Senators want Gates to check supply problem

Three senators are pressing Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to investigate repeated delays in getting needed equipment to troops at war.

Sens. Joseph Biden (D-Del.), Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Kit Bond (R-Mo.) said in a letter to Gates on Wednesday that they are concerned that the process the Pentagon put in place to rapidly buy much-needed wartime equipment is not up to par.

{mosads}“Our front line forces must be supported by a modern system that quickly meets their needs, not a slow and lumbering bureaucracy better suited to the last century,” the senators wrote. “As important, our military men and women and their families deserve to know that we are giving them the best possible equipment when they need it.”

The lawmakers focused on a request for vehicle protection against so-called explosively formed penetrators (EFPs).

The letter said the military services made an urgent needs request for the protection three years ago, which was renewed in January 2007.

“Yet we are still five or six months from fielding even limited quantities of EFP protected vehicles,” the lawmakers said.

“It is essential that we fix this system. The enemy is quick and adaptable, which makes it imperative that we are too,” they added.  

They urged Gates to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of all the Pentagon’s wartime acquisition processes, in all of the services.

“If the effort to provide EFP protection is any guide, unfortunately, we are still not accelerating our development and fielding efforts adequate to meet the current threat,” the lawmakers concluded.

— Roxana Tiron

Boehner focuses on GOP web presence

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) may not control the House floor, but with the launch of a new website Thursday, he is determined to have a commanding influence on the Internet.

Over the last six months, his office has moved aggressively to redesign and launch Republicanleader.house.gov and incorporate the latest new media tools to allow web surfers to have wider access the latest activities of House Republicans.

Nick Schaper, Boehner’s newly hired director of new media, said the use of new media tools such as RSS feeds, twitter, podcasts and mobile formats are critical to reaching an audience that increasingly needs to carry news with them.

“We tried really hard to make content specifically for the web,” he said, adding that the website will allow Boehner and his staff to post content and supplemental materials that go beyond the traditional press release.

The site will also feature audio and video from Boehner’s YouTube channel as well as two “micro sites,” including earmarkreform.house.gov, which Boehner was recently asked to pull down by the office of the House Chief Administrative Officer. The site has not yet been taken down.

Repblicanleader.house.gov is the second major website launch by Boehner this year. Earlier this month, he introduced FreedomProject.org a grassroots based online fundraising site for Republican congressional candidates.  

-Jackie Kucinich

Clinton hits Obama for lack of oversight hearings

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) on Wednesday sharpened her attack that Democratic rival Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) has done nothing as chairman of a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee.

In a memo circulated to reporters, the Clinton campaign followed up on a charge Clinton lobbed at Obama during Tuesday night’s debate, saying for all his talk on concentrating military efforts in Afghanistan, the senator has failed to hold a single oversight hearing on his Foreign Relations subcommittee.

“Given the opportunity to take the reins of leadership and shape two critical areas of U.S. foreign policy — Afghanistan and our alliances in Europe — Sen. Obama has done next to nothing,” the memo read.

Obama conceded in the debate that he has not held any oversight hearings during his tenure as chairman of the European Affairs subcommittee, saying that he has been busy running for president since taking the position.

“How can we tell what Barack Obama would be like as president if he did not carry out his responsibility here?” the memo read.

Mike Duncan, chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), made it clear on an appearance on MSNBC Wednesday that this line of attack is one Republicans will likely revisit if Obama wins the Democratic nomination.

“Here we have Barack Obama, who has been chairman of a subcommittee for over a year … and he has not called a single meeting,” Duncan said, according to remarks provided by the RNC. “He doesn’t know what to do. This continues a pattern of calling into question his ability to be commander in chief.”

The Obama campaign did not respond to requests for comment before press time.

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), chairman of the East and South and Central Asian Affairs subcommittee, told The Hill that matters dealing with Afghanistan would fall under his jurisdiction. Matters dealing with NATO, Kerry said, are usually handled by the full Foreign Affairs committee.

Kerry, the 2004 Democratic nominee who has endorsed Obama, called the whole debate over whether or not Obama has held oversight hearings a “sidebar issue” because any presidential candidate is busy “running around the country like crazy” so he or she can have greater oversight over the entirety of foreign policy.

“This is a silly argument anyway,” Kerry said. “Whether you’re John McCain or Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama or Joe Biden or Chris Dodd, when you’re running for president you’re running for president.”

—  Sam Youngman