🚀 go-pugleaf

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

------=_NextPart_000_02B8_01C086F7.3627DC80
Content-Type: text/plain;
	charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

http://www.dallasnews.com/politics/270618_ashcroft_25nat.html

Ashcroft's NRA membership under attack=20
White House says nominee will enforce gun laws=20

01/25/2001=20

By Michelle Mittelstadt / The Dallas Morning News=20

WASHINGTON - Gun-control advocates are calling on Attorney =
General-designate John Ashcroft to relinquish his National Rifle =
Association membership, saying it would be a conflict for him to remain =
affiliated with the gun lobby while enforcing the nation's gun laws.=20

"It's a clear appearance of conflict," said Josh Sugarmann, executive =
director of the Violence Policy Center, a Washington-based group =
advocating stricter gun laws.=20

"Ashcroft should resign from the National Rifle Association, not just =
for their past history and their views regarding law enforcement, but =
also their current views and what they have articulated as far as what =
they expect from the administration," he added.=20

Also questioning Mr. Ashcroft's NRA membership was Sen. Dianne =
Feinstein, who on Wednesday became the first Democrat on the Senate =
Judiciary Committee to announce her opposition to the nominee, citing a =
record she said can "only be characterized as ultra-right-wing."=20

"To have an attorney general that is a present member of the NRA =
certainly shows a bias," the California Democrat said. "I would think =
that any nominee to virtually any post would refrain from membership in =
any controversial organization. And the NRA is a controversial =
organization."=20

Mr. Ashcroft, whose candidacy is under attack from liberal interest =
groups in part because of his staunch opposition to gun control, would =
not decide whether to leave the NRA until after confirmation, a White =
House spokesman said.=20

"If confirmed, Attorney General-designate John Ashcroft will vigorously =
prosecute gun crimes, and he will have zero tolerance for any criminal =
misuse of firearms," spokesman Taylor Gross said. "With respect to =
membership in the NRA, an organization committed to the lawful and =
responsible exercise of constitutional rights, he has not addressed that =
question and will not do so until after his confirmation."=20

Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott has said all 50 GOP senators would =
vote for Mr. Ashcroft. And at least two Democrats have said they planned =
to do the same.=20

Democrats blocked the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation vote =
scheduled Wednesday by Republicans, exercising their right to a one-week =
delay. The panel's top Democrat, Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, said the =
delay was necessary to await answers to questions submitted by senators =
after Mr. Ashcroft's two-day appearance before the committee last week.=20

The committee's chairman, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, bridled at what he =
termed a stalling tactic. And he said some of the 348 questions =
submitted by Democrats were an intrusion on confidential discussions =
that Mr. Ashcroft, a Missouri senator until his November defeat, had =
with other Republican senators.=20

"Now certainly members are entitled to ask follow-up questions to a =
nominee, but this seems going to the extreme," he said.=20

Democrats defended their questions.=20

"This is a painful nomination for many, many Americans," said Sen. =
Russell Feingold, D-Wis. "And it is absolutely appropriate, and even in =
the interests of the nominee himself in the long term, that this be =
reviewed carefully."=20

President Bush said he was untroubled by the Democrats' delay in =
considering his most controversial Cabinet pick.=20

"I think they're making sure that when they confirm him all questions =
have been answered," he said during a White House meeting with =
congressional leaders from both parties.=20

Mr. Ashcroft's membership in the NRA, which spent more than $330,000 on =
behalf of his re-election campaign, was not questioned during the =
hearing. But Democrats did examine his record opposing the ban on =
assault weapons and the required use of trigger locks, and his support =
for a Missouri concealed-carry referendum in 1999.=20

During the sometimes contentious questioning at his confirmation =
hearing, Mr. Ashcroft repeatedly pledged to enforce existing gun laws - =
even an assault weapons ban he had referred to as "wrongheaded."=20

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., who has emerged as Mr. Ashcroft's =
sharpest critic, said he was less concerned about the nominee's =
membership than his views.=20

"I'm most interested in his ... long-standing positions on the gun issue =
and his own standing about what you do as the attorney general," he =
said.=20

Handgun Control Inc., which opposes the nomination, shared a similar =
view. "I'm not going to say what he can belong to and what he can't =
belong to," spokesman Brian Morton said.=20

But Mr. Sugarmann of the Violence Policy Center said it would be =
inappropriate for the chief law enforcement officer to retain membership =
in an organization that has battled to undo certain gun-control measures =
and has used harsh rhetoric against federal law enforcement agents - =
calling them "jackbooted government thugs" in one 1995 fund-raising =
letter.=20

"I think it's very important that when you're the chief law enforcement =
officer and you oversee law enforcement, you should not be a member of =
an organization that has repeatedly and vociferously attacked law =
enforcement," Mr. Sugarmann said.=20

NRA spokesman Bill Powers scoffed at criticism about Mr. Ashcroft's =
membership.=20

"To say that Senator Ashcroft is not fit to serve as attorney general =
because he's a member of the NRA is a pretty silly argument to make," he =
said.=20

As for the criticism that the group's rhetoric has been anti-government, =
Mr. Powers said: "I don't think we take positions contrary to the =
government."




------=_NextPart_000_02B8_01C086F7.3627DC80
Content-Type: text/html;
	charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; =
charset=3Diso-8859-1">
<META content=3D"MSHTML 5.50.4611.1300" name=3DGENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2><A=20
href=3D"http://www.dallasnews.com/politics/270618_ashcroft_25nat.html">ht=
tp://www.dallasnews.com/politics/270618_ashcroft_25nat.html</A></FONT></D=
IV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=3D5>Ashcroft's NRA membership under =
attack</FONT></STRONG>=20

<P><FONT size=3D+1><B>White House says nominee will enforce gun =
laws</B></FONT>=20
<P><FONT size=3D-1>01/25/2001</FONT>=20
<P><FONT size=3D-1><B>By Michelle Mittelstadt / The Dallas Morning =
News</B></FONT>=20

<P>WASHINGTON &#8211; Gun-control advocates are calling on Attorney =
General-designate=20
John Ashcroft to relinquish his National Rifle Association membership, =
saying it=20
would be a conflict for him to remain affiliated with the gun lobby =
while=20
enforcing the nation's gun laws.=20
<P>"It's a clear appearance of conflict," said Josh Sugarmann, executive =

director of the Violence Policy Center, a Washington-based group =
advocating=20
stricter gun laws.=20
<P>"Ashcroft should resign from the National Rifle Association, not just =
for=20
their past history and their views regarding law enforcement, but also =
their=20
current views and what they have articulated as far as what they expect =
from the=20
administration," he added.=20
<P>Also questioning Mr. Ashcroft's NRA membership was Sen. Dianne =
Feinstein, who=20
on Wednesday became the first Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee =
to=20
announce her opposition to the nominee, citing a record she said can =
"only be=20
characterized as ultra-right-wing."=20
<P>"To have an attorney general that is a present member of the NRA =
certainly=20
shows a bias," the California Democrat said. "I would think that any =
nominee to=20
virtually any post would refrain from membership in any controversial=20
organization. And the NRA is a controversial organization."=20
<P>Mr. Ashcroft, whose candidacy is under attack from liberal interest =
groups in=20
part because of his staunch opposition to gun control, would not decide =
whether=20
to leave the NRA until after confirmation, a White House spokesman said. =

<P>"If confirmed, Attorney General-designate John Ashcroft will =
vigorously=20
prosecute gun crimes, and he will have zero tolerance for any criminal =
misuse of=20
firearms," spokesman Taylor Gross said. "With respect to membership in =
the NRA,=20
an organization committed to the lawful and responsible exercise of=20
constitutional rights, he has not addressed that question and will not =
do so=20
until after his confirmation."=20
<P>Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott has said all 50 GOP senators would =
vote for=20
Mr. Ashcroft. And at least two Democrats have said they planned to do =
the same.=20
<P>Democrats blocked the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation vote =
scheduled=20
Wednesday by Republicans, exercising their right to a one-week delay. =
The=20
panel's top Democrat, Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, said the delay was=20
necessary to await answers to questions submitted by senators after Mr.=20
Ashcroft's two-day appearance before the committee last week.=20
<P>The committee's chairman, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, bridled at what =
he termed=20
a stalling tactic. And he said some of the 348 questions submitted by =
Democrats=20
were an intrusion on confidential discussions that Mr. Ashcroft, a =
Missouri=20
senator until his November defeat, had with other Republican senators.=20
<P>"Now certainly members are entitled to ask follow-up questions to a =
nominee,=20
but this seems going to the extreme," he said.=20
<P>Democrats defended their questions.=20
<P>"This is a painful nomination for many, many Americans," said Sen. =
Russell=20
Feingold, D-Wis. "And it is absolutely appropriate, and even in the =
interests of=20
the nominee himself in the long term, that this be reviewed carefully."=20
<P>President Bush said he was untroubled by the Democrats' delay in =
considering=20
his most controversial Cabinet pick.=20
<P>"I think they're making sure that when they confirm him all questions =
have=20
been answered," he said during a White House meeting with congressional =
leaders=20
from both parties.=20
<P>Mr. Ashcroft's membership in the NRA, which spent more than $330,000 =
on=20
behalf of his re-election campaign, was not questioned during the =
hearing. But=20
Democrats did examine his record opposing the ban on assault weapons and =
the=20
required use of trigger locks, and his support for a Missouri =
concealed-carry=20
referendum in 1999.=20
<P>During the sometimes contentious questioning at his confirmation =
hearing, Mr.=20
Ashcroft repeatedly pledged to enforce existing gun laws &#8211; even an =
assault=20
weapons ban he had referred to as "wrongheaded."=20
<P>Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., who has emerged as Mr. Ashcroft's =
sharpest=20
critic, said he was less concerned about the nominee's membership than =
his=20
views.=20
<P>"I'm most interested in his ... long-standing positions on the gun =
issue and=20
his own standing about what you do as the attorney general," he said.=20
<P>Handgun Control Inc., which opposes the nomination, shared a similar =
view.=20
"I'm not going to say what he can belong to and what he can't belong =
to,"=20
spokesman Brian Morton said.=20
<P>But Mr. Sugarmann of the Violence Policy Center said it would be=20
inappropriate for the chief law enforcement officer to retain membership =
in an=20
organization that has battled to undo certain gun-control measures and =
has used=20
harsh rhetoric against federal law enforcement agents &#8211; calling =
them "jackbooted=20
government thugs" in one 1995 fund-raising letter.=20
<P>"I think it's very important that when you're the chief law =
enforcement=20
officer and you oversee law enforcement, you should not be a member of =
an=20
organization that has repeatedly and vociferously attacked law =
enforcement," Mr.=20
Sugarmann said.=20
<P>NRA spokesman Bill Powers scoffed at criticism about Mr. Ashcroft's=20
membership.=20
<P>"To say that Senator Ashcroft is not fit to serve as attorney general =
because=20
he's a member of the NRA is a pretty silly argument to make," he said.=20
<P>As for the criticism that the group's rhetoric has been =
anti-government, Mr.=20
Powers said: "I don't think we take positions contrary to the =
government."</P>
<P>&nbsp;</P></DIV></BODY></HTML>

------=_NextPart_000_02B8_01C086F7.3627DC80--