NEIL H. SIMON, Media General News Service
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RACE AND HOMELAND SECURITY
Rep. Robert Scott, D-Va., highlighted a lack of diversity among staff visiting Thursday from the Department of Homeland Security at a House Judiciary Committee.
Scott asked Secretary Michael Chertoff’s staff, “everybody from the department,” to stand. The committee transcript showed none of the ten staff members with Chertoff identified themselves as African-American or women. Scott moved on to questions about port security with no mention of the department’s hiring practice.
Another committee member asked Chertoff if he had more diversity on staff than present at the oversight hearing.
“That is definitely the case,” Chertoff said. “I wouldn't assume that the ethnic background of everybody behind me is self-evident.”
IRS SCAM
Warning constituents of a tax season consumer scam, Rep. Thelma Drake, R-Va., recorded public service announcements this week to combat potential fraud involving government rebate checks.
Con artists have sent e-mails and made phone calls posing as the Internal Revenue Service, asking for bank account and credit card numbers in exchange for expedited government rebate checks.
“The IRS never asks for this type of information over the phone and does not send unsolicited e-mail,” Drake says in the TV and radio announcement.
“Identity theft is just such a disaster, and it takes so long to straighten it out,” she said in an interview.
The only way to receive a government rebate check is to file a 2007 tax return.
CHINA WEAPONS
Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Va., expressed concern about the secrecy of China’s military spending -- an issue the Pentagon highlighted in its annual report on the communist country’s military power.
“When you have world powers who don’t have that kind of transparency, other countries can react and it can lead to domino situations that can get out of hand,” Forbes said, citing China’s acquisition of missiles capable of destroying aircraft carriers.
“Why do they need that?,” Forbes asked. “We are the only power in the world who has carriers.”
The Pentagon report said China’s leaders have yet to explain in detail why they are modernizing their military capabilities.
Forbes, founder and co-chair of the Congressional China Caucus, said China should clearly communicate its intentions to avoid international conflicts based on misconceptions.
WIRETAPPING
Virginians got vocal on the contentious issue of wiretapping, a debate likely to come to a head again this week as Congress looks to extend surveillance laws before taking a two-week break March 17.
In his electronic newsletter, Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., wrote about the need to keep a balance of powers within the government while tracking potential terrorists.
“We must not sacrifice our constitutional rights wholesale in the name of national security,” Moran wrote in his weekly e-newsletter.
Republicans, including Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., said Congress should work to prevent telephone companies from being sued for helping U.S. intelligence agencies after 9/11.
“I don’t think we should place the priority of the ability to sue in front of the ability to protect America,” Cantor said.
--Neil H. Simon
Rep. Robert Scott, D-Va., highlighted a lack of diversity among staff visiting Thursday from the Department of Homeland Security at a House Judiciary Committee.
Scott asked Secretary Michael Chertoff’s staff, “everybody from the department,” to stand. The committee transcript showed none of the ten staff members with Chertoff identified themselves as African-American or women. Scott moved on to questions about port security with no mention of the department’s hiring practice.
Another committee member asked Chertoff if he had more diversity on staff than present at the oversight hearing.
“That is definitely the case,” Chertoff said. “I wouldn't assume that the ethnic background of everybody behind me is self-evident.”
IRS SCAM
Warning constituents of a tax season consumer scam, Rep. Thelma Drake, R-Va., recorded public service announcements this week to combat potential fraud involving government rebate checks.
Con artists have sent e-mails and made phone calls posing as the Internal Revenue Service, asking for bank account and credit card numbers in exchange for expedited government rebate checks.
“The IRS never asks for this type of information over the phone and does not send unsolicited e-mail,” Drake says in the TV and radio announcement.
“Identity theft is just such a disaster, and it takes so long to straighten it out,” she said in an interview.
The only way to receive a government rebate check is to file a 2007 tax return.
CHINA WEAPONS
Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Va., expressed concern about the secrecy of China’s military spending -- an issue the Pentagon highlighted in its annual report on the communist country’s military power.
“When you have world powers who don’t have that kind of transparency, other countries can react and it can lead to domino situations that can get out of hand,” Forbes said, citing China’s acquisition of missiles capable of destroying aircraft carriers.
“Why do they need that?,” Forbes asked. “We are the only power in the world who has carriers.”
The Pentagon report said China’s leaders have yet to explain in detail why they are modernizing their military capabilities.
Forbes, founder and co-chair of the Congressional China Caucus, said China should clearly communicate its intentions to avoid international conflicts based on misconceptions.
WIRETAPPING
Virginians got vocal on the contentious issue of wiretapping, a debate likely to come to a head again this week as Congress looks to extend surveillance laws before taking a two-week break March 17.
In his electronic newsletter, Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., wrote about the need to keep a balance of powers within the government while tracking potential terrorists.
“We must not sacrifice our constitutional rights wholesale in the name of national security,” Moran wrote in his weekly e-newsletter.
Republicans, including Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., said Congress should work to prevent telephone companies from being sued for helping U.S. intelligence agencies after 9/11.
“I don’t think we should place the priority of the ability to sue in front of the ability to protect America,” Cantor said.
--Neil H. Simon