WASHINGTON, April 24 (UPI) -- Capital Comment -- Daily news notes, political rumors, and important events that shape politics and public policy in Washington and the world from United Press International.
Make a list, check it twice -- Chris Horner of the Competitive Enterprise Institute's Cooler Heads Coalition, an anti-anti-global warming effort, has written to the Environmental Protection Agency, asking for "documents relating to and/or citing Enron, and Enron's direct and/or indirect lobbying of and influence upon the Clinton-Gore administration and its actions and/or energy and/or environment policies based in whole or part on the theory of catastrophic man-made global warming, 'climate change,' or the Kyoto Protocol."
Of particular interest to Horner is anything EPA may have pertaining to "an Aug. 4, 1997, meeting in the Oval Office between, Enron Chief Executive Officer Ken Lay and President Clinton and Vice President Gore, addressing the theory of man-made climate change, possible Clinton administration initiatives citing or based upon this theory, and the upcoming (December 1997) international treaty negotiations in Kyoto, Japan."
It will be very interesting to see what he gets.
From the back seat to center stage -- Young people and researchers come together Thursday on Capitol Hill for a briefing on the reproductive health issues faced by youth around the world, "Adolescents' Reproductive Rights: A Global Discussion," sponsored by Advocates for Youth, a Washington-based liberal group working in the field of sexuality education, teen pregnancy prevention, and HIV/AIDS education.
The forum begins at 3 p.m. in room 121 of the Cannon House Office Building.
Not a drive-thru -- Rep. Alcee L. Hastings, D-Fla., delivers the keynote address at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Public Service Seminar Congressional Luncheon Friday. Hastings, who was a federal judge until he was impeached and removed from office, "will charge listeners to critically examine legislation, to participate in the public policy arena and to put leadership into action" at the luncheon, which is sponsored by Mitsubishi Motors America. It is one in a series of events occurring over a three-day period when seminar participants study issues affecting the educational, economic, and political progress of people of color.
And the award goes to... -- EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman will present an award honoring retiring Rep. Marge Roukema, R-N.J., for her more than two decades of public service at the Republican Main Street Partnership's 3rd annual John Chafee Awards dinner.
According to RMSP's Ron Talley, Ms. Whitman "actually requested" the chance to make the presentation and canceled a trip to make sure she could give the award to Roukema, an active member of the moderate GOP group.
Whose side are you on? -- A scheduled appearance by former President Bill Clinton in Houston is reviving charges that the Democrats are manipulating non-partisan organizations for electoral gain.
The former president is scheduled to attend a fund-raiser for the Every Texan Foundation, headed by former San Antonio mayor and U.S. Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros, a Democrat. The stated purpose of the group is to encourage voter registration, but Texas Republicans are charging that it is merely a partisan front. "It's just further evidence this is a campaign committee for (gubernatorial candidate) Tony Sanchez and the Democrats," state GOP spokesman Ted Royer said Tuesday. "Obviously the only people that are going to contribute at a Bill Clinton fund-raiser are Democrats who want to advance the Democrat cause."
Cisneros calls the allegations untrue and says his group is planning to invite former President George Bush to a similar event later on. The group hopes to raise $100,000 to $150,000 at the $2,000-per-couple event Friday.
Has John McCain been am-Bushed? -- A Behavior Research Center poll of 710 Arizona adults found that 73 percent of them would give President George W. Bush an "excellent/good" rating. By contrast, the poll, conducted between April 3 and 7, has Sen. John McCain, Bush's principle GOP primary rival, at 69 percent. The firm notes that this is the first time Bush's ratings are "below the peak his father enjoyed in Arizona during April of 1991" when the former president's excellent/good rating was 76 percent. Of course by July of 1992, it had tumbled to a record low 25 percent.
Gore: yes or no? -- A new survey by pollster John Zogby of 1,002 likely voters has former Vice President Al Gore as the leading Democrat candidate for president in 2004. Gore is the choice of 46 percent of respondents, followed by "undecided" at 22 percent and Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., at 7 percent. The survey also shows that the enormous lead the Republicans enjoyed on the issue of education has evaporated. By 43 percent to 36 percent, respondents said that Democrats were the party best able to handle the education issue -- 6 percent identified neither party while 5 percent said both.
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