Senators John McCain (R-Ariz), Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) and Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) held a press conference today to discuss the war supplemental and detainee photos.

Said Sen. Graham "to me, if Congress punts, we take a pass and we're worried about this bill passing more than these photos not being released, we are letting a lot of people down who are counting on us." Graham added that every photo is like a "bullet for our enemies," and that President Obama must take some executive action on classifying the documents before the Supreme Court’s final decision is made. 

Lieberman agreed, and said that aside from passing the legislation, there is one "clear alternative" and that is for the President to release an executive order classifying the order.

Sen. McCain said the President should be publicly speaking out about this issue now. He thinks Obama is being "strangely quiet" about it. McCain said this issue should be taken seriously because it is a major security issue for our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

According to Sen. Lieberman, none of his colleagues in the Senate as well as most House members oppose publicly releasing the photos.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she would not be able to pass the supplemental war funding bill without the support of some of the Democrats.

Sen. Lieberman said opposition to bills happens all the time but in this case, it can’t be taken lightly. He said it is a matter of life and death for our soldiers. Lieberman said he did call the White House and warned that the President’s authority is being challenge by the small group of members in the House blocking this bill.

Soldiers Silencing the Critics

By Courtney Ann Jackson- Talk Radio News

Since World War II, the success of American soldiers in actions abroad has preserved freedom for millions of people, according to former Republican Massachussetts Governor Mitt Romney. At a Heritage Foundation event Monday, Romney noted the upcoming 65th anniversary of D-Day and said American soldiers have shouldered the burden of defending freedom since World War II. The event was meant to commemorate those who served and to criticize the Obama administration for cutting funding from the Defense Department budget.

“Because of what America did in the 20th century, there are hundreds of millions of people around the world who now live in freedom-who, but for the price paid by the United States, would have lived in despair. I know of no other such example of national selfishness in the history of mankind. That is why America is the hope of the earth.”

The broad military plans of the Obama administration are also troubling to Romney, who was a 2008 presidential candidate. He is concerned that Obama will look to the military budget for the largest cuts in the process of reforming the financial system.

“ The right way to scale America’s defense budget is to add up the requirements for each of our missions, beginning with strategic defense,” he said.

He laid out other defense missions that he felt the U.S. should be focusing on such as: fighting and winning land wars and counter-insurgencies and providing counter-insurgency support for nations under threat from Jihadists.

“We cannot allow the economic crisis to conceal the very real threats to our nation’s security. We cannot ignore the intentions of competitors who would replace America’s leadership with their own, and set back the cause of freedom,” Romney said.

The demands of all U.S. defense missions involving U.S. soldiers are not covered in Obama’s planned cuts for the department, Romney said, do not equal budget cuts. He believes a $50 billion increase in the modernization budget is needed. He noted that Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has also repeatedly said that is a necessary increase.

He concluded by saying, “Providence has blessed us and trusted us to safeguard liberty; in a time of confusion at home and challenge abroad, let ours be the voice of clarity and good sense-confident in our cause, and faithful in the care of freedom.”

Secretary Jackson Met with Both Criticism and Support Over H.U.D. Oversight and Funding

Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Alphonso Jackson testified before the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee today regarding oversight of HUD program and its fiscal year 2009 budget. Jackson’s comments about the HUD program were met with both criticism and support from Senators of both parties.

Jackson’s program was particularly called into question by democrats skeptical that the funding requested by the Bush Administration for HUD was insufficient in helping to slow the increasingly high rate of housing foreclosures dooming homeowners across the nation.

Chaired by Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Senators Casey (D-PA) and Menendez (D-NJ) engaged in often heated discussion with Jackson over not only their frustration with his lack of success as Secretary, but also over allegations that members of his staff had acted in a controversial manner. Jackson, citing the fact that the case was still not being made public, refused to discuss the case in front of Congress. The verbal jabs of Casey and Menendez were met with support for Jackson and his efforts by other Senators, particularly Senator Wayne Allard (R-CO).

The Senate Budget Committee seeks answers on the timeline and total of 2009 war funding

The Senate Budget Committee held a hearing on the 2009 defense budget and war costs. Witnesses were Assistant Secretary of Defense Gordon England, Defense Controller Tina Jonas, and General James Cartwright, vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.

Ranking member Judd Gregg (R-NH) was not present. After chairman Kent Conrad's opening statement, Wayne Allard (R-CO) made a statement for the Republicans. Both senators mentioned the $70 billion in supplemental war funding as obviously incomplete and vaguely justified.

In his opening statement Conrad made a reference to an interview in the early days of the war where former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld where the former Defense secretary  said that the war was estimated at $50 billion.

The focus remained on the discrepancies between the base budget and the war funding which is separate. Both Conrad and Allard asked questions seeking a more realistic, long term projected figure. Secretary Robert Gates had made a statement with the number of $170 billion. But while England agreed with the secretary's estimate he said that both a final war funding figure and a date on which a funding figure for '09 would be known depended on what Gen. Petraeus says this spring and the appropriation of $102 billion from the 2008 war supplemental budget request.

Additionally changes in the labor market, such as a decline in manufacturing and the unpredictability of the market and government budgeting, came up as a concern. General Cartwright said that these things are "challenging" and he discussed the idea of budgeting for two years.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) asked outright whether parts of the procurement section the Defense Department budget was being aimed at a future conflict with China or Russia. Secretary England said that Russian and Chinese defense systems are considered in future Defense spending but as to specific threats being considered England said that he would have to speak in a more classified setting.

Conrad said that they hoped to bring the budget to the floor by the first or second week of March.

Pentagon PM Report

Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell held a press briefing. His opening statement concerned the defense authorization act which allows for an increase in pay raises for military personnel of 3.5 percent. He said that the Defense Department reiterates the president's request that Congress fully fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He also commented on some new proposals that come out of the State of the Union address, particularly a preferential hiring option for military spouses across the government. Right now only the Department of Defense has preferential hiring for military spouses.

He announced a two day conference with the eight combatant commanders from Iraq, senior civilian leaders, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Secretary of State Condeleezza Rice was expected to speak to the conference group, which is also expected to meet with President Bush. Morrell answered a question about the president's figure of 20,000 troops to be withdrawn from Iraq, admitting that this is not the full surge force when support troops are considered. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has said that the rate of troop withdrawal will be conditions-based.



On Pakistan Morrell said that the U.S. stands ready to aid Pakistan militarily to fight terrorism, particularly in the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas of northern Pakistan. "But they have not asked at this point," he said.

Morrell said that the 2009 budget request was approximated at $70 billion dollars for the first quarter to cover the beginning of the Department of Defense fiscal year in October through the inauguration of a new president. After which Morrell said that the Defense Department will go back to request what will be needed at that time. He did emphasize that full funding had not been achieved for the fiscal 2008, "We're still about $102 billion short of what we need to do the job."

About an Army investigation into allegations that Iraqi detainees were killed after being captured on the battlefield last year Morrell was very cautious saying only that he could not comment very much on an ongoing investigation and that the military "takes all credible allegations seriously."