About Nancy Pelosi

[Rasputin]

Democrat Pelosi is first female House speaker

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Vowing to tighten ethics rules and reduce partisan bickering, Democrats took control of both houses of Congress for the first time in 12 years on Thursday and elected Nancy Pelosi to serve as the first female speaker of the House in the nation's history.
In a tally that was a foregone conclusion in the wake of last November's Democratic victory in the midterm elections, the House voted along party lines to hand the speaker's gavel to Pelosi, the Californian who has served as the leader of the House Democrats since 2002.
"This is an historic moment for the Congress, and for the women of this country ... For our daughters and granddaughters, today we have broken the marble ceiling," Pelosi said.

Democrats and Republicans promised to try to work together in the new Congress.
House Republican leader John Boehner said the election of the first woman to be House speaker was a cause for celebration "whether you are a Republican, an independent or a Democrat."
After accepting the gavel and being sworn in as speaker, Pelosi formally swore in the other 434 House members.
Democrats gained 30 House seats in the midterm election, giving Democrats a 233-202 majority. In the Senate, Democrats made a net gain of six seats to give them a narrow 51-49 edge.

There are 49 Democrats and 49 Republicans in the Senate, along with two independents who have pledged to vote with the Democrats. One Democrat, Sen. Tim Johnson of South Dakota, continues to recover from emergency brain surgery performed last month and isn't expected to return to the chamber for several months.

Given the narrow majority, Democrats will need to work with Republicans to ensure passage of legislation in the Senate, where measures often require a 60-vote super-majority.

"The majority my party holds is slim -- 51-49," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. "Some may look at this composition as a recipe for gridlock, but I see it as a unique opportunity ... for Democrats and Republicans to debate our differences and seek common ground.
In the House, Pelosi reiterated Democratic campaign pledges to turn the country in a "new direction," including work on measures designed to address middle-class economic worries as well as pressing President Bush to redeploy U.S. troops stationed in Iraq.

"The American people rejected an open-ended obligation to a war without end ... It is the responsibility of the president to articulate a new plan for Iraq that makes it clear to the Iraqis that they must defend their own streets and their own security, a plan that promotes stability in the region, and that allows us to responsibly redeploy American forces," Pelosi said, in the prepared remarks.

Pelosi's first order of business after accepting the gavel will be to push through new rules that would bar lawmakers and their staff members from accepting gifts, trips and meals from lobbyists, and prohibits the use of official, personal or campaign funds to pay for the use of non-commercial, corporate jets. The restriction doesn't apply to charter aircraft.
The ethics package will also bar the majority party from holding votes open beyond their time limit -- a common practice when the House was under GOP control -- to give leaders additional opportunities to twist arms.
"Democrats are committed to treating the minority better than we were treated, and to restoring civility to the way business is conducted in the House," said Rep. Louise Slaughter of New York, who will chair the House Rules Committee, in remarks prepared for delivery Thursday afternoon. "We are also determined to stop special-interest lobbyists from writing the legislation this body passes. That means ending the influence and access lobbyists buy with trips and gifts."

Beyond the lobbying package, Democrats have vowed to use the first 100 hours of the new Congress to fulfill a number of campaign pledges, working to quickly pass measures that include a hike in the federal minimum wage, increased federal support for stem-cell research, and allow the federal government to negotiate lower prices for drugs under the Medicare prescription program.

The 100-hour agenda has drawn complaints from GOP leaders, who say Democrats are going back on pledges to ensure greater rights for the minority party than was the case under Republican rule.
"I clearly regret the fact that they appear to be in a position to want to shut us down here in the first several weeks of the new Congress. Yes, those new rights are coming soon. But at the end of the day, we have got to find a way to work together," Boehner said earlier Thursday, in an interview with Fox News.

Democrats say the 100-hour agenda represents measures they successfully campaigned on in the midterm elections.

"Well, I don't think we want to shut them down in the first 100 hours," incoming House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the No. 2 Democrat in the House, told Fox News. "What we want to do in the first 100 hours is do exactly what we promised the American people that we would do and that we debated over the last six months."

The Senate also plans to take up a lobbying reform package as the first order of business. Democratic and Republican lawmakers met behind closed doors Thursday morning for a non-legislative session that party leaders said was designed to clear the air and help tamp down partisan divisions.
The gathering "was a chance for many of our members to express some of their quiet frustrations, that we get past the level of partisanship that we've witnessed in recent years and develop stronger personal relationships, as well as work across party aisles," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

[Rasputin]

Later Friday, the final of three days of festivities Pelosi orchestrated to introduce herself to the nation, she was to head to her native Baltimore to visit statues of her father, Thomas D'Alesandro, the city's former mayor.

A ceremony was scheduled to rename a part of her childhood street in the city's Little Italy after her, as Via Nancy D'Alesandro Pelosi.

The week's events also included Catholic Masses and dinner at the Italian Embassy as Pelosi highlighted her ethnic, family and religious background more than her California liberal politics.

Crooner Tony Bennett provided the week's soundtrack at a $1,000-a-head fundraiser Thursday night for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee: "I Left My Heart in San Francisco."

As she had earlier Thursday after accepting the speaker's gavel from House Republican leader John Boehner, Pelosi thanked her husband, investor Paul Pelosi, and the rest of her family for helping her move "from the kitchen to the Congress."

"I guess it hasn't really fully landed that I am the person who carries a great deal of responsibility," she acknowledged, "because we have always been a team effort."

Pelosi kept her family close throughout the day Thursday, bringing her grandchildren onto the House floor where they took turns sitting in her lap as the roll was called sealing her election by a vote of 233-202, the chamber's Democratic-Republican breakdown.

Pelosi's daughter Alexandra told the Thursday night gala that her hard-charging mother, who ran for Congress only in 1987 after moving to San Francisco and raising her children, was never ordinary.

She multitasked, made elaborate Halloween costumes by hand and hosted birthday parties where children built life-size gingerbread houses.

"Everybody's coming up to me and saying, 'Can you believe your mother is speaker of the House?'" said Alexandra Pelosi. "And to anyone who's been to my house, the answer is: 'Of course!'"

[Rasputin]

Pat Schroeder, the former Democratic congresswoman from Colorado, vowed to wear her silvery "Madame Speaker 2007'' pin "until it rusts and falls off.'' But by the end of last week, new House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's oft-repeated teatime remarks to the young ladies of the Convent of the Sacred Heart -- "We're not prisoners of the past; we're shaping the future'' -- seemed slogan-like.

On the other hand, the educational wallop that began with what student Tanaya Macheel of the San Francisco school called "being in a political environment and being able to see Nancy in person'' went beyond words.

Friday morning on national TV, Pelosi had been seen shaking her head "no" to a reporter who asked whether she would support sending additional troops to Iraq. Madam Speaker's locomotive had chugged away from the station and was heading down the track. As Americans watched, a question arose: Is the power of office any different when it is wielded by a woman, and -- even today -- do women have a harder time in office?

"The fact that you are a novelty means that you are watched doubly carefully,'' said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., during a phone conversation several weeks ago. "And I've always felt the most important thing is to show you could be effective early on."

Pelosi's 100-hour blitz of legislation began immediately Thursday with the reforming of the House rules. "Once you're effective,'' said Feinstein, "the whole perception of you changes.''

Feinstein, now beginning her 15th year in the Senate, remembered that she passed two early tests: bills to ban assault weapons and a desert protection act, going "toe to toe" with Republican Sen. Malcolm Wallop of Wyoming, "and from that point on, I had a very productive relationship with men."

There were some social problems. "It's very difficult," she said, "to go up to a man and say, 'How about having dinner with me tonight?' It is for me ... and there is still that thing.''

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said by phone in December that when she arrived in the House in 1983, she demanded that a male colleague's comment -- "I want to associate myself with the remarks of the gentlelady from California. As a matter of fact, I'd like to associate with the gentlelady'' -- be stricken from the record.

Boxer said she treats men and women the same. But Feinstein allowed that in some cases it might be possible to "use warm femininity to reach a goal ... I think it is a finely honed art form. You have to be very careful."

Now, most male lawmakers are savvier. "There are no different rules for women or men," said Boxer, who served in the House for a decade before her election to the Senate in 1992. "We get the same pay, we get the same rules, we have the right to hold up legislation, we have the right to introduce legislation.''

Although Boxer said Pelosi -- her "closest of friends" -- told her years ago "she wanted to be speaker,'' the feat is "amazing. ... I believed we would have a woman president long before we would have a woman speaker, because it's such a man's world in the House.''

Schroeder, who served in the House from 1973 to 1996 and is now executive director of the Association of American Publishers, said she never thought there would be a woman speaker, because in the caucus, "they can vote by secret ballot."

In the '80s, when Schroeder and her House colleagues Shirley Chisholm and Geraldine Ferraro of New York and Ohio's Mary Rose Oakar tried to push through women- and family-friendly legislation, they'd line up male allies, ducks in a row. "We thought we had the votes. And then the votes would come out the other way.''

That's still not entirely in the past. Although there are a record 71 female members serving in the 110th Congress, it's "only" 16 percent of the chamber, she said, "and we still don't have an Equal Rights Amendment.''

Schroeder and Boxer said there are a variety of reasons it has taken women longer to reach powerful positions in Congress.

"A lot of it in the House had to do with the fact that women came a lot later,'' Boxer said, "and didn't stay as long. Many had gotten there because their husbands had died. If appointed, they would have less respect ... that was a lot different than fighting for it'' in an election.

Schroeder said that while nontraditional families are common in America today, in Congress "only 1 family in 10 doesn't look like the Norman Rockwell family.''

The congressional men in those families, Schroeder said she believes, are personally threatened by women in power. Their wives have supported them by hosting receptions, sending holiday cards and smiling at political rallies, and that's the role they see for women.

"We all want wives," Schroeder said, laughing.

Feinstein and Rep. Mary Bono, R-Palm Springs, said that female camaraderie is essentially different from the male variety.

Despite political differences, "Women are more quick to share their personal side, to support each other,'' said Bono, who has known Pelosi since the early 1990s. Bono said that when they first met, she told Pelosi she was impressed with her "charisma, charm and intelligence'' and Pelosi "looked at me, surprised'' at the compliment.

She still has warm feelings and says Pelosi's swearing-in speech Thursday was "truly historic," but she is left with a conundrum: "I want her to be successful as a woman in power, but politically, as a Republican, I am on the other side. But I hope when she needs a friend on this side of the aisle, I'll be one of the first she will call.''

Bono said expressing anger is a special problem for women in positions of authority.

"There are different ways to be, different sensitivities. ... Guys like to say we're shrill and use the b-word to describe us.''

But Schroeder said in the Republican-controlled House of the past 12 years, all differences of opinion became "very personal." The attitude of GOP leaders such as Newt Gingrich and Tom DeLay was "if you don't agree with me, you must be a Commie simp from San Francisco, and your mother wore combat boots. Instead of getting angry, they tried to trash somebody. And Nancy Pelosi is not going to do that.''

[Rasputin]

Open letter to US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi

Paul J. Balles calls upon newly-elected Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi to replace her meaningless rhetoric with real action by calling George Bush to account for his crimes and by preventing US aggression against Iran.

"It's an historic moment for the women of America. It is a moment for which we have waited for over 200 years." - Nancy Pelosi, on becoming speaker of the House.

Two hundred years ago, you were busy raising children, teaching them things they don't learn today. You were also looking after your husbands - those men who made America great. Because you looked after them well, we had leaders that make today's politicos look like cretins.

I'm not belittling your achievement, Nancy Pelosi, but statements like the one you made elicit cheers that ignore the price paid for your emancipation.

Perhaps you won't need your men's support the way men relied on yours. Perhaps you'll only need those kisses on the cheek that men have waited for 200 years to give as you enter the halls of Congress.

If you do nothing else, Nancy Pelosi, now is the time to allow impeachment proceedings to begin against President Bush and Vice-President Cheney. Both are equally guilty of the high crimes and misdemeanours for which American tyrants become impeachable under the constitution.

Of course, you know the outcome, Congresswoman and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. You would automatically become our next president. That presents a dilemma. As Speaker of the House, you cannot be seen as encouraging proceedings that might succeed in making you president. You also cannot simply ignore the impeachable offences of the current administration.

If what you've really waited for 200 years to achieve is a chance to prove greatness in women which is as deserving of celebration as the great male leaders of two centuries ago, you now have the opportunity to prove that the long struggle was worth it.

Don't wait until 2008, however, leaving it up to Hillary Clinton to assume the role that women have waited for 200 years to play. If you do, you'll be an enormous disappointment to both men and women. Between now and 2008, the current White House can get up to more mischief than the world can bear.

How much can you do as Speaker of the House to stop Bush and Cheney from adding to their mass murders of Iraqis and sacrificing young Americans for a lie? Both Bush and Cheney will continue to alienate the rest of the world with their arrogance. Can we afford to embitter more of the international community?

Bush and Cheney will certainly carry their arrogant warmongering powers into Iran, or provide the means and support for Israel to do it, with further violations of the Constitution. However, Iran simply isn't going to stand for it. What will you do about Iran's resistance? Will you sanction a repeat of Hiroshima over Tehran?

There are several things you can do as Speaker of the House while impeachment proceedings are underway:

1. In addition to requiring accountability as you promised concerning Iraq, you must insist on the same accountability regarding Iran.

2. Demand undeniable proof that Iran's nuclear development is more than energy related. Don't let the White House get away with the hat trick they pulled with Iraq when they insisted Iraq prove they didn't have weapons of mass destruction.

3. Require the administration to explain why the US previously encouraged Iran to develop nuclear energy in order to preserve oil resources.

4. Make it clear to the Congress that action against Iran intended to protect Israel will ultimately result in public retaliation against the Jewish community in America and more resistance to and hatred of America in the international community.

On her way out of Congress on 27 December 2006, Congresswoman Cynthia Mckinney entered 12 grounds for impeachment in three different categories into the Congressional Record: six failures to ensure the laws are faithfully executed, two abuses of office and four failures to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.

Complete coverage of Ms McKinney's charges has been published by David Swanson in the Atlantic Free Press and can be viewed by clicking here.

If you can accomplish what really needs to be done in the only course of events that will save us from further devastation, both men and women will cheer and toast the woman for whom we have waited for 200 years.

[Nutcase]

Pelosi: Bush lacks power to invade Iran

WASHINGTON - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that President Bush lacks the authority to invade Iran without specific approval from Congress, a fresh challenge to the commander in chief on the eve of a symbolic vote critical of his troop buildup in Iraq.

Pelosi, D-Calif., noted that Bush consistently said he supports a diplomatic resolution to differences with Iran "and I take him at his word."

At the same time, she said, "I do believe that Congress should assert itself, though, and make it very clear that there is no previous authority for the president, any president, to go into Iran."

Pelosi spoke in an interview in the Capitol as the House moved through a third marathon day of debate on a nonbinding measure that disapproves of the military buildup in Iraq while expressing support for the troops.

Passage of the measure was expected Friday. Pelosi and other Democrats have said approval would mark the first step in an effort by the new Democratic-controlled Congress to force Bush to change course in a war that has killed more than 3,100 U.S. troops.

Bush administration officials and their allies are resigned to House passage of the resolution and have worked in recent days to hold down defections by GOP lawmakers.

But Bush took a swipe at his critics during the day.

"This may become the first time in the history of the United States Congress that it has voted to send a new commander into battle and then voted to oppose his plan that is necessary to succeed in that battle," the president said.

The Senate unanimously confirmed Lt. Gen David Petraeus last week to take over as the top U.S. commander in Iraq.

Bush said at a news conference Wednesday there is no doubt the Iranian government is providing armor-piercing weapons to kill American troops in Iraq. But he backed away from claims the top echelon of Iran's government was responsible.

Administration critics have accused the president of looking for a pretense to attack the Islamic republic, which is also at loggerheads with the United Nations about what Tehran says is a nuclear program aimed at developing energy for peaceful purposes.

Defending U.S. intelligence that has pinpointed Iran as a hostile arms supplier in Iraq, Bush said, "Does this mean you're trying to have a pretext for war? No. It means I'm trying to protect our troops."

Bush has asked Congress to approve $100 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Congressional Democrats are hoping to insert provisions that would make it harder for the administration to follow through on its plan to deploy an additional 21,500 combat troops to Iraq.

Rep. John Murtha (news, bio, voting record), D-Pa., who is leading the effort, has said the measure may be changed to require that any troops deployed must meet formal Army readiness standards.

Murtha also said the measure may be changed to prohibit any military action against Iran without specific congressional approval.

Asked about Murtha's remarks, Pelosi said, "I fully support that." She added that she would propose it as stand-alone legislation if it is not included in the bill that provides more money for the Iraq war.

Bush has said he intends to go ahead with the troop buildup regardless of nonbinding expressions of disapproval in Congress.

But, Pelosi said, "I don't think that the president can completely ignore it."

She spoke down the hall from the House chamber, where Republicans and Democrats alternated turns at the microphone in a debate on the war.

"The enemy wants our men and women in uniform to think their Congress doesn't care about them," said Rep. Sam Johnson (news, bio, voting record), R-Texas, who was a prisoner of war during Vietnam.

"We must learn from our mistakes. We cannot leave a job undone like we left in Korea, like we left in Vietnam, like we left in Somalia," Johnson said.

Added Rep. Geoff Davis (news, bio, voting record), R-Ky., a West Point graduate who was a flight commander with the Army's 82nd Airborne: "This nonbinding resolution serves no purpose other than pacifying the Democrats' political base and lowering morale in our military."

When his turn came to speak, Rep. Lloyd Doggett (news, bio, voting record), D-Texas., said, "There is a better way of protecting our troops than sending more of them to be killed."

Rep. James Clyburn (news, bio, voting record) of South Carolina, a member of the Democratic leadership, said the victory to be won in Iraq "is not a military conquest."

"The victory we seek is earned through the restoration of America's role as peacemaker, not warmonger," he said.

Also Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (news, bio, voting record) said the Senate will hold another test vote Saturday on the Iraq resolution. Senators have been unable to begin debate for two weeks because of partisan bickering over the procedural terms. Democrats would need 60 votes to bring the resolution back up when Congress returns after a week's recess.

"We demand an up-or down vote on the resolution that the House is debating as we speak," said Reid, D-Nev.

[Rasputin]

Pelosi Plans Trip to Syria Next Week

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will visit Syria next week, her office announced yesterday, prompting the White House to call the trip "a really bad idea."

Pelosi's visit to Damascus is to be a centerpiece of a week-long Middle East tour that began yesterday in Israel. Both the White House and State Department knew about the visit in advance.

For security reasons, Pelosi staffers held off announcing the trip until after her arrival in Israel yesterday, and they had planned to announce the Syria leg after her departure from that country, Democratic aides said. After media inquiries, Pelosi's office issued a statement.

"As recommended by the Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan delegation led by Speaker Pelosi intends to discuss a wide range of security issues affecting the United States and the Middle East with representatives of governments in the region, including Syria," the statement read.

The White House accuses Syria of sponsoring state terrorism and of fanning sectarian violence in Iraq. The Bush administration has cut off most high-level contacts with Damascus since former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri was assassinated in February 2005. A United Nations prosecutor has implicated Syrian officials in the Hariri slaying.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said yesterday of Pelosi's visit: "Someone should take a step back and think about the message that it sends and the message that it sends to our allies."

Democrats were quick to point out that Perino did not speak out about a Syria trip planned for about the same time by a Republican-led delegation.

Pelosi will address the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, on Sunday and will also visit the West Bank to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Her delegation includes Reps. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.), chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs; Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), the House's only Muslim lawmaker; Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.); Nick J. Rahall II (D-W.Va.); and David L. Hobson (R-Ohio).

Pelosi personally informed President Bush on Thursday of her travel plans, and he did not raise any objections, a person with knowledge of that conversation said.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the department briefed the group and will provide routine support on the ground.

"In our view, it's not the right time to have those sort of high-profile visitors to Syria," McCormack told reporters yesterday.

Syrian leaders, he said, "point to the visits as proof that there is no problem with their behavior and that they are not, in fact, isolated. So that's the simple reason why we have encouraged others as well as Speaker Pelosi not to travel. . . . They made the decision to go forward."

The Iraq Study Group recommended in December that Washington reach out to Damascus for help in shutting down the insurgency in Iraq. Since then, a number of lawmakers, including Sens. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), have visited the Syrian capital for talks.

Pelosi's trip has been in the works for several weeks, an aide said. In a March 13 address to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the speaker said that Dalia Itzik, Israel's acting president and Knesset speaker, had "invited me to address the Knesset. . . . This invitation alone is one of the great thrills of my official life."

[Rasputin]

خشم واشنگتن از اظهارات پلوسی و لانتوس درباره ایران
ابراز تمایل برخی از قانونگذاران بلندپایه آمریکایی برای سفر به تهران باعث خشم کاخ سفید شد.
دانا پرینو، سخنگوی رییس*جمهور آمریکا در پی کنفرانس خبری نانسی پلوسی و تام لانتوس در سانفرانسیسکو اظهار داشت که موضوع "اسفناک" این است که قانونگذاران آمریکایی، و از جمله نانسی پلوسی رییس مجلس نمایندگان، به شکستن تابوی دولت آمریکا می*اندیشند و از تماس مستقیم با رژیم اسلامی در تهران سخن به میان می*آورند.

بوش از مخالفت کنگره برای تصویب بودجه عراق می گوید. دهم آوریل ویرجینیا. عکس از سایت کاخ سفید
به گزارش خبرگزاری فرانسه، دانا پرینو، سخنگوی کاخ سفید در این باره گفت: "در روزی که ارتش ایالات متحده از شواهد دیگری مبنی بر دخالت ایران در [صدور اسلحه] به عراق و آموزش [شورشیان] برای کشتن سربازانمان گزارش می*دهد، اسفناک است که برخی از دموکرات***ها در تدارک سفر به تهران هستند".
تام لانتوس دموکرات، رییس کمیته روابط خارجی مجلس نمایندگان، در یک کنفرانس خبری که نانسی پلوسی، رییس مجلس نمایندگان آمریکا نیز در آن حضور داشت، گفت: "من از طرف خودم می*گویم، من همین فردا صبح آماده*ام که با هواپیما [به ایران] بروم. چرا که هراندازه هم بسیاری از سخنان[احمدی*نژاد] ناخوشایند، غیرمنصفانه و نادرست باشد، مهم این است که ما با وی دیالوگ داشته باشیم".
تام لانتوس افزود: "من از جانب خودم بگویم که آماده رفتن [به ایران] هستم – و با شناختی که از رییس مجلس نمایندگان دارم—گمان می*کنم او هم احتمالا[ آمادگی دارد]".
نانسی پلوسی و تام لانتوس که به تازگی از سوریه برگشته*اند، از سوی جمهوری*خواهان و دولت بوش به شدت مورد انتقاد قرار گرفته*اند

[Rasputin]

سخنگوى رئيس مجلس نمايندگان آمريكا گفت نانسى پلوسى قصد سفر به ايران را ندارد.

به گزارش فارس به نقل از خبرگزارى فرانسه، ,برندان دالى, پس از آنكه ,تام لانتوس,، نماينده دموكرات مجلس آمريكا از تمايل خود و پلوسى براى سفر به ايران خبر داد، گفت: ,رئيس مجلس هيچ قصدى براى سفر به ايران ندارد.,
در عين حال پلوسى و ,هرى ريد,، رئيس اكثريت دموكرات سناى آمريكا روشن كردند عليرغم اينكه نمي*خواهند به ايران سفر كنند اما خواستار گفت**وگوى بيشتر با تهران هستند.
ريد گفت: ,همانطور كه گروه مطالعات عراق اعلام كرده بايد مذاكرات قوى و ديپلماتيك با همه گروههاى مورد اشاره انجام شود. من شخصا قصد ندارم به ايران بروم اما هر يك از نمايندگان مي*توانند چنين كارى انجام دهند.,
دالى نيز تاكيد كرد: ,پلوسى احترام زيادى براى آقاى لانتوس قائل است كه تنها بازمانده هولوكاست در كنگره آمريكا و يكى از حاميان اسرائيل است و دوست دارد به منظور آغاز گفت*وگو با ايران به اين كشور سفر كند.,

[Rasputin]

یک روزنامه چاپ ایران خبر داده که نانسی پلوسی رییس مجلس نمایندگان آمریکا برای سفربه ایران تقاضای ویزا کرده است.
روزنامه اعتماد به نقل از رشید جلالی، عضو کمیسیون امنیت ملی و سیاست خارجی مجلس ایران نوشته است که رئیس رییس مجلس نمایندگان آمریکا، از طریق رسمی و از طریق دولت سوئیس خواستار سفر به ایران و آغاز مذاکره شده است.

آقای جلالی در این گفتگو از آغاز بررسی درخواست سفر خانم پلوسی به طور جدی در کمیسیون امنیت ملی و سیاست خارجی خبر داده است.

این خبر در حالی از سوی این نماینده مجلس بیان می شود که وزارت امور خارجه به صورت رسمی در این مورد اظهار نظری نکرده است. طرف آمریکایی نیز نسبت به این خبر تا کنون واکنشی نشان نداده است.

محمد علی حسینی سخنگوی وزارت خارجه ایران نیز در جلسه هفتگی روز یکشنبه (29 آوریل) خود اشاره ای به این موضوع نکرد.

خانم پلوسی پیش ازاین دراوایل ماه میلادی جاری دراقدامی جنجالی به سوریه سفرکرد. این سفربا انتقاد شدید جورج بوش، رییس جمهوری آمریکا روبرو شد که معتقد بود این اقدام خانم پلوسی ، علامت های متناقضی را به دمشق ارسال و تلاش های دولت او برای منزوی کردن سوریه را بی اثرمی کند.

پیشتر در پی ابراز تمایل برخی نمایندگان کنگره آمریکا برای گفتگوی رو در رو با اعضای مجلس شورای اسلامی، یک مقام بلندپایه وزارت خارجه آمریکا در گفتگو با بی بی سی فارسی از چنین ایده ای استقبال کرده بود.

برخی نمایندگان کنگره آمریکا قبلا خواستار ملاقات با همتایان ایرانی خود شده اند. از جمله تام لانتوس، رئیس کمیته امور بین الملل مجلس نمایندگان آمریکا، از مدت ها پیش اعلام کرده بود که مایل به سفر به ایران و ملاقات با نمایندگان مجلس ایران است.

واکنش مقام های ایرانی تا کنون به تمایل این گروه از نمایندگان کنگره آمریکا ضد و نقیض بوده است. برخی با آن مخالفت کرده اند اما وزارت خارجه ایران پیشتر اعلام کرده بود که چنین درخواستی را، اگر مطرح شود، بررسی خواهد کرد.

[Rasputin]

دفتر رئیس مجلس نمایندگان آمریکا، تلاش نانسی پلوسی برای سفر به ایران را تکذیب کرده است.
این دفتر در تماس با خبرنگار بی بی سی در واشنگتن ضمن تکذیب گزارش منابع ایرانی درباره برنامه ریزی خانم پلوسی برای دیدار از تهران، از چنین تصمیمی ابراز بی اطلاعی کرد.

پیش از این روزنامه اعتماد، چاپ تهران به نقل از یکی از نمایندگان مجلس نوشته بود نانسی پلوسی برای سفربه ایران تقاضای ویزا کرده است.

روزنامه اعتماد به نقل از رشید جلالی، عضو کمیسیون امنیت ملی و سیاست خارجی مجلس ایران نوشته رئیس مجلس نمایندگان آمریکا، از طریق دولت سوئیس خواستار سفر به ایران و مذاکره با مقام های جمهوری اسلامی شده است.

آقای جلالی در این گفتگو از آغاز بررسی درخواست سفر خانم پلوسی به طور جدی در کمیسیون امنیت ملی و سیاست خارجی خبر داده بود.

اعضای کمیسیون امنیت ملی و سیاست خارجی مجلس در پی سفر نانسی پلوسی که با انتقاد کاخ سفید همراه شد، تا کنون چند بار به گزارش های مربوط به احتمال سفر او به ایران واکنش نشان داده اند.

این در حالی است که دفتر رئیس مجلس نمایندگان آمریکا پیش تر در واکنش به اعلام علاقه تام لانتوس، رئیس کمیته روابط خارجی مجلس نمایندگان ایالات متحده برای سفر به ایران به همراه نانسی پلوسی، چنین تصمیمی را رد کرده بود.

در این حال مقام های وزارتخانه های امور خارجه هر دو کشور از احتمال این دیدار استقبال کرده اند.

[donsaeid]

[Rasputin]

[Rasputin]

With the recent defeat of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill in the Senate, a major opportunity was missed to strengthen and improve our broken immigration laws. Although the proposed Bill was not perfect, there were areas that affected the Iranian American Community such as the H1B visas and sponsoring family members for green card.

The Bill is dead for now, but the debate is not and there is a good chance that another Bill will surface in the next Congress. We, as Iranian Americans, must pay close attention to the new Bill and lend our voice to the debate as our community is for most part an Immigrant Community, meaning majority of us was born outside the United States.

Amongst other important immigration issues we must keep an eye on is the decided increase in application filing fees. After July 28th, 2007, the filing fees for becoming a United States Citizen will increase from $ 400 to $ 675. If you are eligible to become a United States Citizen apply before this date and avoid paying the increased fee.

In order to assist the eligible applicants, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Reprtesentatives, has organized a Citizenship Workshop where you can receive free assistance to fill out your application. You can also obtain answers to questions regarding your application or the citizenship process.

The date of the workshop is Saturday July 21st, 2007 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, 99 Grove Street (at Polk Street0, 4th Floor in San Francisco.

The Speaker will be there and you will get a chance to meet her in person. I will be there to assist the Persian Speaking people who walk in and need language assistance and encourage you to contact me and volunteer if you want to be a part of this effort.

To be eligible to apply for citizenship you MUST meet the following requirements:

-Be a legal permanent resident for at least 5 years (3 years if married to a US Citizen)

-Speak, read, and write basic English (unless you have a serious disability or you have held your green card more than 15 years and are over 55 years old).

If you (or any member of your family or a friend) meet(s) this requirement and need(s) assistance in filling out the application, please come to the above-mentioned address on Saturday and bring the following with you:

-Your green card, Social Security card, and state ID or driver’s license

-All passports you have used since you received your green card, with a list of places you have traveled outside the USA including dates of departure and return.

-A list of addresses where you have lived and worked for the past 5 years, with dates

-Information about your spouse (if any), including name, date of birth, social security number, alien number and / or date of naturalization

-Information about your children (if any): name, address, date of birth, alien number

-Information about spouses from previous marriages (if any), including date of marriage and date the marriage ended

-Information about any arrests, including reason for the arrest, date, place and court disposition

-For men who arrived in the USA before age 26: Selective Service number and registration date

-Check or Money order made out to Dept. of Homeland Security for $400, and $ 10 in cash for photos.

Please spread the word and see you on Saturday July 21st.in San Francisco.

[Rasputin]

در حالی که نانسی پلوسی رییس مجلس نمایندگان آمریکا از اعلام آمادگی خود مبنی بر سفر به ایران عقب نشینی کرده است، نایب رییس کمیسیون امنیت ملی مجلس ایران از آمادگی نمایندگان مجلس شورای اسلامی برای گفتگو با رییس مجلس نمایندگان آمریکا خبر داد.

به گزارش سرویس سیاسی سایت خبری ایران(www****anNewsAgency.com)، تام لانتوس رییس کمیته روابط خارجی نمایندگان و نانسی پلوسی، رییس مجلس نمایندگان آمریکا پس از دیدار از سوریه در یک کنفرانس خبری در سانفرانسیسکو، بر ضرورت گفتگو با ایران تاکید کرده بودند.

تام لانتوس همچنین اظهار داشت که همین فردا آماده است به تهران برود و با رییس**جمهور احمدی*نژاد گفتگو کند. اظهارات این دو نماینده دموکرات درباره ایران خشم کاخ سفید را برانگیخت.

کاخ سفید بدون ارائه مدرک و ادله مستند، اعلام کرد که "واقعا ًاسفبار است که خانم پلوسی می خواهد به شکوری سفر کند که در کشتن نظامیان ما د عراق نقش دارد!"

پس از آن، محمد نبی رودکی در گفتگو با خبرگزاری فارس گفت: "ما آماده گفت*وگوی پارلمانی با نانسی پلوسی رییس مجلس نمایندگان آمریکا هستیم".

نماینده شیراز افزود: "این آمادگی به معنای برقراری رابطه سیاسی با دولت آمریکا نیست؛ چرا که دولت آمریکا دولت زورگو و اشغالگر است و علاوه بر نادیده گرفتن حقوق ملت*ها، قوانین دیپلماتیک و بین*المللی را نقص می*کند".

نایب رییس کمیسیون امنیت ملی و سیاست خارجی اظهار داشت: "گفت*وگوی پارلمانی می*تواند موضوع و مشکلات فیمابین را مورد بحث و بررسی قرار دهد و ملت*های ایران و اروپا و آمریکا را به* هم نزدیک*تر کند. همچنین بحث*های هسته*ای صلح*آمیز ایران می*تواند در این گفت*وگو مورد توجه قرار گیرد".

در همین حال کاندولیزا رایس گفتگو با منوچهر متکی در اجلاس آتی عراق را منتفی ندانسته است اما ایران گته است که قرار نیست چنین گفت و گویی صورت گیرد.

[Rasputin]

On the August 24 “Meet the Press” show on NBC-TV, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D) was asked to comment on when life begins. Democrat Pelosi said “I would say that as an ardent, practicing Catholic, this is an issue that I have studied for a long time. And what I know is, over the centuries, the doctors of the Church have not been able to make that definition.” Responding, moderator Tom Brokaw told her that the Catholic Church “feels very strongly” that life begins at conception. Pelosi said, “I understand. And this is like maybe 50 years or something like that. So again, over the history of the Church, this is an issue of controversy.”

William Donahue of Catholics United for the Faith reponded in a statement “Here is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says: ‘Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception.’ It also says, ‘Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable.’ Looks like Pelosi didn’t study the subject long enough. But not to worry: We are sending her a copy of Catholicism for Dummies today (the Catechism is like maybe a bit advanced).

“Whether Joe Biden is as ignorant of what his religion teaches remains to be seen. What is not in doubt is the enthusiasm which NARAL showed when he was selected to join the ticket. The radical pro-abortion group was delighted, as were the radical pro-abortion delegates to the Democratic convention: as reported in today’s New York Times, 64 percent of Americans reject abortion-on-demand, yet only 23 percent of the delegates do. It is only fitting, then, that NARAL’s president will speak today at the Convention and Planned Parenthood’s president will speak tomorrow.

“So there we have it: the man running for president on the Democratic ticket supports selective infanticide, his running mate is a pro-abortion Catholic, the delegates are wildly out of step with Americans on abortion and the Speaker of the House hasn’t a clue what her religion teaches on the subject.”