European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 17, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday March 172007 stars and stripes Page 9 House panel oks dems Iraq withdrawal Bill Senate measure Falls Short of the necessary votes by David Espo the associated press Washington democrats aggressively challenged president Bush Iraq policy at both ends of the Capitol on thursday gaining House committee approval for a troop withdrawal deadline of sept 12008 but suffering defeat in the Senate on a less sweeping plan to end us participation in the War Antiwar democrats prevailed on a near party line vote of 3628 in the House appropriations com Mittee brushing aside a week old veto threat from the administration and overcoming unyielding opposition from republicans i want this War to end i dont want to go to any More funerals said new York rep rep Jose ser Rano nobody wants our troops out of Iraq More than i do countered rep cd Bill Young of Florida who sought unsuccessfully to Cut tie the timeline for a troop withdrawal but we cant afford to turn Over Iraq to Al Aida in the Senate after weeks of skirmishing republicans easily turned Back democratic Legisla Tion requiring a troop withdrawal to begin within 120 Days the Mea sure set no fixed deadline for completion of the redeployment but set a goal of March 312008 the vote was 5048 against the measure 12 Short of the 60 needed for passage Senate democrats promptly said they would try again to Force a change in Bush policy begin Ning next week when they begin work on legislation providing Money for the War in Iraq and Ghanishan Senate armed services commit tee chairman sen Carl Levin a meth left talks with sen Ben Nelson Deb Center and sen John Warner Eva on Capitol Hill on thursday prior to the committees hearing on the army fiscal 2008 budget Susan United pentecostal Church International Asia my Tapy ministries Okinawa Japan Rufus Parker and coordinator 0989333441 Japan Marcus Miller 2676887 Misawa Japan Phillip Sanders 2227077 Yokosuka Japan Christopher Corley 2465732 Yokota Japan Nathan Krouse 2273954 Korea Santiago Duran 01193583794 Yon san Korea Michael Mahoney 0263555233 for service location time please Call the Contact in your area democrats seek to clarify government contract rules by Jim Abrams the associated press Washington democrats in the House of representatives saying billions of dollars have been wasted in contracts for Hurricane katrina reconstruction and Iraq offered legislation thursday to clean up government contracting practices the White House protested the accountability in contracting act contending it would get in the Way of administration efforts to make contracting More open and competitive debate on the contracting Bill follows passage wednesday of four other open government Bills including one giving More Protection to whistle blowers and another obliging Federal agencies to be More responsive to Freedom of in formation act requests for information the legislation would limit the awarding of no bid contracts awarded in emergencies to one year and requires agencies that spend More than billion in con tracts to minimize use of sol source contracts it also charges agencies with reducing the number of cos plus contracts that leave the govern ment vulnerable to wasteful spending and demands that con tract overcharges in excess of million and sets limits on procure ment officers dealing with their former or future employers in the private sector Dennis from left sen John Kerry mass Senate majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada sen Carl Levin Mich and sen Joseph Biden Del take part in a news conference after a procedural vote on Iraq Senate to subpoena Justice dept officials by Laurie Kellman the associated press Washington the Senate judiciary committee on thurs Day cleared the Way for subpoenas compelling five Justice department officials and six of the Federal prosecutors they fired to Tell the Story of the Bush administrations purge of us attorneys that has prompted demands for the ouster of attorney general Al Berto Gonzales the dispute Over the us attorneys has become the latest clash Between the presidents Republican party and the newly empowered democratic majority in the us Congress democrats who have Long accused republicans of running roughshod Over opponents have portrayed the firings As part of a Campaign of intimidation and obstruction by the Bush administration and Republican lawmakers the voice vote in the commit tee to authorize the panel to Issue subpoenas amounts to insurance against the possibility that Gonza Les could retract his permission to let the aides testify voluntarily or impose strict conditions the committee also postponed for a week a vote on whether to authorize subpoenas for Bush top aides who were involved in the eight firings including political adviser Karl Rove former White House counsel Harriet Miers and Deputy White House counsel William k Kelley the committee approved subpoena Power for key Justice department officials involved in the firings Michael Elston Kyle Sampson Monica Goodling Bill Mercer and Mike Battle Sampson Gonzales chief of staff quit this week Elston is staff chief to Deputy attorney general Paul Mcnulty and Mer cer is associate attorney general Goodling is Gonzales senior coun Sel and White House Liaison and Battle is the departing director of the office that oversees All 93 us attorneys Gonzales has said he would allow the aides still at the Justice department to testify voluntarily it was unclear whether Sampson would agree to Tell his Story with out a subpoena the panel also approved subpoena Power for six of the eight us attorneys fired since Decem Ber the six All of whom testified last week under oath before the House committee Are Carol Lam of California Bud Cummins of Arkansas Paul Charlton of Ari Zona John Mckay of Washington state Daniel Bogden of Nevada David Iglesias of new Mexico Calif pushes up presidential primary to february the associated press Sacramento gov Arnold Schwarzenegger on thursday moved californian presidential primary from june to february giving the most populous us state a greater stake in selecting nominees and shaking up the 2008 political Calendar now California is important again in presidential nominating politics and we will get the re Spect that California deserves Schwarzenegger said during a Bill signing ceremony California has not played a prominent role in a presidential primary since 1972 when George Mcgovern beat Hubert Humphrey for the democratic Nomina Tion Schwarzenegger is hoping that by moving the presidential primary from june to feb 5 the state will again play a significant role forcing presidential candidates to Campaign in the state rather than merely visit the state to raise Money and focusing on states that choose their nominees earlier Steve California gov Arnold Schwarzenegger on thursday signs sb113 which will move californian presidential primary election from june to february