Chicago Sun-Times, IL
Oct 14 2007
Pelosi to move on genocide resolution that Hastert blocked
October 14, 2007
BY ROBERT NOVAK Sun-Times Columnist
Former Majority Leader Dick Gephardt, a registered lobbyist for
Turkey, failed several months ago to get his successor as top House
Democrat, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, to withdraw her support from a
long-pending resolution condemning alleged Turkish genocide of
Armenians in 1915.
The Bush administration had urged Congress not to offend Turkey, a
U.S. ally, but the measure passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee
on Wednesday. Pelosi has pledged House action this year on the
genocide resolution that in the past was blocked by Rep. J. Dennis
Hastert (D-Ill.), her Republican predecessor as speaker.
In addition to Gephardt, the Turkish government also hired a top
Republican lobbyist: Bob Livingston, former chairman of the House
Appropriations Committee.
Hillary’s adviser
Prominent Democrats, while minimizing the revelation that Sandy
Berger is advising Sen. Hillary Clinton on foreign affairs, emphasize
that the disgraced former national security adviser would have no
role in her presidency.
Clinton says Berger is strictly an unofficial adviser. Berger avoided
a prison sentence for illegally removing classified documents from
the National Archives, agreeing to a $50,000 fine, 100 hours’
community service and two years’ probation, along with losing his
security clearance.
Berger’s role in the Clinton campaign is explained by the senator’s
supporters as stemming from close family ties forged when he was a
senior official in President Bill Clinton’s White House.
Romney’s blunders
Mitt Romney, who tries to come across as a picture-perfect candidate,
committed his second off-the-cuff blunder at Tuesday’s Republican
presidential debate in Dear- born, Mich.
Asked whether he would go to Congress for authorization to take
military action against Iran’s nuclear facilities, the former
Massachusetts governor said: ”You sit down with your attorneys and
[they] tell you what you have to do.” He added that ”we’re going to
let the lawyers sort out” the problem.
Two months earlier in a town hall event at Bettendorf, Iowa, Romney
was asked whether any of his five sons were serving in the military
and, if not, how they supported the war against terrorism. He
replied: ”One of the ways my sons are showing support for our nation
is helping to get me elected.”
Lobbying to override veto
Newspaper and television ads in Rep. James Walsh’s Syracuse, N.Y.,
district this week promoted the 10-term Republican congressman’s
support of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program vetoed by
President Bush.
The advertising, not produced by Walsh and a surprise to him, was put
out by the Americans for Children’s Health coalition seeking support
for the expansion of government-provided health care.
The ads, purchased in Walsh’s district and districts of other
Republican congressmen who broke with Bush on health care, push them
to override the veto.
The coalition consists of member organizations of health care
industries: the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America,
the American Medical Association, the American Health Care
Association, Families USA and the Federation of American Hospitals.
Sen. Richardson?
Sen. Charles Schumer, the Senate Democratic campaign chairman, is
pressing New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson to give up his presidential
bid and run for his state’s Senate seat held by retiring Republican
Sen. Pete Domenici.
Republicans hope to hold the New Mexico seat with Rep. Heather
Wilson, since the most popular Democratic prospect, Rep. Tom Udall,
has decided not to run. Richardson, a former congressman and Clinton
administration Cabinet member, has been a popular governor and would
be heavily favored for the Senate.
However, friends of Richardson predict that he will resist the
pressure to be the Senate candidate. Although he is given no chance
to win the presidential nomination, Richardson has broken through to
the top of the second-tier candidates and is a serious prospect to
become Sen. Hillary Clinton’s vice-presidential running mate. Party
strategists see Richardson, a Mexican American, appealing to Latino
votes in four Western states that could swing the 2008 presidential
election: Colorado, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico.
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