Senate salutes late Sen. Robert Byrd
WASHINGTON, July 1 (UPI) -- A casket containing the body of the late Sen. Robert Byrd was moved Thursday into the U.S. Capitol, where mourners paid their final respects.
Former staffers of the West Virginia Democrat, the longest serving U.S. senator, joined friends, family and admirers as a military honor guard took the flag-draped casket up the Capitol steps and placed it on the same catafalque, a raised wooden platform, that held President Abraham Lincoln's remains during the Civil War.
Byrd's casket lay in repose on the Senate floor until 3:45 p.m.
During a somber memorial held without the presence of video cameras, Byrd -- elected in 1959 -- was hailed as the dean of the Senate, The Hill reported. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who served with Byrd in the Senate, joined members of Congress in paying tribute to Byrd, who died Monday at age 92.
President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden were to speak Friday at a memorial service for Byrd at the West Virginia state Capitol in Charleston. Byrd will be buried beside his late wife, Erma, Tuesday in a private ceremony at Columbia Gardens Cemetery in Arlington, Va.
Politicians fundraise hard as quarter ends
WASHINGTON, July 1 (UPI) -- Washington lobbyists and politicians had a hectic schedule during the last week in June, with hundreds of fundraisers marking the end of the second quarter.
Ken Calvert, a Republican congressman from California, began Wednesday with a fundraising breakfast and ended it with a frankly named Last Day of Quarter Dinner, The New York Times reports. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., told his donors that contributions before the end of the day on Wednesday would be appreciated.
In an election year, the end of the second quarter is important because it sends a signal to donors -- and to voters -- about a candidate's fundraising ability and, presumably, viability. The final tallies will be released July 15.
"It's important for score-keeping purposes," Rep. Jason Altmire, D-Pa., said as he stepped out of the restaurant into the morning sunshine. "This deadline is the one where people make decisions on who is a strong candidate and who's not."
This year, with Democrats struggling to keep control of Congress and Republicans eager to oust them, the stakes are higher than ever.
Sen. Graham: Tea Party will 'die out'
WASHINGTON, July 1 (UPI) -- U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said much of his work is "completely opposite" from the Tea Party and predicts the movement will "die out."
"Everything I'm doing now in terms of talking about climate, talking about immigration, talking about Gitmo is completely opposite of where the Tea Party movement's at," Graham told The New York Times Magazine in a profile that will be published Sunday, The Hill reported Thursday.
"The problem with the Tea Party, I think it's just unsustainable because they can never come up with a coherent vision for governing the country. It will die out. We don't have a lot of Reagan-type leaders in our party. Remember Ronald Reagan Democrats? I want a Republican that can attract Democrats," Graham told the Times.
Graham said his first of four meetings with Tea Party representatives was "very, very contentious" and that at a later meeting he asked them, "'What do you want to do? You take back your country -- and do what with it?' … Everybody went from being kind of hostile to just dead silent."
Graham was elected to the Senate in 2002 and does not face re-election until 2014.
Italy confident in crucifix appeal
ROME, July 1 (UPI) -- Italian authorities said they expect a "positive result" in their appeal of a court ruling that banned the display of crucifixes in schools.
"It is obvious the crucifix is not a symbol that damages the principle of secularity in education and it threatens the rights of no one," Andrea Ronchi, Italy's European policies minister, said Wednesday, ANSA reported. "I am therefore confident of a positive outcome to this appeal."
"This is a great battle for the freedom and identity of our Christian values," said Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, adding, "everything (is) in order to ensure a positive result."
In November 2009, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in favor of a Finnish-born Italian mother who said the crucifix could be "emotionally disturbing for pupils of other religions or those who profess no religion," ANSA said.
Nicola Lettieri, the Italian government's representative who argued Wednesday before the court's appeals body, the Grand Chamber, said classroom crucifixes are "a passive symbol that bear no relationship to the actual teaching, which is secular" and that their presence imparts "no indoctrination."
Eight of the Council of Europe's 47 member states and 33 members of the European Parliament have expressed support for Italy.
"Italy without the crucifix would no longer be Italy. … The crucifix is both a national and a religious symbol. Britons who sing 'God Save The Queen' are certainly not all believers," said Joseph Weiler, the jurist representing the eight countries supporting Italy.
The 20 European judges who heard the appeal in the Grand Chamber are expected to reach a decision in a matter of months.
