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Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) on Wednesday criticized the House impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas as a partisan detour from Congress’s important work. Asked about the merits of trying Mayorkas on impeachment charges in the Senate, Murkowski said lawmakers need to focus on funding the government instead. “Oh my goodness. We’re busy, right? To have to take a detour from the important work that’s going on,” she said. The Alaska senator, a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, cited an upcoming meeting on legislation to fund the government through 2024 and the need to fund national security needs...

A group of Senate Republicans attempted to overcome Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-Ala.) blockade of more than 370 military nominations, marking the first time GOP members have attempted a maneuver of this kind. Led by Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Senate Republicans sought to move numerous promotions for military officers but were blocked by Tuberville as part of his holds that have lasted nearly eight months over the Pentagon’s year-old policy that covers travel expenses for military personnel who travel for abortion care. “America needs to have our best players, most combat-capable leaders, on the field. And right now, that’s not happening....

Washington — Seven companies at the forefront of developing rapid advancements in artificial intelligence have agreed to voluntary safeguards for users, the White House announced Friday. On Friday, Mr. Biden announced several steps that the companies have agreed to take voluntarily. First, the companies have agreed to "testing the capabilities of their systems, assessing their potential risks, and making the results of these assessments public." They will also safeguard their models against cyberthreats, and manage the risk to national security, Mr. Biden said. Third, the companies "have a duty to earn the people's trust and empower users to make informed...

Starting at the end of this month the Democratic National Convention will open with a focus on Islam; 20,000 Muslims are expected to attend, according to the Bureau of Indigenous Muslim Affairs, the national Muslim American non-profit coordinating the two days of events they claim are non-political. ”Jumah at the DNC” begins August 29 and will start with a Friday afternoon jummah prayer followed by other unnamed programs and events, leading up to the Islamic Regal Banquet. The following day will be an all day Islamic Cultural and Fun Fest which will include discussions on the topics of Islamaphobia, Anti-Shariah,...

'Paulson's new 'Global Banking Corp.' IPO 2009 Forget Washington, forget Goldman: Our hero has global ambitions By Paul B. Farrell, MarketWatch Last update: 7:05 p.m. EDT Oct. 6, 2008Comments: 108ARROYO GRANDE, Calif. (MarketWatch) -- What if: Hank Paulson doesn't return to Wall Street and Goldman Sachs? Builds a global banking empire? Competes head-on with Goldman, Morgan, and other domestic and foreign banks? What if the money comes from offshore, from Asia and the Gulf? He's a red-hot brand! Expect a mega-IPO in 2009.

Press Releases Contact: Brendan Daly 202-226-7616 For Immediate Release 04/20/2007 House Democratic Leaders Call President’s Attention to Crucial Facts in Iraq War Debate Washington, D.C. – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Majority Whip James Clyburn, Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel, Caucus Vice Chairman John Larson, and Assistant to the Speaker Xavier Becerra sent a letter to President Bush today to call his attention to crucial facts regarding the funding of the troops in Iraq and the debate on a timetable for withdrawal. Below is the text of the letter: April 20, 2007 The President The White House Washington,...

CLICK HERE to listen to Audio of Speech (Requires Windows Media Player) PHX News reporter Lobo got this audio of Karl Rove's speech to the National Council of The Race (La Raza) on Tuesday.

Beginning a public relations offensive intended to prod divided Congressional Republicans into overhauling the nation's immigration laws, President Bush rebuked conservative opponents of his plan on Thursday and warned that there is "no excuse" for delay. ..In his speech, Mr. Bush took aim at House members who brand the Senate bill amnesty, though he did not mention any by name. "Some members of Congress argue that no one who came to this illegally should be allowed to continue living and working in our country," he said. The lawmakers are "are acting on deeply felt principles," he said, but added, "I...

Microsoft Corp disclosed the details of a deal signed with China's top economic planning body, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) on Wednesday. Microsoft's vice president and chief technology officer Craig Mundie arrived in Beijing to disclose the details of the MOU signed on Apr 18, according to which, Microsoft Corp will invest $100 million in setting up cooperation with China-based software enterprises and their subsidiaries, joint ventures outside China. It will place orders worth $100 million to software enterprises in China. Microsoft will place a 700-million-U.S.-dollar hardware export order with Chinese companies in each of the next...

Excerpts - Later [Hu] said to Gates: "I admire what you have achieved at Microsoft," Hu said. "Because you, Mr. Bill Gates, are a friend of China, I'm a friend of Microsoft," he said. "Also, I am dealing with the operating system produced by Microsoft every day," he added, amid laughter. "I certainly look forward to the extension of your cooperation with China," Hu said. Hu also said he would certainly welcome a further increase in Microsoft's investment in China. "I'd also like to take this opportunity to assure you, Bill Gates, that we will certainly our words in protecting...

GOP Chiefs Don't Want Immigrants Charged By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent 29 minutes ago The two top Republicans in Congress, confronted with internal party divisions as well as large public demonstrations, said Tuesday they intend to pass immigration legislation that does not subject illegal aliens to prosecution as felons. A written statement by Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee, did not say whether they would seek legislation subjecting illegal immigrants to misdemeanor prosecution or possibly a civil penalty such as a fine. "It remains our intent to produce a strong border security...

President Bush has proposed, and the Senate is currently considering, a guest worker program. While the issue has sparked a rancorous debate, there has been little discourse about the many ramifications of such a program. Here are some questions for which many Americans would like to hear some answers: 1. Will spouses and children be able to accompany the guest worker? Just minor children or adult ones as well? 2. Will any or all of the above be able to demand government services in the language of their choice, per President Clinton's Executive Order 13166? Will the workers be required...

PROTECTIONISTS, REJOICE! The dastardly United Arab Emirates company that would have presumed to unload containers of underwear and toothpaste on U.S. soil has backed down, and it will now divest its U.S. port interests to an American entity. Rest assured, the nation is now safe from dangerous Middle Eastern accountants and port logistics specialists. Dubai Ports World did what was necessary, if not necessarily fair, on Thursday by agreeing to give up the U.S. operations of its newly acquired British ports company. The House Appropriations Committee had voted 62 to 2 on Wednesday to block the deal; a similar bill...

Excerpt - The two Bills, Clinton and Gates, took the stage this afternoon at the Time Global Health Summit. For two men who spend their lives in the klieg lights, this was a rare opportunity for what could almost pass for a schmooze. TIME managing editor Jim Kelly asked them a wide range of questions, many of them posed in writing by conference attendees. Some of the highlights: [snip] The leadership question: Kelly began to ask Gates what he'd do if he were the leader of the World health organization, but the question elicited some inadvertent laughter, when it sounded...

BEIJING, Sept. 27 -- Microsoft invested US$20 million in a Beijing-based domestic software firm yesterday, aiming to strengthen its commitment to the Chinese market and tap into the nation's software engineering talent pool. International Finance Corp (IFC), an investment arm of the World Bank, also invested US$15 million in the same firm, ChinaSoft International Ltd. The company is under the control of the State-owned China National Software and Service Co Ltd (CS&S). The parties involved declined to disclose how big the stakes of Microsoft and IFC are. ChinaSoft International is valued at HK$788 million (US$101 million) on the Growth...

US and China should break the "old economy" - Clinton By John Liu Hangzhou September 10. INTERFAX-CHINA - Former US President Bill Clinton has said that China had no choice but to develop renewable sources of energy, saying that if new alternatives were not found to traditional modes of economic growth, international conflicts over scarce resources would become increasingly likely. Clinton, attending the China Internet Summit at the West Lake, organized by the e-commerce portal Alibaba in the coastal resort city of Hangzhou, noted that in an "interdependent" world, growing nations such as China and India had to find...

Former Microsoft executive Kai-Fu Lee has accused the software giant of incompetence in its plans to gain a business footing in China, and testified that an expletive-filled tirade from chairman Bill Gates was a low point before he defected to rival Google. In testimony during a hearing on Microsoft's lawsuit against Lee and Google, Lee said on Tuesday he wrote a memo to another Microsoft executive saying he was "deeply disappointed at our incompetence in China - that we have wasted so many years in China with little to show for it." Lee went on to say in the email...

Excerpt - Microsoft is on track to outsource more than 1,000 jobs a year to China, according to blistering evidence released yesterday in Microsoft's increasingly nasty spat with Google over an employee who jumped ship in July. In a revelation that highlights the complexity of China President Hu Jintao's visit to Seattle and Microsoft on Monday, legal filings detailed claims of how Microsoft had offended the Chinese government by not outsourcing as many jobs as promised to Chinese technology vendors. Chief Executive Steve Ballmer visited China in 2003 and promised to step up the pace, from $33 million worth of...

The Monday night agreement to avert a showdown vote over judicial filibusters not only spared the Senate from a potentially ruinous clash, but also certified John McCain as the real leader of that body. In contrast to Majority Leader Bill Frist, who was unable to negotiate a compromise with Minority Leader Harry Reid or hold his Republicans in line to clear the way for all of President Bush's nominees to be confirmed, McCain looks like the man who achieved his objectives. U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) talks with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., May 24, 2005. Fourteen U.S....

Microsoft is advancing its outsourcing partnership with India-based Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to extend Microsoft's Connected Services Framework (CSF) to additional international locations. ADVERTISEMENT Microsoft Consulting Services unit has teamed up with TCS to deliver an integrated IT solution to BT (British Telecom) Retail that the providers view as a model for the outsourcing offerings it plans to offer globally, Microsoft said. The companies noted that TCS operates a Microsoft Solutions Center in Hungary that serves customers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. TCS has said that it likewise sees opportunities for the combined outsourcing effort in the Asia...