Washington, DC—(ENEWSPF)—May 10, 2013. U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced today that USDOT has determined that the recently enacted Reducing Flight Delays Act of 2013 will allow the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to transfer sufficient funds to end employee furloughs and keep the 149 low activity contract towers originally slated[Read More…]

Encouraging Day for Civil Liberties, Including Racial Profiling Reform, Says ACLU WASHINGTON–(ENEWSPF)–May 10, 2013.  The Senate Judiciary Committee met today to begin a markup of the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act (S. 744). The following statement can be attributed to Laura W. Murphy, director of the American Civil Liberties[Read More…]

Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–May 10, 2013.  Today, the President signed the National Strategy for the Arctic Region.  The United States is pleased to join our Arctic Council colleagues Canada, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Russia, and Sweden in articulating our strategic priorities for this critical region of the world. The Administration solicited input[Read More…]

COLORADO–(ENEWSPF)–May 10, 2013. by Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director Colorado lawmakers made history Wednesday by approving first-in-the nation regulations governing the retail production and sale of cannabis to those age 21 and older. The Huffington Post has the story here: On the final day of the legislative session, Colorado lawmakers[Read More…]

Travel and Tourism Industries Essential to U.S. Economy Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–May 10, 2013.  U.S. Senators Mark Kirk (R-IL), Mark Begich (D-AK), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Dean Heller (R-NV), Tim Scott (R-SC), Harry Reid (D-NV) , Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), and Mark Warner (D-VA), introduced a resolution yesterday recognizing National Travel and Tourism Week to[Read More…]

GENEVA–(ENEWSPF)–10 May 2013 – The international community must act to stop the conflict in Syria and ensure those responsible for human rights violations are held accountable, the United Nations human rights chief said today following reports of massacres in Baniyas, as well as displacement of civilians due to military build-up[Read More…]

Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–May 9, 2013. Index for Today’s Briefing AFGHANISTAN Bilateral Security Agreement / Post-2014 Mission PAKISTAN Support of Election Process / Condemnation of Recent Violence / Election Monitors DEPARTMENT Benghazi Hearing / Requests from Congress / Talking Points Foreign Service Assignment System CHINA China/Tibet Relations Territorial Issues / Okinawa /[Read More…]

  Rome, Italy–(ENEWSPF)–May 9, 2013.  MODERATOR: Good afternoon, everyone. Minister Bonino and Secretary of State Mr. Kerry have just completed their talk and they will now make some statements to the press. Thank you. FOREIGN MINISTER BONINO: Good morning. (Inaudible) I met in person, but it’s not the first time[Read More…]

Austin, Texas–(ENEWSPF)–May 9, 2013 – 1:38 P.M. CDT THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, Texas!  (Applause.)  Howdy, Manor.  (Applause.)  Go Titans!  (Applause.)  I hear that there’s a rule that anyone who gives a presentation in front of the class has to dress up, so I made sure to wear a tie.  (Laughter.)  I[Read More…]

Rome, Italy–(ENEWSPF)–May 9, 2013. SECRETARY KERRY: Good morning, everybody. It’s my pleasure to welcome Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh here to Villa Taverna. Thank you very much, Nasser, for taking time to be here. We are, I would say, old and good friends. We’ve spent a lot of time together in[Read More…]