Saturday, May 07, 2011

The Pelosi went over to Iraq

Just as the devil went down to Georgia, the Pelosi went over to Iraq.


Pelosi2

The one-time Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, got that position by campaigning -- in 2006 -- to end the Iraq War. She was one of the faces of the Democratic Party effort that promised if the American people gave the then-minority party control of just one house of Congress, the Iraq War would end. With just one house, America was told, they would have investigative power and so much more.

Many Americans believed Pelosi & Co -- so many, in fact, that Democrats were not given control of one house, they were given control of both houses of Congress. And in January of 2007, the 110th Congress was sworn in.

Did the Iraq War end?

No.

Has Nancy expressed remorse?

No.


But she visited Iraq today and she did Tweet about it.

Nancy Pelosi
Congressional delegation with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki earlier today.
7 hours ago
»
Nancy Pelosi
Arrived w/ bipartisan CODEL in Iraq to thank our troops, assess progress on redeployment and meet w/ Iraqi & US officials.
16 hours ago


Felicia Sonmez (Washington Post) adds, "Traveling with Pelosi are Republican Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (Md.) and Democratic Reps. George Miller (Calif.), Ed Markey (Mass.), Nick Rahall (W.Va.), Anna Eshoo (Calif.), Carolyn Maloney (N.Y.), Steve Israel (N.Y.) and Cedric Richmond (La.)." Hisham Rikabi (Al Mada) reports that Nance was in Iraq as part of the continued effort "to convince the Iraqi government of the need to keep a number of US troops beyond 2011 and that Nouri told her extending the US presence would require an agreement on the part of all political blocs.


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The continued violence

Reuters reports a Baquba robbery in which 5 people were killed. Al Rafidayn notes the robbers "stole four billion dinars ($3.4 million) from the Office of Exchange". In addition to the money exchange robbery, Reuters notes 2 police officers injured while attempting to defuse a Baghdad bomb (one other person was also injured), and, dropping back to Friday night for both, a Baghdad roadside bombing which injured five people, a Baghdad shooting which claimed the life of 1 police officer. Aswat al-Iraq reports a member of the Islamic State of Iraq was shot dead in Mosul today, a Mosul bombing injured one person and 2 corpses were discovered in Mosul, and a Baquba bombing left ten police officers wounded.


Still on violence, Tim Arango (New York Times) profiles Samar Hassan:

The image of Samar, then 5 years old, screaming and splattered in blood after American soldiers opened fire on her family’s car in the northern town of Tal Afar in January 2005, illuminated the horror of civilian casualties and has been one of the few images from this conflict to rise to the pantheon of classic war photography. The picture has gained renewed attention as part of a large body of work by Chris Hondros, the Getty Images photographer recently killed on the front lines in Misurata, Libya.

The following community sites -- plus Antiwar.com and Military Families Speak Out -- updated last night and today:



And we'll close with this from Justin Raimondo's "Empire or Solvency" (Antiwar.com):


As this sense of urgency gains traction and spreads, from the libertarian and "paleoconservative" precincts in which it has previously flourished, the GOP establishment will be forced to deal with the rising insurgency in their own ranks. A recent CNN poll shows that of the declared Republican candidates for President, Ron Paul – an anti-interventionist of a sort who often makes me look moderate – unveils the new political reality:

"Who does best against Obama? Paul. The congressman from Texas, who also ran as a libertarian candidate for president in 1988 and who is well liked by many in the tea party movement, trails the president by only seven points (52 to 45 percent) in a hypothetical general election showdown. Huckabee trails by eight points, with Romney down 11 points to Obama."

Paul appeals to both hardcore Tea Party types and independents who viscerally distrust the GOP, and this is in large part due to his emphasis – even when he’s talking about economic matters – on the foreign policy factor, what he calls "the Empire" with a quintessentially American hint of disdain for all things imperial. He has spent the last decade or so telling Americans we’re a bankrupt empire, and now that the reality of this has dawned Paul is getting a Strange New Respect. The neocons and professional Paul-haters (or do I repeat myself?) will no doubt focus on the Strangeness aspect of this, but they are living in the past.

It was easy to ignore Paul’s jeremiads against the Empire in the heyday of the financial bubble, and the concomitant bubble of American supremacy. Now that the bubble has burst – as Paul said it would – Americans are coming face to face with something they’ve so far assiduously evaded: reality. The economic and social reality of a bloated, over-extended colossus, an empire rotting at its metropolitan core and besieged on every far-flung frontier.

The capture and summary execution of bin Laden has ushered in a new awareness when it comes to foreign policy matters, one that will almost certainly doom the very policy the terrorist leader’s executioner insists on maintaining, virtually unchanged. With bin Laden’s death, the rationale for the occupation of Afghanistan, and even the escalating war in Pakistan, has been pulled out from under this administration. Obama’s wars have always been wildly unpopular: now they will exact a political cost that may become unsustainable.





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Friday, May 06, 2011

Iraq snapshot

Friday, May 6, 2011.  Chaos and violence continue, the protests continue in Iraq, Nouri makes some nominations, and more.
 
Protest continue in Iraq. They've been taking place every Friday in Iraq since February.  Today is Situation Friday.  The Great Iraqi Revolution reports, "Tahrir [Square], Baghdad reflects an amazing community -- one watches and listens to a young man, a member of the Free Youth Movement, who speaks tirelessly about the political ills and the reasons for them that exist -- everyone -- literallly everyone listens to him and is supportive of him and his ideas.  The scene then zooms to a mother crying heartbreakingly searching and at the same time mourning her son who had left his home with his cousin and never returned; then to another woman crying 'we are not terrorists - we are not terrorists - you, Maliki, are the terrorist!' People shout and sing 'thieves' 'thieves' 'thieves' . . . and 'liars'. They also chant everything is illegitimate and false.  These people have been coming here every Friday since the beginning of February - they represent all walks of life - artists, workers, civil servants, young university students; Facebook users; mothers, fathers; lawyers; retired civil servants as well as children.  The songs, the chants and the fervour . . . where is the foreign press, I wonder????"
 
It's a cry that's been repeatedly made: Where is the media?  Why won't they cover the protests?  Tim Arango (New York Times) thinks they have.  Go to last week's snapshots, I don't want to rehash that because I don't want to pick on him. His view is the paper's view which makes them a great fit but of little interest to those trying to follow the Iraqi people.  (The New York Times became the paper of record -- before Tim Arango was even born -- due to its reliance upon officials. That's why it's unable to report on actual movements. They are so rarely led by elected officials.)  We've tried to cover the press silence here and also we've covered it at Third (for Third coverage, see "Editorial: The press covers up Iraqi protests" and "Editorial: We Heart Iraqi Protesters"  and "Editorial: The Children of Iraq" among other pieces.)  Today Joel Wing makes like Christopher Columbus and 'discovers' the issue and he sees things differently which can be fine -- we're all entitled to our own viewpoints -- and it can be wrong.  I'll applaud him for finally noting what is one of the most pressing issues even if he completely misses the underlying causes for the lack of coverage. I won't applaud him getting things wrong.
 
If you're going to include -- in your survey piece -- NPR's coverage of Moqtada al-Sadr's protest, you cannot write "and McClatchy Newspapers never reported on the Iraqi unrest" and be accurate. Laith Hammoudi reported on Moqtada's protest with Jane Arraf.  Which is the other thing.  McClatchy has no one to head their Baghdad desk and doesn't trust their stringers are reporters.  I don't mean that as an insult to Laith, Mohammed, Sahar or anyone else there.  I think they're reporters and I think they've demonstrated that repeatedly.  The Laith link goes to a piece written with Jane Arraf and anyone can benefit from writing with Jane.  But Jane's out of Iraq and is McClatchy going to do nothing?  Hannah Allam can't head Baghdad, they've assigned her elsewhere.  The smart thing to do would be to realize that McClatchy has strong reporters in Iraq -- the local population -- and set them up with an editor in the US who would go over their copy (the way editors -- in the pre-web days -- were supposed to).  But Joel Wing is wrong about what McClatchy did or didn't do and he might want to check some pieces that will have end note credits to McClatchy. I heard about his blog post from a friend at CNN who was irritated that CNN got no credit for their work.  CNN had more than the 9 he gave it credit for.  Equally strange is the fact that he doesn't include AP.  Reuters, AFP, etc aren't US outlets.  But AP is and readers of American newspapers  in print are more likely to have read about the protests via AP than anything else because AP is a wire service carried by so many outlets.  AP has done some strong coverage of the protests.  Kelly McEvers has done some for NPR (NPR gets noted by Wing) but the strongest protest coverage was done by the Washington Post and specifically by Stephanie McCrummen. She did the best US coverage of the attacks on protesters and journalists who covered the protests -- attacks after the protest had ended.  In addition to filing stories (plural) on that (the New York Times did a strong editorial on the subject but the reporting section of the paper never covered the detention and beating of journalists by Iraqi forces), she also contributed the first and so far only -- THE ONLY -- feature article on the protest leadership that ran in the US.  (Le Monde had a nice article but that was only in French, it didn't run in their English language version.)
 
Joel Wing writes, "Finally, the Los Angeles Times and McClatchy Newspapers never reported on the Iraqi unrest."  Really?  What is the basis for that claim?  We've dealt with McClatchy already, let's move over to the Los Angeles Times. "New Iraq protests smaller, less viollent amid tight security."  That March 5th article was written by Aliice Fordham and Raheem Salman for the Los Angels Times. I don't know how Joel Wing does his research but I do know the reaction.
 
I don't read Wing.  I heard about his post via a phone call from a CNN producer who first noted how CNN's coverage was slighted.  CNN did much more coverage than Wing gave it credit for.  And since he was wrong about that, the reaction is to dismiss all the parts of his essay or post.  It's a bit like the people who wrote pieces after the March protest against the illegal war on the 8th anniversary of it. A lot of people showed up making false claims in their 'analysis.'  Such as, "NPR never even mentioned the protests!"  Actually, not only did it get some coverage after, Mara Liasson noted the protests a day before they took place, noted them on air on NPR.  Now we can disagree with one another on the quality of Mara's coverage and that's fine.  But we can't ignore that NPdid mention it on air.  Not if we're claiming to be honest. 
 
 
There's no point in including the Los Angeles Times at all.  The paper had to step it down because they published stories that made Nouri al-Malik uncomfortable.  That's not a criticism of the Los Angeles Times and certainly not one of Ned Parker.  Joel Wing will no doubt have the facts down for the future but the people playing catch up now are missing a huge part of the story.
 
As January wound down, Ned Parker reported on the secret prisons for the Los Angeles Times and Human Rights Watch issued their report on it.  Parker's January report on the secret prisons and how they were run by Nouri's security forces, the Baghdad Brigade followed up on his earlier report on how the Brigade was behind the prison that he and the paper exposed in April 2010.   All the while Nouri insisted that there were no secret prisons in Iraq -- such as February 6th when Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) reported, "The Iraqi government on Sunday denied a human rights organization's allegation that it has a secret detention center in Baghdad, run by Prime Minister Nur al-Maliki's security forces." The report then quoted Nouri's spokesperson Ali al-Moussawi stating, "We don't know how such a respectable organization like Human Rights Watch is able to report such lies."  Camp Honor is a prison that's under Nouri's control, staffed by people working for him.  Amnesty International would also call out the use of secret prisons while Nouri continued to deny them.  And of course, Nouri was wrong.  But, honest, seriously, swear, it was the last time.  (That's sarcasm.)
 
Ned Parker's article kicks off the 2011 round of protests.  Outside of Baghdad, the most pressing issue in January and early February for protesters was the issue of their family members being wrongfully detained and a lost in a hidden maze.  This continues to be a key component of all the people-protests in Iraq (as opposed to the Moqtada-ordered protests or Ahmed Chalabi silly reigonal protest).  And it was the impetus for this year's protests. 
 
Having written and published that strong article -- one that truly proved the power of the press -- the Los Angeles Times followed with a lower profile which is and has been their pattern.  I don't question that.  Everyone knows Nouri is hostile to journalism and that he and his cronies are litigious (see many, many lawsuits but especially Nouri's defamation suit against England's the Guardian in 2009 which, thankfully, the newspaper won on appeal in January of this year.).  A step back, a lower profile, for a bit is in keeping with the pattern the paper long ago set in their coverage of Iraq.   April 12th,  Amnesty International issued the report [PDF format warning] "DAYS OF RAGE: PROTESTS AND REPRESSION IN IRAQ"  and it provides an overview of the protests.
 
I'm confused by Wing's claim that "Iraq held its first protest on January 30, 2011." That's wrong.  It's incorrect.  That was not the first protest in 2011 by any means.  I have no idea why Joel Wing can't get the facts correct but the easiest way to prove him wrong is to quote this passage from January 20, 2011:
 
Protests against Iraq's troubled electricity network have spread to the north. In Tamim province there was a street demonstration against the lack of power. The governor also announced that electricity produced locally would be used for the governorate's own use, rather than be sent to Baghdad. Tamim joins seven other provinces that have complained about the troubled power network in the last several months.

Clearly a January 20th protests is prior to January 30th so Joel Wing is wrong.  And for those who might say, "C.I., maybe Joel Wing doesn't consider the source of that passage trust worthy?"  He may not.  There are people who do not trust themselves. Maybe Joel Wing is one of them.  But he wrote that passage, it's from his January 20th entry "Electricity Protests Spread To Northern Iraq."  Since he wrote it, he must agree with it, right? So I have no idea why he'd write that in January and then ignore it in May.  January 16th (still before January 30th), Reidar Visser (Iraq and Gulf Analysis) reported "More Kurdish Protests against the budget.
 
But that's just one example.  The protests -- as we define them -- have featured calls for improvements in basic services from the start.  They've also called for an end to the foreign occupation of Iraq.  So let's drop further back to January 14th when Jason Ditz (Antiwar.com) observed, "Protests against Vice President Joe Biden's visit and the ongoing US military presence in general were reported in a number of cities in Iraq, with supporters of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr getting the credit for organizing many of them."   Maybe that should be the date we count the 2011 Iraqi protests as starting from?  January 4th there were protests.  Namo Abdulla (New York Times) reported, "More than a thousand protesters took to the main street in Erbil, the Kurdish regional capital, to condemn a new law requiring all public demonstrations to have government permits."  Should we consider that the start?
 
 
On this end, I've called Wing out because (a) he's wrong and undercounted a number of outlets (including CNN) and also because doing this draws attention to media criticism which interests the press (if it weren't for self-love, sometimes the press would have no love at all) and may help draw more attention to the ongoing Iraqi protests in the long run.
 
One serious slam I will hit Wing with is, "How do you write about the media silence on the protests on a day when protests are taking place and not note that fact?"
 
 
 
Protests also took place in Ramadi.  Revolution of Iraq reports on that protest noting "the arrival of the delgation of the families of Jalawla to Tahrir Square," and a "large delegation from Mosul," The Great Iraqi Revolution notes that the Ramadi crowd was "estimated to be 7,000" (and link has video). Among those protesting was a young Iraqi male in a wheelchair as a result of the ongoing occupation.  Today, the 8th day of ongoing protests in Ramadi, the Great Iraqi Revolution notes, poet Abdul Wahid Al Badrani arrived to join the Ramadi sit-in.  And the Great Iraqi Revolution notes, "A Free Iraqi Woman addressing all men who ware the Iqa'al to join the Squares of Freedom - Tahrir - and if they don't then they should give their Iqa'al to their wives, daughters and sisters so that they come over to the Tahrir in their stead! "
 
Alsumaria TV notes today, "Mounting violence in Iraq during the last 24 hours has left behind 95 people among killed and wounded mostly members of security forces." Aswat al-Iraq reports that a bodyguard for Khaled al-Lahiebi, chief of the Diyala Sahwa councils, died from a stabbing at a checkpoint today while last night a Kirkuk sticky bombing resulted in two people being injured.  Aswat al-Iraq notes that a roadside bombing outside of Baghdad left 5 people, while inside Baghdad a camera man working for the Ministry of the Interior was shot dead, a corpse  without a head was discovered in Falluja.

Violence was rising during the long period known as the "stalemate." Elections were held in March 2010. For over nine months, no progress was made. Nouri questioned vote totals, objected to this, objected to that, refused to allow Ayad Allawi have first crack at forming a government, etc. Finally in November a deal was reached that allowed the opportunity for progress.

But Nouri wasted that opportunity. He was named prime minister-designate and given more than 30 days to form a Cabinet. He never could come up with a complete Cabinet. And among the seven positions left empty were the Ministers of Interior, Defense and National Security.

Despite becoming prime minister in December, Nouri still hasn't filled those slots. He does have some nominees. Al Mada notes that he's sent to Parliament a list of nominees for to head the three ministries. Alsumaria notes the nominees -- Minister of Defense: Saadun Al Dulaimi; Minister of Interior: Tawfiq Al Yasiri; and Minister of National Security: Ryad Gharib. They also note that both Iraqiya and the National Alliance are stating proper consultation on the Italicnominees did not take place.


Meanwhile, earlier this week the Parliament heard from the Electoral Commission. What happened? Even New Sabah can't sort it out. They note rumors that somehow the military got involved, rumors that the head of the Commission was told she would have to step down, rumors that none of that took place and it was a standard issue q&a.

Wednesday, Osama al-Nujaifi, Speaker of Parliament, met with trade union representatives. Al Sabaah reports that, following the meeting, al-Nujaifi issued a statement declaring that it is the workers whose fingerprints are key to the rebuilding of Iraq, they are the basis for any and all economic development and a part of the restoration of every day life. He declared that the Parliament "supports all unions and organizations."

Aswat al-Iraq notes that al-Nujaifi is asserting that only Parliament can extend the SOFA (the agreement between the US and Iraq which allows for US troops to be on Iraqi soil) I'm not interested in going into the SOFA today but it needs to be noted that Marc Lynch provides a strong overview of the issue at Foreign Policy..  
 
 
Aswat al-Iraq reports:

The Legislature of the so-called 'White al-Iraqiya Bloc,' Aliya Nuseif, on Thursday demanded the U.S.
forces to present a clear report on the number of their bases in Iraq, warning against the existence what it described as "underground" bases after the American withdrawal from Iraq.
"The number of American bases in Iraq to this day remains unclear.
U.S. forces are demanded to present a report about the bases they have established, at a time when Iraq had no government, before the finalization of any subject related to the Security Agreement signed between both countries," Nuseif told Aswat al-Iraq news agency
 
 
 
 
We'll close with this from David Swanson's "Osama Bin Lynched" (War Is A Crime):

I'm going to give this speech tonight to a crowd of drunk young people. If I'm not back by morning, ask around if there have been any "Islamic burials."
About 10 years ago a bunch of psychotic killers crashed planes into buildings. A tall skinny guy who took credit said he was protesting the presence of US troops in Saudi Arabia and US support for Israel's war on Palestinians. That wasn't exactly going to hold up in a court of law as a justification for mass-murder. But the U.S. government had already, before 9-11, turned down offers from the Taliban to put bin Laden on trial in a third country, and it turned those offers down again.
Instead, the U.S. president said he had no interest in bin Laden, but proceeded to encourage Americans to be afraid of their own shadows. He used that fear to help launch a war without end. We've now had nine-and-a-half years of pointless horrific murderous war in Afghanistan and eight years of the same in Iraq, plus a drone war in Pakistan, a new war in Libya, and smaller wars and special military operations in dozens of other countries.
We watched foreign looking people on television dancing in the streets and celebrating the crimes of 9-11 and we thought how evil and barbaric they must be. Knowing nothing about the decades our government had spent exploiting and occupying their countries, toppling their democratic leaders, and kicking in their doors, we assumed that these subhuman monsters were celebrating the killing of Americans because they just happened to dislike us or because their stupid religion told them to.
Of course, we used to have lynch mobs in this country. Ask the freedom riders who left for the deep south 50 years ago today. But we had outgrown that. We were not driven by blind vengeance. We were civilized. The reason we locked up far more people in prison than any other country and killed some of them was a purely rational calculation dealing with prevention, deterrence, and restitution. We weren't monsters. We didn't torture or cut people's heads off.
 
 
 
 
 
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Violence continues and Nouri makes some nominations

Alsumaria TV notes today, "Mounting violence in Iraq during the last 24 hours has left behind 95 people among killed and wounded mostly members of security forces." Aswat al-Iraq reports that a bodyguard for Khaled al-Lahiebi, chief of the Diyala Sahwa councils, died from a stabbing at a checkpoint today while last night a Kirkuk sticky bombing resulted in two people being injured.

Violence was rising during the long period known as the "stalemate." Elections were held in March 2010. For over nine months, no progress was made. Nouri questioned vote totals, objected to this, objected to that, refused to allow Ayad Allawi have first crack at forming a government, etc. Finally in November a deal was reached that allowed the opportunity for progress.

But Nouri wasted that opportunity. He was named prime minister-designate and given more than 30 days to form a Cabinet. He never could come up with a complete Cabinet. And among the seven positions left empty were the Ministers of Interior, Defense and National Security.

Despite becoming prime minister in December, Nouri still hasn't filled those slots. He does have some nominees. Al Mada notes that he's sent to Parliament a list of nominees for to head the three ministries. Alsumaria notes the nominees -- Minister of Defense: Saadun Al Dulaimi; Minister of Interior: Tawfiq Al Yasiri; and Minister of National Security: Ryad Gharib. They also note that both Iraqiya and the National Alliance are stating proper consultation on the Italicnominees did not take place.


Meanwhile, earlier this week the Parliament heard from the Electoral Commission. What happened? Even New Sabah can't sort it out. They note rumors that somehow the military got involved, rumors that the head of the Commission was told she would have to step down, rumors that none of that took place and it was a standard issue q&a.

Wednesday, Osama al-Nujaifi, Speaker of Parliament, met with trade union representatives. Al Sabaah reports that, following the meeting, al-Nujaifi issued a statement declaring that it is the workers whose fingerprints are key to the rebuilding of Iraq, they are the basis for any and all economic development and a part of the restoration of every day life. He declared that the Parliament "supports all unions and organizations."

Aswat al-Iraq notes that al-Nujaifi is asserting that only Parliament can extend the SOFA (the agreement between the US and Iraq which allows for US troops to be on Iraqi soil). Aswat al-Iraq reports:

The Legislature of the so-called ‘White al-Iraqiya Bloc,’ Aliya Nuseif, on Thursday demanded the U.S.
forces to present a clear report on the number of their bases in Iraq, warning against the existence what it described as "underground" bases after the American withdrawal from Iraq.
"The number of American bases in Iraq to this day remains unclear.
U.S. forces are demanded to present a report about the bases they have established, at a time when Iraq had no government, before the finalization of any subject related to the Security Agreement signed between both countries," Nuseif told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


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Veterans issues

Alicia Banks (Shelby Star) reports, "Troy Yocum looked at the worn bottoms of his Merrell hiking boots. They were the seventh pair of he’s worn in the past year. He expected this after walking more than 30 million steps in a journey across the United States."

army_mil-73865-2010-05-19-060544

(Troy Yocum photo taken by John Crosby)

Hike for our Heroes is a non-profit started by Iraq War veteran Troy Yocum who is hiking across the country to raise awareness and money for veterans issues. He began the walk last April.

Banks notes, "The journey will end September in Louisville on mile 7,000."

Troy Yocum's hiking to raise awareness about the issues facing veterans. Channel 3000 reports on another veterans attempting to assist others, Bob Curry:


While Curry struggled for decades, the Gulf War and the terror attacks of 9/11 triggered even more memories from Vietnam that he had tried to forget. A year later, in October 2002, Curry drank himself into a blackout, got behind the wheel of his car and hit a motorcycle head-on.
Curry was charged with homicide by intoxicated used of a motor vehicle. He said that while in jail, he tried to commit suicide several times to end everything that he was struggling with. He survived but was left with great pain.
"I destroyed not only this other family who I didn't know -- but also my own, who would have to carry this guilt of what I had just done," Curry said.
But a year and a half later -- for the first time ever -- a jury recognized the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder. In an unprecedented move, Curry was found not guilty by reason of insanity because of PTSD. He then worked through more than six years of treatment.
And to help deal with the guilt, and to prevent others from following his same path, he started Dryhootch.

John Stofflet (NBC 15) adds:

Curry is co-founder of Dryhootch--a Milwaukee non-profit coffeehouse that serves much more than coffee. "The mission is, we say, to help the veteran and their family who survived the war to survive the peace. When you're in the military, your brother is the person next to you, or your sister, and so we want to create that bond here and help the veteran, who gets back and their family members, by being their battle buddy here."
Veterans returning from Iraq or Afghanistan facing addiction or mental health issues can talk to other vets in counseling sessions, or they can just talk informally over coffee.


On veterans issues, we'll again note this from Senator Patty Murray's office:

(Washington, D.C.) - Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray, Chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee introduced legislation to increase veterans' compensation through a Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA). The COLA increase would affect several important benefits, including veterans' disability compensation and dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving spouses and children. It is projected that over 3.5 million veterans and survivors will receive compensation benefits in Fiscal Year 2012.
"It's been two years since our veterans saw an increase in their benefits through a COLA, and those have been two difficult years," said Chairman Murray. "In a still challenging economy so many of our veterans depend upon the benefits they receive in order to meet their most basic needs, as well as those of their spouses and children. We have an obligation to the men and women who have sacrificed so much to serve our country and who now deserve nothing less than the full support of a grateful nation. A COLA increase will help brings us one step closer to fulfilling our nation's promise to care for our brave veterans and their families."
The Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2011 directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to increase the rates of veterans' compensation to keep pace with a rise in the cost-of-living, should an adjustment be prompted by an increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The bill specifies that the increase would affect veterans' disability compensation, dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving spouses and children, and certain related benefits.
The COLA increase for veterans will match the annual increase provided to Social Security recipients. The COLA is designed to offset inflation and other factors that lead to the rising cost of living over time. The COLA rate is based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index.
A bipartisan group of Senators signed on to co-sponsor the bill including the Committee's Ranking Member Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) as well as Senator John D. Rockefeller IV (D-WV), Senator Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Senator Jim Webb (D-VA), Senator Jon Tester (D-MT), Senator Mark Begich (D-AK), Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS), Senator Mike Johanns (R-NE), Senator Scott Brown (R-MA), Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS), and Senator John Boozman (R-AR).

Matt McAlvanah

Communications Director

U.S. Senator Patty Murray

202-224-2834 - press office

202--224-0228 - direct

matt_mcalvanah@murray.senate.gov

News Releases | Economic Resource Center | E-Mail Updates
The following community sites -- plus Jane Fonda, War News Radio, Antiwar.com and Military Families Speak Out -- updated last night and this morning:






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Thursday, May 05, 2011

I Hate The War

Tonight, with permission, I'm writing about someone.

Around three years ago, a woman came to one speaking thing we did on a college campus. She wasn't antiwar, she wasn't pro-war. She really didn't want to think about the Iraq War but couldn't help but follow it because her son was deployed there.

This isn't a story, for any wondering, where she 'awakens' and realizes the Iraq War is illegal wrong. She still feels the same way. And in the time since, has always stated that she'll probably figure out what she thinks about after her son's safely home.


About three years ago, that was six months. In six months, her son would be home and she could breathe -- she doesn't feel like she really breathes while he's deployed. But instead of returning home, he asked to stay.

He's leaving Iraq now and leaving the military.

And she thought when this day of his leaving Iraq loomed, she's feel so much better than she does. Instead of feeling relieved, she explained tonight that she was more stressed than she'd ever been and would be until he was on the plane back. She does follow the news and she's aware of how, in the last months especially, a number of US forces have died when they were close to the end of their deployment.

Whenever we're going to be at that campus (she works on it), Dona will always e-mail her a heads up and she'll show up to hear what everyone has to say and she'll share what's going on with her son. Tonight, she just wanted to talk about how Monday he'll be home and how she's afraid to let herself embrace that until he's on the plane back home.

In the old, long ago days, if you served a deployment, you were then done (this is the days of the draft) unless you decided you wanted to sign up for another deployment. These days service membes serve multiple deployments. And there's talk about the effect it has on children -- which is an important topic -- and adults are just supposed to somehow manage. And if you're a parent and your child makes it home okay, she stressed tonight, you probably forget what you go through out of gratitude and happiness. But, for her, the last three years have been about never having the luxury to take a deep breath or relax. She feels as though she's always had to be prepared for bad news, around the clock. And when someone shares a story, what we generally find out is that there are several other people who had a similar experience.

She's convinced that once he's home safe, she's going to forget how on edge she was for three years straight and she asked if I'd mind including a line or two about that in something here because, while it will be over for her, she thinks it might help someone else. I'm sure she's right.




It's over, I'm done writing songs about love
There's a war going on
So I'm holding my gun with a strap and a glove
And I'm writing a song about war
And it goes
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Oh oh oh oh
-- "I Hate The War" (written by Greg Goldberg, on The Ballet's Mattachine!)

Last week, ICCC's number of US troops killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war was 4452. Tonight it is [PDF format warning] 4455.




The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.




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Iraq snapshot

Thursday, May 5, 2011.  Chaos and violence continue, Hilla is slammed with a suicide bombing, Baghdad's cultural scene gets some good news, Iraqi activists gear up for tomorrow, news emerges of more money wasted by Nouri al-Maliki's government, fingers are pointed at US official Paul Bremer over missing money in Iraq, US Senator Patty Murray leads on providing veterans with a Cost-of-Living Adjustment, and more.
 
 
Protest continue in Iraq.  Among the speakers in Ramadi's Tahrir Square yesterday was a young boy (link has video). And they are gearing up for tomorrow's day of resistance.  Leave Iraq notes that Sunday saw protesters turn out across the country with hundreds in Baghdad alone demanding improvements in their wages and work environment and among those protesting were scientists and academics.  Sunday was May Day, International Labor Day, and Aswat al-Iraq reported the Communist Party held a demonstration in Baghdad's Liberation Square which was attended by "hundreds of workers" and that they "carried placards, demanding their legitimate rights, the abolishment of the expression 'employees' for workers and the issuance of laws that organize their work and vocational life." US Labor Against The War issued the following [PDF format warning] statement:
 
To: Our Sisters and Brothers in the Iraqi Labor Movement
Re: May Day -- Labor's Day for International Working Class Solidarity

Dear Sisters, Brothers, Comrades in struggle:
 
We join with you today in our common battle for worker rights and basic disgnity for working people everywhere.
We salute the bravery and resolute action of the Iraqi working class as it seeks a democratic Iraq, free from all foreign intervention and control, free from repression and with full rights for workers as guaranteed by international labor standards.
We in US Labor Against the War, whose 190 affiliates represent over five million U.S. workers, stand with you and pledge our continuing support fo ryour work and a speedy end to the occupation of Iraq by all foreign troops and governments and restoration of full national sovereignty to the Iraqi people. 
We are moved by the fact that all who visit the memorial to the 1886 labor martyrs at Haymarket Square in Chicago, whose massaacre led to the declaration of May 1 as the international day of worker solidarity, see a meesae of greeting and solidarity from the Iraqi labor movement inscribed there in 2007 during an historic visit tot he united States by representatives of the Iraqi labor movement.
And we commemorate with you that day of intense class struggle, we stand in solidarity with you in the continuing class conflict that threatens the lives and livelihoods of working people in our two countries.
Long live the Iraqi labor movement.
Long live solidarity between our peoples.
U.S. Labor Against the War (USLAW)
Co-convenors: Kathy Black, Gene Bruskin, Bob Muehlenkamp, Brooks Sunkett, Nancy Wohlforth and Michael Zweig
National Coordinator: Michael Eisenscher
National Organizer: Tom Gogan
Administrative Coordinator: Adrienne Nicosia
 
Coalition Thorpchaabat notes tomorrow's protests with an invitation for Friday stability to continue the Iraqi youth uprising and Iraqi revolution, to continue the spirit of change and to support the ongoing protests in Ramadi's Tahrir Square and in Mosul.  Mosul is where Iraqi forces under the command of Mahdi Sabih al-Gharawi have attacked peaceful demonstrators and where the govenor of the province, Athil al-Nujaifi has joined the protesters.  al-Nujaifi is the brother of Osama al-Nujaifi, Speaker of Parliament.  Reidar Visser (Iraq and Gulf Analysis) offered his take on the events last month:
 
 
The subtext of the drama is as follows. The local councils complains that the newly appointed police chief is "not from the governorate." (He comes from Shiite-majority Wasit.) Moreover, if one looks back at Gharawi's past career at the interior ministry, it becomes clear that he was frequently accused of  acts of torture and association with Shiite death squads during the dark days of sectarian violence in 2006. Against that backdrop, his appointment to Nineveh in the current climate comes across as particularly provocative.
Additionally, the legal procedures seem to have been subverted in this appointment too. It is unclear how Gharawi even became a candidate, since the provincial powers law of 2008 specifies a procedure in which the governor is to come up with 5 candidates, the governorate council limits the field to three and then the ministry in Bagdhad selects one. Today, the head of the security committee in Nineveh indicates that they have not been involved in selecting three suitable candidates so far.
Of course, the ministry of interior -- which appears to have orchestrated these developments so far -- is currently under the control of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who technically remains the deputy minister of interior.
 
While they represent the people of Iraq and are the people of Iraq, there have also been protests or 'protests' organized and ordered by the Iranian-based Moqtada al-Sadr. Alsumaria TV notes that he's called a rally for May 23rd.  The Economist notes of Moqtada:
 
For their part, the Americans are still nervous about Mr Sadr's increasing cosiness with Iran. His Mahdi Army used to flaunt nationalist credentials in an effort not to be viewed as being in Iran's pocket. But during Mr Sadr's time in Iran, where he has been studying in the holy city of Qom, he renewed his friendship with the mullahs. The deal he struck last year to keep Mr Maliki in power may have been brokered by them. And Mr Sadr, like the Iranian authorities, has vociferously backed Bahrain's Shia opposition. On the other hand, Sadrists in Baghdad said that they backed the Green Movement in Iran, which rebelled against the regime there in 2009.
Mr Sadr was once derided as "Ayatollah Atari", a nickname denoting his love of computer games. He was also widely regarded as a thug, albeit one who performed astutely in the violent game of Iraqi politics. But he has still not revealed his latest goals and allegiances. After two years in exile, Mr Sadr has made only two high-profile appearances in Iraq to address his followers. A spokesman said he was testing to see whether Mr Maliki or the Americans would arrest him. But Mr Sadr has recently spent more time in Iraq, mainly in the Shia's holy city of Najaf. As the Americans draw down their numbers, his supporters may see a lot more of him.
 
 
Today in Iraq, a police compound is attacked. CNN reports that a Hilla police headquarters was targeted by a suicide car bomber who took his own life and that of "at least 21 officers" with sixty more people left injured. Australia's Herald Sun quotes security official Haidar al Zazour stating, "The suicide bomber took advantage of the police station's guards changing shifts to attack. He managed to drive through the main gate and blew up his vehicle four meters [12 feet] inside the station's perimeter." AGI News notes, "A list of the victims has been posted inside the city's largest hospital." AP explains, "A witness at the scene said the blast knocked down the concrete ceiling covering a parking lot where many police cars were located." Along with damaging the police headquarters and leaving a six foot crater, AFP notes, "Several nearby houses and shops were also seriously damaged, an AFP journalist said." BBC News observes, "Hilla is a mainly Shia city and has in the past come under attack by Sunni militants." Mo Hong'e (Xinhua) updates with, ""Our latest reports put the toll from the suicide car bombing in the city of Hillah at 25 and 75 wounded," the source from Hillah police told Xinhua on condition of anonymity." Michael S. Schmidt (New York Times) quotes Kathum Majed Toma ("head of Babil's provincial council") stating, "The central government is responsible for this explosion. We requested many times for them to provide us with sonar devices to detect explosives and for them to hire more security forces so we can secure our province but they did not reply." Raheem Salman (Los Angeles Times) adds, "Other council members also blamed the national government and made clear the province had been on alert since the announcement of Bin Laden's death."  Habib al-Zubaidi (Reuters) notes a Hilla hospital source for the death toll of 25 and the wounded count of 83.

In addition, Reuters notes a Mussayab roadside bombing, a Tuz Khurmato roadside bombing which claimed 2 lives and left four injured and, dropping back to last night, a Mosul doll bombing which injured three people.  Aswat al-Iraq notes that Lt Brig Moayed Khalil Abdul-Aziz of the Ministry of Defense was assassinated today in Baghdad.  And as the violence continues, Aswat al-Iraq reports, the Surpeme Iraqi Islamic Council's Ammar al-Hakim expresses his disapproval of the continued inability to fill the security positions, "The delay of the said issue has become unjustified with the presence of efficient candidates for those posts, who had been nominated by some political blocs." And while al-Hakim is dismayed by Nouri's continued inability to name those positions, equally true is that the clock is ticking for Nouri on his own self-appointed deadline.  Alsumaria TV notes there are only 33 days left in Nouri's "100 days" to change.  In the face of continued protests and unable to stop them via curfews, demonizations or assault, Nouri proposed that he would have corruption licked in 100 days.  It would be a new government, one without corruption.  Alsumaria offers three positions known to be taken.  The National Alliance is backing a vote of no confidence for Nouri while Iraqiya wants "wider reform" and th Kudistan Alliance sees it all as talk to motivate Cabinet ministers to get focused on the issue.

Still on the security issue, Al Mada notes Iraqi Maj Gen Hamid al-Maliki -- Army Air Staff, stating that Iraq can't protect its air space or defend itself from an external threat and this leads quickly to speculation that the US has deliberately delayed providing military aircraft to Iraq in order to extend its stay. (If that is the plan, it was the plan before the SOFA was written. Go back to DoD reports as early as 2007 and you will see that the problem with Iraq's air force was noted as was the long time lag it would take to provide aircraft and training.) In other security news, Dar Addustour reports that allegedly Solomon Yousef, chief security advisor in Salahuddin Province, has been arrested in a raid on his home by forces Nouri sent in from Baghdad.
 
Turning to the topic of Camp Ashraf, the news in the US started earlier today with Bradley Klapper (AP) reporting on an unnamed "American diplomat" who was stating the US government was attempting to put together a plan that the Iraqi government would agree to which would allow the MEK (Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization) or People's Mujahedeen to be relocated.  More details emerged later in the day.  Jill Cougherty (CNN) reports -- citing an unnamed "senior State Department official" -- that the US would temporarily relocate the estimated 3,400 residents of Camp Ashraf to another part of Iraq away from the Iranian border.  Away from Iran? 
 
The residents of Camp Ashraf hail from Iran.  They were in Iraq before the start of the Iraq War and, following the US invasion, the US made these MEK residents of Camp Ashraf -- these Iranian refuees who had been in Iraq for decades -- surrender weapons and also put them under US protection. They also extracted a 'promise' from Nouri that he would not move against them. July 28, 2009 the world saw what Nouri's word was actually worth. Since that Nouri-ordered assault in which at least 11 residents died, he's continued to bully the residents. April 4th, Iran's Fars News Agency reported that the Iraqi military denied allegations that it entered the camp and assaulted residents. Specifically, Camp Ashraf residents state, "The forces of Iraq's Fifth Division invaded Camp Ashraf with columns of armored vehicles, occupying areas inside the camp, since midnight on Saturday." Friday April 8th saw another attack which the Iraqi government again denied. Thursday April 14th, the United Nations confirmed that 34 people were killed in the April 8th assault on Camp Ashraf. Barbara Grady (San Jose Mercury News) reported that the dead included journalist Asieh Rakhshani who has family in California.  The assault hasn't really registered in the US.  By comparison, several British MPs have expressed their outrage. 
 
Of the proposed plan being reported on today, Andrew Quinn and Doina Chiacu (Reuters) explain, "A senior State Department official said on Thursday the plan was aimed at preventing more violence at Camp Ashraf".  Iran's Press TV states the plan is being proposed in spit of the Iraqi government's "decision to close Camp Ashraf" noting that, in April, Nouri's "spokesperson Ali al-Dabbagh said Baghdad is determined to shut down Camp Ashraf".
 
 
Despite the ongoing violence, AFP reports that Iraq concluded a well attended two week book fair in Baghdad today with over 200 publishers providing approximately 37,000 titles leading Safira Naji of the Baghdad International Book Fair to assert, "Baghdad has regained its place on the world's cultural map."  In the region, Iraq is historically known as a nation of readers. Not all surprising when you realize it is considere the cradle of civilization due to being the first at so many modern efforts -- whether it's laws or the number zero or, in fact, writing (cuneiform). (Iraq has many more historical accomplishments, those are just three that spring to mind.)  It's not at all surprising that the region that developed writing would also spawn avid readers.
 
Back in 2009, Corinne Reilly (McClatchy Newspapers) reported on the difficulties people like graduate student Maysoon Kadhim had in obtaining books in Iraq in the midst of the war and noted "an adage on books well known in the Arab world: Cairo writes, Beirut publishes, Iraq reads." Reilly was reporting on that year's Baghdad book fair which was so popular "that its organizers extended the event from nine days to 15." 
 
Let's stay with the arts for a bit more.  Iraq had a thriving filming industry beginning in the forties on through the eighties.  One of its most powerful films in the last ten or so years was released in 2000 and directed by Khairiya Al Mansour, The Last Painting.  The film is an homage to the artist Laila Al Attar who died June 27, 1993 when the US bombed her home.  The bombing was allegedly due to a threat against George H.W. Bush.  No, she wasn't accused of plotting.  But it killed her all the same.  It also killed her husband while it left their daughter with vision in only one eye.  (February 20, 1998, Democracy Now! did a segment on Laila Al Attar -- link is audio only.) In 2005, Sabrina Tavernis (New York Times) reported on Baghdad's film festival since the Iraq War began:
 
Some of the 58 short films being shown are whimsical animations. Others tell tales of suffering since the American invasion. But perhaps most important, the films, which are competing for prizes worth several thousand dollars, were made exclusively by Iraqis, mostly since the fall of the Hussein government.
"When you see beautiful young people starting these brave things, you feel happy," said Mufeed Jazaery, who was culture minister during Iraq's interim government last year. "Under the surface there is a lot of life and movement that you cannot see from above."
The film industry in Iraq dates back to the 1940's, and Iraqis still have fond memories of going to the cinema with their families in the 1970's and 80's. But with the 1991 Persian Gulf war and the years of privation that followed the imposition of economic sanctions, theaters went into decline, and Iraqis fell out of the habit.
The fighting in 2003 also took its toll. The cinema at the Baghdad University film school burned down in a bombing. Looters later took much of what remained of the equipment. Of Baghdad's 11 film theaters, only a couple are in operation, said Hamoudi Jassim, a professor at the College of Fine Arts who helped organize the festival.
 
Anwar Faruqi (AFP) notes some of the films "at this month's Documentary Film Festival in Baghdad, organised by the capital's struggling, non-governmental Independent Film and Television College to showcase student films made between 2004 and this year."
 
Art tells truth that sometimes even journalism -- or especially journalism -- can't get at.  And journalism has enough problems in Iraq where the prime minister is hostile to it and where journalists are regularly targeted for death.  In addition, Iraqi Revolution notes that Nouri al-Maliki's proposing a tax on all media -- local and foreign -- in Iraq in an effort to restrict who can and cannot report.  One story Nouri no doubt wishes he could censor is that financial costs of the failed Arab Summit.  It was supposed to take place in March but got postponed to this month.  It's been unofficially postponed pretty much ever since.  It is now officially postponed.  Aswat al-Iraq reports it's been pushed back until March 2012.  AFP's Prashant Rao put it this way:
 
prashantrao Prashant Rao
And the award for today's least surprising news ever goes to...#Iraq #Arab summit postponed until March 2012: http://is.gd/7JYqy2 #AFP
12 hours ago
 
 
Wait.  That's not the end of the story.
 
 
  Khalid al-Ansary (Reuters) reports that the government "spent $450 million planting palm trees along highways, re-paving roads and restoring a palace of former dictator Saddam Hussein to host a regional summit that has now been delayed to next year."  While Iraqis do without the basics, the government spends $450 million on a summit that doesn't even take place.
 
The other big corruption news in Iraq today? That an American stands accused of embezzling billions of dollar from Iraq. Al Mada reports that the whispers from the Finance Committee are that $8 billion disappeared due to being stolen by the US imposed Bhwana Paul Bremer. Supposedly details will emerge in the near future via a press conference. In other corruption news, Al Rafidayn reports on a study into the importation of expired/spoiled food into Iraq. The importation is being referred to as "practiced genocide." Meat and frozen foods are seen as among the worst of the spoiled food imported but other items include: tea, beans and oil. The Integriy Committee is reviewing dozens of cases that citizens have raised as a result of the risks the tainted food put the public at. They note the infamous case of the importation of 55 thousand tons of cooking oil -- which was spoiled. Some of the food and food supplies spoiled as a result of storage. Salman Kazim is an Iraqi who has enteritis (inflammation of the small intestine) and suspects it results from imported meat which was spoiled.

Amna Abdel-Aziz (Al Sabaah) reports that in the worst areas of Baghdad, mud houses are being built from mud and scraps and waste, discarded trash, which further risks exposure to disease in an area plagued by insects, rodents, stray cats and dogs. Hussein Abdul-Jabbar states he was living with his brother but the brother's home was too small for both families so he built his mud home from scraps. (We're not as stupid as NPR which, on Monday, reported 'polling' done at the barrel of a gun as honest answers. Meaning, this is what the man told the press. Did he really move his family into a mud home due to lack of space? Who knows. But that is the story he told the press. It might be true, it might be a face saving move.) Khamis Abdallah Venus states that many suffering Iraqis live in mud homes and try to maintain their dignity. He says officials are not listening to voices or coming up with solutions. Muhammad al-Shammari, the Deputy Governor of the Province, states that they are aware of the homeless issue and are constructing public housing which will provide for 5,000 families.

When that would happen isn't stated but the story is making the rounds of the Arabic media and may be in response to recent news of homes being provided for government officials. From Tuesday's snapshot:

Different topic, Alsumaria TV reports the good news: "Iraq Ministry of Housing said on Monday that the Iraqi government approved its plan to build housing units with low prices in the provinces for the employees of the ministry and the public servants." Well . . . good news if you work for the Cabinet. In a country where the people feel the government is not representing them, it is really smart to be promoting projects that benefit the government? And is this really that different from the earlier scandal where land was being given to government workers? Something that outraged many Iraqis? From the April 27th snapshot, "Al Sabaah reports that the Cabinet has put an end to employees of 'the three presidencies' (Iraq's president and two vice presidents) grabbing up residential land plots. Dar Addustour calls it a 'private ownership scheme'."


In other news, Haider al-Rubaie Filaih (Al Sabaah) reports that, at Baghad markets, there is an increase in the price of electric fans and generators as a result of the increased temperature (which will only get higher as the summer arrives and will include many over-100 degree days).
 
Yesterday's snapshot covered the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel and, last night at Rebecca's site, Wally shared his observations of that hearing.  On veterans issues, Senator Patty Murray is the Chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee and has just worked very hard to successfully 'encourage' (force) the VA to comply with the  Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010  -- which needed compliance since Congress passed it thereby making it the law of the land. Today her office released the following on other legislation:
 
 
(Washington, D.C.) - Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray, Chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee introduced legislation to increase veterans' compensation through a Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA).  The COLA increase would affect several important benefits, including veterans' disability compensation and dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving spouses and children.  It is projected that over 3.5 million veterans and survivors will receive compensation benefits in Fiscal Year 2012. 
"It's been two years since our veterans saw an increase in their benefits through a COLA, and those have been two difficult years," said Chairman Murray. "In a still challenging economy so many of our veterans depend upon the benefits they receive in order to meet their most basic needs, as well as those of their spouses and children. We have an obligation to the men and women who have sacrificed so much to serve our country and who now deserve nothing less than the full support of a grateful nation.  A COLA increase will help brings us one step closer to fulfilling our nation's promise to care for our brave veterans and their families."
The Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2011 directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to increase the rates of veterans' compensation to keep pace with a rise in the cost-of-living, should an adjustment be prompted by an increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI).  The bill specifies that the increase would affect veterans' disability compensation, dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving spouses and children, and certain related benefits.      
The COLA increase for veterans will match the annual increase provided to Social Security recipients. The COLA is designed to offset inflation and other factors that lead to the rising cost of living over time.  The COLA rate is based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index. 
A bipartisan group of Senators signed on to co-sponsor the bill including the Committee's Ranking Member Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) as well as Senator John D. Rockefeller IV (D-WV), Senator Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Senator Jim Webb (D-VA), Senator Jon Tester (D-MT), Senator Mark Begich (D-AK), Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS), Senator Mike Johanns (R-NE), Senator Scott Brown (R-MA), Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS), and Senator John Boozman (R-AR).

Matt McAlvanah

Communications Director

U.S. Senator Patty Murray

202-224-2834 - press office

202--224-0228 - direct

matt_mcalvanah@murray.senate.gov

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