6A
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY MARCH 29.2007
IRAQ WAR
Bush demands funds for troops
ASSOCIATED PRESS
President Bush battled with Congress and its Democratic majority on Wednesday in an attempt to gain funding for troops in Iraq. Last week the House approved a bill that would require a mandatory troop withdrawal and the Senate moved toward similar legislation.
BY DAVID ESPO
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — President Bush and the Democratic-controlled Congress lurched toward a veto showdown over Iraq on Wednesday, the commander in chief demanding a replenishment of war funding with no strings and Speaker Nancy Pelosi counseling him, "Calm down with the threats."
Bush said imposition of a "specific and random date of withdrawal would be disastrous" for U.S. troops in Iraq and he predicted that lawmakers would take the blame if the money ran short.
"The clock is ticking for our troops in the field," he said. "If Congress fails to pass a bill to fund our troops on the front lines, the American people will know who to hold responsible."
Bush spoke as the Senate moved toward passage of legislation that would require the beginning of a troop withdrawal within 120 days, and would set a goal of March 31, 2008, for its completion.
The House approved a more sweeping measure last week, including a mandatory withdrawal deadline for nearly all combat troops of Sept. 1, 2008.
Both bills would provide more than $90 billion to sustain military efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
After passage, the next step would be a House-Senate compromise measure almost certain to include conditions that Bush has said he finds objectionable, and the president's remarks seemed designed to lay the political groundwork for a veto showdown with the new Democratic majority later this spring.
Confidently predicting his veto would be sustained in Congress, he said, "Funding for our forces in Iraq will begin to run out in mid-April.
Members of Congress need to stop making political statements, and start providing vital funds for our troops. They need to get that bill to my desk so I can sign it into law"
One key Democrat with longtime ties to the Pentagon. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., said Bush was exaggerating, and he estimated the real deadline for a fresh infusion of funds was June 1.
Gordon Adams, a former Clinton administration official specializing in defense issues, said the Pentagon has authority to transfer existing funds between accounts. "So into June, while it's painful, it's possible" for the military to maintain operations, he said.
Democratic leaders also dispute
ed Bush's contention that Congress would be to blame for any funding difficulties in a war they have vowed to end.
"Why doesn't he get real with what's going on with the world?" said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. "We're not holding up funding in Iraq and he knows that. Why doesn't he deal with the real issues facing the American people?"
Pelosi responded to Bush with a blend of conciliation and challenge.
"On this very important matter, I would extend a hand of friendship to the president, just to say to him, 'Calm down with the threats,' she said. "There's a new Congress in town. We accept your constitutional role. We want you to accept ours."
ensured — including one that lasted 21 days — and Republicans bore the brunt of the public's unhappiness. In the end, the new GOP majority surrendered, and Bill Clinton exploited the episode to help rehabilitate his standing with the voters.
Apart from the Iraq provisions, the Senate legislation includes about $20 billion in domestic spending that Bush did not ask for.
He got a laugh at lawmakers' expense when he said $3.5 million was included "for visitors to tour the Capitol and see for themselves how Congress works." The funds are for an underground Capitol visitor center, over-budget and still incomplete.
Democrats took control of Congress in January after elections framed by voter dissatisfaction over a war that has now claimed the lives of more than 3,200 U.S. troops and cost more than $350 billion.
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A few hours after the president spoke, the Senate voted 75-22 in favor of a proposal by Ron Wyden, D-Ore, to extend payments that rural counties receive to make up for the loss of revenue from federal lands. The cost was about $5 billion, to be financed by increased penalties for taxpayers who provide false information to the IRS.
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"This war must end. The American people have lost faith in the president's conduct of the war. Let's see how we can work together," added Pelosi, D-Calif.
Whatever the outcome, the confrontation bore similarities to a veto fight of a dozen years ago. At the time, a new, Republican-controlled Congress promised steep spending cutbacks to balance the budget, and a politically weakened president of the other party refused to go along.
The Senate bill also contains previously passed legislation to raise the minimum wage by $2.10 in three steps, along with $12 billion in tax cuts. That was well above the $8.3 billion in tax cuts that cleared the Senate earlier this year.
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》 GAMBLING
BY CARL MANNING ASSOCIATED PRESS
Supporters keep casinos afloat in Legislature despite changes
TOPEKA — Supporters of expanded gambling held off one attempt Wednesday to kill a bill authorizing casinos in four areas and slot machines at dog and horse tracks in three cities but quickly faced another attempt.
Supporters believe the new gambling eventually provide $200 million a year in revenues for the state, while opponents predicted existing restaurants and entertainment businesses would be hurt and Kansas would see more social ills like addicted gamblers and broken families.
The 98-page gambling proposal was drafted by a bipartisan coalition in the House and amended into a Senate bill extending the Kansas Lottery's operations before narrowly winning approval in that chamber Monday.
The House's action left the Senate with the choice of demanding negotiations and attempting to draft a compromise on gambling, or accepting the House's version and sending the bill to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, who supports it.
Senate leaders described their 40-member chamber as evenly split over the proposal, leaving supporters searching for a 21st vote to pass it.
And senators voted 22-18 to
demand negotiations and have leaders appoint a House-Senate conference committee — buying supporters of the bill time.
"This is a matter that deserves our careful attention," said Sen. John Vratil, R-Leawood.
But opponents of the bill weren't giving up. They wanted to force a second vote — to accept the House's version of the bill — hoping it would fail and kill the bill.
"The cost to Kansas families — the cost to small businesses in Kansas — is calculable," said Sen. Phil Journey, R-Haysville. "Hundreds of millions of dollars will be taken out of our economy."
The bill would permit tourist-attracting, hotel-and-casino complexes in Ford County, Wyandotte County, either Sedgwick or Sumner county and either Cherokee or Crawford county.
It also would permit a total of 2,200 slot machines at three tracks, Wichita Greyhound Park, the Woodlands in Kansas City, Kan. and the now-closed Camptown Greyhound Park in Frontenac. An additional 600 machines would be permitted once the state had contracts with developers to operate the casinos.
The state would receive 22 percent of the casinos' revenues and 40 percent of the slot machines' revenues.
》 COURTS
The claim against Paruk also cites a federal civil rights law in alleging that Muhammad was denied access to the courts because of her religion.
Muhammad wore a niqab — a scarf and veil that covers her head and face, leaving only the eyes visible — during the October hearing in Hamtramck, a city surrounded by Detroit.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
She was contesting a $2,750 charge from a rental-car company to repair a vehicle that she said thieves had broken into.
Paruk told her he needed to see her face to judge her truthfulness and gave her a choice: take off the veil while testifying or have the case dismissed. She kept it on.
Ginnnah Muhammad, 42, of Detroit, said in the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Detroit that Judge Paul Paruk's request to remove her veil — and his decision to dismiss her case when she didn't — was unconstitutional based on her First Amendment right to practice her religion.
DETROIT — A Muslim woman whose small-claims court case was dismissed after she refused to remove her veil sued the judge Wednesday, saying her religious and civil rights were violated.
Muslim woman takes Detroit judge to court Resident refused to testify without veil
Enterprise Rent-A-Car Co. then filed a claim seeking a judgment of $2,000 against Muhammad. A hearing is set for April 18 before Paruk in Hamtramck district court.
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Muhammad's attorney, Nabih Ayad, said that she unsuccessfully sought to get a different judge to hear the case and that she and her client plan to ask him to remove himself from the case.
A message seeking comment was left Wednesday for Paruk.
Metropolitan Detroit has one of the country's largest Muslim and Arab populations. The lawsuit says that because of that, others have either come before Paruk or will come before him. "Thus, future harm is imminent."
"You should be able to be who you are as long as you're not a criminal or hurting other people," said Muhammad, who converted to Islam when she was 10 and runs an aromatherapy business in suburban Detroit.
"I want to make sure everyone across the board is able to practice their religion freely in a democratic society"
"The way I believe in Islam is that a woman is very virtuous," she said. "We should be covered when we come out. This protects me as well as other people. I believe that God wants me that way."
Muhammad said she would have removed her veil before a female judge.
Michigan law has no rules on how judges should handle religious attire of people in court.
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