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Friday, January 12, 2007
EPA PUTS LIBRARY ACTION PLAN ON HOLD
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has no plans to shut down more of its libraries and has ceased destroying duplicative research materials until it answers questions from Congress, a spokesperson said Friday.
Jessica Emond, the deputy press secretary at the EPA, said the agency has rescheduled “the recycling” of EPA materials that are duplicates or obsolete.
Leading Democratic lawmakers formally requested that the agency stop closing libraries and destroying documents until a congressional review could take place.
The EPA came under fire from open government advocates after it began shutting down libraries last fall. In total, the agency shut down five regional libraries and limited access at four others in its 26-library network.
The agency has defended its decision to close libraries, saying it will save the agency money. It has promised to digitize its collection, but has not released a plan as to how it would do that or how it would pay for that costly service.
“Our library modernization will provide better access to a wider audience,” Edmond said. “It will be at your fingertips whether you are in Washington or China.”
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Quote of the Day
“Those who would insist that the sky is falling if drug companies negotiate lower prescription prices are arguing that those companies should continue to skin a fat hog at the expense of the taxpayers and the beneficiaries.”
—- Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., speaking on the House floor during debate on the Medicare drug bill.
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Tancredo for President?
The list of presidential wannabes could get a little longer soon. Rep. Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican who has gained a national following — and the ire of some Latino groups — as a staunch opponent of illegal immigration, hinted Friday that he is ready to pursue the Oval Office.
When asked whether he plans to take action to start an official bid for the GOP nomination he said, “That is a distinct possibility.”
Tancredo wouldn’t be the only candidate with a “tough on border security” platform. Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter of California, a major force behind constructing fences along the U.S.-Mexico border, formed an exploratory committee last year.
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Gates: Troops Could Begin Coming Home in Late 2007
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday that U.S. troops could begin withdrawing from Iraq by the end of the year, if the plan for a near-term surge in forces there helps to quell bloodshed in Baghdad.
“You could begin to see a lightening of the U.S. footprint,” Gates said in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee. “If you lower the level of sectarian violence significantly…then you could have a situation later this year where you could actually begin withdrawing.”
Gates said a decision to begin scaling down forces would be made based on conditions on the ground, however, not on a timeline announced in advance.
Gates appeared before the panel with Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, two days after President Bush announced plans to send 21,500 additional troops to Iraq.
There are roughly 130,000 U.S. troops now in Iraq, where more than 3,000 American forces have died and nearly 23,000 have been wounded since Bush ordered the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March, 2003.
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