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TOP STORIES
Iraqi Lawmakers Back Bill on U.S. Withdrawal
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051000387.html
A majority of members of Iraq's parliament have signed a draft bill that would require a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. soldiers from Iraq and freeze current troop levels. The development was a sign of a growing division between Iraq's legislators and prime minister that mirrors the widening gulf between the Bush administration and its critics in Congress. The draft bill proposes a timeline for a gradual departure, much like what some U.S. Democratic lawmakers have demanded, and would require the Iraqi government to secure parliament's approval before any further extensions of the U.N. mandate for foreign troops in Iraq, which expires at the end of 2007. "We haven't asked for the immediate withdrawal of multinational forces; we asked that we should build our security forces and make them qualified, and at that point there would be a withdrawal," said Bahaa al-Araji, a member of parliament allied with the anti-American Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose supporters drafted the bill. "But no one can accept the occupation of his country."
RELATED: Debate ends with a slap in Iraq parliament
RELATED: Iraqi government rejecting U.S.-funded projects
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-05-10-iraq-contracts_N.htm
Illegal immigrants voice complaints to U.N. expert
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/stories/2007/05/10/0511metunited.html
"There's a lot of hiding now," she said. "People are in the shadows." Gines testified in Atlanta Thursday at a meeting among immigrants, community leaders and Jorge Bustamante, a United Nations expert on migrant human rights. Bustamante has held similar meetings in Arizona, Florida and Texas. More than 50 people — some from as far away as Louisiana — jammed into a small office in a nondescript office park off I-85 Thursday to give testimonies. "We have seen a rise in anti-immigrant sentiments all over the world," said Bustamante, a sociology professor at Notre Dame University who also serves as the United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants. Some people mistakenly believe that undocumented immigrants don't have any rights, he said. His visit to Georgia is significant because the state's illegal immigrant population is considered one of the nation's fastest-growing. Both the Pew Hispanic Center and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security estimate it's approaching half a million.
House GOP Stands Behind Gonzales
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051000109.html
House Republicans rallied around embattled Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales yesterday during intense questioning by Democrats, even as revelations emerged about attempts to fire U.S. attorneys singled out for criticism by White House political adviser Karl Rove. Appearing more confident as he has kept his job and the support of President Bush, Gonzales rebuffed questions by Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee about the firings of eight U.S. attorneys and repeated his defense of the dismissals as warranted, if poorly handled.
RELATED: Attorney general frustrates Democrats
RELATED: Gonzales: White House didn't seek resignations
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-05-10-gonzales-prosecutors_N.htm
Path Is Cleared For Trade Deals
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051002170.html
Congressional Democrats, who only six months ago struck a combative stance with the Bush administration on trade policy, reached a deal with the White House yesterday, clearing the way for approval of trade pacts with Peru and Panama. "Today marks a new day," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said as she stood beside the Bush administration's Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., to announce the deal. She expressed gratitude to Republicans as well as Democrats. "With their help, we have been able to agree to this new trade policy so that we can raise the living standards in the United States and abroad, expand our markets and spur economic growth," Pelosi said.
RELATED: Pelosi announces bipartisan trade policy
RELATED: Bush and Democrats in Accord on Labor Rights in Trade Deals
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/11/business/11trade-web.html
Today’s complete national news
Colorado
Bush threatens veto of disaster aid bill
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1178894064/12
President Bush warned House lawmakers Thursday he would veto legislation being drafted to provide $3.5 billion in disaster aid to Western state farmers and ranchers who suffered losses from drought and the winter's blizzards. "The 2002 Farm Bill, when coupled with federally subsidized crop insurance, already provides a generous safety net that was designed to eliminate the need for ad hoc disaster assistance," the White House informed Congress, referring to a disaster relief bill that is moving through the House. "Consequently, the proposed assistance is unnecessary and unwarranted." The disaster aid had been part of the $123 billion Iraq war supplemental that is currently deadlocked between the Democratic leadership in Congress and the White House. Bush vetoed that bill last week because it called for a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, but he also labeled the disaster aid portion as unnecessary "pork barrel" spending. Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., said the veto threat ignored the loss of cattle that ranchers suffered in the Christmas and New Year's blizzards.
Residents rip Udall's limits on Army's Piñon Canyon plans
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5531435,00.html
U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo., called Thursday for strict limits on the Army's planned expansion of its Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site, but was assailed later in the day by residents who face losing their land to the expansion. The Army announced in February that it wants to acquire 418,000 acres to expand its 238,000-acre maneuver site between Trinidad and La Junta. The Democratic congressman from Eldorado Springs introduced legislation Thursday that would require the Army to meet several conditions before it could invoke eminent domain to force southeastern Colorado ranchers and farmers from their land. Udall also called for congressional hearings on the expansion. But Udall's actions were attacked as betraying the Coloradans he was elected to represent and opening the way for the Army to proceed with condemnation plans. Instead of halting or impeding the expansion, Udall's measure was attached to a bill that actually provides funding for the Army's plan, said an angry Lon Robertson, president of a rancher and farmer group called the Piñon Canyon Expansion Opposition Coalition.
RELATED: Udall amends Piñon Canyon land criteria
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5867360
RELATED: Udall aims to restrain Army
http://www.gazette.com/articles/army_22223___article.html/udall_state.html
RELATED: Udall puts limits on Army plans for Pinon Canyon
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1178894064/3
RELATED: Army, anti-expansion group to work on resolving lawsuit
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1178894064/9
Fountain schools chief tapped for state's top education post
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/education/article/0,1299,DRMN_957_5531376,00.html
Fountain School Superintendent Dwight Jones, widely known for raising student achievement in his district, was named Thursday as the sole finalist for state education commissioner. If approved by the state Board of Education in two weeks, Jones will replace outgoing Commissioner William Moloney, who is retiring. Jones, who is black, would be the state's first minority commissioner.
RELATED: Educator lone finalist for commissioner
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5867425
RELATED: Jones taking vision statewide
http://www.gazette.com/articles/jones_22195___article.html/school_education.html
State expands investigation into personal gain from data
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5531208,00.html
The state auditor has broadened an investigation of the Colorado secretary of state's office to determine whether any employees have misused state resources to enrich themselves. The expanded inquiry by state Auditor Sally Symanski was sought by the watchdog group Colorado Citizens for Ethics in Government. Symanski could not be reached for comment Thursday. But secretary of state spokesman Jonathan Tee and state Sen. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial, confirmed a broader audit. On Wednesday, Secretary of State Mike Coffman reassigned a technology supervisor and longtime political ally who operated a side business selling voter information for mainly Republican interests.
Today’s complete Colorado news
Today’s complete daily news: http://media.progressnowaction.org/digest/051107.htm
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