COMANCHE COUNTY DEMOCRAT

CONGRESSIONAL WRANGLING MAY LEAD TO CONSTRUCTION DELAYS

Link: KOTV.com - The News On 6.

HOUSE ETHICS PANEL TO MEET THURSDAY

    The House ethics committee is scheduled to meet in closed session Thursday, an unusual step when Congress is not in session.

    No agenda was released, but the House voted Sept. 29 to refer to the panel a Democratic resolution calling for an ethics investigation into the conduct of former Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., “and the response thereto.”

    Because Foley resigned from the House Sept. 29 after disclosure of salacious instant messages sent to former pages in 2003, the committee has no jurisdiction over his actions. But it could investigate the conduct of current members who knew of Foley’s messages or other questionable behavior.

    In a letter to the committee today, Fred Wertheimer, president of the outside watchdog group Democracy 21, urged the panel to appoint an outside counsel to conduct an independent investigation of the way House Republican leaders handled the Foley case.

    The 10-member Committee on Standards of Official Conduct is evenly split between Republicans and Democrats.

Editor's Note: We hope our powerful member of Congress the Powerful Congressman Lookingood who is a member of this powerful committee will find time from fund raising and campaigning in other states to attend.

CONGRESSMAN TOM COLE TO HOLD TOWN HALL AUGUST 28

4th District Congressman Tom Cole announced that he will be holding Town Hall meetings in Lawton and Frederick on August 28th.  He will be at the Cameron University Sciences Complex Room 101 at 5:30 p.m.. In Frederick he will be at the Banc-First Conference Center, 201 S. Main at noon.

We encourage you attend and discuss with him the following talking points:

• What progress is being made on the ILOS cannon project? Has the one demonstration cannon fired another 1000 rounds? Where is it in the Defense appropriation bill for last year and this year?
• Where are the funds for the BRAC improvements in last years budget or this years budget? When will the first troops be directly arriveing from Ft. Bliss and not returned troops from Europe and a unit activation ceremony?
• Will he concede things are not going well Iraq or is he still in his "going well" mode?
• Where can a farmer go to get some relief NOW from the ravages of the drought hitting Southwest Oklahoma?
• Where can grandma and grandpa go to get help with their prescription drug bills NOW after they have hit the doughnut hole.....or are they on their own?
• Would he please have his big contributors take some kind of action NOW to get gas prices down?
• Will Congress take action NOW is some fashion on the immigration issue?

Usually his responses go something like this:

1. That is a problem that we really need to look at.....or are continuing to look at.
2. The background and history on the issue is.........blah blah blah for fifteen minutes.
3. Congress is doing research and investigating and we will have discussion, hearings and debate before any further action can be taken.
4. See you at the next recess.

For goodness sakes don't ask him about fixing Social Security. We'll be there all night.