House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco; Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller, D-Martinez; and Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, are part of a bipartisan Congressional delegation which met today in Dharamsala, India with the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader.

Pelosi’s office said the delegation was welcomed by thousands of Tibetans in a ceremony led by Speaker Karma Choephel of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, and then proceeded to an audience the Dalai Lama to discuss issues relating to Tibet and the plight of Tibetan refugees in India. Later, the delegation visited the Tibetan Children’s Village, supported in part with U.S. aid to educate and look after thousands of Tibetan children, most of whom are orphans and new refugees from Tibet; the delegation also met with Tibetan monks, nuns, and children who recently escaped Tibet.

“I am humbled and honored to meet with the Dalai Lama,” Miller said. “It is my hope that our visit today will help draw additional attention and support to the effort by the Tibetan people to live in peace and freedom in their own country. The Chinese government’s brutal crackdown against peaceful protest is abhorrent and must end. The United States, as a leader of free nations, is obligated to support the peaceful efforts of the Tibetans and to condemn China’s repressive measures.”

The Chinese crackdown in Tibet is having repercussions here in the Bay Area. Someone poured flammable liquid on a door at the Chinese consulate in San Francisco early Thursday morning and set it alight, prompting an arson investigation. And San Francisco is bracing for the Olympic torch’s arrival April 9 on its way to the Summer Olympics in Beijing, expecting pro-Tibetan protestors to come out in droves.

Other members of the delegation include House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming Chairman Edward Markey, D-Mass.; Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wisc.; Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash.; Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C.; Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash.; Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J.; and Rep. Hilda Solis, D-El Monte.

Read Pelosi’s remarks praising the Dalai Lama’s leadership and calling for an end to the crackdown by the Chinese government in Tibet, after the jump… Read the rest of this entry »

Most members of the Bay Area’s House delegation are among original cosponsors of the Right to Clean Vehicles Act, a bill introduced today which would force the Environmental Protection Agency to grant a waiver giving California and 12 other states the ability to implement limits on greenhouse-gas emissions from cars.

The bill — authored by Reps. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks, and Peter Welch, D-Vt. – comes in reaction to EPA Administrator Steve Johnson’s December denial of California’s waiver, reportedly even over his own staff’s objections. U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., already has introduced an equivalent Senate bill, and as chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, has raked Johnson over the coals in a Capitol Hill hearing.

Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, issued a news release expressing her support for the House bill.

“There is simply no excuse for the Bush administration to deny California’s waiver, or any other state’s effort to combat global warming and promote the use of cleaner, more efficient vehicles on their roads,” she said. “The Right to Clean Vehicles Act will give a much-needed green light to states taking the right approach to achieving a greener future and I am proud to support it.”

Besides Lee, the bill’s 58 original cosponsors include Reps. Dennis Cardoza, D-Atwater; Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto; Mike Honda, D-San Jose; Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose; George Miller, D-Martinez; Pete Stark, D-Fremont; Ellen Tauscher, D-Alamo; and Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma.

Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, wasn’t listed among the original cosponsors in Sherman’s news release, but spokesman Andy Stone just told me McNerney fully supports it as well — he just hadn’t had time to fully review it and sign on before the authors went public today, but should be listed among the cosponsors by next week.

House members Pete Stark, Ellen Tauscher and Zoe Lofgren rated perfect 100-percent scores in the League of Conservation Voters’ annual National Environmental Scorecard. Click on the names below to see how each voted on key bills:

Dennis Cardoza, D-Atwater — 65%
Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto — 90%
Mike Honda, D-San Jose — 90%
Tom Lantos, D-San Mateo — 80%
Barbara Lee, D-Oakland — 95%
Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose — 100%
Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton — 90%
George Miller, D-Martinez — 95%
Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco — 20%
Pete Stark, D-Fremont — 100%
Ellen Tauscher, D-Alamo — 100%
Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma — 95%

(Note that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rated low only because she invoked her discretion not to cast votes on most of these bills; traditionally, the Speaker usually doesn’t participate in debate and rarely votes on the floor.)

Progressives demand access to spy program: Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chairs Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, and Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma, today wrote to President Bush demanding that he let all members of Congress have the same access to classified documents regarding his administration’s domestic spying program. The letter comes as the House debate over extending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act gets hot and heavy, and follows a letter signed by 29 House and Senate members and sent to the President last week telling him that they will oppose any legislation that includes retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies who participated in the Administration’s warrantless program. Said Lee: “It is imperative that the Bush administration give Members of Congress access to these documents before we take any further votes on this issue. After keeping us in the dark about the true extent of this program, it is time for the Bush administration to come clean and level with lawmakers who are concerned about its impact on civil liberties.”

Tauscher floats maritime safety bill: House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee member Ellen Tauscher, D-Alamo, has introduced the Vessel Navigation and Safety Improvement Act, which would instructs the Coast Guard to issue regulations requiring pilots to carry their own electronic chart devices — known as Portable Pilot Units, and including include laptop computers, global positioning systems and personal digital assistants — to provide an extra level of safety over the ship’s navigation systems. Said Tauscher: “The ecosystem of the Bay and how it affects the overall health of our communities is too important not to require the highest safety standards for navigating large container and tanker ships into San Francisco Bay, especially traffic transporting hazardous material. I will not go another day without knowing that we are doing everything possible to prevent these types of accidents. They are costly and environmentally dangerous but, most of all, they are preventable. Putting these devices in the hands of pilots, who provide an important service to our port, will improve navigation and protect our environment.”

Eshoo moves to ban waterboarding: Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, who chairs the House Intelligence Committee’s Intelligence Community Management Subcommittee, joined with Human Intelligence, Analysis and Counterintelligence Subcommittee chairman Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, today in introducing a bill to ban waterboarding. Said Eshoo: “It’s time to make a clear statement for the world to hear and understand, and for the Bush Administration to obey: Waterboarding is torture and Americans will not participate in it… The bill makes clear that waterboarding is torture, and cannot be used by anyone in the United States government, including the CIA… Now, from this day forward, let the world know that the United States of America will practice what it has always been revered for: Dignity, democracy and the rule of law.”

Tauscher pushes cooperation with South Korea: Tauscher and Rep. Ed Royce, R-Fullerton, today introduced a bill to improve defense cooperation between the U.S. and South Korean militaries. The legislation would give South Korea the same preferential treatment for foreign military sales as is afforded members of NATO, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. Seoul last year bought more than $3.7 billion worth of American defense articles, making it the largest cash-paying partner in U.S. foreign military sales, and South Korea has formally requested this status through its Foreign and Defense Ministries. Said Tauscher: “South Korea is a vital, strategic, and long time ally, and they should be treated as such. By upgrading their status to improve interoperability between our militaries and better protect the 29,000 American service men and women who are stationed in South Korea, it’s really a true win-win situation.”

McNerney is bustin’ out all over: Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, has a slew of public appearances scheduled for next week, including three “Congress at Your Corner” constiuent meet-and-greets: one from 1 to 2 p.m. Monday, Feb. 19, at Mountain Mike’s Pizza, 130 Hartz Ave. in Danville (to which he especially invites any San Ramon Valley High School students who are allowed to leave campus for lunch); the second from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 20, at Panera Bread, 2533 W. Kettleman Lane in Lodi; and the third from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 22 at BookSmart, 80 E. Second St. in Morgan Hill. Besides those, he’ll be meeting with Education Advisory Board and then chatting with West High School students Tuesday afternoon in Tracy; holding a roundtable discussion on the economy with the Brentwood Chamber of Commerce and local leaders on Wednesday morning; and attending a ceremony celebrating Morgan Hill’s wind energy installation on Thursday morning.

This extremely sad news, just in:

Congressman Tom Lantos (D-San Mateo, San Francisco), 80, passed away this morning due to complications from cancer at Bethesda Naval Medical Center.

Elected to office in 1980, Lantos was Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and one of the country’s leading champions of human rights. His commitment to this issue was forged when, as a young man, he lost nearly his entire family in the Holocaust.

Today he was surrounded by his wife, two daughters, and many of his 18 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

After being diagnosed with esophageal cancer in late December, Lantos announced on January 2 that he would not seek reelection. He said at the time, “It is only in the United States that a penniless survivor of the Holocaust and a fighter in the anti-Nazi underground could have received an education, raised a family, and had the privilege of serving the last three decades of his life as a Member of Congress. I will never be able to express fully my profoundly felt gratitude to this great country.”

The only survivor of the Shoah ever elected to Congress, Tom Lantos was in his 14th term. His Democratic colleagues elected him chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs in January 2007. He was also a senior member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Throughout his adult life Lantos sought to be a voice for human rights and civil liberties. He and Annette Lantos, his childhood sweetheart and wife of nearly 58 years were, as Lantos put it, “full partners both in Congress and in life,” and they continued their work right up to his final days. Tom Lantos was the founding co-chairman of the 24-year-old Congressional Human Rights Caucus, which Annette directed as a volunteer since its inception. He also founded the Congressional Friends of Animals Caucus.

Annette said that her husband’s life was “defined by courage, optimism, and unwavering dedication to his principles and to his family.”

The date for a public memorial service has not yet been set.

I’ll be adding testimonials from various VIPs as the day progresses, after the jump… Read the rest of this entry »

This just in from Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto:

Barack Obama inspires me. He gives me hope. He appeals to the best in us and in doing so, he restores the sense of idealism that brought me to public service. He challenges us to dream bigger and reach farther.

He reminds me of the people in my district: innovative, collaborative, optimistic and dedicated to change as a way to make things better.

Senator Obama also reminds me of John Kennedy who inspired my generation to fight injustice at home and to be ambassadors for democracy around the world. And he recalls Robert Kennedy who sought to heal a dispirited and divided nation and touched those who saw him as their champion for social justice.

Senator Obama’s candidacy is historic, and so is the reaction to it. He has brought thousands of disaffected and skeptical people back into the political process and he has struck a chord with thousands of young voters. Still more are poised to participate in the days ahead.

Barrack Obama is a true son of America. The country needs the benefit of his extraordinary life experience, as well as his practiced policy and leadership skills. As someone who works in Washington, but who lives on the other side of the country, I know how deeply engrained the “old ways” of Washington are, and how they often exclude and dismiss the aspirations of our people.

His candidacy presents an opportunity we cannot afford to pass by. Years from now, I do not want to ask “what if….” That’s why I will do everything I can to see that Senator Obama wins the Democratic Party nomination and the Presidency of the United States.

(Sorry I didn’t get this stuff posted yesterday; I spent much of Monday on the road with Barbara Lee…)

McNerney tours the border: Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, said Monday morning he was enjoying “a very impressive tour” of the U.S.-Mexico border in San Diego County, meeting with Border Patrol officials and other federal agencies about their efforts to stem the tides of illegal immigration and drug trafficking. “What these agencies are facing is an immense challenge… They’re doing good work and we need to support them with any resources they require. It’s hard to understand the depth of the challenge just from reading over briefings and going to hearings,” he said, adding he’d like to see Washington ratchet down the fiery rhetoric of recent years and work toward a bipartisan immigration-reform solution. The National Republican Congressional Committee, striving to see the freshman lawmaker unseated later this year, issued a hit-piece yesterday assailing McNerney’s past votes: “Here’s a hint for Jerry McNerney about what ‘isn’t working’ in the federal government’s efforts to stem the flow of illegal border crossings: Voting in favor of taxpayer-funded benefits for illegal immigrants only provides greater incentive for illegal immigrants looking to cross the border. Instead of scrambling to spin his damaging record of supporting taxpayer-funded benefits for illegal immigrants, McNerney should stop pandering to his liberal leaders in Washington, and start spending more time listening to the voters in his district when it comes to an issue as important as border security and immigration reform.”

Eshoo, Honda win Gold Mouse awards: The Web sites of Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, and Rep. Mike Honda, D-San Jose, are among 26 House members’ sites singled out by the Congressional Management Foundation — a nonprofit, nonpartisan management consulting and research group — for being the best in Congress. (Honda won the “Gold Mouse” last year, too.) Sites were graded on how well they incorporate five basic building blocks deemed critical for effectiveness: audience, content, usability, interactivity, and innovation. An evaluation framework was developed by CMF and their research partners at Harvard University, Ohio State, and the University of California-Riverside that would be fair and objective while still taking into account qualitative factors that affect a visitor’s experience on a Web site. Said Eshoo: “As a member of Congress, it’s important to provide a website that serves my constituents with timely information and a convenient way to contact me with questions or concerns. I’m proud that the Congressional Management Foundation has judged my website to be one of the best in Congress. My constituents certainly deserve the best.” Read the whole 2007 Gold Mouse report here; it’s part of the CMF’s broader research project “Connecting to Congress,” funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

Lofgren endorses Obama: Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, yesterday announced her endorsement of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., for president, saying he “has the unique ability to unite Americans, and he’s building a coalition of Democrats, Republicans, and independents that will allow us to win the White House in November and to bring the changes we desperately need. Obama understands that change does not begin in Washington, it begins by mobilizing Americans to take on special interests and to address the challenges we face. When it comes to pursuing a clean energy future, innovating to restore American competitiveness, and providing affordable health care for all Americans, Barack Obama is the leader who will bring change we can believe in.” For those keeping count of Bay Area endorsements, that’s Lofgren, Barbara Lee and George Miller for Obama, and Ellen Tauscher and Lynn Woolsey for U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.; all the other local House members have stayed mum thus far.

Oy, what a headache!

As I reported Monday, Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, used personal privilege today to force his bill to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney to the House floor, despite House Democratic leaders’ wishes that it die a quiet death in committee.

As expected, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., moved to table the legislation without debate. As expected, co-sponsors Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, and Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma, voted against tabling it, as did Pete Stark, D-Fremont, and Mike Honda, D-San Jose.

George Miller, D-Martinez; Tom Lantos, D-San Mateo; Ellen Tauscher, D-Alamo; Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton; Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto; and Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, all sided with Hoyer, and by extension, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, who long ago said impeachment is off the table.

But, sensing an opportunity to embarass Pelosi and Hoyer, scores of Republicans suddenly voted against tabling the measure — twice as many as the Democrats actually supporting Kucinich’s stance — in an attempt to force a floor debate on impeaching Cheney! Eager to avoid that, Hoyer then moved to refer the bill to the House Judiciary Committee; that vote passed 218-194, with ALL Bay Area Democrats in favor. Oh, to be a fly on the wall of the next Democratic caucus meeting…

The bill Kucinich brought forth today was basically the same as that which he’d introduced back in April, charging that Cheney lied to America about reasons for invading Iraq and now is doing the same with Iran. But because House Democrats couldn’t see eye to eye today, the bill brought them far more grief than it’ll ever bring Cheney.

The Bay Area’s voices in Congress couldn’t be happier about the resignation of U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller, D-Martinez, a few minutes ago told me he believes “it’s good for America that he resigned. The evidence is rather compelling that he lied to the American people and to the Congress about torture, about wiretapping, and about the firing of U.S. attorneys… It was a real disservice to public service to have this man leading the Department of Justice.”

Miller said he’s not thrilled by rumors that Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff might be tapped to replace Gonzales; DHS has plenty of problems of its own, and would be ill-served by yet another change in leadership, he said.

“They have to think about a career person, clearly somebody with a dedication to the principles of the Department of Justice and high ethical standards – that’s what they haven’t had here during Mr. Gonzales’ reign,” Miller said, adding the nominee will face the Senate’s careful scrutiny. “This person will come in after Alberto Gonzales’ horribly unethical reign, so there’s a tough burden on any nominee… If this is a person who’s there to serve the political purposes of the president, I think they are in for trouble.”

Nobody’s mincing words today…

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Lantos, D-San Mateo: “I have long called for the resignation of Attorney General Gonzales, and to say this resignation is long overdue is the understatement of the year. Former Attorney General Gonzales has consistently chipped away at the very Constitution he was charged with protecting. The most fundamental rights afforded to American citizens were to Mr. Gonzales mere roadblocks to be pushed aside in his quest to consolidate power in the executive branch.

“From warrantless wiretapping to politically-motivated firings in the Justice Department, Mr. Gonzales has run the gamut of serious violations of Americans’ most basic and precious rights. I am especially concerned about the legacy his leniency on torture will leave as we continue to fight against terrorism and extremism worldwide. His resignation presents this Administration with an opportunity to reverse some of its disastrous policies on human rights and civil liberties. I urge the President to quickly appoint a fair-minded Attorney General who will take seriously his oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

More after the jump… Read the rest of this entry »

Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, who chairs the House Intelligence Subcommittee on Intelligence Community Management, wrote Wednesday to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales urging him to determine whether Vice President Dick Cheney’s office is required to comply with government-wide regulations on handling classified information.

Since 2004, the Office of the Vice President has refused to submit to routine compliance audits of its handling of classified information, and now asserts it’s not bound by regulations on classified information security because it is not an “entity within the executive branch.”

Keep in mind this is an office in which two people have earned felony convictions in cases related to the mishandling of classified information: Chief of Staff I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby and aide Leandro Aragoncillo.

The National Archives’ Information Security Oversight Office, which ensures compliance with the regulations, asked the Attorney General in January to rule on whether the regulations apply to the Vice President’s office. So far, Gonzalez has not responded.

“Because the Office of the Vice President is deeply involved with classified programs, it is critical for the Attorney General to uphold the integrity of the system that safeguards classified information,” Eshoo said in a news release.

OK, let’s all wait for Gonzalez’ response: one-Mississippi, two-Mississippi, three-Mississippi…