Bush threatens veto of funding bill
The White House promises to veto a huge Senate bill to pay for the rising costs of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and to repair Hurricane Katrina damage unless the cost to taxpayers is scaled back to President Bush’s original requests.
The must-pass $106.5 billion bill exceeds Bush’s February request by more than $14 billion with add-ons for farm aid, highway repairs and aid to the Gulf Coast fishing industry, among others, drawing the ire of the White House and conservative Republicans.
The veto promise was unusually direct and excoriated the bill on numerous fronts. It was invited by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and was welcomed by conservatives who said the bill had gotten out of hand.
The bill is sure to be carved back in House-Senate negotiations next month, and Bush may very well not have to follow through on his veto promise.
New Orleans
Corps of Engineers sued over Katrina
Five people whose homes were flooded during Hurricane Katrina sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Tuesday, accusing the agency of ignoring repeated warnings that a navigation channel it built would turn into a “hurricane highway.”
The lawsuit was filed in federal court in New Orleans.
At issue is a 76-mile shipping channel built in the early 1960s as a shortcut to New Orleans. For years, environmentalists and others have blasted the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet because it has eroded enormous tracts of wetlands and increased the threat of flooding.
During Katrina, storm surge traveled up the channel and overwhelmed levees protecting St. Bernard Parish and eastern New Orleans, according to scientists.
The plaintiffs are seeking compensation for themselves but also want Congress to set up a “Katrina Victims’ Compensation Fund.”
Sacramento, Calif.
Man convicted of aiding terrorists
A federal jury on Tuesday convicted a 23-year-old man of supporting terrorists by attending an al-Qaida training camp in Pakistan three years ago.
Hamid Hayat, a seasonal farm worker in Lodi, an agricultural town south of Sacramento, was convicted of one count of providing material support to terrorists and three counts of lying to the FBI.
His attorney said she would seek a new trial. “Hamid Hayat never attended a terrorist training camp. This fight is not over,” Wazhma Mojaddidi said.
Washington
Army will charge Abu Ghraib officer
The Army plans to criminally charge a top military officer involved in the interrogation scandal at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, according to the officer’s attorney.
Lt. Col. Steven L. Jordan would be the highest-ranking officer to face charges in connection with abuse of prisoners at the facility.
Jordan is expected to be charged by Friday with dereliction of duty, conduct unbecoming an officer, lying to investigators and other crimes, according to his attorney, Samuel Spitzberg.