Lovely Lauren Nelson
Sen. Daniel K. Inouye was clearly smitten with Miss America Lauren Nelson on Tuesday.
Nelson, of Lawton, testified before Inouye’s committee about protecting children from Internet predators, but, before she could even open her mouth, the Hawaii Democrat called her “lovely” twice.
Then, after she finished her statement, Inouye (pronounced In-O-Way) said he had heard “thousands” of witnesses give testimony in his years on Capitol Hill _ he’s been here since 1959 _ but that her statement was “one of the most informative and articulate” he’d heard.
Wow.
Nelson was quite poised, no doubt. She had a written statement that was distributed to reporters, but she didn’t read it. She did her comments without a hard “script” and never stumbled.
In the minutes before the meeting started, Nelson sat at the witness table writing notes and appeared to be going over her “talking points” on the issue of Internet safety.
When Inouye came in the room, Nelson went to the front of the room to greet _ and obviously charm _ him.
After Inouye was done calling her lovely and called on her to speak, Nelson gave a concise overview of the issue, weaving in her own experiences both as a teenager and as Miss America and wrapped by calling for mandatoryInternet safety education. All without reading from a text.
Many witnesses _ I haven’t seen thousands, but I’ve definitely seen hundreds _ go before congressional committees with written remarks that they read verbatim, often with little inflection and, often, that go over the customary five minutes.
For jaded, impatient Washington types, the perfect witness is one that summarizes his or her statement in language used by real people (as opposed to jargon and acronyms and broad, bland platitudes) and stays well under five minutes.
It helps too if the witness is lovely.
I
(A Reuters photo of Miss America at the hearing of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on Tuesday)
Chris Casteel, Washington Bureau
Boren Being Followed
Rep. Dan Boren, D-Muskogee, is one of four lawmakers whose views on the Iraq war are being tracked in a special series by the Washington Post as Congress struggles with the issue.
Boren, the only Democrat in Oklahoma’s seven-person congressional delegation, has been frustrated for months with what he considers a lack of progress by the Iraqi government.
He opposed President Bush’s decision to add more troops this year in a “surge” meant to provide the security necessary for the Iraqi government to make some tough decisions.
But he has so far been unwilling to support timetables for U.S. troop withdrawals.
Boren, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, was one of 10 Democrats who voted last week against the most recent resolution to set troop withdrawal dates.
Boren told the Post that he thought more votes would start to change in the coming weeks in favor of a troop withdrawal, though he didn’t say his would.
In the Post series, Boren is the “Conservative Democrat.” The paper is also following Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, who is the “Anguished Moderate;” Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., who is the “Antiwar Liberal;” and Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Georgia, who is the “Loyal Republican.”
The Post is online at www.washingtonpost.com.
Chris Casteel, Washington Bureau
Farm Bill Chaos
The House Agriculture Committee’s three-day stint to write the new farm bill got off to a chaotic start yesterday, as the new Democratic majority showed it’s still getting used to being in charge.
Some people lined up for hours to get in the cramped hearing room and reporters covering the legislation were told to get there early.
But the committee staff kept the doors locked until just before the meeting began and then only a few people got in. The rest had to scramble to an overflow room next door to watch it on television. For reporters, it didn’t matter how early you got there since the only ones that got into the main hearing room were those that pushed their way to the front of the line.
Then, as people were rushing into the overflow room, the meeting started and the audio was turned down so low, the committee chairman’s remarks couldn’t be heard.
Turned out, it didn’t much matter since the chairman, Rep. Collin Peterson, R-Minn., decided not to do any real work on the bill because Republicans hadn’t had time to read his latest draft, which was just produced late Monday.
The whole farm bill process has been mired in confusion this year because of the overarching uncertainty about how much money will be available for the five-year bill.
Peterson has been given a “baseline” amount from the Budget Committee, which, to members of the Agriculture Committee, is well short of what’s needed.
However, Peterson has been told the bill can have another $20 billion if “offsets” can be found in other programs. The money hasn’t been “found” yet, leaving committee members to deal with pretend money.
Republicans are very reluctant to pass a bill out of the committee before the additional money has a hard commitment.
Otherwise, Oklahoma Rep. Frank Lucas said, fights could erupt on the House floor over how to distribute the limited funds and the committee could lose control of the policy it’s responsible for writing.
The fun begins again this morning. Maybe the committee will demonstrate today that it has some control.
Chris Casteel, Washington Bureau
Coburn Still Backs Iraq
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Muskogee, has not changed his mind about the U.S. mission in Iraq, just because some of his Republican colleagues seem to be looking for a new direction.
Coburn said in an interview that it is premature to make judgments about how well the “surge” in military might is working since the deployment of more troops was just recently completed.
He said he was “aghast” that senators were coming out now to voice opinions that the Iraqi government was making no progress and that the military mission should be reassessed.
Two prominent Republican senators, Sen. Richard Lugar, of Indiana, and Sen. Pete Domenici, of New Mexico, have made public statements in the last few weeks raising questions about the progress being made.
“I think they reflect political considerations rather than military and national security considerations,” Coburn said.
The senator said, “One way for sure to make sure (the Iraqi government) doesn’t make progress is for us to bail.”
The way to ensure the government makes progress, he said, “is for us to continue to put the pressure on them that we have.”
The Senate this week is working on the defense authorization bill, which sets Pentagon policy. Several amendments regarding U.S. operations in Iraq are expected. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Virginia, offered an amendment today to ensure longer stays at home for active duty and Guard and Reserve forces.
Returning today from a week back in Oklahoma, Coburn said he believes the majority of the people in the state “are still supportive of the efforts” in Iraq.
Chris Casteel
Washington Bureau
Bush Gives Purple Heart to Oklahoma Soldier
President Bush visited Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington today and awarded the Purple Heart to Sgt. 1st Class Andy Allen, from Elk City. A picture of Bush and Allen can be seen here.
Chris Casteel
Washington Bureau
