(CNN) — For Gen. Martin Dempsey, Thursday’s move to open combat units in the U.S. military to women had its roots nearly a decade ago, on the streets of Baghdad. Dempsey took command of the Army’s 1st Armored Division in June 2003, when Iraqi insurgents were starting to target American troops with sniper fire, grenades…
Members of the House of Representatives have offices in three buildings, each of which is named after a former speaker: Sam Rayburn, Nicholas Longworth and Joseph Gurney Cannon. When a fourth building is needed, I have little doubt it will be the “Nancy Pelosi House Office Building.” Not just because she was the first woman…
RICHMOND, Va. – Today, Senate Bill 701 was moved out of the General Laws and Technology Committee with an 8-7 vote and will be scheduled in the Senate. “We’re glad the committee listened to the thousands of Virginians that messaged their delegates and senators on this issue.” James Parrish, executive director of Equality Virginia, said. …
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana entered an order granting the joint motion of the United States and the city of New Orleans to enter the consent decree regarding the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD). This order is a critical milestone in reforming the long-troubled NOPD and is an…
(CNN) — Who in Congress doesn’t want to pass a bill that helps protect women against acts of violence? No one, of course. But the Violence Against Women Act, first passed in 1994 and reauthorized previously without fanfare, hit a snag this time around. The hiccup in the bill involved groups of vulnerable people: Native…
(CNN) — A Mississippi man pleaded guilty Thursday to a federal hate crime charge in connection with a group of young men and teenagers that carried out racial attacks against African-Americans in 2011. Joseph Dominick, 21, from Brandon, entered a guilty plea in U.S. District Court in Jackson, Mississippi, to one count of conspiracy to…
In a 2012 interview with CBS, President Obama said that the biggest mistake of his first term was that he didn’t translate his policies into a story that would give the American people a sense of unity and purpose. He was right. The tragedy at Sandy Hook has handed him the perfect narrative for his…
(CNN) — After exhaustive negotiations that strained the country’s patience, the House approved a bill to avert the dreaded fiscal cliff, staving off widespread tax increases and deep spending cuts. In the 257-167 vote late Tuesday, 172 Democrats and 85 Republicans favored the bill; 16 Democrats and 151 Republicans opposed it. The approved plan maintains…
(CNN) — Jim Scales and William Tasker have been a couple for 35 years, but only on Tuesday were they able to legally marry, thanks to Maryland’s new same-sex marriage law, which went into effect with the new year. Maryland was among three states this past November where voters approved laws allowing same-sex marriages. At…
CNN — A chorus of whoops and cheers greeted Steven Bridges and Michael Snell as they exited City Hall in Portland, Maine, early Saturday as the first same-sex couple to wed under a new law. Supporters of the law allowing same-sex marriage — passed by a referendum in November — jumped up and down, flashed…
