Senate Republicans held a joint press conference with Americans from the trucking industry this afternoon to discuss increased energy costs and its effect on commodity prices. Barbara Windsor, President and CEO of HAHN Transportation said that her trucking company spends $1,400 per vehicle to fill it with Diesel gasoline, and currently spends 58 percent more on fuel than it did a year ago.
Tony Sifford, a professional truck driver said that despite the fuel conservation efforts that he employs, such as slowing down, keeping a constant speed and maintaining a tuned-up vehicle, he still pays over $1,100 more than he did a year ago to drive from Hillsville, Virginia to Dallas, Texas three times per week. Sifford called upon the Democrats to stop playing games and cross party lines to bring an energy solution to America.
Sen. Wayne Allard (R-CO) said that Americans in the West need a solution, as they tend to drive further distances than others in the nation. As such, he said that he favors searching for oil everywhere we possibly can and not remove options from the table, especially because no renewable energy source exists for truck drivers.

The Brookings Institution held a panel discussion on the U.S.-India Nuclear Agreement. Former Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns said the agreement is a victory for the strategic partnership pursued by Presidents Clinton and Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Burns noted Singh’s survival of a confidence vote in the Indian Parliament last week brought forth by opponents of strengthened Indian relations with the United States.
Burns, who voiced his support for the agreement, said the deal pulls India out of 35 years of nuclear isolation. He emphasized that the agreement gives India, soon-to-be largest most populous country, increased access to nuclear fuel and technology and does not recognize India as a nuclear power. Burns also said the agreement promotes non-proliferation, saying counties like Iran that try to cheat the international community will see the benefits of adhering to international agreements.
Strobe Talbott, president of the Brookings Institution, said he is not entirely supportive of the nuclear deal between the world’s two largest democracies. He said the agreement creates a moral hazard that has the potential of causing other states to question their non-proliferation. He reminded the panel that the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty made exceptions for five countries with nuclear weapons prior to 1970. He suggested an acceptance of India’s nuclear status unravels the NPT since India became nuclear in 1975. He also noted that the NPT’s intention was to prevent additional states from gaining arms and to bring forth an eventual abolition of nuclear weapons.

A new report by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) states that there was a significant decline in the illegal immigrant population over the past few months. At a news conference held by the Center today, Steven Camarota, the director of Research at CIS, said rates of legal immigration continued to rise unchanged, while the illegal immigrant population decline by 11 percent, or 1.3 million people.
Camarota gave two causes for this significant decline. First, he said increased illegal immigration enforcement deterred new people from entering, and caused some leave on their own. He pointed to how only the illegal immigrant population was affected, while the legal population was unaffected to explain the effectiveness of enforcement. Secondly, the poor state of the economy in the U.S. caused the population to decline as well. He said the statistically significant decline in illegal immigrant population means new enforcement measures are working well.
Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) said the 11 percent decline is very significant, but warned against a possible increase in immigration when four laws against illegal immigration expire soon. Congressman Tom Feeney (R-Fla.) said the new report speaks highly of efforts in the past few years to “stand up” for the “rule of law” and reduce illegal immigration.

At a news conference on a new report on the decline in illegal immigration by the Center for Immigration Studies, Congressman Tom Feeney (R-Fla.) says illegal immigrants will take advantage of any opportunities available, but expresses optimism for a safe, legal temporary worker program. (0:35)

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At a press conference held by the Center for Immigration Studies, Director of Research at the center, Steven Camarota, describes the contents of his new report declaring a 1.3 million percent decline in illegal immigration over the past few months. (0:29)

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Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy at the Department of Homeland Security, Alan Cohn says that the DHS is committed to producing the best researched document to the best of it’s ability. Outside assistance of contractors and private enterprises is helpful to provide an objective review of the Department. Cohn says the Quadrennial Homeland Security Review is a tremendous opportunity and a tremendous challenge. (0:55)

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The Subcommittee on Management, Investigations and Oversight held a hearing on “The Quadrennial Homeland Security Review,” where they discussed the challenges facing the Department of Homeland Security in doing this review. While the challenges are many and the time short, witnesses assured Congress that the task will be hard but not impossible.
A subsection of the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commissions Act of 2007, requires the secretary of the DHS to review the national security of the country every four years. The DHS’ review is due at the end of the year in 2009. The report will set the agenda and define priorities for DHS through 2012, said Christine Wormuth, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The report will not only look at organizational issues, but also issues of strategy, policy, process, program and budget.
The main challenges the DHS faces are the timing of the review right between Administrations, its scope, resources for the review and the need to coordinate with a wide array of stakeholders, Wormuth said. The report will need to be worked on while there are still very few political appointees in place in DHS to run the process. It will be difficult to conduct a truly strategic review with a relatively small number of senior leaders facing a compressed review timetable, she said.

At a hearing on the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) post-catastrophe housing needs, Senator Mary Landrieu (D-La.) says that the Homeland Security Committee called 325 witnesses, 838 000 pages of documentation and 22 public hearings after Hurricane Katrina. She says the government thought it was a good foundation to give FEMA a head start to come up with strategies to implement for post-catastrophe housing but all that FEMA produced was a late report with blank pages. (1:09)

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At a hearing on the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) post-catastrophe housing planning, Senator Mary Landrieu (D-La.) says that it is hard not to conclude that someone instructed details not to be filled in the report. Landrieu says the law required FEMA in clear terms to come up with strategies but FEMA merely turned in a late report with blank paper. (0:46)

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Michelle Obama,, says that if American people are satisfied with the world as it is, they will stay home instead of voting this coming November. However, she says that she doesn’t think that is the case. Mrs. Obama says people are ready to believe in something else, they are ready to believe in a world that includes fairness and opportunity and possibility. She says that Americans needs people to join this movement and vote in order to make a difference. (1:37)

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