HOUSE ARMENIA GENOCIDE VOTE PUT ON HOLD
St. Petersburg Times, FL
House_armenia_genocid.shtml
By Times Wires
Oct 26 2007
WASHINGTON House sponsors of a resolution that would label as
genocide the 1915 killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks have asked
Speaker Nancy Pelosi to delay a vote because they feared the measure
would fail. Support deteriorated this month after Turkey recalled
its U.S. ambassador in protest and several lawmakers said they
feared it would cripple U.S.-Turkey relations. The House resolution
"would really damage our relations with a Democratic ally who is
playing an extremely important strategic role in supporting our
troops," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told a House panel
on Thursday. California Democrat Adam Schiff, a sponsor of the
resolution, said it was hard to say when he will try again. Double
budget? No thanks, agency says The chairwoman of the Consumer Product
Safety Commission says a Senate bill that would more than double
the agency’s budget and expand its authority would be too difficult
for the agency to implement and "put the American people at greater
risk." "It is my and the CPSC staff’s assessment that many of our
existing public safety activities would have to be severely curtailed
or would cease entirely in order to attempt to fulfill all of the
bill’s proposed statutory directives," acting chief Nancy Nord wrote
to Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii. The
Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Affairs is expected to take
up the bill next week. Lawmakers are looking to reinvigorate the
commission after the recall of millions of toys for lead and other
hazards.