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Don’t get caught flat-footed in front of the press! Below is a quick rundown of today’s “must reads.” – John T. Doolittle, House Republican Conference Secretary
The Morning Murmur – Tuesday, March 28, 2006
1.
BREAKING NEWS:
White House Chief of Staff Card to Resign - Associated Press
White House chief of staff Andy Card has resigned and will be replaced by
budget director Josh Bolten.
2.
Moussaoui Now Says White House Was His Attack Target on Sept. 11 - Boston
Globe
In stunning testimony yesterday, Zacarias Moussaoui told a federal jury that
Al Qaeda's original plan called for him to pilot a fifth plane into the
White House in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
3.
Immigration Reform Can't Reward Illegal Behavior - Senators John Cornyn and
Jon Kyl
It is critical that any solution restore respect for the law and provide
sufficient resources to control the border. And because there can be no
amnesty, reform must not reward illegal activity.
4.
Check the Polls, Not the Protests, on Immigration - Roll Call Op-ed
Several hundred thousand people marching in Los Angeles to protest
immigration reform get the attention of both the media and politicians, as
it should. But here's a quick reality check: The march, though very
impressive as a political statement, simply doesn't represent where the
country is as a whole.
5.
Freed Afghan Christian Convert Drops Out of Sight - Associated Press
An Afghan man who had faced the death penalty for converting from Islam to
Christianity quickly vanished Tuesday after he was released from prison,
apparently out of fear for his life with Muslim clerics still demanding his
death.
For previous issues of the Morning Murmur, go to www.GOPsecretary.gov
FULL ARTICLES BELOW:
TERENCE HUNT
WASHINGTON - White House chief of staff Andy Card has resigned and will be
replaced by budget director Josh Bolten, an administration official said
Tuesday, in a White House shake up that comes amid declining poll standings
for President Bush.
Bush was expected to announce the change himself later Tuesday during a
meeting with reporters in the Oval Office.
The move comes as Bush has been buffeted by increasing criticism of the
drawn-out war in Iraq and as fellow Republicans have suggested pointedly
that the president bring in new aides with fresh ideas and new energy.
Card came to Bush recently and suggested that he should step down from the
job that he has held from the first day of Bush's presidency, said the
administration official.
Bush decided during a weekend stay at Camp David, Md., to accept Card's
resignation and to name Bolten as his replacement, said the source who spoke
on condition of anonymity because he did not want to pre-empt the president.
Bolten is widely experienced in Washington, both on Capitol Hill as well as
at the White House, where he was deputy chief of staff before becoming
director of the Office of Management and Budget.
At a White House news conference last week, Bush was asked about rumors that
a shake up in the White House staff was in the works. Bush said he was
"satisfied with the people I've surrounded myself with."
"I've got a staff of people that have, first of all, placed their country
above their self-interests," he said at the time. "These are good, hard-
working, decent people. And we've dealt with a lot. We've dealt with a lot.
We've dealt with war. We've dealt with recession. We've dealt with scandal.
We've dealt with Katrina.
"I mean, they've had a lot on their plate. And I appreciate their
performance and their hard work and they've got my confidence," he said.
Bush said, "We've been a remarkably stable administration, and I think
that's good for the country."
A veteran of the administrations of both President Ronald Reagan and the
first President Bush, Card was widely respected by his colleagues in the
Bush White House. They fondly called him "chief."
He usually arrived at work in the West Wing by around 5:30 a.m. and
frequently did not leave until 9 or 10 p.m.
Card plans to stay on the job until April 14, when the switch with Bolten
takes place.
Associates said that Card, who was Secretary of Transportation and deputy
chief of staff, had wanted to establish himself as the longest serving White
House chief of staff. James Steelman, who was President Harry S. Truman's
chief of staff, had served for six years and Card's tenure will have gone
not much longer than five years.
A recent AP-Ipsos Poll found that Bush's job approval has dipped to 37
percent, his lowest rating in that poll. Nearly 70 percent of people say the
U.S. is on the wrong track, a six-point jump since February. Bush's job
approval among Republicans plummeted from 82 percent in February to 74
percent, a troubling sign for the White House in an election year.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BUSH_SHAKEUP?SITE=TXMID&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&SECTION=HOME
By Charlie Savage, Globe Staff | March 28, 2006
WASHINGTON -- In stunning testimony yesterday, Zacarias Moussaoui told a
federal jury that Al Qaeda's original plan called for him to pilot a fifth
plane into the White House in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
He also said that Richard Reid, who was later convicted of trying to use a
shoe bomb to destroy a trans-Atlantic flight in December 2001, was to have
been a member of his crew.
Moussaoui, testifying over the objections of his defense attorneys, also
said that after he was arrested on immigration charges in August 2001, he
lied to FBI interrogators so the plot to also fly hijacked planes into the
World Trade Center towers could go forward.
The statements instantly revitalized a death-penalty case that had been left
in shambles after Judge Leonie M. Brinkema barred a host of witnesses
because they had been improperly coached by a government lawyer. The
prosecution is seeking capital punishment for Moussaoui on the theory that
his silence led to the deaths of nearly 3,000 people.
Arrested a month before the 9/11 attacks after he provoked suspicions while
training to pilot a 747 at a Minnesota flight school, Moussaoui was being
held on immigration violations at the time that 19 Al Qaeda terrorists
hijacked four airliners and crashed two of them into the World Trade Center,
one into the Pentagon, and one, after a struggle with passengers, into a
Pennsylvania field.
He told the court that he lied to the FBI after his arrest so that the plot
could go forward, and asked to have a radio in his jail cell in Minnesota
because he knew the attacks were imminent. When he heard that a plane had
struck the first of the World Trade Center's twin towers on the morning of
Sept. 11, he said, ''I immediately understood."
Moussaoui also said that he did not know precisely what date the attacks
were to take place and knew little specific information about the plot when
he was arrested on Aug. 16, 2001.
''I had knowledge that the two towers would be hit, but I didn't have the
details," he said.
Moussaoui was initially suspected of being the intended ''20th hijacker" who
would have filled out the team on the Pennsylvania flight, which had only
three terrorists to control the passengers. The Sept. 11 Commission
concluded that the plane was targeted for the US Capitol.
But investigators later decided that the intended 20th hijacker was more
likely Mohammad al-Qahtani, a Saudi man who was turned away by a suspicious
immigrations officer at Orlando International Airport in August 2001 while
9/11 ringleader Mohammed Atta waited in the airport lobby. Qahtani was
subsequently taken into custody and is now being held at the military prison
at Guantanamo Bay.
Instead, investigators came to believe that Moussaoui was training to be
part of an intended second wave of lethal hijackings. When he pleaded guilty
in April 2005, Moussaoui seemed to confirm those suspicions, bragging that
Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had sent him to crash a hijacked jet into
the White House as a follow-up plot at some point after 9/11.
But yesterday Moussaoui changed his story. Had he not been arrested on Aug.
17, 2001, he said yesterday, ''I was supposed to pilot a plane to hit the
White House" on the same day as the attacks. Of his team, who would have
controlled the passengers until the crash, he said, ''one definitely was
Richard Reid. As for the others, it was not definite."
The changed testimony cast a new level of uncertainty over the official
history of the worst terrorist attack in US history. Moussaoui did not
explain why he had previously testified that he was intended to be part of a
different, second hijacking plot. He also did not explain why he had never
before named Reid as an intended accomplice.
Gerald Leone, a former first assistant US attorney in Boston who was the
lead prosecutor in the shoe-bombing case against Reid, said yesterday that
it is impossible to know whether Moussaoui is telling the truth. Moussaoui
may finally be coming clean, he said, or instead is now embellishing his
role. But Leone said Moussaoui's story is consistent with what is known
about Reid.
Investigators know that Reid and Moussaoui knew each other, went to the same
London mosque and the same training camps in Afghanistan, and had at least
one Al Qaeda handler in common, he said. Reid was arrested after trying on
Dec. 22, 2001, to blow up an American Airlines flight carrying 197 people
from Paris to Miami with explosives hidden in his athletic shoe.
Reid was foiled when passengers and crew tackled him as he attempted to
light a fuse on his shoe. The plane was diverted to Boston, where it landed
safely, and the US attorney's office in Boston was charged with prosecuting
him. Reid pleaded guilty in January 2003 and is now serving a life sentence
at a federal prison in Colorado.
Leone said that Reid told his interrogators that he had been ''disappointed"
that he didn't participate in the 9/11 attacks and that he had had a dream
in which he missed a van carrying the 9/11 hijackers and thus could not join
the plot.
''That was the closest Reid came to talking about any personal involvement
in 9/11, but that doesn't mean Moussaoui is lying," Leone said. ''It just
means that Reid never acknowledged any involvement."
Reid, he added, was vehement that he was never going to tell investigators
anything that would help them capture or prosecute another Muslim. Reid may
have stayed silent about being an intended hijacker, he said, to avoid
giving investigators any leads.
Leone also said that Reid wrote a letter to Moussaoui urging him not to
cooperate ''because Muslims don't cooperate against Muslims." Moussaoui also
wrote a letter full of ''Islamist rhetoric" to Reid, Leone said.
By declaring so forthrightly that he knew even more about the 9/11 plot than
he has previously admitted, Moussaoui yesterday may have signed his own
death warrant, some observers of the case said. But Leone said that it is
possible that dying is precisely what Moussaoui wants.
''It's just so difficult to tell with a guy like Moussaoui where his
motivations and intentions lie," Leone said. ''I don't think anyone is even
clear whether he considers the death penalty to be a badge of honor or not.
He's clearly said he wants to die a martyr, but not at the hands of the
government. So it's a mixed bag."
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/03/28/moussaoui_now_says_white_house_was_his_attack_target_on_sept_11/
Changes must benefit society, economy, security
The U.S. Senate has begun its debate to improve border security and reform
immigration laws - one of the most urgent priorities to be considered this
year.
It is critical that any solution restore respect for the law and provide
sufficient resources to control the border. And because there can be no
amnesty, reform must not reward illegal activity.
Last summer, we introduced the Comprehensive Enforcement and Immigration
Reform Act of 2005, which would dramatically bolster our border enforcement
and comprehensively reform our immigration system.
The need for reform is clear. Today, there are approximately 12 million
illegal aliens in the United States. Approximately 40 percent have arrived
here since 9/11. This is unacceptable. U.S. national security demands that
we know who is entering our country, and our sovereignty requires that we
have control over our borders; we therefore believe that any comprehensive
reform proposal must be based on the following principles:
*Border security is the No. 1 priority. The men and women who secure the
border at the ports of entry and in remote locations should be commended for
the job they do every day. But they do not have the necessary resources or
tools to effectively control the border. Through a combination of physical
barriers in high-traffic areas, increased technology and additional Border
Patrol agents, the Department of Homeland Security must apprehend and deport
every illegal alien caught at the border.
*Border security and interior enforcement go hand in hand. Approximately
one-third of the current illegal population first entered the United States
legally, then stayed after their visas expired. So immigration reform must
enable the government to apprehend, detain and deport illegal aliens who are
caught inside the country. State and local law enforcement officials must be
allowed to support the federal government in identifying illegal aliens;
and, special emphasis must be placed on deporting criminal illegal aliens
who already fill U.S. prisons.
Employer accountability will protect U.S. worker wages and create a level
playing field. Immigration reform will certainly fail if an underground
workforce is allowed to exist. Every employer must be required to verify
whether a new hire is legal, but the U.S. government must be responsible for
providing the tools an employer needs to comply with the law.
The magnet of illegal employment can be eliminated through more secure
documents and a quick electronic verification system, not unlike the one
used by businesses every day for credit card transactions.
For security reasons, it would be irresponsible to ignore the 12 million
illegal aliens already in the United States. But we cannot grant them
amnesty. While many contribute to our work force, they must do so within the
law.
The Cornyn-Kyl bill would require illegal aliens to come forward and
register, but offers no reward for breaking the law. Workers would have five
years to depart the country, and then be allowed to return in any legal
status. The objective is not to strand workers outside the country or
disrupt businesses, but to recognize that permanent resident status and
citizenship are very special benefits and all immigrants who receive them
should be asked to enter legally and go through the same process.
There are no simple solutions to the issue of immigration reform. But one
thing is clear: Immigration reform ultimately must be about legal
immigration - not creating a new process that only benefits illegal aliens.
Immigrants must abide by the rule of law and receive equal treatment.
We hope to build consensus around reform that will restore integrity to our
immigration system and meet the needs of society, the economy and national
security.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/3751751.html
March 28, 2006
By David Winston,
Several hundred thousand people marching in Los Angeles to protest
immigration reform get the attention of both the media and politicians, as
it should. But here's a quick reality check: The march, though very
impressive as a political statement, simply doesn't represent where the
country is as a whole.
In truth, the views of most of the people marching in the streets of L.A.
and other cities last weekend bear little or no resemblance to the majority
of public opinion in this country when it comes to illegal immigration.
Here's what the American people actually think about immigration reform and
border security, according to a broad range of recent national surveys:
* Sixty-three percent believe that illegal immigration is an extremely or
very serious problem. (Time, Jan. 24-26, 2006)
* They see immigration as a security issue first (41 percent), then an
economic issue (29 percent), and finally a civil rights/humanitarian issue
(24 percent). (New Models, Oct. 30-31, 2005)
* They believe that illegal immigrants, overall, hurt the economy, by a 64
percent to 26 percent margin. (Time, Nov. 29-Dec.1, 2005)
* They oppose allowing illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses by a
72 percent to 25 percent margin. (Quinnipiac University, Feb. 21-28, 2006)
* They believe that military troops should be used for border security by a
58 percent to 37 percent margin. (New Models, Oct. 30-31, 2005)
* They favor a proposal to build a 2,000-mile security fence along the
U.S.-Mexico border by a 51 percent to 37 percent margin. (Fox News/Opinion
Dynamics, Oct. 11-12, 2005)
* They agree that illegal immigrants should be able to apply for temporary
work visas, 61 percent to 38 percent. (New Models, Oct. 30-31, 2005)
* They support requiring proof of legal residency to obtain government
benefits by an 84 percent to 14 percent margin. (Quinnipiac University, Feb.
21-28, 2006)
* They believe illegal immigrants should have access to public schools, 52
percent to 48 percent. (New Models, Oct. 30-31, 2005)
* They are more likely to vote for a candidate who favors tighter controls
on illegal immigration, by a 71 percent to 11 percent margin. (NBC News/Wall
Street Journal, March 10-13, 2006)
In other words, when it comes to immigration reform, polls - not parades -
are a better barometer of where the American public is. The bigger question
is, where are the politicians coming from? For both Republicans and
Democrats, this hot-button issue has forced them to navigate some pretty
tricky political waters.
Republicans are trying to balance the demands of their conservative base,
which wants tougher border security, with the concerns of another part of
that base, the business community, which wants a more middle-of-the-road
approach.
The GOP also is trying to retain and expand the progress it has made in the
past three elections with more conservative Hispanic Americans.
Meanwhile, members of the Christian community are still deciding this
difficult and complex issue. This week, Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen
Specter (R-Pa.) has promised reform legislation that addresses both the
issues of border security and what to do with the 12 million illegal
immigrants already here. A number of Republican immigration plans have
emerged, but, as of this writing, there is no clear consensus bill.
If Specter fails to get a bill out of committee, then Senate Majority Leader
Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) will bring his own bill to the floor that deals
specifically with national security and border security issues. Unlike the
House legislation, the penalty in his bill for being in the country
illegally would be a misdemeanor rather than a felony, ameliorating one of
the Democrats' biggest criticisms of the House Republican reforms.
Whether the Senate can reach a compromise on the big sticking point - the
amnesty/guest worker issue - remains to be seen. But judging by public
opinion, Republicans would be smart to move ahead on border security while
negotiations continue. Whatever legislation finally reaches the Senate
floor, be it a Judiciary Committee proposal or a Frist alternative,
Republican views on the twin issues of border security and immigration
reform clearly are in tune with the majority of American voters.
This leaves Democrats with a dilemma: how to play to their liberal base by
siding with immigration-reform opponents who, for all practical purposes,
want amnesty now, without alienating the America people who, according to a
Quinnipiac University poll (Feb. 21-28), "oppose making it easier for
illegal immigrants to become citizens" by a margin of 62 percent to 32
percent.
Add to that the fact that "Big Labor" apparently has joined the coalition of
Latino, liberal Catholic and Democratic activists who side with illegal
immigrants in opposing the reforms. Those are groups that Democratic Members
such as Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) and Sen. Hillary Rodham
Clinton (N.Y.), a presidential hopeful, want on their side.
To help reinvigorate the party's slipping Hispanic support, Reid threatened
last week to filibuster the Frist proposal even though it contains
provisions that reflect changes Reid and other Democrats have asked for,
including tougher border security efforts, an increase in the number of
Border Patrol agents and new sanctions for employers who hire illegal
immigrants.
In a bizarre twist to the old maxim, "Praise the Lord and pass the
ammunition," Clinton opened fire on Congressional Republicans last week as
she joined Reid's filibuster effort. Apparently adopting a new stance on the
separation of church and state, Clinton complained that the House
Republicans' immigration reform package "is certainly not in keeping with my
understanding of the Scriptures because this bill would literally
criminalize the Good Samaritan and probably even Jesus himself."
By threatening to filibuster a Republican immigration reform package that,
at its core, will do much to strengthen border security, Democrats send a
confused, inconsistent and potentially unpopular message to American voters
- that they are willing to hold up stronger homeland security to give 12
million illegal immigrants amnesty. Republicans ought to call their bluff.
David Winston is president of The Winston Group, a Republican polling firm.
http://www.rollcall.com/issues/winston/
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
KABUL, Afghanistan - An Afghan man who had faced the death penalty for
converting from Islam to Christianity quickly vanished Tuesday after he was
released from prison, apparently out of fear for his life with Muslim
clerics still demanding his death.
The United Nations said it is working to find a country willing to grant
asylum to Abdul Rahman, who has appealed to leave Afghanistan. Italian
Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini will ask his government to accept Rahman,
the Italian government said in a statement.
Rahman, 41, was released from the high-security Policharki prison on the
outskirts of Kabul late Monday, Afghan Justice Minister Mohammed Sarwar
Danish told The Associated Press.
"We released him last night because the prosecutors told us to," he said.
"His family was there when he was freed, but I don't know where he was
taken."
Deputy Attorney-General Mohammed Eshak Aloko said prosecutors had issued a
letter calling for Rahman's release because "he was mentally unfit to stand
trial." He also said he did not know where Rahman had gone after being
released.
He said Rahman may be sent overseas for medical treatment.
On Monday, hundreds of clerics, students and others chanting "Death to
Christians!" marched through the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif to
protest the court decision Sunday to dismiss the case. Several Muslim
clerics threatened to incite Afghans to kill Rahman if he is freed, saying
that he is clearly guilty of apostasy and deserves to die.
"Abdul Rahman must be killed. Islam demands it," said senior Cleric Faiez
Mohammed, from the nearby northern city of Kunduz. "The Christian foreigners
occupying Afghanistan are attacking our religion."
Rahman was arrested last month after police discovered him with a Bible
during a custody dispute over his two daughters. He was put on trial last
week for converting 16 years ago while he was a medical aid worker for an
international Christian group helping Afghan refugees in Pakistan. He faced
the death penalty under Afghanistan's Islamic laws.
The case set off an outcry in the United States and other nations that
helped oust the hard-line Taliban regime in late 2001 and provide aid and
military support for Afghan President Hamid Karzai. President Bush and
others had insisted Afghanistan protect personal beliefs.
U.N. spokesman Adrian Edwards said Rahman has asked for asylum outside
Afghanistan.
"We expect this will be provided by one of the countries interested in a
peaceful solution to this case," he said.
Fini, the Italian foreign minister who is also deputy premier, will seek
permission to grant Rahman asylum at a Cabinet meeting Wednesday, a Foreign
Ministry statement said.
Fini had earlier expressed Italy's "indignation" over the case. Pope
Benedict XVI also appealed to Karzai to protect Rahman.
Italy has close ties with Afghanistan, whose former king, Mohammed Zaher
Shah, was allowed to live with his family in exile in Rome for 30 years. The
former royals returned to Kabul after the fall of the Taliban regime a few
years ago.
Asked whether the U.S. government was doing anything to secure Rahman's
safety after his release, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in
Washington that where he goes after being freed is "up to Mr. Rahman." He
urged Afghans not to resort to violence even if they are unhappy with the
resolution of the case.
The international outrage over Rahman's case put Karzai in a difficult
position because he also risked offending religious sensibilities in
Afghanistan, where senior Muslim clerics have been united in calling for
Rahman to be executed.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/032906dnintafghan.6be3d3f8.html
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