Bush Apologizes for Poor Conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center

By Scott Stearns White House 30 March 2007

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President Bush has apologized for the poor living conditions for some wounded servicemen and women at a military hospital outside the capital. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns has the story.

President Bush, right, shakes hands with the 1st Lt. Scott Quilty during a visit to Walter Reed Army Center in Washington, 30 Mar 2007

It was the president's first visit to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center since a newspaper last month reported recuperating soldiers living in a run-down building infested with mice, mold, and cockroaches.

Building 18 has since been closed and patients there moved elsewhere. But the ensuing scandal has claimed the general in charge of the hospital and the Secretary of the Army.

Speaking to medical staff at Walter Reed Friday, President Bush said he is deeply troubled by the incidents and has named a bipartisan commission to investigate what he calls administrative and bureaucratic failures.

"The system failed you and it failed our troops and we are going to fix it," he said. "I met some of the soldiers who had been housed in Building 18. I was disturbed by their accounts of what went wrong. It is not right to have someone volunteer to wear our uniform and not get the best possible care. I apologize for what they went through, and we are going to fix the problem."

It was the president's 12th trip to Walter Reed, visits that are almost always private with the White House occasionally releasing an official photograph.

Friday, Mr. Bush met with more than a dozen physical therapy patients under the glare of television lights, shaking hands and posing for photos with the two-month-old daughter of a man run over by a bulldozer under sniper fire.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino says suggestions that this was a publicity trip for the president are "an unfortunate characterization." She says it took time to clear enough room on the president's schedule to visit Walter Reed six weeks after the problems were first reported.

Opposition Democrats in Congress want the Veteran's Administration to report back to them within 60 days about whether the agency has resolved complaints over living conditions and bureaucratic delays in providing follow-up care.

Washington Democratic Senator Patty Murray blames President Bush for veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan who she says have been lost in the system.

"We are now starting the fifth year of this war. And to date, this president has not planned and supported funding to make sure that those men and women, whether it is traumatic brain injury, whether they've lost a limb, whether it's post-traumatic-stress syndrome, or whether it's just coming home and being able to find another job, have been paid attention to," she said.

The president has told his bipartisan commission on veterans' health care to report back to him by the end of July. A Defense Department review is expected to release its findings in the next two weeks.

US Seeks Clarification of Reported Sudanese Concession on Darfur

By David Gollust State Department 30 March 2007

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The State Department says it is seeking clarification of reports Sudan has softened its opposition to new international peacekeepers for Darfur. The reported change of position by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir came as the Bush administration prepared new sanctions against the Khartoum government. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (file photo)

Officials here say U.S. diplomats will confer with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on talks he had at the Arab League Summit in Riyadh, in which Sudan is said to have eased its stand against allowing a new peacekeeping force in Darfur.

Sudan has long resisted deployment of a proposed "hybrid" force of United Nations and African Union troops in Darfur to replace a hard-pressed AU observer mission there.

But Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said at a summit news conference Thursday that Sudan had given the go-ahead for U.N. logistical support for African peacekeepers.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir (file photo)

The development, which Prince Saud termed a breakthrough, came after the Sudanese president held a meeting on the sidelines of the Arab summit with the U.N. Secretary-General, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa and Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki.

In a talk with reporters here, State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack said reports from Riyadh are unclear about whether Sudan is ready to accept the hybrid force without conditions.

He also said the Bush administration wants to hear directly from the U.N. chief before deciding how to proceed.

"It is fair to say that we want to understand from the Secretary-General what he heard," he said. "Is there a change in view from the Sudanese? Is there something in their comments with which the international system can work? Now, I have to caution you that to this point the Sudanese have not given any indication, or any real public indication that they're dropping any preconditions, or that they're are ready to follow-up on the Addis Ababa agreement."

The Sudanese agreed in principle at an international conference in Addis Ababa last November to accept the hybrid force, mandated earlier by the U.N. Security Council.

But Khartoum has since blocked the admission of U.N. logistics teams, frustrating the United States and other supporters of expanded peacekeeping in Darfur.

The reported Sudanese concession came amid reports the Bush administration is only a few days away from announcing a package of new financial sanctions against the Khartoum government.

Spokesman McCormack said whether the sanctions go forward depends on an administration assessment of what he termed "the whole landscape," including the latest Sudanese comments, and whether they actually reflect a change in policy.

McCormack said in diplomatic contacts, the United States assured Sudanese officials the hybrid force would focus its activities in Darfur, and not function as what he termed a "posse," trying to round up alleged war criminals in Khartoum.

A month ago, the International Criminal Court at The Hague designated two men, a Sudanese deputy cabinet minister and a leader of the government-backed Janjaweed militia, as suspects in crimes against humanity in Darfur.

The announcement came after a 20-month investigation by the court. The Darfur conflict, which erupted in 2003 is believed to have led to the deaths of over 200,000 people and driven more than 2 million others from their homes.

Much of the violence has been attributed to the Arab militiamen, who the Khartoum authorities enlisted to put down an uprising by local Darfur rebels.

Second British Sailor Shown on Iranian TV as Impasse Continues

By Tom Rivers London 30 March 2007

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A second member of the British crew captured last week in the Gulf has been shown on Iranian television making an apology for illegally entering Iranian waters. The British government has denounced the video as propaganda.

Crewman Nathan Thomas Summers, one the 15 British Naval personnel being held by Iran, apologized for the latest incident as well as one that occurred three years earlier.

Iranian state-run Al-Alam television image showing British sailor Nathan Thomas Summers, 30 Mar. 2007

"I would like to apologize for entering your waters without any permission," he said. "I know it happened back in 2004 and our government promised that it would not happen again. And again, I deeply apologize for entering your waters."

Summers was shown sitting with the female detainee and another serviceman. The TV channel previously showed a similar taped confession from the woman.

Britain maintains its naval personnel were in Iraqi waters when their vessel was seized by Iran.

Reacting to the video clip, British leader Tony Blair says parading and manipulating captured personnel disgusts people and, he says, it does not fool anyone.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair comments on standoff with Iran, 30 Mar. 2007

"What the Iranians have to realize is that if they continue in this way they will face increasing isolation," said Mr. Blair, " the United Nations yesterday, the European Union today, we will be talking to other key allies over the weekend and we have just got to pursue this with the necessary firmness and determination, but also patience, because there is only one possible conclusion to this and that is that our personnel are released safe and sound."

The area near the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab waterway where the British patrol was picked up has for decades been claimed by both Iran and Iraq and its ownership has been hotly disputed.

Mr. Blair says that, based on satellite data from global positioning system technology, the naval and marine party was in Iraqi waters, not Iranian.

"The sooner the Iranian regime realize that they are not gaining anything from this, they cannot gain anything from this, it is perfectly obvious that these people were in Iraqi waters under a United Nations mandate, there is absolutely no question about the unlawful nature of their capture and therefore they have got to be released," he added.

Meanwhile, for the first time in the weeklong standoff, the Iranian foreign ministry has sent a letter to the British embassy in Tehran.

British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett says London is carefully studying the wording of the document, and Britain will respond formally, but she says she is not very optimistic it represents a key potential breakthrough.

Margaret Beckett talks to reporters, 30 Mar. 2007

"There is nothing in the letter that suggests that the Iranians are looking for a way out of this difficult situation," she said. "We have been looking for a way out of it, for them for us and particularly for our service personnel from the beginning. I wish I saw any sign that this is what Iran is trying to do."

An Iranian news agency reports the message contains a call for Britain to avoid violating Iranian territorial waters in the future.

While the dispute continues, the price of oil keeps climbing on the worldwide markets to above the $68 mark.

VOASE0330_In the News

30 March 2007

Arab Leaders Urge Israel to Accept 2002 Plan for Peace and a Palestinian State
Summit in Riyadh ends with a push to renew Middle East peace efforts launched five years ago. Earlier, a statement by the Saudi king about Iraq caught American officials by surprise.

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This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah speaks at the opening of the Arab summit in Riyadh

Arab leaders met this week in Riyadh. The Arab League Summit in the Saudi capital ended with calls for Israel to accept an Arab peace plan from two thousand two.

That plan offers Israel normal relations with the Arab world if it withdraws from land captured during the nineteen sixty-seven Arab-Israeli war. The plan also calls for Israel to reach a settlement with the Palestinians on the creation of a Palestinian state next to Israel.

Israel rejected the peace plan in two thousand two. But more recently, Israeli officials have said the plan could be a starting point for negotiations. As the Arab League meetings closed, Israel's Foreign Ministry said it would be willing to hold talks with some Arab nations. However, Israel objects to a demand that Palestinian refugees have a right to return to their homes in what is now Israel.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the Palestinian people were truly extending the hand of peace toward Israel. The Palestinians have a new unity government. Israel says it will not deal with that government unless it agrees to reject violence, recognize Israel and respect existing peace agreements.

But earlier in the week, Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreed to begin meeting every two weeks. That agreement came as American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice completed a three-day trip to the Middle East. She said the talks should lead to discussions on a political settlement. But top Israeli officials say that for now, any talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders will involve humanitarian issues.

The two-day summit in Riyadh opened with a speech by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. He said Arab League states are more divided now than they have ever been. He also described Iraq as being under an illegal foreign occupation.

That comment caught the State Department in Washington by surprise. A spokesman said the United States was operating in Iraq under United Nations resolutions and with the invitation of the Iraqi government. The United States looks to Saudi Arabia as an important ally in the Middle East. American officials said they would seek to better understand what exactly King Abdullah meant by his statement.

State Department officials, however, welcomed the Arab League's decision to renew its two thousand two Middle East peace plan.

On Thursday, in their final declaration, the Arab leaders warned of the dangers of a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. But they also said that all countries have the right to peaceful nuclear energy programs.

Gulf Arab nations generally share American and European concerns about the Iranian nuclear program. Iran is led by Shiite Muslims; the Gulf Arab nations bordering Iran are mostly led by Sunnis.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. Transcripts and audio archives of our reports can be found at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

US Senate Approves Iraq Spending Bill With Troop Withdrawal Timeline

By Paula Wolfson White House 29 March 2007

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The U.S. Congress and the White House have moved a step closer to a major confrontation on Iraq. The Senate has passed a war funding bill that includes wording on a troop withdrawal. VOA's Paula Wolfson reports President Bush says he will veto the legislation.

The final Senate vote (51-47) was largely along party lines, with majority Democrats declaring victory.

Only two Senate Republicans - Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Gordon Smith of Oregon - voted for the bill, which sets a goal of moving U.S. troops out of Iraq in about a year.

The legislation must now be reconciled with a version passed earlier by the House of Representatives, which mandates a pullout by the end of August of 2008.

President Bush has said any bill that contains a timetable for withdrawal is not only unacceptable, but a formula for disaster.

Shortly before the Senate vote, he met at the White House with all the Republican members of the House of Representatives - the first such meeting of the Bush presidency. They consulted behind closed doors, and then appeared as a group before cameras - the House members closing ranks around the president.

George W. Bush

"We stand united in saying loud and clear that when we have got a troop in harms way, we expect that troop to be fully funded," he said. "And we have got commanders making tough decisions on the ground, we expect there to be no strings on our commanders."

But Democrats remain unmoved, and are vowing to press forward despite the threat of a presidential veto. Patty Murray of Washington State led the drive to pass the bill in the Senate.

"We are taking a major step forward in saying that we are no longer going to idly stand by without any debates, without any discussion, without any consequences and move continuously to increase the war in Iraq," she said. "We have said it is time for us as a nation to tell the Iraqi people they need to stand up for themselves."

Senate Republicans fought the bill to the last, warning that valuable time is being wasted, as the Pentagon waits for the money needed to fund operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. They said Democrats do not have the two-thirds majority needed to override a presidential veto, and are pushing the bill to make political points.

Republican Richard Shelby of Alabama said by passing the bill, the Democrats have named a "date for defeat."

"We have taken a step backwards. We have put an arbitrary deadline on our military. It is the wrong message at the wrong time," he said. "Surely this will embolden the enemy. It will not help our troops in any way. It is a big mistake."

Moments after the Senate vote, a panel was named to begin negotiations with the House to reconcile their two different versions of the bill.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said she expects the compromise that will go to the president will include language on a troop pullout, despite his promised veto.

Ex-Aide Disputes US Attorney General's Statements About Firings

By Deborah Tate Washington 29 March 2007

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A former U.S. Justice Department aide says Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was involved in the firing of federal prosecutors, contradicting statements made by the nation's top law enforcement official. His testimony to a Senate panel comes amid bipartisan calls for Gonzales' resignation for his handling of the matter. VOA's Deborah Tate reports from Capitol Hill.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' former Chief of Staff Kyle Sampson testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, 29 Mar 2007

Testifying voluntarily and under oath before the Senate Judiciary Committee, the former chief of staff to Alberto Gonzales, Kyle Sampson, took issue with the attorney general's statement earlier this month that he was not involved in discussions about the replacement of eight federal prosecutors. "I do not think the attorney general's statement that he was not involved in any discussions about U.S. attorney removals is accurate," he said.

Sampson said Gonzales attended a meeting about the matter on November 27 of last year, just days before the attorneys were ousted.

The former aide, who resigned earlier this month, said he had shared information with Justice Department officials about the dismissals last year, despite arguments to the contrary by the attorney general. He said Gonzales signed off on the decision to remove the attorneys. "The attorney general approved the list," he said.

The Democratic-led Judiciary Committee is probing whether the Bush administration misled Congress about the reasons for the dismissals and whether they were politically motivated and aimed at intimidating other attorneys.

Senator Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, is chairman of the panel. "I want the American people to have confidence in federal law enforcement and I want our federal law enforcement officers to have the independence they need to be effective and to consistently merit the trust of the American people," he said.

The top Republican on the committee, Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, offered his own harsh assessment of the handling of the attorney firings. "It is generally acknowledged that the Department of Justice is in a state of disrepair, perhaps even dysfunctional, because of what has happened," he said.

Sampson defended the decision to replace the attorneys, saying it was based on legitimate reasons relating to their performance, although he acknowledged such reasons could also be perceived as political.

Senator John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, said he saw nothing wrong with the dismissals. "What I have heard, there is no evidence that any of this replacement of U.S. attorneys was designed to or actually did impede a criminal investigation or prosecution," he said.

Attorney General Gonzales is scheduled to appear before the committee next month.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino reiterated that President Bush has confidence in his attorney general.

VOASE0329_Economics Report

29 March 2007

Credit Cards Are Easy to Get, But Harder to Pay Off
Interest rates are not the only measure of a card's cost; high fees become an issue in US.

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This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

Buy now, pay later. Credit cards give people that choice. Those billions of small pieces of plastic in use all over the world make it easy to buy things. But people who use credit cards irresponsibly can soon find themselves heavily in debt.

Cardholders may not think about it, but they borrow money from a bank or other lender each time they charge something. They avoid interest charges if they pay their bill in full each month. But if they only make the minimum payment, the lowest required, it may take years to pay off a debt. Interest is continually charged on the unpaid balance.

A credit card may have a number of costs. First, there is the interest charge on purchases, known as the annual percentage rate, or A.P.R. In the United States right now, the average is between thirteen and fourteen to keep them.

Cardholders may have to pay cash advance fees if they withdraw money from a credit card. There are also fees if they go over their credit limit, or if a payment is late. Lenders may also raise interest rates as punishment.

In the United States, credit card fees have become a political issue. Congress has threatened to take action against what critics call abusive behavior by lenders.

Yet getting a credit card has become a lot easier for most people. Maybe too easy: People receive offers in the mail of pre-approved cards that they never asked for. Many cards offer low rates at first, especially if people agree to move their balance from another card.

About half of all Americans have at least two credit cards. And the credit rating agency Experian says fourteen percent of the population has more than ten.

Jeanne Hogarth at the Federal Reserve, the central bank, says the average family has four credit cards. But families that carry a balance, meaning they do not pay off their statements each month, have an average of five.

In nineteen eighty-eight Americans had three hundred thirty billion dollars in credit card debt. Last year it was eight hundred forty billion.

In the latest government study, the average credit card debt for all households was more than three thousand dollars. But for those that carried a balance, the average was five thousand three hundred.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. Transcripts and audio archives of our reports are at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

VOASE0329_American Mosaic

29 March 2007

For College Basketball Fans in US, There Is Nothing Crazy About 'March Madness'
Also: A question from Nigeria about MP3 files. And music from Elvis Perkins, who performs folk-influenced songs about dreams, memories and sadness.

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HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I'm Doug Johnson. On our show this week:

We answer a question about MP3 players…

Present some music from Elvis Perkins…

And report about something called "March Madness."

March Madness

HOST:

"March Madness" describes the excitement about men's college basketball games every year at this time. Barbara Klein has more.

BARBARA KLEIN:

North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough tries to block Georgetown's Roy Hibbert. But Georgetown defeated North Carolina in overtime to go on to the Final Four.

For the past two weeks, men's basketball teams from large colleges and universities have been playing in a championship competition. Millions of people have been watching the games on television and on Internet web sites. They are also betting on which teams will win and advance in the tournament.

The New York Times newspaper reports that the basketball tournament is one of the busiest times of the year in Las Vegas, Nevada. That is because college basketball fans from all over the country meet each other and bet on the games.

The series of games is known as "March Madness" because of the public's excitement about the games. And sometimes a team that is not expected to win defeats a team with a better record.

The Division One National Collegiate Athletic Association Championship Tournament has been played every year since nineteen thirty-nine. Sixty-three basketball games take place each March. The competition begins with sixty-five teams. The winner of each game continues on to play the winner of another game. The number of teams in the competition is slowly reduced to the "Sweet Sixteen" then the "Elite Eight" and finally the two teams who will play for the championship.

Four teams have won all their games so far. They will compete in the semi-final games on Saturday in Atlanta, Georgia. These teams are called the "Final Four." The University of Florida basketball team will play the University of California at Los Angeles. And the Ohio State University team will play Georgetown University. The winners will face each other in the Division One NCAA championship game on Monday, April second.

Last year, the teams from Florida and UCLA played each other in the final game of the basketball tournament. Florida won, so it is now the defending champion. Will it win again? We will let you know next week.

MP3s

HOST:

Our VOA listener question this week comes from Nigeria. Aminu Tijjani Ali wants to learn more about MP3s.

Several kinds of small MP3 players

An MP3 is a kind of file used for sending music or other material over the Internet. These files are compressed, or reduced in size, compared to songs on a compact disc, or CD. MP3 files are played on a computer using media programs like iTunes or Windows Media Player.

MP3s can also be played on iPods and other small players as well as some wireless telephones that can store music. Many players can hold thousands of songs yet are small enough to carry in your pocket. Changing, or converting, a song from a music CD to an MP3 file is called "ripping." Software for ripping is available by itself and in programs like iTunes and Windows Media Player.

The MP3 was developed by researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany and other laboratories in the nineteen eighties. By the late nineteen nineties, music fans were beginning to change their music collections from CDs to MP3s. They were also able to download MP3 music files from the Internet much faster because of the MP3’s smaller file size.

File-sharing services quickly began appearing on the Internet. They made it possible for people to exchange copyrighted music at no cost. However, the record industry started to get concerned because people were trading free music on the Internet instead of buying it in music stores.

A few years ago, the original Napster Web site was one of the most popular music-sharing services. But then the music industry won court cases that decided that this kind of file-sharing was illegal and violated copyright laws.

MP3 files are still shared on the Internet today. People also buy them from online music stores. The new Napster Web site is one of these services that charges money for MP3s on the Internet.

On the Special English Web site, voaspecialenglish.com, we provide MP3 files of our programs at no cost.

Elvis Perkins

HOST:

Elvis Perkins

Elvis Perkins has just released his first album, "Ash Wednesday." Perkins performs folk music-influenced songs about dreams, memories, and sadness. Critics are praising his imaginative songs and soft but expressive voice. Faith Lapidus has more.

(MUSIC)

FAITH LAPIDUS:

That was "While You Were Sleeping." Its rich imagery gives a good example of the poetic quality of Elvis Perkins' music. The song describes the many thoughts of a person who cannot sleep at night. Like many songs on this record, it also expresses sadness. You could say it is an album that deals with mourning.

Perkins' mother, the photographer Berry Berenson, died in one of the planes that terrorists used to attack the United States on September eleventh, two thousand one. Nine years earlier, Elvis' father, the famous actor Anthony Perkins, had died. In songs like "Ash Wednesday" Elvis Perkins mourns for his parents.

(MUSIC)

Elvis Perkins has been playing music since he was a child. In high school he had his own music band. During his twenties, he wrote and recorded songs, some of which are on this album. Perkins did not want his album to have a digital high-tech sound. He made many of the recordings on analog tape, both at a sound studio and also at an old house in Los Angeles, California. This method helps give a warm and personal sound to the album.

Elvis Perkins will be performing around the United States and Canada this spring to promote "Ash Wednesday." He gives an energetic performance, singing and playing the guitar and harmonica. We leave you with the dreamy sound of "Sleep Sandwich."

(MUSIC)

HOST:

I'm Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program today.

It was written by Brianna Blake, Dana Demange and Nancy Steinbach. Caty Weaver was our producer.

Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA’s radio magazine in Special English.

Sorry, PoEnglish又活过来了

最近给封怕了，所以敏感地犯了傻。
不过昨天，两个外链的确曾一度无法连接，不过后来又好了。
挂了又活的玩笑我也不想开，既然还有口气，我就继续再贴吧，谁叫我喜欢呢

Bush, Democrats Headed Toward Confrontation on Iraq Legislation

By Dan Robinson Capitol Hill 28 March 2007

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Majority Democrats and President Bush still appear headed on a collision course over legislation to fund the war in Iraq. From Capitol Hill, VOA's Dan Robinson reports Democratic leaders in the House and Senate believe they have gained momentum from a Senate vote Tuesday to retain language on a troop withdrawal by next year, even though the president again accused Democrats of harming U.S. troops.

Nancy Pelosi (28 Mar 2007)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says Tuesday's Senate vote rejecting a Republican amendment to remove withdrawal language from the Senate measure strengthens the hand of those trying to bring U.S. troops home.

She suggests the president does not appear to be listening to public opinion when he threatens to veto a Democratic-crafted bill to fund Iraq and Afghanistan military operations.

"Both Houses have spoken very clearly that the public has lost faith in the conduct of this war and the president's conduct of it, and that they want accountability, no more blank checks, no more open-ended commitment to a war without end," she said.

In addition to withdrawal timelines, the House and Senate bills contain billions of dollars requested by the president for military operations in Iraq as well as Afghanistan.

Senate legislation states that a U.S. troop pullout must begin within 120 days of an affirmative vote in that chamber, with a goal of redeploying troops out of Iraq by March 31, 2008.

This is in contrast to the House bill, which contains a binding call for withdrawal no later than the end of August of next year.

Pelosi predicts that timetable language will be preserved in a final spending bill after House and Senate negotiators meet to resolve differences between their separate versions.

In his latest remarks Wednesday on the issue, President Bush again threatened a veto, asserting that Democrats are jeopardizing the welfare of U.S. forces in the field.

George Bush (28 Mar 2007)

"The clock is ticking for our troops in the field," he said. "Funding for our forces in Iraq will begin to run out in mid-April. Members of Congress need to stop making political statements, and start providing vital funds for our troops."

Joining Congresswoman Pelosi later, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said the president's statements make it obvious "that [the president] doesn't want anything other than confrontation."

Still, Reid says Democrats remain ready for discussions with the president on the legislation.

Rep. Harry Reid (file photo)

"We stand ready, willing and able to discuss with him what is in our bills," he noted. "And we have written him a letter, signed by the speaker of the House of Representatives and majority leader in the Senate, saying Mr. President, we have done what we have done, we feel extremely comfortable, because we are speaking for the American people and you would also understand what the American people are saying."

Senator Reid says Democrats would like to have the president's input before a final measure emerges from Congress after a House-Senate conference to reconcile differences in the respective bills.

Most Republicans in Congress support the president in opposing any timetable, saying it would only give insurgents and al-Qaida forces in Iraq a chance to prepare in advance.

US National Organization for Women Endorses Hillary Clinton's Campaign

By Jim Malone Washington 28 March 2007

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U. S. Senator Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign has picked up the endorsement of a prominent women's organization. The endorsement followed appeals by Clinton and her Democratic Party rivals for labor union support, as we hear from VOA National Correspondent Jim Malone.

Sen. Hillary Clinton

Senator Clinton was endorsed by the National Organization for Women, which bills itself as the largest organization of feminists in the country, with more than half a million members.

The endorsement could help Clinton win support among women voters and liberal Democrats as she competes with several rivals for the 2008 Democratic Party presidential nomination.

Senator Clinton was among several Democratic candidates who addressed a convention of construction-union members in Washington.

"We will renew the promise of this great nation and when I meet with you on that short drive from the White House in 2009, we will be able to say, America is back, we are on the right track," she said.

The latest USA Today-Gallup poll had Clinton leading the Democratic field with 35 percent support, followed by Illinois Senator Barack Obama with 22 percent.

Barack Obama (file photo)

Obama also addressed union members and promised to expand health care coverage if elected next year.

"It is time for us to have universal health care in this country, and one of the things that I pledge is that by the end of my presidency, we will have universal health care for every single American in this country. It is long over due. We know that we can do it," he said.

The recent USA Today-Gallup poll had former Vice President Al Gore in third place with 17 percent. Gore has said repeatedly he has no plans to run for president next year.

Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards placed fourth in the poll with 14 percent support, up several points from earlier in the month. Edwards recently announced that his wife, Elizabeth, has had a recurrence of cancer, but that he is remaining in the race for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.

Edwards also addressed health care during his appearance before the union convention.

"The truth of the matter is these things cost money and my health care plan cost $90-$120 billion dollars a year and this is how I pay for it, by rolling back George Bush's tax cuts for the richest people in America, that is how I pay for it," he said.

The polls and most political experts have long suggested Senator Clinton is the clear frontrunner in the Democratic field.

But analyst John Fortier of the American Enterprise Institute told VOA's Encounter program that Barack Obama remains a major factor in the Democratic race.

"I still think it looks like it will be Hillary Clinton. But Barack Obama, if he ends up one-on-one with her [as her main challenger] and Democrats are feeling as confident as they are today, they may just decide that they will go with this person [Obama] despite a lack of experience and because he is more pure [opposed from the start] on the [Iraq] war, he may give her a challenge," he said.

Rudy Giuliani (file photo)

In the battle for the Republican Party's presidential nomination, the latest poll had former New York City Mayor Rudy in the lead, followed by Arizona Senator John McCain and former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson.

Thompson says he is considering a White House bid and could be a formidable candidate because he is well known by the public for his acting roles in films and on television.

US Federal Reserve Chief Paints Mixed Economic Picture

By Michael Bowman Washington 28 March 2007

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The United States' top monetary official says the country's economy continues to grow and create jobs, but is hindered by several factors, including negative developments in the housing industry. VOA's Michael Bowman reports from Washington, where Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke spoke at a hearing of Congress' Joint Economic Committee.

Ben Bernanke testifies on Capitol Hill, 28 Mar 2007

If legislators were looking for a clear-cut, decisive prediction on the future of the U.S. economy, they did not get it from Ben Bernanke. The U.S. central bank chief noted several positive trends that suggest further economic expansion, including rising exports and continued job creation.

"The continuing increases in employment, together with some pick-up in real wages, have helped sustain consumer spending, which increased at a brisk pace in the second half of last year, and has continued to be well maintained so far this year," he said.

"Growth in consumer spending should continue to support the economic expansion in coming quarters," he continued.

But Bernanke was quick to add that all is not well. In particular, he pointed to a dramatic slowdown in America's once-booming housing market, regarded as a primary engine of U.S. economic growth in recent years.

"To the downside, the correction in the housing market could turn out to be more severe than we currently expect, perhaps exacerbated by problems in the sub-prime sector," the Federal Reserve chairman said.

"Moreover, we could see yet greater spillover from the weakness in housing to employment and consumer spending than has occurred thus far," he added.

The "sub-prime sector" refers to mortgages held by roughly 10 percent of U.S. homeowners that often feature higher interest rates and sometimes allow a homeowner to pay only the interest on their loan, thereby accruing no equity. Such plans are generally offered to people with poor credit or low income levels.

Foreclosures in the sub-prime sector have skyrocketed in recent months, leading U.S. officials and legislators to question the lending practices of some financial institutions.

The Federal Reserve Board decides when and whether to raise or lower interest rates, based on its reading of current economic conditions and its projections of future ones. Many look to the Federal Reserve chairman as America's top economic prognosticator.

Earlier this month, Bernanke's predecessor, Alan Greenspan, said there is a one in three chance that the United States will slide into a recession by year's end.

Speaking on Capitol Hill, Bernanke said there is insufficient evidence to conclude that America's five-year economic expansion will "die of old age."

VOASE0328_The Making of a Nation

28 March 2007

History: The Presidency of John Kennedy Begins With Great Energy, but Ends in Tragedy
He stood strong against the Soviet Union during the Cuban missile crisis, and proposed a law to guarantee equal treatment of blacks. Then came the gunshots in Dallas in November 22, 1963.

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VOICE ONE:

This is Rich Kleinfeldt.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Stan Busby with THE MAKING OF A NATION -- a VOA Special English program about the history of the United States.

(MUSIC)

Today, we continue the story of President John Kennedy.

VOICE ONE:

John Fitzgerald Kennedy

John Kennedy began his administration in nineteen sixty-one with great energy to do good things. After just three months in office, however, he had to take responsibility for a big failure.

On April seventeenth, Cuban exiles, trained by America's Central Intelligence Agency, invaded Cuba. Their goal was to overthrow Cuba's communist leader, Fidel Castro. Most of the exiles were killed or captured.

The last administration had planned the invasion. But Kennedy had approved it. After the incident, some Americans wondered if he had enough experience to lead the nation. Some asked themselves if the forty-three-year-old Kennedy was too young to be president, after all.

VOICE TWO:

Kennedy soon regained some public approval when he visited French leader General Charles de Gaulle. The French were very interested in the new American president. They were even more interested in his beautiful wife. The president said with a laugh that he was the man who had come to Paris with Jacqueline Kennedy.

VOICE ONE:

In Vienna, Kennedy met with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. Their relations would always be difficult.

Khrushchev did not want to compromise on any issue. He threatened to have the East Germans block all movement into and out of the western part of the city of Berlin.

Not long after, the East Germans, with Soviet support, built a wall to separate the eastern and western parts of the city. President Kennedy quickly announced a large increase in the number of American military forces in Germany. He said the United States would not permit freedom to end in Berlin.

VOICE TWO:

About a year later, in October, nineteen sixty-two, President Kennedy said the United States had discovered that the Soviets were putting nuclear missiles in Cuba. He took several actions to protest the deployment.

One was to send American ships to the area. They were to prevent Soviet ships from taking missile parts and related supplies to the Cuban government. In a speech broadcast on television, Kennedy spoke about the seriousness of the situation.

JOHN KENNEDY: "It shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba against any nation in the Western Hemisphere as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States."

VOICE ONE:

No fighting broke out between the United States and the Soviet Union because of the Cuban missile crisis. The Soviet ships carrying missile parts to Cuba turned back. And President Kennedy promised that the United States would not invade Cuba if the Soviet Union removed its missiles and stopped building new ones there.

The two sides did, however, continue their cold war of words and influence.

In Asia, the Soviet Union continued to provide military, economic, and technical aid to communist governments. The Kennedy administration fought communism in Vietnam by increasing the number of American military advisers there.

VOICE TWO:

Robert and John Kennedy at the White House

The United States and the Soviet Union did make some progress on arms control, however. In nineteen sixty-three, the two countries reached a major agreement to ban tests of nuclear weapons above ground, under water, and in space. The treaty did not ban nuclear tests under the ground.

On national issues, President Kennedy supported efforts to guarantee a better life for African-Americans. One man who pushed for changes was his younger brother, Robert. Robert Kennedy was attorney general and head of the Justice Department at that time.

VOICE ONE:

The Justice Department took legal action against Southern states that violated the voting rights acts of nineteen fifty-seven and nineteen sixty. The administration also supported a voter registration campaign among African-Americans. The campaign helped them to record their names with election officials so they could vote.

As attorney general, Robert Kennedy repeatedly called on National Guard troops to protect black citizens from crowds of angry white citizens. Incidents took place when blacks tried to register to vote and when they tried to attend white schools.

VOICE TWO:

President Kennedy said the situation was causing a moral crisis in America. He decided it was time to propose a new civil rights law. The measure would guarantee equal treatment for blacks in public places and in jobs. It would speed the work of ending racial separation in schools.

Kennedy wanted the new legislation badly. But Congress delayed action. It did not pass a broad civil rights bill until nineteen sixty-four, after his presidency.

VOICE ONE:

In November, nineteen sixty-three, Kennedy left Washington for the state of Texas. He hoped to help settle a local dispute in his Democratic Party. The dispute might have affected chances for his re-election in nineteen sixty-four.

He arrived in the city of Dallas in the late morning of November twenty-second. Dallas was known to be a center of opposition to Kennedy. Yet many people waited to see him.

VOICE TWO:

A parade of cars traveled through the streets of Dallas. Kennedy and his wife were in the back seat of one. Their car had no top, so everyone could see them easily. Another car filled with Secret Service security agents was next to the president's.

The motorcade in Dallas

Suddenly, there were gunshots. Then, many Americans heard this emergency report from television newsman Walter Cronkite:

WALTER CRONKITE: "Here is a bulletin from CBS news. In Dallas, Texas, three shots were fired at President Kennedy's motorcade in downtown Dallas. The first reports say that President Kennedy has been seriously wounded by this shooting."

VOICE ONE:

The cars raced to Parkland Memorial Hospital. But doctors there could do little. Thirty minutes later reporters, including Walter Cronkite, broadcast this announcement:

WALTER CRONKITE: "From Dallas, Texas -- the flash apparently official -- President Kennedy died at one p.m., Central Standard Time. "

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

As the nation mourned, police searched for the person who had killed John Kennedy. They arrested a man named Lee Harvey Oswald. Oswald worked in a building near the place where Kennedy had been shot. People had seen him leave the building after the shooting. He had a gun.

VOICE ONE:

Lee Harvey Oswald

Lee Harvey Oswald was a man with a strange past. He was a former United States Marine. He was also a communist. He had lived for a while in the Soviet Union and had tried to become a Soviet citizen. He worked for a committee that supported the communist government in Cuba.

Police questioned Oswald about the death of president Kennedy. He said he did not do it. After two days, officials decided to move him to a different jail.

VOICE TWO:

As they did, television cameras recorded the death of Lee Harvey Oswald. Oswald was being led by two police officials. Suddenly, a man stepped in front of them. There was a shot, and Oswald fell to the floor.

Jack Ruby shoots Oswald

The gunman was Jack Ruby. He owned an eating and drinking place in Dallas. He said he killed Oswald to prevent the Kennedy family from having to live through a trial.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

President Kennedy's body had been returned to Washington. After a state funeral, he was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac River. A gas flame burns at his burial place, day and night.

An official committee was formed to investigate his death. It was headed by the chief justice of the United States, earl Warren, and was known as the Warren commission. In its report, the Warren commission said that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. It said there was no plot to kill the president.

VOICE TWO:

Many Americans did not accept the report. They believed there was a plot. Some blamed Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Some blamed extremists in America's Central Intelligence Agency. Others blamed organized crime.

The truth of what happened to John Kennedy may be what was stated in the Warren Commission report: that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. Or, perhaps, the complete truth may never be known.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This program of THE MAKING OF A NATION was written by Jeri Watson and produced by Paul Thompson. This is Rich Kleinfeldt.

VOICE TWO:

And this Stan Busby. Join us again next week for another VOA Special English program about the history of the United States.

VOASE0328_Education Report

28 March 2007

Studying Agriculture in the US
Week 30 of our Foreign Student Series looks at agricultural programs.

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This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

A listener from China named Walker would like information about agricultural programs in the United States. This is our subject today in week number thirty of our Foreign Student Series.

About one hundred colleges and universities began as public agricultural colleges and continue to teach agriculture. These are called land grant schools. They began with support from the federal government. Federal aid supported the building of most major state universities.

The idea of the land grant college goes back to a law in the nineteenth century called the Morrill Act. A congressman named Justin Smith Morrill wrote legislation to create at least one in each state.

The name "land grant" came from the kind of aid provided by the government. The government wanted Americans to learn better ways to farm. So it gave thousands of hectares of land to each Northern state.

The idea was that the states would sell the land and use the money to establish colleges. These colleges would teach agriculture, engineering and military science.

Congress passed the law in eighteen sixty-two. This was during the Civil War. Southern states had rebelled against the North and withdrawn from the Union.

Another law created a center at each land grant college to develop new scientific ideas and to help farmers solve problems.

Michigan State University began in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan

The Agricultural College of the State of Michigan was established in eighteen fifty-five. That was seven years before the Morrill Act. It later became the first college to officially agree to receive support under that law. The college grew into what is now Michigan State University in East Lansing.

Today, the university has more than forty thousand students. These include more than three thousand five hundred students from one hundred thirty other countries.

Last year the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Michigan State had three hundred thirty-six foreign students. More than two hundred of them were graduate students in the areas of agricultural economics, packaging, and crop and soil sciences.

Undergraduates majoring in agriculture can also study other related areas. These include agricultural education and food industry management.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. We will have a link to the Michigan State Web site at voaspecialenglish.com. We also have other helpful links along with transcripts and audio files from our Foreign Student Series. I'm Steve Ember.