ED ROYCE NEEDED AT THE HELM OF THE HOUSE INT’L RELATIONS COMMITTEE
At the end of this session of the House of Representatives, conservative Congressman Henry Hyde of Illinois will hit his ‘term limit’ as Chairman of the House International Relations Committee. Hyde has done an outstanding job, and whichever Member of Congress takes over his gavel will have big shoes to fill.
More so now that at almost any time in history, the world is a complex and dangerous place. Now, more than ever, this important House panel needs to have solid leadership. We are all very fortunate that our own Californian, Ed Royce, has put his hat into the ring for the Chairmanship.
Royce’s run for the seat makes a lot of sense for a lot of reasons, and I am pleased to introduce a column from Royce’s California colleague, FR friend Duncan Hunter, in which Hunter makes the case for why Ed Royce should be Chairman on this important committee.
I had an opportunity to sit down with Royce recently and we spent quite a bit of our conversation talking about international issues — his depth of knowledge and keen insight on foreign affairs is amazing. Of course, when I tried to get him to talk about his announcement that he was interested in becoming full Chairman of the Committee, he quickly reminded me that Republicans all need to stay focused on the important elections this November. Royce has been actively engaged towards victory in November, serving on the Board of the National Republican Congressional Committee, and acting as the liaison between the California Congressional Delegation and the State Republican Party.
The formal ‘election’ of Committee Chairmen won’t take place until January, which will give Royce a chance to campaign for that job AFTER we secure a GOP majority first.
That said, Congressman Hunter had a lot to say about what a good idea it would be to have Royce in this position, and you can read his thoughts on the main page.
ARNOLD DISTANCING HIMSELF FROM THE PREZ? HOW ABOUT ON SPENDING?
John Marelius pens a story in the San Diego Union Tribune today looking at the distancing of Arnold Schwarzenegger from President Bush, and how a key strategy of the Angelides campaign seems to be to want to tie the Governor and the President together. As a conservative who has my own issues with Bush, I want to officially petition the Governor relative to ‘distancing’ — which is to say that the Governor can actually distance himself from the President by being conservative on some issues where the President has not been – such as spending controls. Right now, if I were going to compare Bush and Schwarzenegger, both are Republican Chief Executives who are presiding over increases in government spending.
A few points:
* Dianne Feinstein is way in front of Dick Mountjoy in the U.S. Senate race. Not surprising, but unfortunate. Feinstein maintains a faux ‘moderate’ image that is untrue. Her voting record is strikingly close to Boxer’s.
* The proponent of the measure to tax oil and take the proceeds to ‘invest’ in alternative fuels is in the alternative fuels business. So this looks like a business-deal for the proponent. Hardly altruism. (See Weintraub’s column.)
* Arnold Schwarzenegger has agreed to battle it out with a Stockton senior – in a table tennis match. That’s right — its the Terminator versus the Ping-Ponginator, reports the Stockton Record’s Hank Shaw.
* The LA City Council has put a term-limits extension on the November ballot. If it passes, it ‘resets the counter’ for already termed-out retired Council members to once again run for their seats. Dumb.
* L.A. County Supervisor Mike Antonovich testified yesterday before a House Judiciary Committee hearing in California that the cost of illegal immigrants in L.A. County alone is over a BILLION dollars a year.
* The San Bernardino Sun pens a lengthy article that, in essence, criticizes Congressman Jerry Lewis for being silent with his constituents and local media as he is embroiled in a potential scandal. Then again, what does he say?
It’s all on the main page.
Have a great day!
Jon
PS: The Capitol Weekly website was not updated at time of publishing. If they go up with new articles, we’ll let you know and put the links up on the FR Weblog.
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