Harry Mitchell, right

Rep. Harry Mitchell’s staff dashed off a press release Thursday noting that the Senate “overwhelmingly” approved the 21^st Century GI Bill, which is designed to provide military veterans with expanded educational benefits ranging from college tuition to living stipends.

Mitchell wouldn’t usually publically trumpet a Senate vote, but the new GI Bill is his bill. As his district director and former newspaperman Robbie Sherwood wrote in the press release…

This historic measure – whose chief sponsor in the House is U.S. Rep. Harry E. Mitchell – cleared the Senate by a veto-proof 75-22 margin as an amendment to the FY 2008 Supplemental Appropriations Bill for war funding.

“As we head into the Memorial Day weekend, this is really the best news that we could be delivering to our military personnel and veterans,” Mitchell said. “We have the opportunity and obligation as a nation to strengthen our commitment to those who have served in combat. These education benefits will not only help military recruitment, but will strengthen our economy at a time when it needs it the most.”

The measure previously passed the House on May 15, 2008 by a bipartisan vote of 256 to 166. The bill now heads to a House-Senate Conference Committee to work out differences in the bill in a conference committee.

The House would have to provide at least 291 votes to counteract a threatened White House veto, but the bill currently has 300 cosponsors. Mitchell said he is confident that House and Senate conferees would reach an agreement soon and it would earn strong support when it returns to the House for final approval.  

The Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act extends educational benefits to all members of the military who have served on active duty since September 11, 2001, including activated reservists and National Guard.

Among those who oppose the bill is Republican Sen. and Vietnam War hero John McCain, who argues that the educational benefits are so good that troops might opt out of military service early to cash in on them. McCain prefers a tiered benefits system that would delay Mitchell-style full-benefits packages for men and women who serve longer hitches in the military.

Either way, the bill is certain to become a campaign issue. Mitchell, a Democrat, represents Arizona’s 5th Congressional District, which takes in Scottsdale, Tempe, Fountain Hills, Ahwatukee Foothills and west Mesa.

Jon Kyl

Sen. Jon Kyl penned letters to the editor that appeared in two of the nation’s leading newspapers Friday.

In The Washington Post op-ed pages, he differed with a column headlined, “Iraq War is Everyone Else’s Fault, Feith Explains.” The column suggested that there were no links between al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein.

Kyl wrote, “The historical record tells a different story.” The Republican senator from Arizona noted that in 2002, then-CIA director George Tenet described a connection in a letter Sen. Bob Graham, who at the time was the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

He also noted that in 2006, the U.S. Joint Forces Command discussed in a report relationship with Hussein and Osama bin Laden’s second in command.

Kyl wrote, “Critics of the war in Iraq often try to minimize – if not dismiss – the links between Saddam Hussein and terrorists. As they say, facts are stubborn things.”

In the East Valley Tribune’s op-ed pages, Kyl differed with an editorial headlined, “Don’t blithely give feds our DNA.” He differed with the newspaper’s concerns about the creation of a federal DNA database. The Trib argued that a federal DNA sampling and recording system could infringe on civil liberties.

Kyle wrote, “The Tribune has a right to disagree with my position, as it did in a recent editorial regarding a new DNA database, but it is not fair to characterize my effort as ‘blithely’ or lighthearted.

“The new regulations and the bill that led to them are the product of years of review and consideration. Since the bill creating this database was first introduced in 2003, my staff and I spent hundreds of hours consulting with experts in the field, opponents of expanded sampling, and other government agencies to ensure, among other things, that the regulations do not violate anyone’s privacy or result in misuse of data.”

He further argued that if such a database had been in place years ago, it could have helped identify the Chandler Rapist more quickly.

Harry Mitchell

Rep. Harry Mitchell is set meet with his local veterans advisory committee Saturday to get feedback on his proposed legislation to create a new GI Bill. The measure is designed to provide military veterans with educational benefits ranging from college tuition to living stipends.

The event is not open to the public.

Mitchell introduced the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act last week. More than half the members of the House have since signed on as co-sponsors, according to his spokesman Seth Scott.

Under provisions of the bill, service members who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan since Sept. 11, 2001, could earn up to 36 months of college tuition, plus funds for books and housing costs. 

Mitchell, a first-term Democrat, represents Arizona’s 5th Congressional District, which takes in Scottsdale, Tempe, Fountain Hills, Ahwatukee Foothills and west Mesa.

 While John McCain had strong support at his rally in Prescott on Saturday, there were some people in the crowd with different political agendas.

Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and Ron Paul supporters held signs and distributed literature about their candidates as well.

One particular Paul supporter was fairly entertaining. As a row of newspaper reporters typed madly at their computers at an outdoor table immediately after McCain’s speech, the Paul enthusiast kept walking back and forth in front of them carrying a Paul campaign sign. He kept saying, “Remember the revolution! Remember the revolution!”

According to Paul’s Web site, his, ahem, revolution persists. It says, “Dr. Paul is continuing his bid for the Republican nomination in order to spread the message of constitutional government and personal freedom, take the GOP back to its traditional roots, and continue the grassroots activism his candidacy inspired.”

So noted.

Meanwhile, El Mirage resident William Crum made the trip to Prescott specifically to oppose McCain. He held a hand-made sign that stated, “McCain = 100 Years of War With a Draft (Men and Women).”

Crum, a Vietnam veteran, said he differs with McCain’s approach to the war in Iraq.

“His opinion right now is basically stay the course,” Crum said. “You know what? We can’t afford that. Our country and our service guys can’t stay the course. I mean, why else would they be going back three, four, five times? That’s why I feel that if this war keeps going, we’re going to have to start a draft again, because where else are we going to get people? The reason I believe that we’re going to have to get men and women is because there are not enough men.”

I covered McCain’s speech in the Tribune and my story can be accessed here.

OK, and quick note on Paul’s puzzling campaign sign, in which the letters E, V, O and L within the word “revolution” are backwards and in red. If you read just the red letters backwards, it spells ”love.”

Trippy, man.

Also, if you play some of Paul’s campaign speeches backwards, it sounds like he says, “Number 9,” “I am the walrus” and “Coo-coo ca choo.” Really.

John McCain

A surge of interest in the Democratic presidential candidates will present problems for Republican John McCain across the West, according to Democratic Party leaders from Arizona and other states who spoke in a teleconference Thursday.

They pointed to numbers that indicate Democrats have been turning out for their presidential primary elections in record numbers across the region, where the political landscape is changing. In Arizona for instance, 369,000 Democrats voted on Feb. 5, which marked a 130,000-voter increase from the previous record amount.

If all of that’s true, the big blue upheaval hasn’t exactly shown up in most polls across the eight-state Mountain West region.

Deep thinkers with the polling company Rasmussen Reports classify Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho and Montana “Safe Republican” states, at least for the presidential race. They catalogue Nevada and Colorado as “Toss Up” states, and New Mexico as a “Leans Democratic” state. For those keeping score at home, that’s five reds, two purples and one blue.

The Democrats in the teleconference offer a different assessment. They said Republican voters feel betrayed by McCain.

Arizona Democratic Party executive director Maria Weeg noted that McCain failed to win the GOP primaries in Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah and Colorado. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney placed first in each of those. McCain finished second in Colorado and Utah, third in Montana, and fourth in Wyoming.

“McCain’s losses around the West speak volumes. I mean, they’re really resounding. If you look at what happened in the Mountain West, McCain only won one state – and it was his home state,” Weeg said.

McCain won Arizona’s GOP presidential preference election on Feb. 5 with 48 percent of the vote. He was followed by Romney at 34 percent and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee at 9 percent.

The U.S. senator from Arizona never opened a campaign headquarters in his home and hardly campaigned in Arizona, spending the bulk of his time before the Super Tuesday elections in other states, including New York and California, both of which he won.

The presidential primaries haven’t been conducted yet in the remaining Mountain West states. Idaho’s primaries are May 27 and New Mexico’s are June 3. Here’s a guess that McCain will win both GOP races.

The Democratic leaders did not respond to a question about whether they felt the state-by-state losses of their eventual presidential candidate foretold similar difficulties for either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton in those states. For example, Clinton beat Obama in Arizona. So if Obama ends up as the Democratic nominee, which seems likely, does his second-place finish in the state’s primary in February suggest that he doesn’t have a chance in the general election in November?

Paul Lindsay, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee, faulted the Democrats’ assessment of McCain’s chances in the West.

“By ignoring every recent poll showing Sen. McCain’s strength among independents, the (Democratic National Committee) is proving that their Western strategy is as far removed from reality as their candidates’ liberal policies are removed from the values of the region’s voters,” he said in a statement.

“John McCain’s Western roots and proven record on taxes, Second Amendment rights, and protecting our national security stand in stark contrast to the flawed vision of Obama and Clinton,” Lindsay said. 

McCain’s biggest problem is within his own party, Weeg said. Republicans simply don’t trust him.

“He’s not the Straight Talk Express that he might have been when he ran for Senate the first time. He’s now what we’re referring to as the Double-Talk Express. He’s changed his stance on almost everything to pander to the most extreme portions of his party,” she said.

The Democrats said McCain has been cozy with lobbyists and AWOL from his Senate job, plus he’s weak on the economy and wrong on the war in Iraq. According to their assessment, that’s enough to tip the election toward the eventual Democratic nominee in Arizona.

“I see Arizona as winnable for a number of reasons. The first and foremost is that I don’t think McCain is that popular here. He may once have been – I don’t know – but certainly 48 percent of the vote from his own primary voters does not bode well for him,” Weeg said.

McCain’s handling of immigration has demonstrated his failure to lead, she said.

McCain and other Republican senators, notably Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, joined with Democrats to forge a compromise border security and immigration reform bill that failed to advance last year. Some Democrats said the bill was too strict in regulating immigration into the country, while some Republicans charged that it was too forgiving in allowing millions of illegal immigrants already living in the country to obtain citizenship.

Since the bill failed, McCain has changed his stance on the issues, going from an all-at-once approach to a two-step approach. He said he believes lawmakers should deal with the border first; and deal with immigration reform second.

Weeg said immigration will be a huge issue for Arizona voters in November.

“We work with people who come across the border. We play with them. We are next to them. We are their neighbors. So this is really an issue in Arizona,” she said. “And McCain, who once sponsored legislation to come up with some practical solutions to this increasing problem, has given in to the extremists in his party in order to garner this nomination. He’s not coming up with any real solutions at all.”

The Democrats talk about conducting a 50-state campaign. The real measure of their sincerity will be to see if Obama or Clinton runs a bona fided campaign in the 48th state.

John McCain’s biggest challenge between now and Nov. 4 is to say focused, said Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., who traveled with McCain on Super Tuesday and Just Getting By On Coffee Wednesday.

“His world is about to change,” Lindsay told reporters at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport before boarding McCain’s jet for Washington, D.C., on Wednesday morning.

“The more presumptive nominee status you obtain, the more security you’re going to have, and the relationship he has with y’all may change a bit. But I’d hate to be the Secret Service agent who told him he couldn’t talk to y’all,” said the native South Carolinian.

McCain has been becoming more mentally prepared every day for the rigors of becoming the presumptive nominee, party leader and president, Graham said.

 “There’s nobody I’ve ever met more prepared to lead this country in the times in which we live. The challenges are great. They’re immense. And John has paid a heavy price for what he believes in life,” he said.

“He’s sacrificed for his country – and I don’t think it’s an accident that God has kept him around all these years. He’s got one last mission to go on. I really, honest to God believe that, that he’s here for a reason and his next assignment will be as commander in chief,” Graham said.

President Bush

Republican Sen. Jon Kyl and Democrat Rep. Harry Mitchell both found aspects of President Bush’s final State of the Union speech to their liking. Here’s statements each of them issued after Bush’s speech Monday night.

From Kyl:

The president, in his final State of the Union Address, outlined an agenda that addresses some of our nation’s most pressing challenges. Most immediate is the need for legislation to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Al Qaeda still desires to carry out the same kinds of attacks against the United States and other countries that it executed on Sept. 11, 2001. We know the incredible amount of damage that can be inflicted if we do not monitor and respond to this threat. We also know that the best way to deal with al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations is to collect intelligence so that we can prevent attacks from occurring in the first place, rather than having to respond after they have occurred. That is why it is critical for Congress to ensure that under the law, the United States can engage in the kind of intelligence collection against al Qaeda that technology today allows.

Congress amended FISA in 2007 under the Protect America Act, which conformed the legal procedures to the evolving technology of intelligence collection. The PAA, however, is set to expire on Friday. The Senate has now been in session for almost two weeks since the beginning of this session, and majority leader has done very little to advance the issue. Instead, the Senate has devoted much of its time to considering unrelated legislation despite the looming deadline. I join with the president in urging the swift passage of a bill to properly and adequately update FISA.

While there were many fine initiatives laid out by the president, I want to specifically commend him for taking the lead to reform earmarks in Congressional spending bills. I don’t believe Congress has done enough to end this wasteful practice, and the president’s proposal to direct executive agencies to not fund projects that are not voted on by Congress is a good start.

From Mitchell:

I was pleased to see Sen. (Bob) Dole and (Department of Health and Human Services) Secretary (Donna) Shalala here tonight. Congress has passed a number of their recommendations to help our nation’s veterans, but there is so much more to be done.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are creating tens of thousands of new veterans, with new and demanding conditions. We have to be ready to treat them, and as we gather here tonight, we are not yet fully prepared. I recently returned from both Iraq and Afghanistan, where we looked at the transfer of medical records from the point of injury through the point of return to the United States, and I can tell you the process needs work.

I think it is wrong, at this time of war and economic uncertainty for members of Congress to raise their own pay yet again. Our sons and daughters are in harms way, we have a debt of more than $9 trillion, and families are worried about making ends meet. Americans didn’t get a pay raise last year, and I think it is wrong for members of Congress to give themselves one. I’ve introduced legislation to block this pay raise, and I’ve asked leadership to include it in the stimulus package.

I think the economy is a real concern. Unemployment rates are up in Arizona and we have record numbers of foreclosures in the Valley. We need to work in a bipartisan way to reverse this trend before it becomes a bigger problem.

I was pleased to hear the President speak about the need to secure our border. This is the federal government’s responsibility, it is not getting the job done, and Arizona is paying a hefty price as a result. More than half of all illegal U.S.-Mexico border crossings happen in Arizona. Congress increased funding for Customs and Border Protection, as well as for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and appropriated $1.2 billion for border fencing, but there is much more to do.

Mitchell represents Arizona’s 5th Congressional District, which takes in Scottsdale, Tempe, Fountain Hills, Ahwatukee Foothills and west Mesa.

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