For the Record - News Briefs - Brief Article

National Review, April 2, 2001

President Bush on his budget, in Washington Post: "The other point that we need to look at, in which there's some consternation, is the size of discretionary spending. And as you notice in hearing my talks, you'll hear me talk a lot about reasonable, common sense spending of your money . . . by slowing down discretionary spending, by ending the spending orgy." . . . Senate Budget Committee chairman Pete Domenici (R., N.M.): "Can we, in fact, do all the things that have been recommended with 4 percent growth? . . . I don't know if we can." . . . Vice President Cheney, following heart procedure: "I've signed on for a four-year term, and whether or not [Bush] wants me to serve with him in his second term, that's a decision he'll make at the appropriate time." . . . After Elizabeth Dole declines, John Negroponte accepts job as U.N. ambassador. . . . Attorney general John Ashcroft promises to increase number of Justice Department lawyers working on voting rights by more than 20 percent. . . . Bush moves quickly to fill 100 vacancies on federal courts, with more than 50 candidates screened so far.

Sen. Frank Murkowski (R., Alaska.) discusses Arctic oil drilling, on Bloomberg Radio: "You've got to recognize, the environmental groups need a cause. . . . You ask them. They just love this issue." . . . Rep. Jim Turner (D., Tex.), from the National Rifle Association website: "I don't think you will hear as much about gun control in this Congress as the last." . . . Sen. Harry Reid (D., Nev.) on Bush promoting tax bill by barnstorming states with Democratic senators: "It's so tacky." . . . Sen. Edward Kennedy (D., Mass.) on ads comparing Bush tax cuts to those of JFK: "I think it's rather indecent, personally." . . . Sen. Zell Miller (D., Ga.), in Washington Times: "I think the Democratic Party could not have made a worse choice in choosing Terry McAuliffe as chairman of the DNC. He stands in the shade of Bill Clinton." Miller also says "Democrats are making a terrible mistake" with "class-warfare talk": "Most of the poor that I know don't have this class envy. They have this desire to move up in the world and into higher income brackets."

Congressional Black Caucus chairman Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D., Tex.): "I don't know any particular member [of Congress] who plays the race card." . . . Rep. Major Owens (D., N.Y.) says plans to restructure the House education subcommittees are endangering black colleges and "going back to the days of separate but equal, where you had one water fountain for colored and one for white people [and] the equal never lasted very long."

"I am Al Gore, and I used to be the next president of the United States of America," says Gore in Italy. . . . In Zogby poll, 57 percent of New Yorkers say they have "more negative" view of Hillary Clinton since election, and Rick Lazio would beat her by 9 points if race were held now. . . . Bill Clinton: "That's why I went to Harlem, because I think I am the first black president." . . . NOW's New York chapter strikes back at Democrats who voted to confirm John Ashcroft as attorney general. To Sen. Russ Feingold (D., Wisc.), who voted for him as olive branch to administration, it sends 1,000 pounds of Spanish olives. Other Democratic turncoats each get a "few thousand wire hangers." Hangers are also sent to Senate minority leader Tom Daschle for refusing to filibuster. . . . Arnold Schwarzenegger gives mixed signals on whether he will run for governor of California against Democrat Gray Davis. . . . Bush at christening ceremony for U.S.S. Ronald Reagan: "She will sail tall and strong, like the man we have known."

Ted Turner, at CNN party on Ash Wednesday: "I was looking at this woman and I was trying to figure out what was on her forehead. At first I thought you were in the earthquake" in Seattle that day. "[Then] I realized you're just Jesus freaks. Shouldn't you guys be working for Fox?" Brit Hume of Fox News was first to report Turner quote. . . . National Science Foundation study says Internet "should not be fielded for use in public elections until substantial technical and social science issues are addressed." . . . New Mexico GOP chairman John Dendahl joins Gov. Gary Johnson (R.) in supporting marijuana decriminalization. . . . Million Mom March organization, which sponsored anti-gun rally in Washington last year, lays off 30 of 35 employees, reports New York Times. . . . Empower.org releases new Index of Leading Cultural Indicators. . . . University of California regent Ward Connerly boycotts speaking to Daily Californian reporters after the school's newspaper apologizes for running ad opposing slavery reparations. . . . Neal Freeman named chairman of the White House Fellows Selection Panel in Washington.

Mawlawi Qudratullah Jamal of Afghanistan's Taliban regime, on smashing massive, 1,500-year-old Buddha statues: "It is easier to destroy than to build." . . . Augusto Pinochet cleared of homicide charges and freed from house arrest . . . Church of England's Rev. Arthur Peacocke wins Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion. . . . Ecuador adopts U.S. dollar as official currency. . . . Quebec swears in new separatist premier, Bernard Landry.