“[T]his budget isn’t just a collection of numbers; it’s an illustration of our values and priorities,” said Secretary of State John Kerry in his testimony before the House Foreign Relations Committee on the proposed State Department budget. It’s not clear from his testimony today that one of those priorities is …
President Obama has been holding up the Keystone XL Pipeline. Could Congress go ahead and clear it for construction–and prevent environmental activists from tying the project in litigation if it gets the green light? That’s the question at tomorrow’s Energy and Commerce Committee Energy and Power Subcommittee hearing. The subcommittee …
Despite John Kerry being confirmed as the Secretary of State for President Obama’s second term two months ago, numerous senior State Department positions remain unfilled with no plans to fill them in sight. Instead, the White House process for political appointees is moving as “slowly as molasses,” according to State …
This week, the parliament of Bahrain voted unanimously to declare Hezbollah a terrorist organization. “It is time we join the world in outlawing this group, which has terrorized the region enough and has been instrumental in spreading evil among us,” said lawmaker Shaikh Jassim Al Saeedi, a sponsor of the …
Recent remarks by Spanish official Ángel Carromero in The Washington Post are shedding new light on the events that resulted in the death of Cuban dissident and human rights activist Oswaldo Payá. Carromero was driving the vehicle in which Payá was traveling along with two other passengers in July 2012 …
On March 26, the Nigerian senate proved that President Goodluck Jonathan’s refusal to grant amnesty to terrorist organization Boko Haram was not in vain. Nigerian Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe announced that the senate, like the president, was opposed to amnesty for Boko Haram. Nigeria’s emboldened approach to dealing with Boko Haram …
Attaining a visa to the United States is an incredibly lengthy and difficult process. To combat this, last week, Congressman Joseph Heck (R–NV) introduced the latest iteration of the Jobs Originated through Launching Travel (JOLT) Act. Like its predecessors from the 112th Congress, the bill proposes several programs and policies …
Two weeks after the death of President Hugo Chavez from cancer, Venezuela’s interim chief and Chavista presidential candidate Nicolas Maduro is increasingly resorting to wild, paranoid, anti-American outbursts in an effort to convince Venezuelans he has the machismo needed to fill El Commandante’s boots. Following initial claims that the U.S. …
On Friday, the House of Representatives will hold a hearing on the persecution of religious minorities in Iran. It will feature Nagmeh Abedini, the wife of a Christian pastor currently jailed in Iran. Nagmeh’s husband, Pastor Saeed Abedini, is an American citizen who was sentenced to eight years in prison …
