House Republican wants to restrict Pelosi’s travel

[jefferson_dem]

House Republican wants to restrict Pelosi’s travel
By Jackie Kucinich
June 21, 2007

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will not be permitted to use State Department funds to travel to nations that are known to have sponsored terrorism if a Republican amendment to appropriations legislation passes the House on Thursday.

The amendment to the $34 billion State and Foreign Operations bill, offered by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), prohibits funds to be used to travel to Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan or Syria.

In a “Dear Colleague” letter released earlier today, King said Pelosi had overstepped her constitutional role as Speaker when she traveled to Syria in April.

“Taking her cue from the Iraq Study Group’s recommendation that the U.S. enter into talks with Syria to forge a new way forward in Iraq, Speaker Pelosi decided to ignore the requests of the President that she refrain from traveling to the terrorist state,” the letter said.

King told The Hill that he believed Pelosi was in violation of the Logan Act, a 1799 law signed by President John Adams that prohibits unauthorized U.S. citizens from interfering with relations between the United States and foreign governments.

<SNIP>

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/house-republican-wants-to-restrict-pelosis-travel-2007-06-21.html

[Zodiak]

1. She made progress

so the Repukes are calling the waaaaahbulance!

Well, never let it be said that the Republicans aren't the most petty, spiteful, evil bastards around. I have no idea why anyone on the Hill with a D after their name can ever think they can broker with the modern Republican species we have now. They do not act in good faith and never intend to.

[BurtWorm]

2. Get over it, sore loserman!

Jesus Christ! That was months ago.

[onethatcares]

3. the pukes that went there, do we reward them?

wtf is wrong with this picture????? If the speaker of the house is not a part of the United States we are in some serious shit.

[mnhtnbb]

4. Oh, man. They hate us for our freedoms--Republicans, that is.

[Kerrytravelers]

5. Fine. Then I don't want my tax dollars to pay for Little Boots to campaign for his followers.

From a link from earlier:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1152965

President Bush walks from the Oval Office as he departs the White House, Thursday, June 21, 2007, for trip to tour Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant in Athens, Ala., and speak at a fundraiser for Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., before returning to Washington later in the day. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)








The original source of the story:
http://news.yahoo.com/photo/070621/480/e309f7e7663d47318dca8eb55e4c5ba7

[Snotcicles]

6. She is third in succession for crying out loud. nt

[AandP]

13. True....

but she is not authorized by the Constitution to conduct foreign policy. I think I understand her motivation but members of Congress should not be traveling overseas to conduct foreign policy, that goes for repugs as well.

The House of Representatives is elected to serve the people who elected them.

[OregonBlue]

7. Pelosi to King "Up Yours"!

[dogday]

8. Funny they did not have a problem when Newt Gingrich did the same thing

<snip>

WALLACE: Let me bring in Speaker Gingrich.

Speaker, in fairness, when you were speaker, you made a number of foreign trips. You expressed opinions when you were overseas. So have other speakers. Is the outrage here basically political?

GINGRICH: Look, there's a huge difference, and I think Senator Schumer would agree. Every legislator should be encouraged to travel. Every legislator should go on fact-finding. Every legislator should learn about the world.

WALLACE: Mr. Speaker, we looked at your record. And let's put up some of the instances.

During a trip to China in 1997, you told leaders there, "We will defend Taiwan, period," when U.S. policy on defending Taiwan was much vaguer than that.

Just before a trip to Israel in 1998, you said, "I think it's wrong for the American secretary of state," Madeleine Albright, "to become the agent for the Palestinians."

In fact, weren't you far more provocative than Speaker Pelosi?

GINGRICH: Look, Speaker Pelosi can be very provocative in the U.S. What I said in China, by the way, was U.S. policy.

</snip>

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,264836,00.html

[Solly Mack]

14. Excellent point!

[rurallib]

9. She cleared that trip with the White House weeks before she went

And other repukes went on separate trips. King (and I am an Iowan) is just TOO FUCKING STOOPID to understand that. Christ the man is an embarrassment.

[Bitwit1234]

10. That after bush and Laura

the twins and every other republican in congress has traveled the globe at the taxpayers expense. bush and Laura and cheney used jets to fly off to all the fund raisers. I suppose that type of travel is OK. Well we know it is ...republicans did it...we can't have a democrat using taxpayer money to try to solve something the president and the secretary of state screwed up.

[Brigid]

11. Adams also signed . . .

the Alien and Sedition Act, the Patriot Act of its day. It cost him a second term. Just a vain attempt to squelch dissent.

[ljm2002]

12. Sadly, he'll get mileage out of it...

...with the help of the Vichy press.

We can call him stupid, we can poke logical holes in it all we want, but the fact remains: they will still get mileage out of it. And every mile the get out of it, comes out of Nancy's hide (politically speaking).

We as a party and we as activists need to figure out a way to neutralize such stunts. Or better yet, turn them around so that they do more damage to the perpetrators than to their intended targets. For now, it is sad to note that these tactics work and that is why they are employed.