Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) offers his advice to Obama for success in the next administration.

 

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Honoring America’s African American men and women of the Armed Forces was the theme in the Capitol’s rotunda as members of Congress, former Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell and Defense Secretary Robert Gates celebrated the 60th anniversary of President Truman’s Executive Order which integrated the U.S. Armed Forces. Prior to the start of the event, patriotic anthems played including “God Bless America” and “America the Beautiful” with a Revolutionary War procession kicking off the ceremony.

The speakers spoke of President Truman’s actions in signing Executive Order Number 9981 as “remarkable and worthy of praise,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Defense Sec. Robert Gates said “no aspect of black American’s quest for justice and equality under the law has been nobler than has been called the fight for the right to fight.” Gates said that in commemorating the 60th anniversary of the integration of the U.S. Armed Services, it reminds us of what it took to get there and “yet how much remains to be done,” said Gates.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) honored two African Americans who served in World War II. Captain Spencer Moore and Sergeant A. Williams Perry, who had been Buffalo soldiers of the 92nd infantry division in World War II were recognized for having served in racially segregated units. While speaking Moore said “God truly blessed us with the leadership of President Truman.” Moore posed the question though at the end of his speach that led to the standing ovation of the audience “What took us so long to live up to our creed?” said Moore.

After receiving a standing ovation, former Secretary of State Colin Powell spoke of the effects that Truman’s Executive Order had on him personally. “When I went in [to the Armed Forces] they no longer cared whether I was black or white, immigrant or not, the only thing my commanders ever told me from 1958 to the rest of my career was ‘can you perform?’ And that’s all we have ever asked for and throughout our history we have demonstrated, we can perform, let there be no doubt about it,” said Powell.

Powell’s remarks concluded when he stated “let us remember that there is still minorities in our country, African Americans, Hispanics others who are not in the military who are still looking for that dream who still need to be helped, let us not rest on our laurels. Let’s not rest on our laurels as long as there is one kid out there who grows up wondering ‘can I dream in America? Can I go to the very top?’ The answer has to be yes you can.”

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) held a conference call to discuss America’s need for a balanced and bipartisan energy plan. McConnell said that energy is the most important subject in the nation right now. He explained that in order to fix the energy problem, the U.S. needs to “find more and use less.” McConnell explained that the new bill addresses only a small part of the overall issue, speculation, and this act alone will not get the job done. He wants Congress to make a more serious effort in addressing the problem. (more…)

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) says that the Senate has a speculation bill in front of them, but a significant number of senators want to have a bill about more than just speculation. He says that the U.S. has to deal with expanded domestic production, has to incentivize battery driven cars, and overall, do “a lot more than this.” (0:36)

 

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Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) says that the price of gas at the pump is the most important subject in the U.S. He says that the only way to bring down the price of oil is to expand domestic production. McConnell says that the beginning bill only focuses on a small part of the problem, and focusing on speculation only will have no impact. He is curious to see if Congress will rise to the occasion and give the issue the attention it needs. (2:05)

 

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In a press conference regarding gas prices, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY.) said that the Republican Party is committed to creating more American energy in order to lower gas prices. He criticized Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama and his stance on gas prices. He said that apparently Senator Obama is not concerned about the rising gas prices, only the fact that they rose so abruptly. McConnell said that lowering gas prices in the America is a top priority for the Republican Party.

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH.) said that the U.S. must produce more oil in an environmentally friendly way. He said that the Democrats who run the Senate are not allowing sensible bills to be brought to the floor. He said that Democratic Majority Leader Senator Harry Reid (D-NY.) is taking partisan advantage in the Senate and it is making it impossible for Republicans to introduce legislation.

Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tex.) said that the Republican Party is prepared to act on lower gas prices, with an understanding that the issue involves supply, demand, and conservation. He said that most Republican senators voted for higher fuel efficiency standards, which according to Alexander, is essential to lowering gas prices.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) says that Iran is clearly a serious threat and those that disagree lack common sense. (0:44)

 

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Emphatic US support for the State of Israel was reiterated by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Policy Conference. Secretary Rice declared that the United States’ special relationship with Israel stems from a mutual appreciation of ideals like a free press, democracy, and tolerance, saying that conspiracy arguments concerning the US, Israel, and AIPAC are entirely inaccurate. Rice firmly said that Israel has no better friend than the United States.

Though she admitted it to be an ambitious goal, Rice said the she hopes agreements reached at the peace summit held in Annapolis, Md. will lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state by the end of the year. For this to occur, Rice said that Hamas must relinquish its fundamentalist actions while the US and Israel support the growing number of Palestinians that, according to Rice, are acting in the true interests of the Palestinian people. Rice added that a sovereign, peaceful Palestine is in the policy interests of both the United States and Israel.

Rice spoke at length about the need to engage in productive diplomacy , a gathering with means and incentives, with Iran. Rice restated the Bush administration’s stance that no effective diplomacy can take place until Iran disbands its nuclear research program. Rice said a state that denies the Holocaust and sponsors fundamentalist organizations cannot have access to a nuclear arsenal. Rice said she would be willing to meet with Iranian officials, including her Iranian counterpart, if this occured and questioned Tehran’s resistance to act.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) preceeded Secretary Rice’s statements. Sen. McConnell said that Iran must cut its ties with “murderous non-state actors” if it wants to be respected within the international community. Eli Amir spoke via satellite from Jerusalem about his experience as a Jewish refugee from Baghdad and urged AIPAC to consider in greater detail the experience of Jewish refugees from Arab countries. Amir said that after Israel’s independence, nearly the same number of Palestinians left Israel for Arab countries as the number of Jews who came to Israel from Arab countries, adding that both sides of refugee crises must be considered

The overwhelming topic at today’s stakeout was energy legislation. The Senate Republican Conference after leaving their weekly policy lunch was very clear about their message: increase supply. They explained through Senate Energy Committee Ranking Member Sen. Pete Domenici (R-MN) a five point plan to reduce crude oil prices by increasing supply. The Republican legislation calls for 2,000 acres of Alaskan plain know as ANWR to be opened for drilling, remove the moratorium on off-shore natural gas drilling and reward the states that abut offshore drilling coasts for doing so, to utilize and stop filling the strategic oil reserve, dedicate money to construct more refineries, and to borrow technology from South Africa to substitute liquid coal for oil. Senator John Ensign (R-NV) said that a principal problem with the price of oil is speculation in the futures market. He said that a strong commitment by the Congress in future investment in building America’s supply would stop speculation and immediately bring oil prices down.

The Republican statements were immediately followed by statements form the Senate Democratic leadership on their energy proposals. The Democrats began with Energy Committee Chairman Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) who explained the Democratic legislation. He said that they too have provision in the bill to stop filling the strategic oil reserve as well as anti-price gouging provisions. Sen. Schumer (D-NY) said that their bill reevaluates the windfall profits tax on “Big Oil” reestablishing the definition of “windfall” and taxing those profits at 25 percent. Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) said that the Democratic legislation also attempts to regulate margins in the futures market as a solution to the “orgy of speculation” over oil prices. Majority leader Reid said that they are going to “try and take a whack” at “Big Oil” in their bill.