Tag Archives: Kevin McCarthy

Chinese military conducts blockade drill and start of attack drills in response to Taiwan’s President meeting with McCarthy

Revelations 6:3-4 “when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.

Important Takeaways:

  • Chinese Army tightens its blockade drill on Taiwan with start of attack drills
  • The Chinese military began conducting ”precision strike” exercises on ”key targets” in Taiwan on Sunday, the second day of a large-scale blockade drill it is conducting around the island.
  • During the drills, multiple Chinese Army Navy destroyers and frigates ”rapidly approached the island of Taiwan, took advantageous positions and practiced close assaults, long-range deterrence and air defense,” Chinese state-run CCTV added.
  • Early this morning, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry detected that at least 71 Chinese fighter jets and nine Chinese warships had approached the territory, and warned that 45 of the planes temporarily crossed the ”Davis line” that divides the strait and marks the beginning of its security zone; an extremely high number even for the usual incursions China has been carrying out during the last few months.
  • This large-scale drill has been seen as a response to President Tsai Ing Wen’s meeting this week with U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy, in what Beijing saw as an affront to its sovereignty claims over the territory.

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U.S. Senate’s McConnell opposes Capitol attack panel; House set to vote

By Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Just hours before the U.S. House of Representatives was expected to vote to approve the formation of a commission to investigate the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol attack by Donald Trump’s supporters, the Senate’s top Republican set up a major roadblock by announcing his opposition to the proposal.

Speaking on the Senate floor, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said, “I have made the decision to oppose the House Democrats’ slanted and unbalanced proposal for another commission to study the events of Jan. 6.”

Referring to existing congressional investigations and the previous arrests of hundreds of people in connection with the riot, McConnell slammed the door on further negotiations on establishing an independent commission to investigate the matter.

“There will continue to be no shortage of robust investigations,” McConnell said.

In the evenly split Senate, Republicans can block the legislation. At least 60 votes are needed to advance most bills in the 100-member Senate.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said he will schedule a debate on the legislation, calling an independent investigation necessary. At least two Republican senators – Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney – have signaled support, according to media reports.

Republican leaders in the House also oppose the Democratic-backed House bill. Democrats narrowly control the House and expect to pass the measure even if they do not draw much Republican support.

Multiple senior Republicans on Tuesday objected to the formation of a commission, whose proposed investigation could scrutinize Trump’s role in inspiring the attack with false claims that last year’s presidential election was stolen from him through widespread voting fraud.

The 10-member panel would be modeled after a bipartisan commission created to investigate the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States by al Qaeda militants. It would face a Dec. 31 deadline to produce a public report, including recommendations for preventing another attack on the Capitol.

Trump on Tuesday urged Republicans to vote against the proposal, calling it a “trap” inspired by “the radical left.” House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, who spoke with Trump by telephone Jan. 6 and announced his opposition to the commission on Tuesday, could also be a key witness for the commission.

The commission would be charged with looking at security and intelligence failures surrounding Jan. 6, when Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol in a riot that left five people dead. The mob interrupted the formal congressional certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s victory over Trump in the November election.

Congressional Republicans risk drawing Trump’s ire if they vote for the commission, which could call the former president as a witness to explain his actions including an incendiary speech to supporters shortly before the riot. Opposing the commission could alienate independent voters troubled by the violence.

Some lawmakers fear that a failure to create an independent commission could hurt chances that the U.S. public will learn the full story about the effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

“An independent 9/11-style review is critical to removing the politics surrounding Jan. 6,” Republican Representative John Katko told the House Rules Committee on Tuesday.

Katko, a co-sponsor of the legislation, added, “This is about facts, it’s not about partisan politics.”

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, a Democrat who crafted the bipartisan measure with Katko, on Wednesday told MSNBC he was optimistic the bill would be approved by the House and Senate.

McCarthy and McConnell have complained that the commission should do more than concentrate on Jan. 6 by investigating other “political violence.” Some Republicans want an investigation of the shooting of Republican congressman Steve Scalise during a practice at a baseball field in 2017 that left him gravely wounded and of protests in many U.S. cities last year against racism and police brutality.

(Reporting by Richard Cowan; Additional reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Will Dunham and Scott Malone)

Top House Republican threatens to cut funding to states, cities that don’t protect statues

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Republican leader in the U.S. House of Representatives introduced legislation on Thursday that would cut federal aid to state and local governments if they do not protect statues, after protesters attacked monuments to people who owned slaves or fought for the Confederacy.

“It is wrong to erase our history,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said in a statement, criticizing “left-wing mobs” who have attacked statues across the United States.

Under his bill, introduced with fellow Republican Representatives Jim Jordan and Sam Graves, some federal funds would be withheld if local governments do not “restore order or arrest rioters.”

During national – and international – protests against racial injustice sparked by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May some demonstrators have taken down or vandalized statues of historical figures such as Robert E. Lee, who led Confederate troops against the United States, and Christopher Columbus.

Republican President Donald Trump, who is campaigning for re-election in November, has harshly criticized such protesters, and criticized U.S. lawmakers who want to remove monuments to those who owned slaves and fought against U.S. forces in the 1860’s Civil War.

Trump has threatened decades-long prison terms for those who deface monuments or statues.

McCarthy introduced his bill as Democrats pushed legislation to remove monuments to slave owners and those who supported slavery from the U.S. Capitol in Washington.

On Thursday, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she expected the House would pass such legislation next week or the week after.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; editing by Jonathan Oatis)