LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“If it’s a panel that’s just going to be made up of a bunch
of people that, for the last 20 years,
have been trying to
destroy the Second Amendment, I’m not interested in sitting on that panel.”National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre, rejecting a task force led by Vice President Joe Biden that is examining ways to reduce gun violence Article, 2A
Senators doubt Hagel confirmation
WASHINGTON - Two senators predicted Sunday that former Sen. Chuck Hagel would face a difficult confirmation if nominated by President Barack Obama to be defense secretary.
Sen. Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut independent who’s retiring and wouldn’t have a vote, cited Hagel’s less than hawkish positions on Iran.
Lieberman told CNN’s State of the Union that it would be “a very tough confirmation process.”
On NBC’s Meet the Press, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said it would be “a challenging nomination.”
“I don’t think he’s going to get many Republican votes,” Graham said.
Hagel, 66, is considered the leading candidate to replace Leon Panetta at the Pentagon, although a number of GOP senators have expressed reservations about a nomination.
Their concerns largely center on Hagel’s past comments about Israel and Iran. Outside groups have suggested that based on Hagel’s remarks, he isn’t sufficiently supportive of Israel, an important ally in the Middle East.
Obama attends
Inouye memorial
HONOLULU - President Barack Obama, Gov. Neil Abercrombie and other dignitaries attended a memorial service for the late Sen. Daniel Inouye on Sunday.
A 19-gun cannon salute was fired as Inouye’s coffin arrived for the service at Honolulu’s National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, the final resting place of thousands of World War II veterans. More than 400 members of the storied Japanese-American 442nd Regimental Combat Team - of which Inouye was a part - are buried at the site.
Several cabinet secretaries and a number of senators also attended the service, including fellow Hawaii Democrat Daniel Akaka and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Inouye, 88, died of respiratory complications on Dec. 17.
Sanford considers Congress run
COLUMBIA, S.C. - When Mark Sanford walked out of the governor’s mansion in 2011, he had been censured by the Legislature over state travel expenses he used for an affair with an Argentine woman, had paid the largest ethics fine ever in South Carolina and faced a voting public that had become disillusioned with the one-time rising star.
His conservative fiscal credentials were still intact, though, and now the 52-yearold Republican is weighing a bid for the congressional seat he once held. The opening comes because 1st District Rep. Tim Scott was appointed to fill the remaining two years of Sen. Jim DeMint’s seat. DeMint announced earlier this month that he was resigning and Scott is expected to be vacating his congressional seat on Jan. 2.
Acknowledging reports that he will try to re-enter politics, the two-term governor wrote in an e-mail late Saturday: “To answer your question, yes the accounts are accurate.” Sanford promised “further conversation on all this” later.
Front Section, Pages 3 on 12/24/2012