Free Republic

29.11.05 | Hugo Chavez's spinmeisters love to sing the mantra "Venezuela wants to have the most cordial relations with the USA, based in mutual respect and understanding..." Well, how does the barring a BIPARTISAN US Congressional Delegation, from entering Venezuela, bodes with the aforementioned predicament? It was not enough, for Chavez, to have orchestrated with Kirchner, riots and the subsequent media attack on Bush in Mar del Plata. Nor it was sufficient for him to call President Fox a "lapdog of the empire" -one has to love the irony in light of the dynamics of the Castro-Chavez marriage... Now the...

CARACAS -- A congressional delegation led by Rep. Henry Hyde arrived on Monday in Venezuela, but was not permitted to leave the plane at the country's main airport and left abruptly, a spokesman for the U.S. embassy said. The president of the airport, however, denied the accusation, saying the U.S. ambassador met the plane at the airport, entered it briefly, and then the craft departed. The delegation on the plane had been slated to meet with Venezuelan Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel and other government officials, and waited for roughly one hour before departing, Brian Penn, the embassy spokesman, told...

Less than two years after finally paying its full dues to the United Nations, the US is again threatening to withhold payments from the world body unless the UN undertakes the important reforms sought by Washington. A US congressional committee on Wednesday voted narrowly to approve legislation that would withhold half of its annual $500m contribution unless the UN streamlined its bureaucracy, barred countries that violated human rights from UN human rights bodies and created an independent oversight board and ethics office. Henry Hyde, Republican chairman of the House international relations committee, said the bill was the only way to...

Zakaria: I think that the Bush administration has a Jekyll-and-Hyde problem—a contradictory attitude toward the war on terror. On the one hand it has wholeheartedly embraced the view that America must change its image in the Muslim world. It wants to stop being seen as the supporter of Muslim tyrants and instead become the champion of Muslim freedoms. President Bush and his secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, are transforming American policy in this realm, and while some of the implementation has been spotty, the general thrust is clear and laudable. For this they deserve more credit than they have generally...

Friday May 27, 9:48 AM U.S. House resolution urges N. Korea to resolve abduction issue (Kyodo) _ U.S. House of Representatives International Relations Committee Chairman Henry Hyde submitted a resolution on Thursday condemning North Korea for abducting Japanese and South Korean citizens and urging it to release all abductees. Co-sponsored by six other House lawmakers, the resolution names Megumi Yokota, Rumiko Masumoto, Keiko Arimoto and other Japanese abductees. Congressional sources said the measure is certain to pass the House as it is sponsored by Hyde, an influential Republican from Illinois, as well as Democrats. Hyde had promised to introduce it...

The US Congress is on a collision course with the United Nations by threatening to cut its annual budget by tens of millions of pounds, which would disrupt its work on the ground. Henry Hyde, the Republican chairman of the house international relations committee, is circulating an 80-page draft bill suggesting cuts to UN programmes congressmen regard as inefficient or worthless. Republican senators have waged a long campaign against the UN, much of whose work they oppose on ideological grounds. Their case has been aided by recent scandals, ranging from sex abuse by UN peacekeepers in Africa to the mishandling...

State senator announces bid to replace Hyde in Congress GLEN ELLYN, Ill. State Senator Peter Roskam says he will run for the congressional seat being vacated by Henry Hyde. Roskam was first elected to the state Legislature in 1993. He is among its most articulate voices for conservative positions on gun control, abortion and more. He has also been a frequent critic of Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevich (bluh-GOY'-uh-vich). The 44-year-old Wheaton resident could face some tough competition. Moderate state Senator Carole Pankau (PAYNK'-ow) might challenge him for the Republican nomination. And the 2004 Democratic nominee is likely to run again....

Top Kremlin operatives and a flamboyant Russian politician reaped millions of dollars in profits under the U.N. oil-for-food program by selling oil that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein allowed them to buy at a deep discount, a Senate investigation has concluded. The allegations -- which also include descriptions of kickbacks paid to Hussein -- are detailed in hundreds of pages of reports and documents made public last night by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations in advance of a hearing tomorrow. The documents outline a trail of oil and money that leads directly from Iraq to the Kremlin and the former...

At one end of the street stands the United Nations; at the other end, stands the United States Congress. At issue: whether the U.N.’s diplomatic immunity trumps the subpoena power of the U.S. Congress. Paul Volcker - Kofi Annan’s hand-picked investigator of the oil-for-food scandal - represents the U.N. Henry Hyde - Chairman of the House International Relations Committee - represents the U.S. Volcker has persistently blocked Congressional efforts to secure information about the multi-billion-dollar oil-for-food scandal. Hyde issued a subpoena, which produced several boxes of documents that Volcker says are protected by diplomatic immunity. Volcker wants the documents returned....

Defiant U.N. sleuth hands over oil-for-food papers By Sue Pleming WASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) - A former investigator for an independent inquiry into the U.N. oil-for-food program handed over potentially explosive documents on Thursday to a U.S. congressional committee, triggering outrage from inquiry head Paul Volcker. Robert Parton, a lawyer and former FBI agent who resigned last month as senior investigative counsel for the inquiry, gave the documents to U.S. lawmakers even though he signed a confidentiality agreement when he was hired and certified when he left that he possessed no documents related to his work. Congressional investigators speculate the...

Henry Hyde (R-IL), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee during the Clinton impeachment hearings, was interviewed by ABC News political reporter Andy Shaw. The ABC headline is entitled, "Clinton Impeachment was Retaliation for Nixon, Says Retiring Congressman." This is completely bogus. When listening to the clip, I noticed a couple things. First, Andy Shaw said that the impeachment of Clinton embarrassed Henry Hyde because it brought attention to his "hypocrisy" many years earlier when he participated in an extramarital affair. (Unsurprisingly, Shaw did not mention anything about obstruction of justice.) Second, Shaw commented on Hyde's retirement, saying that some people...

Leading suburban Republicans said Tuesday the decision by veteran GOP U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde to not seek re-election next year could result in a torrent of candidates vying to replace him and create a potentially costly primary contest for a seat that Democrats are likely to aggressively target. Patrick Durante, a longtime Hyde aide who also is head of the Addison Township Republican organization, estimated a hard-fought primary contest in the 6th Congressional District could cost a contender $1 million or more to gain the name recognition and support necessary to win in March. And for some of the candidates...

Republican Congressman Henry Hyde made some surprising comments Thursday on the impeachment hearings of President Bill Clinton. He now says Republicans may have gone after Clinton to retaliate for the impeachment of Richard Nixon. Hyde is stepping down after this term Hyde's comments came as he talked with ABC7 political reporter Andy Shaw about his 30 year in Congress. In an exclusive interview, Hyde delivered a big dose of candor and some reflective second guessing. He said, among other things, he might not try to impeach President Clinton if he had it to do all over again. The 81-year-old DuPage...

CHICAGO (AP) -- Rep. Henry J. Hyde, the Illinois Republican who steered the impeachment proceedings against President Clinton and championed restrictions on government funding for abortion, announced yesterday that he will retire when his term ends in 2006. Mr. Hyde, who serves as chairman of the House International Relations Committee, made the announcement on his Web site on his 81st birthday. He was first elected to the House in 1974 from his Bensenville district near O'Hare International Airport. Mr. Hyde also serves on the House Judiciary Committee, which he chaired from 1995 to 2001. Aides to Mr. Hyde did not...

U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde, the Illinois Republican who steered the impeachment proceedings against President Clinton and championed government restrictions on abortion funding, announced Monday that he will retire when his term ends in 2006. Hyde, who serves as chairman of the House International Relations Committee, made the announcement on his Web site on his 81st birthday. He was first elected to the House in 1974 from his Bensenville district near O’Hare International Airport. Hyde also serves on the House Judiciary Committee, which he chaired from 1995 to 2001. Aides to Hyde did not return phone calls seeking comment Monday. Andrew...

The European Union's (EU) resumption of arms sales to China "is a dangerous development that runs counter to the advance of liberty and threatens U.S. security interests, as well as those of Japan and Taiwan," charges Rep. Henry Hyde, R-IL. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Thursday, Hyde, Chairman of the House International Relations Committee disputed the EU's contention that the arms embargo against China is no longer warranted on human-rights grounds. Hyde scoffed at the claim, noting, "The many Chinese citizens who remain in prison 15 years later for activities related to Tiananmen might feel differently." "The Communist Party...

Inquiry on Food-for-Oil Plan Cites U.N. Diplomat for Conflict By JUDITH MILLER and WARREN HOGE n interim report by a commission investigating the United Nations oil-for-food program in Iraq said the former head of the program had violated the United Nations Charter by helping a company owned by a friend to obtain valuable contracts to sell Iraqi oil. The conduct of Benon V. Sevan, a Cypriot official who ran the program between 1997 until its demise in 2003, was a "grave and continuing conflict of interest" and had "seriously undermined the integrity of the United Nations," the report concludes. The...

House Protects Health Care Providers on Abortion, Senate Will BattleThe U.S. House of Representatives on Saturday passed a federal spending bill containing a provision that protects pro-life health care providers who opt against performing or paying for abortions.The Hyde-Weldon anti-discrimination amendment ensures that state and local governments receiving money from the federal Health and Human Services Department cannot discriminate against health care providers that do not perform abortions, pay for abortions, provide insurance coverage for abortions or refer to agencies that perform abortions.The provision covers doctors and other health care professionals, hospitals, insurance companies, and others.Douglas Johnson of the National...

NEW YORK (AP) - Saddam Hussein diverted money from the U.N. oil-for-food program to pay millions of dollars to families of Palestinian suicide bombers who carried out attacks on Israel, say congressional investigators who uncovered evidence of the money trail. The former Iraqi president tapped secret bank accounts in Jordan - where he collected bribes from foreign companies and individuals doing illicit business under the humanitarian program - to reward the families up to $25,000 each, investigators told The Associated Press. Documents prepared for a Wednesday hearing by the House International Relations Committee outline the new findings about how Saddam...

OP-ED COLUMNIST Washington — "I'm angry that we find the U.N. proactively interfering with our investigation," Senator Norm Coleman, chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, informed Lou Dobbs on CNN, "by telling certain folks not to cooperate with us." He repeated for emphasis his sharp response to Secretary General Kofi Annan's "interfering with our ability to get information we need" about the oil-for-food scandal. Judith Miller of The Times had revealed that the Minnesota Republican, joined by ranking Democrat Carl Levin, sent a letter noting Annan's four-month foot-dragging and that "the U.N. is hindering our efforts to obtain...