Gates asks Congress for Iraq War funds
WASHINGTON, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates Thursday urged Congress to pass an emergency Iraq funding bill the president would sign to prevent layoffs and closings.
Gates, during a news briefing, said he wanted to dispel "a serious misconception" that the Defense Department can continue funding field forces indefinitely through accounting maneuvers.
The U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill Wednesday that would appropriate $50 billion for the Iraq War -- less than the $200 billion sought by President George W. Bush -- and would outline U.S. combat troop withdrawal time lines. Bush said he would veto the bill if it reaches it desk.
Restrictions on the department's budget mean it can transfer only $3.7 billion, Gates said, leaving the department with no alternative to furloughs and closures to continue operations.
"The military would cease operations at all Army bases by mid-February next year," Gates said. "This would result in the furloughing of about 100,000 government employees and a like number of contractor employees at Army bases."
Gates said he will submit to Congress an urgent reprogramming request for funds while directing the Army and Marine Corps to develop contingency plans.
Federal court nixes fuel economy standards
SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- Federal fuel economy standards did not properly assess global warming risks, a federal appeals court in San Francisco ruled Thursday.
In tossing the mileage standards for some sport utility vehicles, minivans and light trucks, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the new fuel economy rules also didn't include larger SUVs and trucks, The San Francisco Chronicle reported.
The decision is a win for several environmental groups and 11 states that argued the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's standards didn't consider the effects of carbon dioxide emissions.
Currently, the specified vehicles are required to achieve 22.2 mpg for 2007 models. The new standards, adopted in March 2006, would have boosted that requirement to 24.1 mpg by 2011. The Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the federal appeals court, arguing that a 35-mpg to 38-mpg standard could be achieved by 2015.
David Friedman, research director for Union of Concerned Scientists' Clean Vehicles Program, said the ruling "should encourage Congress to eliminate loopholes that would erode the 35-mpg standard ... and require NHTSA to include the real cost of global warming pollution and America's oil addiction when setting new standards."
U.S. Supreme Court stays Florida execution
WASHINGTON, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay in the Florida execution of a convicted child-killer, overturning a federal court's decision to let it proceed.
The stay in the execution of Mark Dean Schwab is at least the fourth such postponement since the panel agreed to hear a case questioning whether the mixture of drugs used in lethal injections causes pain and suffering, which possibly could constitute cruel and unusual punishment under the Constitution, CNN reported.
Earlier Thursday, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a federal judge's order that would have delayed Schwab's execution, saying the judge's stay order was "contrary to the unequivocal law of this circuit."
Schwab, 38, was convicted in 1991 of raping, torturing and killing Junny Rios-Martinez, 11, of Cocoa, Fla.
Bush outlines fight delay countermeasures
WASHINGTON, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- Airlines will have better use of U.S. military airspace during the Thanksgiving travel period, U.S. President George W. Bush announced Thursday.
Bush, outlining several measures to address the issue of flight delays during a briefing, said the Federal Aviation Commission and the Defense Department agreed that the military would open "Thanksgiving Express Lanes" in the sky from Maine to Florida during the heaviest travel days.
In addition, Bush said the FAA would implement measures to head off delays and impose a moratorium on projects so FAA equipment and personnel would be available to keep the flights flying on time.
Bush also discussed Department of Transportation proposals that include doubling compensation airlines pay customers unwillingly bumped from overbooked flights. If, for example, a passenger forced to wait more than two hours for another flight would receive a minimum of $800, instead of the current $400, he said.
Airlines, he said must understand "there will be consequences."
He also touched on managing the number of flights at overloaded airports, by using mechanisms that "encourage airlines to spread out their flights" during the day, make better use of neighboring airports and "move the maximum number of passengers on each flight."
