National Desk

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

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LOS ANGELES NAMED NATION’S SMOG CAPITAL


The greater Los Angeles region surpassed Houston and the San Joaquin Valley as the nation’s smog capital, in part because of a change in method of ranking, federal officials said.


Air quality in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s smog standard on 84 days this year, the agency said. The EPA considers the totals to be final numbers for 2005 because the smog season runs from May through September.


Houston and the San Joaquin Valley, which in recent years rivaled or surpassed Los Angeles as the country’s smoggiest areas, ranked lower this year.


– Associated Press


WASHINGTON


SENATE WEIGHS MEASURES URGING BUSH TO SET LIMITS IN IRAQ


The Senate opened debate yesterday on measures that would put the chamber on record for the first time asking President Bush to set limits for keeping American troops in Iraq.


The Bush administration “needs to explain to Congress and the American people its strategy for the successful completion of the mission,” say resolutions introduced separately by both Republicans and Democrats. Both parties also would require that Iraq’s rival political factions be told they must make the compromises necessary to achieve a stable government, united against the insurgency, which will allow American troops to leave.


While the measures express a non-binding “sense of the Senate,” together they’re “early pressure on a major U.S. military operation, in contrast to the Vietnam War” where congressional resistance didn’t occur until the early 1970s or about eight years after the start of the major military build-up, a senior specialist on congressional war powers for the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, Louis Fisher, said.


– Bloomberg News


9/11 PANEL GIVES WHITE HOUSE MIXED REVIEW


Reviewing action on recommendations it made last year, the September 11 commission yesterday criticized the Bush administration for not adopting standards for treatment of captured terror suspects. The administration was given a mixed review in a report on the commission’s key recommendations that were designed to help America better prepare for and respond to a terror attack. There was high praise for American attempts to integrate the Arab and Muslim world into the global trading system and in fighting terrorism financing. But former commission chairman Thomas Kean, former vice chairman Lee Hamilton and the eight other members who formed the 9-11 Public Disclosure Project found much to criticize.


Their review gave the administration the grade “unfulfilled” on the commission’s recommendation that America develop a common approach with friendly nations on the treatment of captured terror suspects. The commission also had suggested the Geneva Conventions on the law of armed conflict should be applied to military prisons and secret detention centers.


What the Bush administration still needs to do, the review said, is to adopt standards for terror suspects that are in accord with international law.


– Associated Press


BUSH FIRES PARTING SHOT AT IRAQ WAR CRITICS AS HE HEADS TO ASIA


ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska – President Bush escalated the bitter debate over the Iraq war yesterday, hurling back at Democratic critics the worries they once expressed that Saddam Hussein was a grave threat to the world.


Mr. Bush went on the attack after Democrats accused the president of manipulating and withholding some pre-war intelligence and misleading Americans about the rationale for war.


“Some Democrats who voted to authorize the use of force are now rewriting the past,” Mr. Bush said. “They’re playing politics with this issue and they are sending mixed signals to our troops and the enemy. That is irresponsible.”


The president spoke to cheering troops at this military base at a refueling stop for Air Force One on the first leg of an eight-day journey to Japan, South Korea, China, and Mongolia.


– Associated Press


HIGH COURT RULES AGAINST PARENTS IN SPECIAL EDUCATION CASE


The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that parents who demand better special education programs for their children have the burden of proof in the challenges.


Retiring Justice O’Connor, writing for the 6-2 court, said that when parents challenge a program they have the burden in an administrative hearing of showing that the program is insufficient. If schools bring a complaint, the burden rests with them, Justice O’Connor wrote.


The case required the court to interpret the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, which does not specifically say whether parents or schools have the burden of proof in disputes. The law covers more than 6 million students.


– Associated Press


SUPREME COURT AGREES TO HEAR INMATE RESTRICTIONS CASE


The Supreme Court agreed yesterday to consider reinstating rules that keep newspapers and magazines out of the hands of disruptive Pennsylvania inmates, a case that court nominee Samuel Alito dealt with.


A panel of the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had sided with inmates who claimed the ban on most reading material and personal photographs violated their free speech rights.


Judge Alito, one of the lower court judges in the case, had filed a dissent and argued that the state should be allowed to withhold the news.


If Judge Alito is confirmed, he will likely recuse himself. That would mean the case would be heard by the other eight justices, with the potential for a tie.


– Associated Press


BILL WOULD ADD MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPISTS TO MEDICARE


In rural states, older residents often have a hard time finding care for mental health problems. Senator Thomas, a Republican of Wyoming, has sponsored legislation that would bring marriage and family therapists and licensed counselors into the health insurance program.


But the proposal has drawn strong opposition from the American Psychiatric Association, which says it would waste government money. The inclusion of the new providers would increase spending for marriage counseling or family troubles without improving care for more serious problems like schizophrenia, the group contends.


– Associated Press

NY Sun
NEW YORK SUN CONTRIBUTOR

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.


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