Former Sen. Harry F. Byrd Jr., the Democrat-turned-independent who began his career as a staunch segregationist and preached fiscal restraint in Washington long before it became fashionable, has died. He was 98.
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Former Sen. Lugar to be knighted by the British
Former Sen. Richard Lugar is being knighted on orders from the Queen of England, joining a select list of Americans to receive the distinction.
The Indiana Republican, who this year left the Senate after serving 36 years, will receive the rank of honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire during a ceremony at the British Embassy in Washington on Tuesday. The British Ambassador, Sir Peter Westmacott, is set to preside.
Since leaving the Senate, Lugar has taken on various roles, including leading the Richard G. Lugar Institute for Diplomacy and Congress with the German Marshall Fund. He also serves as a distinguished scholar and professor at the Indiana University School of Global and International Studies.
Lugar said he is deeply honored to be knighted. “I will focus my service on solving our most serious challenges in a spirit of cooperation between our countries,” he said in a statement Monday.
He said he was first inspired by Queen Elizabeth‘s leadership “when she received me as the young Rhodes Scholar in London, 58 years ago and asked me about Indiana.”
Lugar’s studies at Oxford University were his first outside of the United States. He went on to become one of the Senate’s foremost foreign policy experts, focusing much of his work on nuclear proliferation issues and relations with Europe. Along with former Sen. Sam Nunn, D-Ga., Lugar crafted legislation that helped eliminate nuclear warheads in the former Soviet Union.
Lugar will not be known as “sir” Lugar — only royal subjects can carry that title. But few Americans have received honorary knighthood, including Presidents Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
Lugar was defeated in a Republican primary in 2012, finishing his sixth term in office early this year. Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly won the race to replace him.
From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/national/~3/rZwhdEazrCA/
CPAC Straw Poll Results 2013: Rand Paul Wins Conservative Vote
By The Huffington Post News Editors
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) won the Conservative Political Action Conference straw poll on Saturday, marking an early indicator of conservative support ahead of the next presidential election in 2016.
Paul topped the list and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) came in second, according to Ian Bishop.
Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) came in third place this year, with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie — who was notably not invited to this year’s conference — coming in fourth.
Hagel Supports Nuclear Disarmament
Former Senator Chuck Hagel (R–NE) will begin his nomination hearings before the U.S. Senate today. The Associated Press reported that if the Senate approves him, he will be the first Secretary of Defense to have publicly advocated that the U.S. get rid of its nuclear weapons, possibly even unilaterally.
In 2009, Hagel told Al-Jazeera, “How can we preach to other countries that you can’t have nuclear weapons but we can and our allies can? There is no credibility, there’s no logic to that argument.” He is also a co-author of the radical Global Zero report.
President Obama has not been as overt as Hagel, but he has made statements such as “we can already say with confidence that we have more nuclear weapons than we need.” On what evidence was this statement made? None, actually.
Read More at heritage.org . By Rebeccah Heinrichs.