congress

Civic Federation Candidate Forum Underway

By ARLnow.com

It’s a packed house at Virginia Hospital Center’s Hazel Conference Center, where a debate between the local candidates for congress, county board and school board is about to get underway.

First observation of the night: lots of Murray signs on George Mason Drive on the way up to the hospital. Didn’t spot any Moran signs.

(Update: The first controversy of the night. The county Office of Voter Registration tweets that candidate signs are prohibited until 30 days before the election.)

The congressional candidate debate between incumbent Jim Moran (Democrat) and challengers Patrick Murray (Republican) and Ron Fisher (Green) started at 7:45 p.m. Patrick Murray spoke first, and received loud applause.

Update at 8:00 p.m. — Murray largely focuses on Moran, and Moran talked mostly about Moran. Moran also received loud applause, mixed with some whistling.

8:05 — Question for Moran on his controversial mailer from the indefatigable Bob Atkins. Moran says the mailing cost some $100k, not $1 million as Murray alleged. Murray on glossy mailer: “I thought it was a quarterly stock report from Goldman Sachs.”

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Rep. Moran Returning From Afghanistan

By ARLnow.com

Rep. Jim Moran has just left Afghanistan after leading a congressional delegation to the war-torn region, his spokesperson tells ARLnow.com.

The Alexandria Times reported earlier this week that Moran left for Afghanistan on Sunday. The trip was organized for members of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense but was not announced publicly.

The group has at least one additional, undisclosed stop to make before returning to the U.S. by Monday.

In July, Moran voted against supplemental funding for the war in Afghanistan.

“There exists no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan,” he said at the time. “Instead of increasing our troop presence, we should be limiting our mission.”

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Cicadas Are Back — It’s not the swarm of 2004, but there are a few cicadas around this summer. This one was spotted on a window screen in Pentagon City.

Breast-Feeding Mix-up at Virginia Hospital Center — In January, a newborn went missing in Arlington’s Virginia Hospital Center. The child’s mother eventually found him being breast-fed by another woman — the result of a hospital mix-up. The Washington Post reports that the incident has given rise to questions about the frequency of such incidents and the possibility that the baby could be harmed as a result.

Moran Votes ‘No’ on Afghanistan Funding — Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) voted against a bill to provide an additional $37 billion in funding for the war in Afghanistan. “There exists no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan,” Moran said in a statement. “The mission we set out to accomplish following the attacks on September 11th – the rooting out of al Qaeda in Afghanistan – has largely been achieved, thanks to the hard work and sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of American military and civilian personnel… Instead of increasing our troop presence, we should be limiting our mission in Afghanistan.”

Sen. Robert Byrd Laid to Rest in Arlington

By ARLnow.com

The longest-serving member of congress in U.S. history was remembered as a dedicated Christian, a devoted husband and a lover of music at a memorial service today in North Arlington.

Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), who died at the age of 92 last Monday, was a towering figure in the Senate, even as his health began to deteriorate in recent years. He chaired the powerful Appropriations Committee and has twice served as Senate majority leader. He was derided as the “King of Pork” for his tireless efforts to steer federal funds to his home state of West Virginia. His passionate floor speeches against the Iraq war and in support of the Constitution are the stuff of legends.

Byrd, once a local leader in the Ku Klux Klan, filibustered the 1964 Civil Rights Act. His membership in the Baptist church would later prompt him to renounce intolerance and vote for the 1968 Civil Rights Act.

At this morning’s funeral at the Memorial Baptist Church on North Glebe Road, speakers focused more on Byrd’s Baptist beliefs than on his former bigotry.

The Rev. Dr. William H. Smith, the church’s retired pastor, said Byrd was guided by a simple faith.

“He described himself to me as a born-again, old-time-religion, Bible-based Christian,” Smith said, recalling a time when Byrd recited 20 Bible verses by memory following a church service.

A number of dignitaries were among those filling the wooden pews in the church’s sunny white sanctuary. They included Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), former U.S. senator Paul Sarbanes and Victoria Reggie Kennedy, wife of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy.

Music played a central role in the service. The sounds of mountain fiddle music filled the church as mourners took their seats. A 21-person choir later performed “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.”  It was a fitting tribute to Byrd, who was himself an accomplished fiddler and occasional singer.

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Road Closures for Sen. Byrd Funeral in North Arlington

By ARLnow.com

A public memorial service for West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd, the longest-serving U.S. senator in history, is being held at 11:00 this morning at the Memorial Baptist Church in North Arlington.

Limited public seating will be available at the funeral, which is also expected to draw a large media contingent to the church at 3455 North Glebe Road.

After the service, a private internment ceremony will be held at the Columbia Gardens Cemetery in Ashton Heights.

The Arlington Police Department is warning of parking and other restrictions near the funeral. There will also be rolling road closures during the procession to the cemetery.

Among the the rolling closures will be the southbound lanes of Glebe Road, stretching from the church, through Ballston to Route 50. Parts of North Pershing Drive, North Irving Street and the westbound lanes of Route 50 will also be closed for a time.

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&q=columbia+gardens+cemetery&fb=1&gl=us&hq=columbia+gardens+cemetery&hnear=Arlington,+VA&cid=0,0,1033188353133194816&ei=vrgyTMmODsWqlAfb_6m-Cw&ved=0CCsQnwIwBA&ll=38.874897,-77.100163&spn=0.023554,0.03828&z=15

Defense Bill Would Keep Up To 6,000 Jobs in Arlington, For Now

By ARLnow.com

A bill being considered by the U.S. House of Representatives this week would delay the scheduled move of up to 6,000 defense jobs from Arlington to Alexandria.

The language was included in the 2011 Defense Authorization bill by Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA), who is a member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.

Moran says he’s concerned about the traffic on I-395 around Alexandria’s Mark Center, the development where the jobs are set to move to by September 2011 as part of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Act (BRAC)..

“If nothing is done and the relocation continues as scheduled, VDOT has stated there will be ‘complete gridlock’ on Seminary Road and Beauregard Street and ‘severe’ congestion between the King Street and Duke Street exits on I-395,” Moran said in a statement.

The bill now before congress would cap the number of parking spaces at the Mark Center at 1,000 and would ban the lease of additional spaces near the development, effectively preventing the relocation of thousands of jobs. The cap would only be lifted when the Defense Department completes traffic improvements that meet congressional approval. It’s not clear how long such a project would take, but it would probably be measured in years.

About 6,400 defense personnel who now work in Metro-accessible office space in Northern Virginia are slated to move to the Mark Center, which is not near a Metro station. About 6,000 of those jobs are with the Defense Department’s Washington Headquarters Services division, which has offices in Crystal City, Rosslyn and Ballston, according to Arlington Economic Development spokesperson Karen Vasquez. The scheduled relocation of those jobs would be delayed if the bill passes, Vasquez said.

“The Pentagon dropped the ball on transportation planning for the base realignment at the Mark Center. A building of this size with no access to Metro should never have been considered at this location,” Moran said. “Now we’re pulling out all the stops to mitigate the consequences of the Defense Department’s mistakes.”

Patrick Murray Appears on Fox News Online Show

By ARLnow.com

Former Army colonel Patrick Murray, who’s facing Matthew Berry in the VA-8 GOP primary on June 8, appeared on Fox News’ Strategy Room show on foxnews.com this morning.

Murray said his biggest issue is “the fact that we have misplaced our Constitutional values.”

“I believe we’re ignoring the Constitution,” Murray said. “I am a big believer in the 10th Amendment… I think our footprint for the federal government has gotten way too big.”

Murray also discussed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as his own military experience.

See the clip here.

Berry Launches Unlikely Bid to Unseat Moran

By ARLnow.com

On a sunny Saturday afternoon, in the conference room of Marymount University’s Ballston campus, Matthew Berry officially kicked off his bid for congress. Most people expect Berry to win the primary. Virtually no one expects him — or any other Republican — to win in the general election.

The eighth congressional district of Virginia, which Rep. Jim Moran (D) has represented since 1991, is considered one of the safest Democratic seats in the House of Representatives.

This year, however, with political discontent over the Democratic health care reform effort nearing the boiling point, Republicans see an opportunity to, at the very least, force Democrats to devote more resources than usual to re-electing Moran, at a time when they can least afford it.

“Unlike in past election cycles, the eighth district does not have to be an afterthought,” Berry said, promising to “wage the most competitive general election campaign that this district has seen in almost a generation.”

Berry spent nearly 20 minutes on Saturday delivering a speech blasting “Obamacare,” advocating fiscal responsibility, and calling for a more muscular national security policy. Social issues — abortion, gay marriage, immigration — were never mentioned.

The speech was short on rhetorical flourishes, although a comparison between President Obama’s foreign policy and Barney the dinosaur did draw laughs among the gathered crowd of about 30 supporters.

“Some people say that when I speak, like today, I come across as maybe bit too wonky,” Berry later admitted, to more chuckles.  “But to paraphrase former president George H.W. Bush, I prefer to think of it as being fair to the other side by keeping my charisma in check.” (See video of the speech, after the jump)

For now, Berry is engaged in a low-key primary contest with Patrick Murray, a retired U .S. Army colonel.

Berry, the former general counsel of the Federal Communications Commission, has out-fundraised Murray nearly 3-to-1. Still, the $80,574 cash that Berry had on hand, as of the most recent FEC filing, pales to Moran’s $510,583 war chest. And Moran is not facing a primary challenge.

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Former Congressman Stan Parris Dies

By ARLnow.com

Stanford Parris, a Republican who represented the eighth district of Virginia in congress for most of the 1980s, has died from heart disease at the age of 80.

Parris was an Air Force veteran. He was rescued after the jet he was piloting was shot down over North Korea.

Parris’ eighth district seat is currently held by Rep. Jim Moran (D), who succeeded Parris in 1991. The eighth district now includes Arlington, but we’re told it did not during the time Parris was in office (we apologize for the error in a previous version of this story).

Funeral services for Parris will be held at Arlington National Cemetery.

Berry Leads Online Poll Ahead of GOP Primary

By ARLnow.com

Update at 2:15 p.m. on Tuesday, March 23 — Laurence Socci has endorsed Matthew Berry. “Matthew knows the issues important to the 8th District and has a viable plan for fixing the problems caused by Jim Moran,” Socci said.

Virginia’s eighth congressional district, which includes Arlington, has been a decidedly elusive target for Republicans for nearly two decades.

The first George Bush was president the last time a Republican held the seat. The last three presidential elections have been laughably lopsided in favor of Democrats. President Obama carried the district by a margin of 69 percent to 30 percent over Sen. John McCain, whose own national campaign headquarters was based in Arlington.

Despite the apparent electoral futility, attorney and GOP hopeful Matthew Berry is optimistic about his chances. Last month he cited polling data that showed a close race in a potential match-up with incumbent Rep. Jim Moran. And now, an online poll shows Berry well ahead of his competitor for the GOP nomination, Iraq war veteran Patrick Murray.

The poll, hosted on the blog Red NoVa, shows Berry leading Murray by a margin of 787 votes to 317 votes. Laurence Socci, who withdrew from the race last week, has received 321 votes.

Both Berry and Murray hope to use voter unease about health care reform to their advantage.

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Moran Issues Statement on DOT Furloughs

By ARLnow.com

Arlington’s U.S. Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) has issued a statement on the Senate filibuster that has resulted in 2,000 Department of Transportation employees being furloughed today. The furloughs have forced a number of federally-funded road construction projects, including the George Washington Parkway Humpback Bridge project, to temporarily shut down.

Here’s Rep. Moran’s statement:

Critical government programs and transportation projects are being held captive to the political posturing of a single individual in the U.S. Senate.

Key federal construction projects already underway in Virginia – including the $36 million project to replace the Humpback Bridge on the George Washington Parkway – remain at a standstill, with hundreds of workers off the job due to the furloughing of federal inspectors.

I urge the Senate to quickly address this political malfeasance so our vital transportation projects can get back on track and those struggling to find a job aren’t left out in the cold.