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Virginians at the Capitol
WEBB MEXICO
Mexican drug cartels responsible for thousands of killings in the last year are so well-trained the U.S. military may be needed to halt violence along the U.S-Mexico border, Sen. Jim Webb said Friday.
“These are highly sophisticated, quasi-military operations, and I think that to the extent they come over on our side, they ought to be addressed that way,” Webb, D-Va., said in an interview on MSNBC.
The Obama administration has said it opposes militarizing the border, but it could call troops to the region as a last resort. The cartels have been blamed for kidnappings and other violence from Arizona to Georgia.
“I think we should carefully examine what role the military might play -- see whether it’s appropriate in this situation,” Webb said.
MOVING UP
Only two months into his U.S. Senate term, Mark R. Warner is moving up – in office space, anyway. After spending his first few weeks sharing basement space with other new senators, Warner is moving to the fourth floor of the historic Russell Senate Office Building.
Warner’s suite will be room 455 in the 100-year-old building, next to the office of Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., for whom Warner worked while in college. The office is across the hall from former-Sen. Hillary Clinton’s office.
“Most important for us, it will be very easy for constituents to find us, as opposed to this basement cubby hole,” Warner spokesman Kevin Hall said.
The new Russell building office is due to open in early April.
TRIBES
Native American tribes in Virginia would receive federal recognition under a bill reintroduced in the House Monday by Rep. James P. Moran, D-8th.
Last Congress, the bill passed the House but stalled in the Senate. The House Natural Resources Committee is to hold a hearing Wednesday on the bill.
“These tribes, descendants of those that greeted the first English settlers at Jamestown, deserve the same rights afforded the 562 tribes that are currently federally recognized,” Moran said.
A 1924 state law in Virginia forced Native Americans to be counted as “colored” for state statistics, in essence purging the record of the historic tribes.
The legislation to grant recognition would prevent gaming on tribal land.
Virginia’s six tribes seeking recognition include the Chickahominy, Chickahominy Eastern Division, Upper Mattaponi, Rappahannock, Monacan, and Nansemond tribes.
BUDGET
Congress must demonstrate fiscal restraint in drafting the 2010 budget, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-6th, testified Wednesday before the House Budget Committee.
Goodlatte, who has proposed a constitutional amendment to require federal budgets to be balanced, said Congress should get on a path to keep budgets out of the red by 2014.
“Our debt is mounting rapidly and so is the waste associated with paying the interest on that debt. Yet, Congress has so far refused to address these unsettling problems,” Goodlatte said.
--Neil H. Simon
WEBB MEXICO
Mexican drug cartels responsible for thousands of killings in the last year are so well-trained the U.S. military may be needed to halt violence along the U.S-Mexico border, Sen. Jim Webb said Friday.
“These are highly sophisticated, quasi-military operations, and I think that to the extent they come over on our side, they ought to be addressed that way,” Webb, D-Va., said in an interview on MSNBC.
The Obama administration has said it opposes militarizing the border, but it could call troops to the region as a last resort. The cartels have been blamed for kidnappings and other violence from Arizona to Georgia.
“I think we should carefully examine what role the military might play -- see whether it’s appropriate in this situation,” Webb said.
MOVING UP
Only two months into his U.S. Senate term, Mark R. Warner is moving up – in office space, anyway. After spending his first few weeks sharing basement space with other new senators, Warner is moving to the fourth floor of the historic Russell Senate Office Building.
Warner’s suite will be room 455 in the 100-year-old building, next to the office of Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., for whom Warner worked while in college. The office is across the hall from former-Sen. Hillary Clinton’s office.
“Most important for us, it will be very easy for constituents to find us, as opposed to this basement cubby hole,” Warner spokesman Kevin Hall said.
The new Russell building office is due to open in early April.
TRIBES
Native American tribes in Virginia would receive federal recognition under a bill reintroduced in the House Monday by Rep. James P. Moran, D-8th.
Last Congress, the bill passed the House but stalled in the Senate. The House Natural Resources Committee is to hold a hearing Wednesday on the bill.
“These tribes, descendants of those that greeted the first English settlers at Jamestown, deserve the same rights afforded the 562 tribes that are currently federally recognized,” Moran said.
A 1924 state law in Virginia forced Native Americans to be counted as “colored” for state statistics, in essence purging the record of the historic tribes.
The legislation to grant recognition would prevent gaming on tribal land.
Virginia’s six tribes seeking recognition include the Chickahominy, Chickahominy Eastern Division, Upper Mattaponi, Rappahannock, Monacan, and Nansemond tribes.
BUDGET
Congress must demonstrate fiscal restraint in drafting the 2010 budget, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-6th, testified Wednesday before the House Budget Committee.
Goodlatte, who has proposed a constitutional amendment to require federal budgets to be balanced, said Congress should get on a path to keep budgets out of the red by 2014.
“Our debt is mounting rapidly and so is the waste associated with paying the interest on that debt. Yet, Congress has so far refused to address these unsettling problems,” Goodlatte said.
--Neil H. Simon