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Roberts' Record on Civil Rights Enters Battle Over Supreme
Court Nomination
Irish Republican Army Announces End to Violence
CAFTA Approval - Was the Voting Process Skewed?
Roberts' Record on Civil Rights Enters Battle Over
Supreme Court Nomination
In the ongoing controversy over the Supreme Court nomination
of John Roberts, questions are being raised over Roberts’
role in the civil rights debates of the 1980s. During his
tenure as Deputy Assistant General under Reagan, Roberts advocated
a narrow interpretation of a variety of civil rights laws,
and presented a defense of congressional efforts to strip
the Supreme Court of jurisdiction over busing, abortion and
school prayer cases. We speak with Ralph Neas of People for
the American Way and Reverend Jesse Jackson.
The battle over Supreme Court nominee John Roberts is heating
up. In Washington, questions are being raised over Roberts’
role in the civil rights debates of the 1980s. On Tuesday,
the White House released 15,000 pages of documents stemming
from Roberts service as an attorney for the Reagan administration.
The documents show that Roberts advocated a narrow interpretation
of a variety of civil rights laws, and presented a defense
of congressional efforts to strip the Supreme Court of jurisdiction
over busing, abortion and school prayer cases.
Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy said Thursday the documents
made public so far indicate Roberts holds a "rather cramped
view of the Voting Rights Act." Aides to Kennedy distributed
materials that Roberts drafted while at the Justice Department
and White House counsel’s office during the Reagan administration.
The documents show Roberts expressing criticism of an extension
of the voting rights act, support for a court ruling narrowing
the civil rights requirements on colleges, and doubts about
a law to combat discrimination in housing.
Civil rights leaders are joining with Democrats who are calling
on the White House to release more documents related to Roberts’s
work as a government lawyer. The White House said they will
refuse to release any of the documents from Roberts’
tenure as deputy solicitor general under the first President
Bush, describing the content of the papers as confidential
legal advice.
The White House and Senate Republicans are demanding a final
confirmation vote before the Supreme Court begins its new
term on October 3rd.
Irish Republican Army Announces End to Violence
The Irish Republican Army Thursday called for all of its
volunteers to disarm, effectively ending a 36-year guerilla
campaign against the British government. We’ll look
at whether this move will really change the fate of Northern
Ireland.
British military commanders are dismantling some bases and
security posts in Northern Ireland. This follows an order
from the Irish Republican Army Thursday for all of its volunteers
to disarm, effectively ending a 36-year guerilla campaign
against the British government. The paramilitary group fought
for the reunification of Ireland’s 32 counties and to
end British rule in Ireland. Over the past 36 years, sectarian
fighting left over 3,600 people dead.
On Thursday the IRA stated it remains fully committed to
the goals of Irish unity and independence and that the armed
struggle was entirely legitimate. But the group said it would
pursue its goals through political, not violent means.
- Seanna Walsh, IRA spokesperson:
“The leadership of Oglaigh na hEirann has formally
ordered an end to the armed campaign. This will take effect
from four p.m. this afternoon. All IRA units have been ordered
to dump arms. All volunteers have been instructed to assist
the development of purely political and democratic programs
through exclusively peaceful means. Volunteers must not
engage in any other activities whatsoever.”
While Unionist politicians in Northern Ireland expressed
skepticism about the sincerity of the announcement, many other
officials in Britain and Ireland praised the move as a potential
turning point.
- Tony Blair, British Prime Minister:
“This may be the day when finally after all the false
dawns and dashed hopes, peace replaced war. Politics replaces
terror on the island of Ireland. I welcome the statement
of the IRA that ends its campaign. I welcome its clarity.
I welcome the recognition that the only route to political
change lies in exclusively peaceful and democratic means."
However, veteran journalist Ed Moloney told Democracy Now!
that the move is not as significant as the IRA claims. He
says “the commitment from now on to use exclusively
peaceful methods is meaningless because they signed up to
the commitment when they joined the all-party talks out of
which came the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. They’re
really formalizing the obvious.”
British and Irish politicians are now in talks to determine
how to restore power-sharing in the government of Northern
Ireland. Initial measures will include amnesty for paramilitary
fugitives and other measures enabling autonomous governance.
- Ed Moloney, author of “The Secret History of the
IRA” and former Northern Ireland editor for the Irish
Times and Sunday Tribune.
CAFTA Approval - Was the Voting Process Skewed?
After Congress passes CAFTA by one vote in a midnight count,
questions are being raised about the process. We speak with
the Director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch about
the GOP leaders' round-up of House votes to approve trade
agreement.
In a midnight vote, Congress narrowly approved the Central
American Free Trade Agreement, or CAFTA. The final vote was
217 - 215 in the House, the closest margin possible as a tie
vote would have blocked approval. Democratic Congressperson
Marcy Kaptur said yesterday, "Compared to the vote a
decade ago on NAFTA, which carried by a margin of only thirty-four
votes, this vote was even more razor-thin. It barely crawled
across the finish line."
To pass the agreement, the White House and GOP leaders had
to overcome resistance from dozens of Republican members who
opposed CAFTA because of issues ranging from the threat to
the US sugar industry to more general worries about the impact
of global trade on U.S. jobs. To lobby wavering Republicans,
President Bush made a rare visit to Capitol Hill and Vice
President Dick Cheney reportedly spent hours personally lobbying
Congress members.
Publicly, the Bush Administration has been selling CAFTA
as a national security issue, rather than an economic issue.
- Scott McClellan, White House Press Secretary:
"It helps to strengthen democracy in our own hemisphere.
This goes right to our own national security. This is an
agreement that will help extend peace and prosperity throughout
the Western hemisphere. While we're working to advance freedom
abroad we also need to be looking at our own hemisphere
and make sure that we're supporting the democratic efforts
that continue to advance in our own hemisphere."
Meanwhile, critics of the trade pact have been blasting the
last-minute maneuvering by GOP leaders determined to pass
the agreement.
When official voting had ended in the House at 11:17 pm,
as the fifteen minute voting period had expired, legislators
had actually voted to defeat CAFTA 180 (one hundred eighty)
-175 (one hundred seventy five). But in an unusual move the
final House vote was held open for an extra forty seven minutes,
giving Republican leaders time to furiously round up holdouts
in their own party until they had secured just enough to ensure
approval.
- Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader:
"The Republicans turned the floor of the House of the
Representatives into a "Let's Make a Deal" set
that was reminiscent of what happened at the time of the
medicare prescription drug legislation that evening and
again this time they kept the vote open a long time. But
many of the overtures that were made to members was made
before even going to the floor. So this is about again an
abuse of power, an unethical way of passing legislation
and depending on what members decide to do, may require
further attention."
Meanwhile, Republican Rep. Charles Taylor of North Carolina
said he voted against the bill, but that a problem with the
electronic voting system failed to record the vote.
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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