Free Republic

Former congressman Asa Hutchinson, whose brother and former U.S. Sen. Tim Hutchinson is a top Huckabee supporter, said Thursday he's no longer backing Huckabee's presidential campaign and endorsed presumptive GOP nominee John McCain. Hutchinson said he endorsed McCain because it's virtually impossible for Huckabee to gain the 1,191 delegates needed to clinch the Republican nomination. Huckabee's campaign had announced in November that the Hutchinson brothers were among high profile Arkansas Republicans backing the former governor's bid. "I was delighted to support Gov. Huckabee whenever there was a possibility he could garner the delegates necessary to win," Hutchinson told The Associated...

A former director of the Drug Enforcement Administration warned federal officials shortly after the September 11 attacks that violent drug cartels from Mexico were teaming with Muslim gangs to fund terrorist organizations overseas. Asa Hutchinson, who also has been a Homeland Security undersecretary, said that in 2001, DEA agents uncovered the link between the drug cartels and terrorist groups but too few government officials listened. "I think it's important to recognize that the link between terrorism and drug trafficking exists," said Mr. Hutchinson in a phone interview from Arkansas. "While we are fighting terrorists, we should not neglect our fight...

The president hit the campaign trail, traveling from Texas to Arkansas to support gubernatorial candidate Asa Hutchinson, then to Loews Vanderbilt Plaza, Nashville, Tennessee (news and video), where he’ll attend a fundraiser for Republican U.S. Senate Candidate Bob Corker. Laura Bush was in Bellevue, WA, to help raise funds for Senate candidate Mike Mike McGavick.

Opinions clash in initial meeting of Ark. immigration watch group Viewpoints clashed Tuesday night during the Arkansas Minuteman Civil Defense Corps organizational meeting at Lake Hamilton Fire Department. Nearly half of the packed meeting room at the station were there to voice their opposition to the organization’s mission, while the other half voiced staunch support. "It’s up to us to do what we can to protect the birthright of our children and grandchildren," meeting organizer Bill Riggins of Hot Springs told the crowd. "With every benefit and every reward comes responsibility." Riggins called the influx of illegal immigrants into the...

LITTLE ROCK - Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani will visit Arkansas next week to campaign for Republican gubernatorial candidate Asa Hutchinson.Giuliani and Hutchinson will speak to a group of Hutchinson supporters in Little Rock on Tuesday morning before speaking to the Arkansas Gov.'s School in Conway. A spokesman for Hutchinson's campaign said he did not know how many people were expected at the $500-dollar-a-person breakfast fundraiser. Giuliani, who served two terms as New York mayor, was named Time magazine's "Man of the Year" for 2001. The Republican has been mentioned as a potential 2008 presidential candidate. Hutchinson, a...

As a House manager in Bill Clinton's 1999 impeachment case, Asa Hutchinson stood before U.S. senators and pleaded for the group, which included his brother, to turn the president out of office for lies told in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case. Now that Hutchinson wants to be Arkansas governor, his role in Clinton's prosecution doesn't rate a footnote in the Republican candidate's official campaign biography or a mention in most political gatherings. "It's something that's a historical fact but it's also something that's in the past," Hutchinson said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. "It's a burden...

Democrat Mike Beebe leads Republican Asa Hutchinson 46 percent to 40 percent in the race for governor of Arkansas, according to a new poll by Rasmussen Reports, an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication and distribution of public opinion polling information. The telephone survey was conducted Jan. 15 of 500 likely Arkansas voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4. 5 percentage points, Rasmussen said. Hutchinson was viewed favorably by 53 percent of the likely voters and Beebe by 55 percent. On other matters, the report said : Former President Clinton, a former governor...

Lt. Governor Win Rockefeller has a blood disorder and is ending his race for governor. The 56-year-old Rockefeller says he was diagnosed in April and that the blood condition could develop into leukemia. Rockefeller has been campaigning and raising money in the hope of following in his father's footsteps as governor of Arkansas. But his illness will derail that plan.

LITTLE ROCK (AP) -- Asa Hutchinson and his supporters took a campaign mailing by Lt. Gov. Win Rockefeller as their cue to fire the first major salvos in the 2006 Republican gubernatorial primary campaign. A major Rockefeller campaign mailing repeatedly emphasized the billionaire lieutenant governor's anti-abortion bona fides, and Hutchinson, a former congressman and Homeland Security undersecretary, responded by saying Rockefeller was trying to shift away from his previous support for abortion rights

In a major campaign mailing, Republican gubernatorial candidate Win Rockefeller stresses repeatedly that he is anti-abortion, even citing actions by the Arkansas Senate, over which he presides but in which he has no vote except in the rare case of ties. "He is readjusting his position on the abortion question," Rockefeller’s gubernatorial foe in the 2006 Republican primary, Asa Hutchinson, said Thursday of the mailing. "That’s really the essence of the letter." The two-page letter from the lieutenant governor was sent to "tens of thousands" of Arkansans, said Rockefeller campaign spokesman Stacy DeJarnette. It urges recipients to become members of...

FBI Probes Allegations On Fields © copyright: Times Record, 2005 Former Sebastian County Prosecuting Attorney Ron Fields has been on administrative leave from the Department of Homeland Security since last summer because of an FBI investigation and grand jury proceedings, his attorney confirmed Friday. Eddie Christian of Fort Smith said the investigation is the “biggest witch hunt he’s ever seen.” Christian said the FBI has accused Fields of dealing drugs and of ordering Jay C. Rider, then a Fort Smith police captain, to shoot a Fort Smith woman, Lori Murchison, in 1995. Christian also represents Rider. “It’s based on...

LITTLE ROCK (AP) -- Arkansas Health Department director Dr. Fay Boozman, appointed to the post in 1999 after an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate, died Saturday in an apparent farm accident. Boozman was 58 years old. He is survived by his wife, Vickie; their three children; his brother, U.S. Rep. John Boozman, R-Ark.; and their mother, who lives in Fort Smith. Officials said Fay Boozman was working by himself in his barn in Rogers when part of the barn gave way and crushed him at 4 p.m. Saturday. The Boozman family didn't want further details released. "The family...

LITTLE ROCK (AP) -- Former Arkansas congressman and U.S. Homeland Security undersecretary Asa Hutchinson has been named chairman of a private Washington law firm's homeland security practice but will be moving him family to Little Rock. Hutchinson told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he took the position at Venable LLP in Washington because the firm allowed him to make his primary residence in Little Rock and establish his own consulting firm, Hutchinson Security Strategies, in Arkansas. "Venable gave me an opportunity to head up their homeland security practice in a way that's consistent with me pursuing personal and...

The John & Ken Show received an e-mail this morning that might shed some light on why the Undersecretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Asa Hutchinson is leaving his post. You can hear the anonymous person, who wrote this e-mail, today at 4pm. Read the e-mail below:John and Ken:First of all, I love you and have been loyal since your first day into KFI from the East Coast. I love America and, therefore, I love your basic understanding of our Constitution. Beyond that, your passion …or ranting and raving…is what life is about after our kids.I was at a...

LITTLE ROCK (AP) -- Lt. Gov. Win Rockefeller has informed state Republican officials that he will definitely run for governor in 2006. Rockefeller stated his intentions in a letter dated Monday to members of the state Republican Party, state committee and executive committee. "I want you to be the first to know," Rockefeller said. "I look forward to working with you in the coming months to bring about a new era of excellence for Arkansas." He said he would formally announce his candidacy after the Legislature adjourns. He was not immediately available for comment Thursday. In his letter, Rockefeller...

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) - The United States increased its funding to fight terrorism in the Americas Thursday as regional security chiefs called for improved intelligence sharing and tougher laws against terror financing. U.S. Homeland Security Undersecretary Asa Hutchinson urged countries to increase their financial contributions to the Inter-American Committee against Terrorism, an arm of the 34-member Organization of American States that was holding its fifth annual conference in Trinidad's capital of Port-of Spain. "We know that terrorists in our hemisphere are increasingly engaged in narcotics and weapons smuggling, and money laundering, as a means to fund their criminal and often...

No issue, not one, threatens to do more damage to the Republican coalition than immigration. There's no issue where the beliefs and interests of the party rank-and-file diverge more radically from the beliefs and interests of the party's leaders. Immigration for Republicans in 2005 is what crime was for Democrats in 1965 or abortion in 1975: a vulnerable point at which a strong-minded opponent could drive a wedge that would shatter the GOP. President Bush won reelection because he won 10 million more votes in 2004 than he did in 2000. Who were these people? According to Ruy Teixeira —...

WASHINGTON — Asa Hutchinson, who resigned last week as chief of border and transportation security, generally gets high marks from prominent homeland-security analysts, but union officials who represent some of the workers on the front lines don’t hold him in such regard. If — and many say when — Hutchinson returns to Arkansas to run for governor, his record as an undersecretary in the Department of Homeland Security will undoubtedly be a campaign issue. It caps a resume that includes stints as a U.S. attorney, a three-term congressman and chief of the Drug Enforcement Administration. The seriousness with which Hutchinson...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- Asa Hutchinson told a newspaper he plans to resign his post with the Homeland Security Department on Monday after he was passed over twice by the Bush administration to be secretary of the department. Hutchinson, a former Arkansas congressman and former federal drug czar, is the undersecretary for border and transportation security issues. He said his resignation would be effective March 1 to allow a more seamless transition when secretary-designate Michael Chertoff takes over the department from Tom Ridge. "It was just a good time to change for me personally and for the department," Hutchinson...

Illegalize illegals: Time for showdown in open frontier By WILLIAM F. BUCKLEY JR. The new intelligence law, courtesy of 9/11, is mystifying because it does not face directly what is the most prominent threat to homeland security. It is: inimical action by non-Americans. All the people who participated in 9/11 were foreigners, here under various auspices. And yet the bill that has evolved from the findings of the 9/11 commission reads like an elocutionary exercise by a national committee to avoid saying anything unpleasant about unpleasant people born abroad. Specifically, the threat at this moment is from foreign terrorism. The...

WASHINGTON - Asa Hutchinson has been looking for a chance to return to Arkansas and may have been given one Thursday when the White House disclosed former New York police commissioner Bernard Kerik will be nominated to head the Department of Homeland Secrity, sources said. In choosing Kerik, Bush passed over Hutchinson, presently the department's undersecretary for border and transportation security. With the president's choice now clear, a source close to Hutchinson said Thursday night the Arkansan plans to announce he is leaving the department and will begin laying groundwork to resume a political career back in the state, with...

Homeland Security's Hutchinson, EC's Faull brief press on dialogue Cargo security, travel document security policies, and use of advanced passenger data were among the main items of discussion during the U.S.-European Union Policy Dialogue on Border and Transport Security in Washington November 22. The United States and the European Union (EU) agreed to exchange information on technologies and best practices "so that we can invest and we can communicate better together," said Asa Hutchinson, under secretary for border and transportation security at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, at a joint press conference with European Commission Director-General Jonathan Faull. "In...

The chairman of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus yesterday questioned the commitment of the nation's border czar to track down and deport the 8 million to 12 million illegal aliens in the United States, asking whether he had "any real interest" in getting the job done.Rep. Tom Tancredo, Colorado Republican, said he planned to talk with Department of Homeland Security Undersecretary Asa Hutchinson "in the near future" to find out what the department plans to do to alleviate what the congressman calls an "illegal immigration crisis."Mr. Tancredo's comments came during a Capitol Hill press conference by the Federation for American...

Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) considered calling for a top Bush administration official to resign after reading his recent comments on enforcing immigration laws, according to sources.Upset with Undersecretary for Border and Transportation Security Asa Hutchinson's remark that it would not be realistic to enforce current immigration laws, Tancredo, a staunch supporter of more immigration laws, contemplated calling for the administration officials resignation.The two Republicans planned last night to discuss their differences, and it is not expected that Tancredo will ask for Hutchinson to step down.Hutchinson last week told The Washington Times that it would be unrealistic to say that officials...

Letters to the Editor The cost of illegal immigration Regarding "Rounding up all illegals 'not realistic' " (Page 1, Friday) by Jerry Seper: Asa Hutchinson has once again clearly demonstrated that he is not up to the task of protecting the U.S. borders. His statements and inaction show that rich bureaucrats have little view of reality from the gated communities in which they live. Mr. Hutchinson speaks of a lack of will on the part of the American people to uproot illegal aliens in the United States. How did Mr. Hutchinson arrive at such a conclusion? The only lack of...

Is there is an invisible army of terrorists gathering in America today? The mainstream media and the Bush administration do not want to talk about it. In July, Defense Watch reported that, in Arizona, an area called the Naco Strip has become a primary route of illegal entry by “significant numbers of Arab-speaking males.” It took a small town weekly newspaper, the Tombstone Tumbleweed, to reveal that, “males of possible Syrian and Iranian descent have been detained in the past few weeks.” Since October 1, 2003, 5,510 illegal aliens designated “Other Than Mexican” (OTM) have been apprehended while crossing the...

Homeland Security Undersecretary Asa Hutchinson yesterday told senators that Secret Service agents and other armed federal officials are being used to bolster the Federal Air Marshal Service's efforts to guard airplanes from terrorist attacks.     "We're trying to make sure, through additional resources, that we really increase the number of flights that are covered," Mr. Hutchinson told the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee during a hearing on the September 11 commission report.

It approximately 4:45 am this morning Asa Hutchinson of the Department of Homeland Security will be on C-SPAN's Washington Journal. Not long ago, Los Angeles KFI AM 640 radio team John and Ken grilled Hutchinson for ending certain successful illegal alien sweeps in Southern California. If you don't agree with Asa Hutchinson caving in to the left on Illegal Immigration, you might want to call in.

TEMECULA, Calif. - A mobile Border Patrol unit that has arrested hundreds of illegal immigrants in inland cities has been moved closer to the border but could resume interior apprehensions in the future, Homeland Security officials said Friday at an unruly town hall meeting that drew hundreds of people who strongly support the enforcement operations. Deputy U.S. Border Patrol Chief Paul Blocker, who is in charge of the mobile unit, told reporters after the public meeting that the 12-member team is working in southern San Diego County, close to the boundary between the United States and Mexico, because the agency's...

Summary of todays meeting on live internet feed right now Come Grill Asa In Temecula! Friday August 13 Come and join John and Ken at a town meeting hosted by Congressman Darrell Issa featuring Asa Hutchinson, Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security on Friday, August 13. There will be discussions focusing on immigration enforcement efforts. The meeting will take place at 10:30 a.m., PT in the all-purpose room of Margarita Middle School in Temecula. Congressman Issa strongly supports operations conducted by the Border Patrol Mobile Patrol Group, which during the first half of June resulted in 422 apprehensions of...

ISSA TO HOST TOWN MEETING ON IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT ISSUES WITH ASA HUTCHINSON VISTA, CA – Congressman Darrell Issa will host a town meeting featuring Asa Hutchinson, Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security on Friday, August 13 for a discussion focusing on immigration enforcement efforts. The meeting will take place at 10:30 a.m., PT in the all-purpose room of Margarita Middle School in Temecula. Congressman Issa strongly supports operations conducted by the Border Patrol Mobile Patrol Group, which during the first half of June resulted in 422 apprehensions of illegal aliens by twelve Border Patrol Agents. Congressman Issa and Under...

A top Department of Homeland Security official, who criticized the Border Patrol's arrest last month of 420 illegal aliens in several inland Southern California communities, will meet with lawmakers on Capitol Hill today to deliver what he has called a "thoroughly written response" to the incident.     Homeland Security Undersecretary Asa Hutchinson told members of the California congressional delegation at a June 25 meeting the arrest of the aliens by a 12-member Border Patrol team had not been authorized or approved in advance by officials at headquarters in the District, and he would personally review the matter.     Mr. Hutchinson, according to...

The Washington Times www.washingtontimes.com Immigration plan envisions 'incentives' to illegal aliensBy Jerry SeperTHE WASHINGTON TIMESPublished August 10, 2004 Millions of illegal aliens in the United States would be free from arrest and deportation, have access to tax-deferred savings accounts and Social Security credits, and get unrestricted travel to and from their home countries under President Bush's guest-worker program.     According to previously undisclosed details of the president's plan, which some critics have described as a limited amnesty, the proposal offers numerous "incentives" for the 8 million to 12 million illegal aliens to come "out of the shadows," Homeland Security Undersecretary...

This Friday!VISTA, CA -- Congressman Darrell Issa will host a town meeting featuring Asa Hutchinson, Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security on Friday, August 13 for a discussion focusing on immigration enforcement efforts. The meeting will take place at 10:30 a.m., PT in the all-purpose room of Margarita Middle School in Temecula.Congressman Issa strongly supports operations conducted by the Border Patrol Mobile Patrol Group, which during the first half of June resulted in 422 apprehensions of illegal aliens by twelve Border Patrol Agents. Congressman Issa and Under Secretary Hutchinson will discuss issues surrounding immigration enforcement and answer questions from...

Border Patrol agents who executed highly popular roundups of illegal aliens in Southern California last month – the first of their kind in recent memory – say they've been told to stop such enforcement action, and the Bush administration official in charge of the immigration enforcement has refused to say if there would be additional sweeps in the future. In an extraordinary radio interview Thursday on Los Angeles talk-radio station KFI, talk-show host John Kobylt grilled Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security Asa Hutchinson about why the roundups had been ended. The official, a former congressman who works under...

Members of Congress and Homeland Security Department officials said technology and immigration reforms are needed to bolster border security. Despite an initiative to use new technologies to curb illegal immigration at the Arizona/Mexico border, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said he was "concerned that we still do not have sufficient control of our nation's borders. [The Arizona Border Control initiative] represents a good first effort. However, it must be fully implemented and integrated into a broader borderwide initiative." McCain, who chairs the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and held a hearing today on enhancing border security, said there's a two-part...

WASHINGTON – In one of the largest crackdowns of its kind along the border, the Bush administration plans to add hundreds of Border Patrol agents to the Arizona border with Mexico to stem the flow of illegal immigration and reduce migrant deaths. Federal officials also said they are planning to introduce unmanned drones over the border to increase their ability to stop drug trafficking throughout the Southwest, including the San Diego area. The $10 million plan, dubbed the Arizona Border Control Initiative, was unveiled Tuesday by Asa Hutchinson, the Department of Homeland Security undersecretary for border and transportation security in...

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration backed off plans to require that millions of visa-carrying Mexicans who make short visits to America and stay close to the border be fingerprinted and photographed to get into the country.</p> <p>Asa Hutchinson, the Homeland Security department's undersecretary for border and transportation, was to publicly announce the policy change at a Capitol Hill hearing Thursday, a congressional official who was briefed on the plan told The Associated Press.</p>

Will Americans Support Another Amnesty? by Phyllis Schlafly Posted Jan 6, 2004 Were Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge's Miami meanderings a gaffe, a trial balloon, an announcement of his department's policy, or an announcement of Bush administration policy? We are entitled to know. His shocking words were a broadside on current law: "We have to come to grips with the presence of 8 to 12 million illegal aliens, afford them some kind of legal status some way." He pointedly did not say we have to come to grips with 8 to 12 million people who have violated our...

<p>SAN DIEGO (AP) - The Department of Homeland Security may review its criteria for admitting people to the United States after California granted illegal immigrants the right to obtain drivers licenses, a senior official said. "Certainly we have to review our policy among inspectors on the border and their reliance upon driver licenses," said Asa Hutchinson, undersecretary of border and transportation security. "If you do not have integrity in the driver licenses that are issued, the integrity of those documents, the security of those documents, then it really undermines the whole premise of allowing U.S. citizens to travel abroad and come back with limited proof of U.S. citizenship, without a passport."</p>

An old political adage advises, "You can't beat somebody with nobody." Actually, it's more of a truism. In every election year there are races that are won or lost well before the contest begins. Candidate recruitment is often a prickly process. When the proverbial blood of an incumbent is in the water, political pets, party favorites and pretenders to a particular office dance around each other for weeks or even months, waiting for someone to make the first move. When an incumbent is strong it is often difficult to find someone credible who is willing to put their name on...

WASHINGTON -- Recipients of recent money appeals by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) have been puzzled by the absence of the customary signature of the party chairman, Terry McAuliffe.Earlier DNC fund-raising letters this year were signed by former President Bill Clinton and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. The latest appeal, which arrived in the mail last week, was signed by somebody whose name was new to many recipients: Josh Wachs, the DNC's 31-year-old chief operating officer.McAuliffe is so controversial with the Democratic rank-and-file, according to party sources, that his name may inhibit contributions. A Washington-based business speculator, McAuliffe was hand-picked for...

<p>It is 17 months before the next national elections, and Republicans already smell victory in the air. In Capitol Hill watering holes and the halls of congressional office buildings, members and aides are whispering about the prospects of a major power shift in favor of the GOP come November 2004. Senate strategists are daring to predict a possible six- or even seven-seat pickup, which would strengthen the majority party's currently undependable 51 votes. More Republican senators would make significant changes in policy possible exponentially, and prevent legislative logjams, such as the stalling on President Bush's tax cuts. At this early date, however, it is prudent to keep in mind that everything would have to go right to bring about such a lopsided outcome. Providing fuel for GOP optimism is the list of senators up for reelection. The Democratic Party has four more Senate seats to defend than do Republicans, and 10 of the 19 in play are reasonably possible turnovers. Particularly exciting to Republicans is the opportunity to knock off Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle with former Rep. John Thune, who lost by only 524 votes to Sen. Tim Johnson last year. As South Dakota's only House member, Mr. Thune was elected statewide three times, and a recent poll has him leading Mr. Daschle by two points. Democratic recruiters already are considering presidential candidate Bob Graham's seat vacant because Florida law prevents him from running two races at once, and he seems intent on seeking national office. Homeland Security Department undersecretary Asa Hutchinson, a former House member, is said to be eager to take on Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln in Arkansas, which should worry her. Geography can play an important role in horse races. As National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesman Dan Allen told us, "Many of the competitive races fall in Bush country, where the president was strong in 2000, which bodes well for our candidates in 2004." Ten of the contested Democratic seats are in states Mr. Bush won in the close 2000 race. For example, Bush-Cheney won North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia by 13, 15 and 17 points respectively. Georgia's Zell Miller announced his retirement in January, and South Carolina's Ernest Hollings isn't raising any money and is expected to announce that he's stepping down too. Numerous polls have shown that first-term North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, whose attention is focused on running for president, would get beaten by Mr. Bush by between 15 and 20 percentage points in his own state, and would face an uphill battle defending his seat. Perhaps the most intriguing rumor is that Louisiana Sen. John Breaux is increasingly dissatisfied as a moderate in an increasingly liberal party — and might duck out of a reelection bid. Mr. Bush won the state by 13 points in 2000. A few insecure Republican seats pore a little rain on the party's parade. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who was appointed to fill her father's post when he was elected governor of Alaska, is below 50 percent in some statewide polls. Peter Fitzgerald will be hard to replace in Illinois — where the GOP is not very solid — Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter faces a potentially damaging primary fight and the Democrat Senatorial Campaign Committee considers Sam Brownback a worthwhile target in Kansas. Otherwise, the Republicans' 15 contestable seats are relatively safe. President Bush is not leaving anything to chance, and is on track to raise more campaign contributions than ever before in history. If his popularity remains high, much of the funds will be available to distribute to close races — an advantage Democratic candidates aren't likely to receive from their ticket. At the start of 2003, the Democratic Party was $5.5 million in debt. Extra cash for ads and get-out-the-vote drives can be the deciding factor coming down the stretch. We try not to encourage irrational exuberance, especially with an economy impossible to predict. But the chessboard looks promising for the Grand Old Party.</p>

Former Rep. Asa Hutchinson (R-Ark.) has signaled to the White House that he will challenge Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D) if asked, knowledgeable GOP sources said Tuesday.

Arkansas Republicans are growing increasingly desperate to find a challenger to take on Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln next year. For months, Little Rock Republicans pinned their hopes on either Gov. Mike Huckabee or Asa Hutchinson, a former congressman and now a Department of Homeland Security undersecretary. But Hutchinson says he’s not running. And Huckabee, who’s been embroiled in a series of highly charged budget and education debates at the state Legislature, says he hasn’t made up his mind. So Republicans are turning to a raft of possible second- and third-tier candidates with limited political experience and no statewide elections under...

Foreign visitors arriving at U.S. airports or seaports beginning Jan. 1, 2004, will have their travel documents scanned, fingerprints and photos taken and identification checked against terrorist watchlists. Homeland Security undersecretary Asa Hutchinson released details Monday of the department's new U.S. Visitor and Immigration Status Indication Technology, or U.S. VISIT, that will check the comings and goings of certain foreign travelers. The checks will apply to people who arrive in this country carrying visas, which last year was about 60 percent or 23 million of the foreign visitors, said Hutchinson, who oversees Border and Transportation Security. "In 99.9 percent of...

http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/display?theme=44&content=738&print=true Remarks by Under Secretary Asa Hutchinson on the Launch of the US-VISIT Program For Immediate Release May 19, 2003 * Remarks as Prepared * At the Department of Homeland Security - my responsibility centers on the borders of the United States. What we do at our borders impacts our security, our economy and our relationship with the international community. For that reason, I am grateful for this opportunity to talk about the future of our borders at CSIS. Your scholarly and bipartisan approach is the right mix for border policy discussions At the turn of the last century, the...

WASHINGTON - Former Congressman Asa Hutchinson disputed reports Wednesday that he seeks to oppose Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas in the November 2004 election for the U.S. Senate. Hutchinson said he had previously ignored the rumor that depicted him as a potential candidate, but then Roll Call, a newspaper that covers Capitol Hill, reported that Hutchinson had signaled to the White House that he would run for the Senate if asked to do so by the president. "That story is flat wrong. Since joining the administration, I have not expressed any interest in a campaign for the United...

ASA HUTCHINSON SAYS NO RUN FOR SENATE PLANNED The former Republican congressman says a Roll Call newspaper report that he would run against Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln was inaccurate. The Roll Call story cited Republican sources as saying Hutchinson would run if the White House asked. He twice declined to answer the question today, saying his commitment is to his current Homeland Security job. State Republican Party Director Marty Ryall said last week that Hutchinson is still "on the short list," along with Governor Huckabee, to challenge Lincoln. Huckabee has said he is tied up with work on state...

COMING TO AMERICA Eye in the sky targets illegals Civilian border group tests high-tech remote surveillance vehicle A civilian border-patrol group has enhanced its surveillance capabilities by employing a high-tech, remote-controlled unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV, to assist in spotting illegal aliens attempting to sneak into the U.S. Glenn Spencer, head of American Border Patrol, says his organization has successfully field-tested "Border Hawk," a UAV the group hopes to employ as a surveillance tool. WND profiled the potential utility of UAVs in patrolling border areas last month.The purpose of Saturday's test, which took place over a section of the...