By Laura Smith – University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated Tuesday during an address to a joint session of Congress that the international community should show no tolerance toward a nuclear armed Iran.

“Zero tolerance needs to be shown when there is a risk of weapons of mass destruction falling, for example, into the hands of Iran, infecting our security,” said Merkel.

“Iran needs to be aware of this. Iran knows our offer. But Iran also knows where we draw the line. A nuclear bomb in the hands of an Iranian President who denies the Holocaust, threatens Israel and denies Israel the right to exist, is unacceptable,” she added.

The Chancellor also urged support for Israel.

“Not just Israel is threatened, but the whole of the free world is threatened. Whoever threatens Israel, threatens us.”

She said Germany has shared former president George W. Bush’s view on terrorism after the attacks on September 11, 2001 and Germany felt they had to prevent Afghanistan from harboring a threat again. Germany has been on the ground in Afghanistan since 2002, and they hold the third largest troop contingent.

Merkel’s address to Congress comes just a few days before the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

She is the second German Chancellor to address Congress, but the only to address a joint session. The first Chancellor to address Congress was Konrad Adenauer, who addressed separate sessions in 1957.

Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) says that trade growth has not come without costs to the U.S. He explains that American workers have ben displaced from their jobs, environmental and labor standards have not kept pace with economic growth, and America’s current account deficit looms larger than ever. Baucus says that it is “up to this Congress and the next” to address these issues. He says Congress must foster America’s competitiveness by ensuring maximum opportunities for the country’s companies by ensuing that “our trading partners play by the rules, at home and abroad.” (0:53)

 

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“The U.S. is standing at a crossroads in trade policy,” said Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) at the Senate Finance Committee hearing on the future of U.S. trade policy. He explained that the past eight years have seen an “explosion” of free trade agreements and market liberalization that have come with many costs. Baucus said that American workers have been displaced from their jobs, environmental and labor standards have not kept pace with economic growth, and America’s current account deficit “looms larger than ever.” (more…)

Gen. Casey, testifying at a House Armed Services Committee hearing, Casey says that he sees the next few years as full of “constant conflict,” and names some of the contributing factors. (0:56)

 

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In his speech to the World Bank about “Building Better Cities,” New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg says there are four values that have helped transform New York. Harnessing the forces of immigration and globalization, tapping the power of innovation, instituting rigorous and accountable governance, and having the independence to take on ‘entrenched interests’ when they stand in the way of progress. (:27)

 

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Ms. N’Dungu tells the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health that the transition to more modern gender roles threatens to leave Kenyan males without work, a dangerous proposition for a developing democracy. (0:57)

 

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Speaking to Scholars at the Woodrow Wilson International Center Tuesday, Ambassador Schwab discusses misconceptions and solutions to the United States’ trade imbalance. Reminding her listeners that 80% of the recent deficit increase can be attributed to rising oil costs, she highlights policies aimed at increasing exports.

 

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Ambassador Susan Schwab, US Trade Representative, refutes anti-liberalization critics and argues that the US should further promote an open global market in order to better alleviate poverty worldwide. (0:36)

 

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