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Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joe Biden, D-Del., had previously told Meet the Press that "the reason Obama didn't hold a hearing on NATO, I chair the committee. Every one of those committee hearings are held at full committee." But today Biden decided to take his defense of Obama one step further, writing to DeMint that there have been plenty of hearings on European Affairs, they've just been held at the "full committee level." ~snip But Biden's letter brought attention to the fact that Obama did not attend two of those three hearings -- and for the third, on March...

Lufkin Mayor Jack Gorden has been selected by the Texas Transportation Committee to serve on a citizens' advisory committee for putting together information regarding the proposed Interstate 69/Trans-Texas Corridor. According to Texas Department of Transportation officials, advisory committee members represent a cross-section of community and business leaders, landowners, local transportation experts and others. "Our goal is to enhance the public dialogue and meaningfully involve more Texans in transportation decisions," said Texas Transportation Commission Chair Hope Andrade. "These committees will have an important seat at the table as we work together to shape the future of transportation for our state." Gorden...

The Texas Transportation Commission today selected members to serve on two citizens’ advisory committees for the Trans-Texas Corridor. Area residents on the I-35 Corridor Advisory Committee include Karen Marstaller of Waco, Don Greene of Lorena and John Erwin of Hillsboro. Each committee will advise the Texas Department of Transportation in the planning of two priority corridors. One committee will focus on Interstate 35 corridor and TTC-35, while the other committee will advise the department on the proposed Interstate 69 corridor and I-69/TTC. The Corridor Advisory Committees represent a cross-section of community and business leaders, land owners, local transportation experts and...

In the midst of inflation, funding difficulties and halted expansion projects, a budget error on the part of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) may have exacerbated their challenges. "TxDOT does some mysterious accounting," said Rep. Chuck Hopson (D-Jacksonville). "They had close to $1 billion counted in their budget twice." "That was a serious error on our part and we have made changes to try to prevent that type of error from occurring again," said TxDOT Spokesman Chris Lippincott, adding that the amount added twice in their financial statement was unrelated to the $1.2 billion in federal rescissions, which are...

State Sen. Glen Hegar says he opposes a route that would bring the mammoth Trans Texas Corridor through his district. The Texas Department of Transportation has kicked off a series of public meetings to discuss the project. Meetings are scheduled for Tuesday in Hempstead (6:30 p.m. at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 22892 Mack Washington St.) and Jan. 29 in Bellville (at the Austin County fairgrounds, also beginning at 6:30 p.m.). No meetings are scheduled in Washington County, which likely wouldn’t be impacted much by the highway project. Much of the discussion in public meetings already held centers on Interstate...

A state mobility agency wants local input concerning a major corridor that might slice through East Texas. A town hall meeting will be held in Carthage on Wednesday to discuss the Interstate 69/Trans-Texas Corridor study area, according to a Texas Department of Transportation media release. The meeting, slated for 6:30 p.m. at the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame located at 300 West Panola Street, will be the first of 11 such discussions held statewide. Interstate 69 consists of two parts — a completed portion from the Canadian border to Indianapolis, and a mostly proposed extension to the Mexican border...

AUSTIN - Advisory committees are being developed to provide public input on where the Trans-Texas Corridor should be located and what it should look like. The committees will enhance public involvement during on-going Trans-Texas Corridor environmental studies and provide guidance on how the corridor can be developed to best serve local communities. “Through the advisory committees, local officials and citizens can be more involved in the planning process than ever before,” said Ted Houghton, member of the Texas Transportation Commission. “They will have a huge say in shaping the Trans-Texas Corridor.” The Texas Transportation Commission today approved rules establishing the...

For Immediate ReleaseOffice of the Press SecretaryDecember 9, 2006 President's Radio Address       Audio      In Focus: Renewal in Iraq      THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This week, I held important meetings at the White House about the situation in Iraq. On Monday, I met in the Oval Office with one of Iraq's most influential Shia leaders, His Eminence Abdul Aziz al Hakim. We discussed the desire of the Iraqi people to see their unity government succeed, and how the United States can help them achieve that goal. On Thursday, I had breakfast with Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain. We discussed...

Don’t vote as a vent. A long-standing joke at election time is that if someone were to run under the name “None of the Above,” that candidate would win. This year, the Democrats are running as “None of the Above” and polls show that they may well win the House of Representatives and perhaps the Senate. Can we afford to have Congress controlled by people who refuse to discuss their own record or agenda, at a time when a nuclear Iran and a nuclear North Korea loom over our future and over the future of our children and grandchildren? Some...

Similar bills that would give 1.4 million minimum wage earners a dollar-an-hour raise and then adjust their pay each year to keep up with inflation were approved Wednesday by committees in the Assembly and Senate. But the Senate committee refused to vote on a rival bill backed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that includes a $1 increase but not an annual inflation adjustment. The senator carrying Schwarzenegger's bill, Republican Abel Maldonado of Santa Maria, urged the Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee to reconsider its decision and pass his bill to avoid another veto. "Gov. Schwarzenegger looked me in the eye...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Some of the biggest bills of the year, including measures to legalize gay marriages, promote solar power, raise the minimum wage and allow illegal immigrants to get driver's licenses, cleared hurdles Thursday in the California Legislature. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved legislation by Assemblyman Mark Leno that would require the state to recognize same-sex marriages, sending the bill to the full Senate. The Assembly narrowly rejected a same-sex marriage bill by Leno in June, but the San Francisco Democrat amended another one of his measures that was pending in the Senate to legalize gay marriage. If the...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - An Assembly committee Tuesday joined the effort to clamp limits on how much candidates and officeholders such as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger can raise for ballot measure committees they control. The Elections and Redistricting Committee approved a bill by Assemblywoman Lois Wolk, D-Davis, that would allow donors to give no more than $5,600 to those committees, although the limit would be adjusted for inflation every two years. A Sacramento judge last month struck down a broader range of donation limits adopted by the state Fair Political Practices Commission, but Wolk predicted her bill could survive a court challenge...

House Republican leaders face difficult decisions about who will head key subcommittees next year, with Social Security and healthcare expected to be major themes in the new Congress. The Capitol Hill spotlight is on who will head the Senate Judiciary Committee and the House Appropriations Committee, but powerful House subcommittees could also be shuffled next year. Rep. Clay Shaw’s (R-Fla.) six-year term as the Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee chairman expires this year. He would like to succeed Rep. Bill Thomas (R-Calif.) as Ways and Means chairman in 2007 and wants to stay on the subcommittee, at least as...

Members of the US Senate and House of Representatives who hold key positions on space-related committees won reelection Tuesday night, with the exception of one Texas Congressman. Rep. Nick Lampson (D-TX), the ranking minority member of the space subcommittee of the House Science Committee, lost his reelection bid, in part because of a controversial redistricting of the state's Congressional districts. Other members of the House who lead key committees did win reelection, including House Science Committee chairman Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), ranking minority member Rep. Bart Gordon (D-TN), and space subcommittee chairman Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA). Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA),...

Years ago, when a civilian worker at one of the nation's largest Air Force bases was working for a general, she watched as a team was formed to come up with a better system to handle mail. Mail to the base included letters from multi-starred generals and directives that had deadlines. The "process improvement team," also known as a PIT, had a roster of middle managers, mostly civilians, who spent the better part of a month coming up with a plan. But instead of streamlining the process, they complicated it. "I was horrified," the woman says. "There used to be...

Amnesty bills stuck in congressional committees Tuesday, September 21, 2004 Posted: 4:28 PM EDT (2028 GMT) (CNN) -- President Bush sent up a trial balloon in January on the issue of immigration reform, proposing a temporary guest-worker program for some undocumented workers that would "match any willing employer with any willing employee." The negative response, particularly from his own party, was so swift and definitive that the issue, like the president's plan for the future of space exploration, has disappeared. Like many policymakers, the majority of Americans appear to be solidly opposed to Bush's proposal. A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll taken...

We Eat; Therefore, They Are A panel of nutrition experts has heard about sugar and salt and fatty acids ad nauseam. Now they have to rewrite the federal dietary guide. By Rosie Mestel, Times Staff Writer BETHESDA, Md. — Inside a packed ballroom at the local Holiday Inn, 13 government-appointed scientists sat regally around a table, debating servings of fish. "What do we want to recommend for children? Fish twice a week?" asked chairwoman Janet King. "Small fish," another panel member said. "Children are advised to eat smaller portions of fish than adults?" "Can we defer a vote on that?"...

Where can I find Kerry's major accomplishments in the Senate? What committees has he served on, what has he chaired, what legislation has he sponsored? Where has he shown any leadership on anything?

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has raised and spent nearly $40 million in the last year. His record-setting pace of fund-raising is spread among six different committees dating back to 2002. This week, the governor received tax-exemption from the IRS to also established a private nonprofit group to raise money and conduct political activities. Here is the list of the governor's committees: Citizens for Afterschool Programs, Yes on Proposition 49. The 2002 committee organized to support a ballot initiative that pledged more funds for after school programs. Secretary of state ID # 1240592. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Total Recall Committee. Organized in 2003 to...

A decade ago, when the Democrats set out to reform healthcare, they turned to one person above all others: Ira Magaziner. The New England management consultant, charged in the early 1990s with helping then-first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton reform the nation's healthcare system, had a reputation as a genius — at least until his proposals went down to resounding defeat. As the Democratic hopefuls once again broach the subject of healthcare reform, there is no single super-wonk healthcare adviser — no new Ira Magaziner — in sight. The healthcare experts named by the leading Democratic presidential hopefuls are "all big...

<p>Alexander frustrated by lack of assignments Freshman representative ''feels good'' about chances for agriculture seat Chuck Cannon Posted on January 19, 2003 Rep. Rodney Alexander says he is frustrated.</p> <p>The first-term congressman from Louisiana's Fifth Congressional District said he doesn't understand why the Democratic leadership in the U.S. House is dragging its feet on committee assignments.</p>

<p>AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) A newly revised forecast by an advisory state panel holds potential for enlarging a government revenue shortfall already pegged at about $240 million by $25 million or more, according to legislative analysts.</p> <p>The negative adjustments could make more difficult a task that has bedeviled lawmakers and Gov. Angus King for months: matching current spending levels with available resources.</p>

Hearings’ timing poses problems for legislators AUGUSTA — State House hearings on Gov. Angus King’s $240 million supplemental budget package will begin the week of Oct. 7 , but a special legislative session needed to approve the bill may not take place until after the Nov. 5 general election. In that event, responsibility for crafting the mix of program cuts and tax realignments to balance the budget will fall to members of a lame duck Legislature. “For reasons that are impossible for me to untangle — this has taken a while,” said Sen. Jill Goldthwait, a Bar Harbor independent....

WASHINGTON (AP) - Intelligence agencies aren't sure if a conversation in Arabic intercepted Sept. 10 was a warning of the next day's attacks at the World Trade Center and Pentagon ( news - web sites), an intelligence source said Wednesday. The conversation intercepted by the National Security Agency suggested that a big event was to take place the next day. It was not translated until Sept. 12. The conversation has been brought to the attention of the House and Senate intelligence committees who are conducting a joint inquiry into the Sept. 11 attacks. The panel is investigating the events surrounding...