*MEMO WOES: Senate Democrats were forced into a defensive posture last week after the leak of a memo from the Democratic side of the Intelligence Committee detailing plans to take partisan advantage of the committee's official investigation into intelligence failures. At a time when a serious investigation really is necessary as to why the government knew so little about September 11 and Iraq's weapons capabilities, the Democratic memo betrayed a focus more on ousting President Bush than on getting real answers.
"Our plan," as the memo calls it, is for Democrats to lead Republicans along in the investigation until more dirt surfaces that can be used against President Bush, and then demand an independent investigation in time to affect next year's elections. "Prepare to launch an independent investigation when it becomes clear we have exhausted the opportunity to usefully collaborate with the majority," the 500-word memo reads. "We can pull the trigger on an independent investigation at any time-but we can only do so once." The best time, the memo continues, is "next year"-during the presidential election.
*KYL FIRES BACK: Democrat Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D.-W.Va.), the committee's vice-chairman, immediately blamed an anonymous staffer for drafting the memo. But conservative Sen. Jon Kyl (R.-Ariz.), also on the committee, would not have any of it. "This strategy memo lays bare what we've started to see for some time: an orchestrated effort by Democrats at a time of war to improperly use an intelligence investigation as a weapon against President Bush," said Kyl in a statement November 5. "If senators continue to attribute this memo to staff, then those staff members should be fired. . . . A failure to denounce this memo publicly would clearly seem to be an acknowledgement of its authenticity." Democrats, however, had refused to denounce the memo or offer an apology for its contents as of press time-leaving up in the air the future of the committee's critical investigation.
*ID SECURITY: As California joins the ranks of states that grant driver's licenses to illegal aliens, more federal efforts are under way to try to make state-issued driver's licenses secure. On November 10, Rep. Jeff Flake (R.-Ariz.) introduced a bill (HR 3461) to encourage states to adopt security standards for their licenses. "States like California that have adopted unsafe standards for issuing driver's licenses are putting not only their citizens at risk, but are endangering the entire country, as well," Flake said. A summary of the bill says, "HR 3461 will prevent the federal government from recognizing, for identification purposes, driver's licenses that do not meet certain standards, such as the number and types of forms of identification applicants must present. The bill will also require driver's licenses for foreign nationals to expire on or before the expiration date of their visa." "With the criteria that the bill sets for issuing licenses, states that issue licenses to illegal immigrants wouldn't be recognized by the federal government," Flake spokesman Matthew Specht told HE. "Also, acceptable forms of identification have to be in English, so the controversial matricula consular cards aren't acceptable."
*VOTE ON 'FREE DRUGS'? Conservatives are upset that the House and Senate leadership has cut a deal to get the Medicare prescription drug entitlement out of conference and up for a vote in both chambers by November 21. The deal, complain conservative Republican Reps. Pat Toomey (Pa.) and Jeb Hensarling (Tex.), will produce a bill with only weak assurances of increased competition between Medicare and private health plans. Meanwhile, the new drug entitlement for senior citizens will cost billions of dollars that taxpayers cannot afford. Conservative Sen. Jon Kyl (R.-Ariz.), a conferee on the Senate side, told Congressional Quarterly, "I don't like it."
But House Democrats remain sharply critical of the legislation, meaning that this time it could fail in the House if enough Republicans stay firm and vote "no" despite the intense pressure from the White House. In June, the drug benefit passed the House by one vote (see HUMAN EVENTS rollcall, July 14) with 19 conservatives and nearly all Democrats voting against. Hensarling, Toomey and 11 other House Republicans who voted for it the first time are now indicating they may vote against the new version.
*CUBA TRAVEL BAN SURVIVES: Even though both the House and the Senate voted this year to eliminate restrictions on traveling to Cuba, congressional conferees dropped the provision from the Transportation-Treasury appropriations bill November 12. They gave in to a veto threat from President Bush, who has maintained the United States' hawkish policy toward the Communist dictatorship off the Florida coast. Senators and congressmen pandering to agricultural interests who want to sell exports to Cuba have supported ending the 40-year-old ban.
