WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama is planning to sign an executive order Monday to overturn Bush-era policy that limited federal tax dollars for embryonic stem cell research, according to administration officials familiar with the deliberations. President Obama will overturn Bush policy on embryonic stem cell research, administration officials say. Obama's move will be hailed by advocates for those suffering from a host of afflictions, ranging from diabetes to Parkinson's disease, who believe that an expansion of stem-cell research could boost medical progress toward eradicating the debilitating diseases. But many conservatives object to the destruction of human embryos because they contend that it ends a human life. The officials said the administration is planning a Monday event at the White House at which Obama will overturn the executive order signed by President George W. Bush in August 2001. It barred the National Institutes of Health from funding research on embryonic stem cells beyond using 60 cell lines that existed at that time.  Interactive: Unlocking the promise of stem cells » Tony Perkins of the conservative Family Research Council accused the White House of leaking the details Friday night so that the move gets little attention, declaring that it is "a slap in the face to Americans who believe in the dignity of all human life." House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said, "Advancements in science and research have moved faster than the debates among politicians in Washington, D.C., and breakthroughs announced in recent years confirm the full potential of stem cell research can be realized without the destruction of living human embryos." In addition to signing the executive order, Bush twice vetoed legislation -- in July 2006 and June 2007 -- that would have expanded federally funded embryonic stem cell research. At the time, Bush also argued that scientific advances allowed researchers to conduct groundbreaking research without destroying human embryos. Bush's moves led to Democratic charges that he had put politics over science.

Question: Who says the move is a slap in the face?

Question: Which Bush-era policy will be reversed according to an official?

Question: What happened to the Bush-era policy on stem cell research ?

Question: Where will a Monday event take place?

Question: Who said the administration is planning a Monday event at the White House ?

Question: When will the event take place?

Question: Who says move is "a slap in the face" to many Americans ?

Question: What did a critic say the move is to many Americans?

Answer: Tony Perkins

Answer: that limited federal tax dollars for embryonic stem cell research,

Answer: overturn

Answer: White House

Answer: officials

Answer: Monday

Answer: Tony Perkins

Answer: "a slap in the face

Summary:
NEW: Critic says move is "a slap in the face" to many Americans .
Bush-era policy on stem cell research to be reversed, officials say .
Officials say the administration is planning a Monday event at the White House .


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama often talks about all of the forces lining up against his health care plan. But there's one critic who has remained relatively mum in the debate. Dr. David Scheiner was President Obama's personal physician for 22 years. David Scheiner, a Chicago, Illinois-based doctor, has taken a hard look at the president's prescription for health care reform and sees bad medicine. "This isn't that kind of health care program that I think is going to work," he said. So what makes Scheiner so special? He was Obama's personal physician for 22 years, and voted for the former Illinois senator in the 2008 presidential election. Scheiner thinks the president's plan doesn't go far enough. In his mind, the worst part of the proposal is that "private insurers continue to be a part of the health scheme."  Watch Scheiner talk about his objections » "Everybody keeps saying we don't want the government involved in health care," Scheiner said in an interview. "But the government is involved in Medicare, and it works." Scheiner would rather see the nation adopt a single-payer system like the ones in Canada and Europe. The financing system relies on one "payer" -- which could be a government-run agency -- to fund all health care costs billed by doctors, hospitals and other health professionals. The benefits, advocates say, is that pricey administrative costs are cut, resulting in large savings to patients. It's something that an up-and-coming coming state Sen. Obama talked about  six years ago. "I happen to be a proponent of a single-payer universal health care plan. ... But as all of you know, we may not get there immediately, because first we've got to take back the White House, and we've got take back the Senate, and we've got to take back the House," Obama said in 2003. But that position evolved during the campaign. "If I were designing a system from scratch, then I'd probably set up a single-payer system. But the problem is we're not starting from scratch," Obama said in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in August 2008. Now, the president favors giving Americans the option of joining a government-run plan that would compete with private insurers.  Watch more on the health care debate » "Nobody is talking about some government takeover of health care. I'm tired of hearing that," Obama said in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Thursday. But Scheiner says that nobody has seen the details of that option, making it a hard sell for the president. "We don't even fully know what the public option is going to be. If the public option is too good, patients who are sick will flock to it, and I'm not sure it will be able to support itself." Scheiner almost had a chance to confront the president with his concerns. He was invited to a recent televised town hall meeting with Obama, but he says he was dropped from the program. "I just hope that the Congress, the American public and the president will hear some of my words," he said. "We've got to do something better." Scheiner finally had a chance to have his say Thursday. He and other doctors who support a single-payer system gathered in Washington to meet with lawmakers and rally supporters. He may not be the president's doctor anymore, but Scheiner says he's trying to save the patient before it's too late. CNN's Ed Hornick and Brittany Cummings contributed to this report.

Question: What is Dr Scheiner worried about?

Question: what doesn't go far enough

Question: What did Dr Scheiner say about the health care plan?

Question: who was supposed to speak

Question: what does Scheiner worry about

Question: What would Scheiner rather see?

Answer: thinks the president's plan doesn't go far enough. In his mind, the worst part of the proposal is that "private insurers continue to be a part of the health scheme."

Answer: the president's plan

Answer: program that I think is going to work,"

Answer: Dr. David Scheiner

Answer: "This isn't that kind of health care program that I think is going to work," he said.

Answer: the nation adopt a single-payer system like the ones in Canada and Europe.

Summary:
Dr. David Scheiner says president's health care plan doesn't go far enough .
He's worried that "private insurers continue to be a part of the health scheme"
He'd rather see the U.S. have a single-payer system like those in Canada, Europe .
He says he was supposed to speak at Obama town hall but was dropped from it .


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama on Friday resumed -- with expanded legal protections -- the Bush administration's controversial system of military trials for some Guantanamo Bay detainees. President Obama says the commissions are OK, "provided that they are properly structured and administered." On the heels of Obama's shift this week to block the release of photos showing prisoners allegedly being abused by U.S. personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan, the military commissions announcement further infuriated the president's most ardent supporters while winning cautionary praise from some of his political foes. Obama said he supports the idea of the military commissions but opposes the version of the law that had been governing such trials in recent years: the Military Commissions Act put in place under the Bush administration in 2006, but subsequently struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. The president said military commissions "are appropriate for trying enemies who violate the laws of war, provided that they are properly structured and administered." But, he said, the 2006 act "failed to establish a legitimate legal framework and undermined our capability to ensure swift and certain justice against those detainees." He said he plans to enhance due process rights for detainees held at the U.S. facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in order to improve the widely criticized approach created by his predecessor. Statements that have been obtained from detainees through interrogation and cruel treatment, such as waterboarding, will no longer be admitted as evidence before the commissions, Obama said, and hearsay evidence will be limited. The revised system also will give detainees greater latitude in selecting legal representation and afford basic protections to those who refuse to testify. Military commission judges also will be able to establish the jurisdiction of their own courts. "These reforms will begin to restore the commissions as a legitimate forum for prosecution, while bringing them in line with the rule of law," Obama said. He said he plans to ask Congress to enact other reforms to the 2006 law. Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, applauded his former opponent. "Today's announcement is a step -- but only a step -- toward a comprehensive detainee policy that will deal with the detainees held at Guantanamo and elsewhere in a fashion that both accords with our values and protects our national security," McCain said in a written statement. But Obama's announcement infuriated some of his core supporters -- with the revisions hardly calming the concerns of groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU chided the military commission decision as "a striking blow to due process and the rule of law." "These military commissions are inherently illegitimate, unconstitutional and incapable of delivering outcomes we can trust," said Anthony D. Romero, the group's executive director. "Tweaking the rules of these failed tribunals so that they provide 'more due process' is absurd; there is no such thing as 'due process light.' " he said. "If the administration's proposed rules really bring these proceedings in line with constitutional requirements, there is no reason not to use our tried and true justice system. If they don't, these tribunals have no place in our democracy." White House spokesman Robert Gibbs countered that military commissions have a long history in the United States. "First and foremost, the president of the United States is going to do what he believes is in the best security interest of the people of the United States," Gibbs told reporters. Obama suspended the military commissions by signing an executive order on his third day in office, the same day he signed an order to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo within a year and announced a 120-day review of the whole process. The review deadline is next week. Gibbs said he does not know where and how trials for alleged terrorists will unfold on American soil. Nor did he disclose how many suspects would face legal proceedings under the revised commissions. Three Guantanamo detainees' cases have gone through the commission so far. The Bush administration established the military trial system after the U.S. military began capturing detainees in Afghanistan in late 2001. The next year, it

Question: What was Obama revived?

Question: Who called the move "a striking blow to due process and the rule of law"?

Question: What did Obama revive?

Question: What will the new system include?

Question: who received Bush system

Question: what did Obama say

Question: What does Obama revive?

Question: What did the ACLU call the move?

Question: What is the new system to include?

Question: Who calls the move "a striking blow to due process and the rule of law"?

Question: What does ACLU call the move?

Question: What did Obama revive of Bush's?

Question: What will the new system include?

Answer: administration's controversial system of military trials for some Guantanamo Bay detainees.

Answer: The ACLU

Answer: administration's controversial system of military trials for some Guantanamo Bay detainees.

Answer: greater latitude in selecting

Answer: Guantanamo Bay detainees.

Answer: said he supports the idea of the military commissions but opposes the version of the law that had been governing such trials in recent years: the Military Commissions Act put in place under the Bush administration in 2006, but subsequently struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

Answer: system of military trials

Answer: "a striking blow to due process and the rule of law."

Answer: give detainees greater latitude in selecting legal representation and afford basic protections to those who refuse to testify. Military commission judges also will be able to establish the jurisdiction of their own courts.

Answer: The ACLU

Answer: "a striking blow to due process and the rule of law."

Answer: administration's controversial system of military trials for some Guantanamo Bay detainees.

Answer: give detainees greater latitude in selecting legal representation

Summary:
Obama revives Bush system that was suspended in January .
New system to include expanded due-process rights for the suspects, Obama says .
ACLU calls move "a striking blow to due process and the rule of law"


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama on Thursday sent a civil nuclear agreement with the United Arab Emirates to the Senate for ratification, but its passage remains uncertain, thanks to a recently disclosed video. Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al Nahyan allegedly tortured a business associate on videotape. Senior U.S. officials said lawmakers critical of the deal could use the video, which shows a member of the UAE government's royal family torturing a man, to argue the United States should not have such nuclear cooperation with a country where the rule of law is not respected and human rights violations are tolerated. The senior officials said the Obama administration deliberately held off sending the deal to Congress for ratification because of fears some lawmakers would try to use the video to undermine the agreement. But the administration felt comfortable sending the agreement to Congress at this time, officials said, given that there has been little reaction to the release of the video except for a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton earlier this month from U.S. Rep. James McGovern -- the Massachusetts Democrat who co-chairs the congressional Human Rights Commission.  Watch how the video came to light » McGovern expressed "outrage and concern" and asked Clinton to "place a temporary hold on further U.S. expenditures of funds, training, sales or transfers of equipment or technology, including nuclear, until a full review of this matter and its policy implications can be completed." He issued a statement Wednesday after Obama signed the agreement, saying he would not support the deal until the UAE addresses his "very grave concerns" about its human rights record. In the video, an Afghan grain dealer is seen being tortured by Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al Nahyan, a member of the royal family of Abu Dhabi, one of the UAE's seven emirates, whose leaders also run the federal government. The government has since arrested the sheikh, pending a full investigation. The video emerged in a federal civil lawsuit filed in Houston, Texas, by Bassam Nabulsi, a U.S. citizen, against the sheikh. The men, former business partners, had a falling out, in part over the video. In a statement to CNN, the sheikh's U.S. attorney said Nabulsi is using the videotape to influence the court over a business dispute. The U.S.-UAE pact is similar to one the United States signed last year with India. Under it, Washington would share nuclear technology, expertise and fuel. In exchange, the UAE would commit to abide by the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and International Atomic Energy Agency inspection safeguards. The small oil-rich Gulf nation promises not to enrich uranium or to reprocess spent nuclear fuel to extract plutonium, which can be used to make nuclear bombs. A statement issued Thursday by the State Department said the deal will "serve as a model for responsible nuclear energy development" in the Middle East. "The UAE agreement contains the strongest nonproliferation conditions of any negotiated by the United States," the statement said. Of special note, it said, is the UAE's commitment to obtain nuclear fuel from reliable and responsible suppliers rather than pursue indigenous uranium enrichment and reprocessing, fuel cycle activities that pose the most serious proliferation risks. This commitment "is reflected within the agreement as a legally binding obligation on the part of the UAE," the State Department said. The civil nuclear agreement was signed in January by the Bush administration, but had to be recertified because it was not approved before Obama took office. The deal is part of a major UAE investment in nuclear energy, and the government has already signed deals to build several nuclear power plants. UAE Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba said his country will "seriously consider" U.S. companies to implement the program. The United States already has similar nuclear cooperation agreements with Egypt and Morocco, and U.S. officials said Washington is working on similar pacts with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Jordan. The United States has praised the UAE's development of nuclear energy, a stark contrast to criticism of Iran, which is suspected of attempting to enrich uranium for a nuclear bomb. But UAE's ties to Iran have caused concern. Iran is

Question: What did the video show a member of UAE royal family doing?

Question: Who was torturing a man?

Question: Who opposes the nuclear agreement?

Question: Who agreed with the UAE?

Question: The agreement is with which country?

Question: Where did Obama send the nuclear agreement?

Question: Who opposes deal?

Answer: torturing a man,

Answer: Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al Nahyan

Answer: U.S. Rep. James McGovern

Answer: President Obama

Answer: United Arab

Answer: the Senate

Answer: McGovern

Summary:
Obama sends nuclear agreement with the United Arab Emirates to the Senate .
Recently released video shows member of UAE royal family torturing a man .
Co-chair of congressional Human Rights Commission opposes deal .


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama on Tuesday proposed making "pay-as-you-go" rules for federal spending into law. President Obama proposed Tuesday that the government adopt "pay-as-you-go" rules for federal spending. The so-called PAYGO proposal requires Congress to balance any increased spending by equal savings elsewhere, Obama said in announcing the measure that now goes to Congress. A previous PAYGO mandate helped erase federal budget deficits in the 1990s, and subsequent ineffective rules contributed to the current budget deficits, Obama said. Now the PAYGO rules should be the law, he said. "Paying for what you spend is basic common sense," Obama said. "Perhaps that's why, here in Washington, it's been so elusive." Republican leaders said the proposal comes after record spending initiatives by the Obama administration, such as the $787 billion economic stimulus program. "It seems a tad disingenuous for the president and Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi to talk about PAYGO rules after ramming trillions in spending through Congress proposing policies that create more debt in the first six months of this year than in the previous 220 years combined," said Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, the House Minority Whip. However, a group of fiscally conservative Democratic representatives known as the Blue Dogs called Obama's proposal responsible and necessary. "President Obama inherited an economy in free-fall and a $10.6 trillion national debt," said Rep. Jim Cooper of Tennessee, vice-chairman of the Blue Dog Budget and Financial Services Task Force. "While short-term spending was necessary to get the economy moving again, our long-term fiscal problems became that much more urgent." A White House statement said Obama's proposal calls for the Office of Management and Budget to maintain a ledger of the average 10-year budgetary effects of all legislation affecting mandatory spending or baseline tax levels. Any extra cost that lacks payment authorized by Congress would require the president to find money within the budget to pay it, while any tax cut would require a corresponding increase in tax revenue. Some costs would be exempt, including Medicare payments to doctors, the estate and gift tax, and tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2002, the White House statement said.

Question: What does Rep. Cantor say?

Question: What kinds of costs would be exempt?

Question: What is the PAYGO proposal?

Question: What does Obama say?

Question: What calls for balancing increased spending with equal savings?

Question: What did Obama say about paying for what you spend?

Answer: "It seems a tad disingenuous for the president and Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi to talk about PAYGO

Answer: Medicare payments to doctors, the estate and gift tax, and tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2002,

Answer: requires Congress to balance any increased spending by equal savings elsewhere,

Answer: "Perhaps that's why, here in Washington, it's been so elusive."

Answer: elsewhere,

Answer: is basic common sense,"

Summary:
PAYGO proposal calls for balancing increased spending with equal savings .
"Paying for what you spend is basic common sense," Obama says .
Rep. Cantor says remarks seem "a tad disingenuous," given recent spending .
Some costs would be exempt, including Medicare payments to doctors .


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama on Wednesday signed a measure awarding the 300 surviving Women Airforce Service Pilots from World War II the Congressional Gold Medal. Jane Tedeschi when she was in the Women Airforce Service Pilots program. The WASPs were formed in 1942. The bill passed by both chambers of Congress bestows one of the nation's highest civilian honors on the group known as WASPs more than 60 years after they were the first women to fly U.S. military aircraft. "The Women Airforce Service Pilots courageously answered their country's call in a time of need while blazing a trail for the brave women who have given and continue to give so much in service to this nation since," Obama said in a statement. "Every American should be grateful for their service, and I am honored to sign this bill to finally give them some of the hard-earned recognition they deserve." The Women Airforce Service Pilots was formed in 1942 to create a corps of female pilots able to fill all types of flying jobs at home, freeing male military pilots to travel to the war front. The 1,100 members had to pay their own way to Texas for months of rigorous training. Once assigned to military bases, they did everything from participating in ground-to-air anti-aircraft practice; to towing targets for air-to-air gunnery practice with live ammunition; to flying drones; to conducting night exercises; to testing repaired aircraft before they were used in cadet training; to serving as instructors and transporting cargo and male pilots to embarkation points. Overall, they flew more than 60 million miles in every type of aircraft -- from the PT-17 and AT-6 trainers, to fast attack planes like the A-24 and A-25 and heavy bombers such as B-17 and B-29s. Paid $250 a month, the women were not officially part of the military -- receiving no benefits, no honors. Jane Tedeschi, who graduated in May 1944, was sent to a Selma, Alabama, base that did engineering work. "We did whatever they asked us," she recalled in a CNN interview. "You knew enough about flying you could adapt. ... Sometimes it was a little tougher." While the work was technically noncombat, it could be dangerous. Thirty-eight of the women pilots were killed. As the war was winding down in December 1944, the program was closed with no recognition from the government and not much help for the women who served. They went off to restart their prewar lives, but without getting any of the help received by male veterans. Several of the women, however, have said they were not bitter since the only reason they had signed up was to do their part for the country. They noted they were just like the thousands of other women who also learned new skills and went to work in the factories to replace male workers sent off to war. "We were proud of what we did, and the war was over. It was time to get on," Tedeschi said.  Watch Tedeschi recall WWII » But many Americans were not aware of their efforts. The WASP records were sealed for more than 30 years. In 1977, Congress voted to make the WASPs eligible for veterans benefits.

Question: What did Obama say?

Question: How long ago did women start flying military aircraft?

Question: When did Congress vote to make WASPs eligible for benefits?

Question: Who were the first woman to fly US aircrafts?

Question: When did the WASPs become eligible for benefits?

Question: What did Obama say about the WASPs?

Question: What group was made of the first women to fly US military aircraft?

Question: What does WASP stand for?

Answer: "The Women Airforce Service Pilots courageously answered their country's call in a time of need while blazing a trail for the brave women who have given and continue to give so much in service to this nation since,"

Answer: 1942.

Answer: 1977,

Answer: Women Airforce Service Pilots

Answer: 1977,

Answer: "The Women Airforce Service Pilots courageously answered their country's call in a time of need while blazing a trail for the brave women who have given and continue to give so much in service to this nation since,"

Answer: WASPs

Answer: Service Pilots

Summary:
"Women Airforce Service Pilots courageously answered country's call," Obama said .
Honor comes 60 years after WASPs were first women to fly U.S. military aircraft .
In 1977, Congress voted to make the WASPs eligible for veterans benefits .


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama pledged Monday to make good on his promise to transform the Department of Veterans Affairs and said he would "dramatically improve" mental health aid.

President Obama and Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, seen here last month, vow to increase aid.

Flanked by Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, the president said his budget calls for a $25 billion increase in funding for the VA over the next five years -- a commitment that will be tested by the needs of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

"With this budget, we don't just fully fund our Veterans Affairs health care program, we expand it to serve an additional 500,000 veterans by 2013," he said.

He promised that the VA would "dramatically improve services" related to mental health, post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury, and he said homeless veterans would be targeted for support.

"Those heroes have a home," Obama said. "It's the country they served, the United States of America, and until we reach a day when not a single veteran sleeps on our nation's streets, our work remains unfinished."

Question: Who will be targeted for support?

Question: will Homeless veterans will be targeted for support?

Question: what are planned for mental health, PTSD, brain injury?

Question: How much will the VA funding increase?

Question: What services are being improved?

Question: How much of an increase for VA funding?

Question: Who is being targeted for support?

Question: What services will be improved?

Answer: homeless veterans

Answer: would

Answer: a $25 billion increase in funding

Answer: $25 billion

Answer: mental health aid.

Answer: $25 billion

Answer: homeless veterans

Answer: mental health aid.

Summary:
Obama says budget calls for $25 billion increase in VA funding over next five years .
Homeless veterans will be targeted for support, Obama says .
Dramatically improved services planned for mental health, PTSD, brain injury .


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama should reach out to Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi as tensions in Iran over the disputed presidential elections continue to heighten, a former Bush administration official told CNN Sunday. Paul Wolfowitz was the deputy defense secretary in the Bush administration. "I would certainly find out if he (Moussavi) wants a conversation," former Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "If he doesn't, I certainly wouldn't push it. But I would make it clear that the phone is an open line." Obama on Saturday issued a written statement on the bloodshed across the streets of Tehran as demonstrators protest the election outcome, saying, "The Iranian government must understand that the world is watching. We mourn each and every innocent life that is lost. "We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people. The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected, and the United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights." However, Obama has been criticized by some lawmakers and analysts who say he should vocalize a stronger stance on the clashes.  Watch the latest videos being leaked out of Iran » "I understand the concern about meddling in a way that seems to label the opposition as American tools, but the opposition made it very clear they want support from the world," said Wolfowitz, a staunch supporter of the U.S.-led war in Iraq and a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. CNN Senior Political Analyst David Gergen added that, "It would be useful for the president to show more forceful leadership internationally on this issue." He noted the graphic images emerging from Iran, including the fatal shooting of a young female protester identified as Neda, saying the violence calls for "some kind of humanity from the West." Gergen and Wolfowitz said the United States should rally with other Western nations and even countries in the region -- including Afghanistan and Turkey, which have recognized incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the winner of the June 12 election -- to support the Iranian people. Ahmadinejad's victory was declared by Iran's election authority, the Guardian Council, spurring massive protests last week, with many demonstrators proclaiming their support for Moussavi. Moussavi and candidate Mehdi Karrubi have rejected the election as fraudulent and demanded a new one. Wolfowitz called Moussavi a "very brave man," saying, "He is resisting. He is putting his life at risk."

Question: Who says Obama should show a more forceful relationship?

Question: Who wouldn't push unwanted relationship?

Question: What does Paul Wolfowitz call Mir Hossein Moussavi?

Question: Who made it clear they want support?

Question: What does Wolfowitz calls opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi?

Question: What does Paul Wolfowitz tell CNN?

Question: Who doesn't want to push unwanted relationship?

Answer: CNN Senior Political Analyst David Gergen

Answer: Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz

Answer: "very brave man,"

Answer: the opposition

Answer: "very brave man,"

Answer: "I would certainly find out if he (Moussavi) wants a conversation,"

Answer: former Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz

Summary:
"Opposition made it very clear they want support," Paul Wolfowitz tells CNN .
Former deputy defense secretary also says he wouldn't push unwanted relationship .
CNN analyst David Gergen says Obama should show more forceful leadership .
Wolfowitz calls opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi "a very brave man"


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama signed an executive order granting some benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees Wednesday, calling it "a historic step" but promising more action to come. President Obama has been criticized by gay rights activists for not doing more since taking office. "We've got more work to do to ensure that government treats all its citizens equally, to fight injustice and intolerance in all its forms and to bring about that more perfect union," Obama said. The signing followed sharp criticism of the president over a Justice Department motion filed last week in support of the Defense of Marriage Act -- which effectively bars the federal government from recognizing same-sex unions. Obama said he still wants to repeal the act. "I believe it's discriminatory. I think it interferes with state's rights, and we will work with Congress to overturn it," he said. The memorandum he signed Wednesday means same-sex partners of civil service employees can be added to the long-term care program, employees can use their sick leave to take care of domestic partners and children and same-sex partners of Foreign Service employees will be included in medical evacuations and housing allocations, according to the White House. But it does not grant full health-care coverage, which would require an act of Congress, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. As details of the impending memorandum began to filter out Wednesday, the reaction of some gay rights activists was not enthusiastic. "I have to say, as a federal employee, I'm really disappointed," Lisa Polyak, 48, of Baltimore, Maryland, said of Obama's expected memorandum. Polyak, who has worked for the federal government for more than two decades, is with the Army Medical Department. She was among the two dozen authors of the Dallas Principles, a set of eight statements that seek to guide the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community toward "full civil equality," according to the document's preamble.  Watch CNN's Paul Steinhauser discuss Obama's intent on benefits to same-sex partners » "The benefits that the president might be announcing are already available," said Polyak, who has a partner and two children. "This isn't new. This isn't different." She said federal employees are able to take sick leave for "anyone that was the close approximation of family" and said the long-term-care option has been available for people under the same category. Polyak said not having health insurance from the federal government for her partner of 27 years costs her family $4,000 to $5,000 a year, not including co-pays or deductibles. Asked in a conference call with reporters whether these benefits were already available to same-sex partners of federal employees, Berry said such benefits are "subject to the whim of a supervisor." "If you have an enlightened supervisor, yes, that is a possibility (that they have been available)," he said. "What the president is doing today is making this no longer optional. He is making it mandatory. And he's making it clear that this is now the policy of the federal government." Polyak disagreed, saying, "The idea that this was a fly-by-night [is] ... not true. I used it routinely." She added, "It was guidance that everyone took advantage of and continues to take advantage at this moment." Gay and lesbian advocates have also faulted the Obama administration for not moving to repeal the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that bars officials from asking about a service member's sexual orientation but also bars the service member from revealing it, and allows the dismissal of a service member if a same-sax orientation is discovered. "There's so little we can say until we know what it is," said Carisa Cunningham, a spokeswoman for Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, a legal advocacy group that is challenging Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act in

Question: The criticism over what act caused the move?

Question: what is the criticism?

Question: Who spoke in favor of gay and lesbian rights?

Question: what does the coverage have to do with gay marriage?

Question: Does executive order grant full health coverage?

Answer: Defense of Marriage

Answer: over a Justice Department motion filed last week in support of the Defense of Marriage Act

Answer: Carisa Cunningham,

Answer: granting some benefits

Answer: health-care

Summary:
NEW: Executive order doesn't grant full health coverage, White House says .
Move comes after criticism over Defense of Marriage Act .
Obama frequently spoke in favor of gay and lesbian rights during campaign .


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama urged Congress to adopt a "pay-as-you-go" approach to federal spending in order to restore fiscal discipline, but critics say the president's call lacks credibility. Preisdent Obama says PAYGO is common sense. Faced with a record $1.8 trillion deficit, Obama on Tuesday pushed Congress to take up the spending rules, known as PAYGO. The approach would require lawmakers to pay for new programs, dollar-for-dollar, with budget cuts elsewhere. "The 'pay as you go' rule is very simple. Congress can only spend a dollar if it saves a dollar elsewhere," Obama said, as he announced that he was submitting to Congress a proposal to make PAYGO law. Obama repeated his vow to halve the deficit by the end of his first term, and he said PAYGO is an important step toward making that happen. A previous PAYGO mandate helped erase federal budget deficits in the 1990s, and subsequent ineffective rules contributed to the current budget deficits, Obama said. "Paying for what you spend is basic common sense. Perhaps that's why, here in Washington, it has been so elusive," the president said Tuesday.  Watch more on Obama's 'pay-as-you-go' plan » But Republicans were quick to question the administration's sincerity. Republican Whip Eric Cantor charged that the administration's focus on PAYGO "seems more driven by polling and PR strategy than a serious commitment to fiscal discipline." "It seems a tad disingenuous for the President and Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi to talk about PAYGO rules after ramming trillions in spending through Congress proposing policies that create more debt in the first six months of this year than in the previous 220 years combined," Cantor, R-Virginia, said in a statement Tuesday. Republicans point to the $787 billion stimulus package as evidence that Obama is not following his own advice. Cantor's statement included a "fiscal timeline" highlighting government spending initiatives this year. The timeline entry for June 8 points to polls showing dissatisfaction with the administration on spending and the deficit. The entry for June 9 shows the president holding a PAYGO summit. However, a group of fiscally conservative Democratic representatives known as the Blue Dogs say Obama's proposal is responsible and necessary. "President Obama inherited an economy in free fall and a $10.6 trillion national debt," said Rep. Jim Cooper of Tennessee, vice chairman of the Blue Dog Budget and Financial Services Task Force. "While short-term spending was necessary to get the economy moving again, our long-term fiscal problems became that much more urgent." But when it comes to reducing the deficit, even the Senate Budget Committee's Democratic chairman doubts the president can deliver on his promise. Asked if Obama could halve the deficit -- given the recent government spending --- Sen. Kent Conrad said, "I don't believe so. I don't believe anybody could." Administration officials still defend piling the stimulus spending on top of the deficit, arguing that it was the best approach to get the country out of the recession. "Pay-as-you-go embodies a common sense principle that you shouldn't dig a hole deeper," said Peter Orszag, director of the Office of Management and Budget. CNN's Kristi Keck and Tom Cohen contributed to this report.

Question: Do Democrats feel "pay-as-you-go" is responsible?

Question: what does the approach require?

Question: what does a key democrat say?

Question: what do blue dog democrats applaud?

Answer: and necessary.

Answer: lawmakers to pay for new programs, dollar-for-dollar, with budget cuts elsewhere.

Answer: Obama's proposal is responsible and necessary.

Answer: Obama's proposal

Summary:
Approach requires Congress to balance spending increases with equal savings .
Republicans question timing of announcement -- after months of spending .
A key Democrat says Obama could have tough time keeping promise to halve deficit .
Blue Dog Democrats applaud "pay-as-you-go" as responsible and necessary .


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama will address the future of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Thursday morning in a speech at the National Archives. The Guantanamo facility houses terror suspects, and lawmakers don't want them in the U.S. In a speech that is being billed as a major address, Obama is also slated to discuss issues of state secrets, transparency and protecting national security, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said. Former Vice President Dick Cheney, one of the most outspoken critics of Obama's policies, is scheduled to give an opposing argument Thursday morning. Cheney has charged that Obama's national security decisions have left the United States more vulnerable to attack. Obama's address is scheduled for 10 a.m. ET at the National Archives. Cheney will speak before the conservative American Enterprise Institute at 10:45 a.m. Obama is hoping to rally support behind his national security measures after angering some with his decision to resume the Bush administration practice of military tribunals and by reversing course on his decision to release photos of alleged inmate abuse at Guantanamo. On Wednesday, Obama was dealt another blow when the U.S. Senate passed a measure that would prevent detainees at Guantanamo Bay from being transferred to the United States for now. The measure passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in a 90-6 vote. A similar amendment has already passed the House. It was attached to a supplemental war funding bill. Following in the steps of House Democrats, Senate Democrats rejected on Tuesday the administration's request for $80 million to close the Guantanamo facility. They instead asked that President Obama first submit a plan spelling out what the administration will do with the prisoners when it closes the prison. Obama, in one of his first official duties as president, announced that he would close the prison by January 22, 2010. Congressional Democrats, however, are now attempting to avoid an onslaught of criticism from Republicans, who argue it would be reckless to shutter the prison before deciding where to transfer the detainees. FBI Director Robert Mueller told members of Congress earlier Wednesday that he is concerned about the potential dangers that may result from the release of detainees in the United States. In response to a question from Texas Rep. Lamar Smith, the ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, Mueller said he is concerned about the potential for fundraising to support terrorist groups and the radicalization of others, as well as the potential for attacks within the country. Mueller also said that while he is not concerned about dangerous terrorists escaping from maximum security federal prisons, he is concerned about the potential of activities being directed from within prison walls, and he cited such actions by dangerous gang members. Attorney General Eric Holder, the president's point man overseeing the Guantanamo plan, sought to downplay the FBI director's concerns and the Senate vote to bar funds. "The concerns that have been expressed by the director and concerns expressed by other people will all be taken into account in formulating the plan that we will ultimately use," Holder told reporters late Wednesday. "We're not going to do anything that's going to put the American people at risk," he said. The attorney general continued to express confidence that the Guantanamo Bay prison camp will be permanently closed by Obama's deadline. iReport.com: Sound off on Obama, Cheney speeches "We will have conversations with Congress, and I'm confident that as a result of those conversations, the necessary funds will come our way," Holder said. At the White House, press secretary Robert Gibbs echoed Holder's promise. "The president understands that his most important job is to keep the American people safe and that he is not going to make any decision or any judgment that imperils the safety of the American people." CNN's Terry Frieden and Kristi Keck contributed to this report.

Question: What will the measure prevent?

Question: What date did Obama say the prison would be closed by?

Question: What is the amendment?

Question: When did Obama say he would close the prison by?

Question: Who voted on the measure?

Question: What was the senate vote to prevent Gitmo detainees from going to the U.S?

Question: What did Obama say?

Question: What did Obama announced?

Answer: detainees at Guantanamo Bay from being transferred to the United States for now.

Answer: January 22, 2010.

Answer: a measure that would prevent detainees at Guantanamo Bay from being transferred to the United States for now.

Answer: January 22, 2010.

Answer: U.S. Senate

Answer: 90-6

Answer: announced that he would close the prison by January 22, 2010.

Answer: he would close the prison by January 22, 2010.

Summary:
White House says Obama is not going to make any decision that imperils safety .
Senate votes 90-6 on a measure to prevent Gitmo detainees from going to the U.S.
A similar amendment has already passed the House .
Obama announced that he would close the prison by January 22, 2010 .


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama will deliver a speech June 4 in Egypt on America's relationship with the Muslim world, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs announced Friday. President Obama will travel to Egypt next month to address U.S. relations with the Muslim world. Egypt is "a country that in many ways represents the heart of the Arab world," Gibbs said. He deflected several questions at his daily briefing about whether Egypt is a wise choice, given President Hosni Mubarak's resistance to making his government more democratic. Obama originally promised to deliver the speech during his first 100 days, but senior administration officials say the date slipped in part because of security and logistical issues. The officials stressed, however, that the Secret Service still has deep security concerns, given the continued tumult in the Mideast. Obama chose Turkey, a more secular state, as the site of his first presidential speech to a Muslim majority nation, on April 6. He told the Turkish legislature in Ankara that the "United States is not and will never be at war with Islam." Obama will follow his visit to Egypt with a trip to the remains of the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany on June 5. He is then scheduled to take part in ceremonies commemorating the 65th anniversary of the World War II Allied landings in Normandy, France. CNN Chief White House Correspondent Ed Henry contributed to this report.

Question: When did he give the historic speech to the Turkish parliament?

Question: What country represents the heart of the Arab world?

Question: Where did he give a historic speech in April?

Question: When did he give his historic speech to Turkish parliament?

Question: Where will Obama travel in June?

Question: Who gave a historic speech to Turkish Parliament?

Question: What did a spokesman say about Egypt?

Question: Who travels to Egypt, Germany, France in June?

Question: Who went to Egypt, Germany and France?

Answer: April 6.

Answer: Egypt

Answer: Turkey,

Answer: April 6.

Answer: Egypt

Answer: Obama

Answer: "a country that in many ways represents the heart of the Arab world,"

Answer: President Obama

Answer: President Obama

Summary:
President Obama travels to Egypt, Germany, France in June .
He gave historic speech to Turkish parliament in April .
Spokesman: Egypt "in many ways represents the heart of the Arab world"


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama will place tariffs on imports of some Chinese tires for three years in an effort to curb a surge in exports that has rocked the U.S. tire industry. The White House announced plans to impose tariffs on some tires entering the United States from China. The new tariffs will be on passenger car and light truck tires, the White House said in a statement Friday night. "The president decided to remedy the clear disruption to the U.S. tire industry based on the facts and the law in this case," the statement said. The tariffs will start at 35 percent in the first year, then would decline to 30 percent in the second year and 25 percent in the third. Chinese leaders have in the past expressed displeasure about a possible tire tariff. "We hope the U.S. government will refrain from taking action, for the long-term healthy and stable development of U.S.-Chinese relations," Fu Ziying, China's vice commerce minister, told local media in August. "The case is neither supported by facts nor does it have valid legal grounds," he added.

Question: What has hurt U.S. tire industry?

Question: what is U.S. to impose tariffs on?

Question: what has hurt the U.S. tire industry?

Question: U.S. to impost tariffs on what?

Question: Who have strongly opposed possible tire tariffs?

Answer: surge in exports

Answer: imports of some Chinese tires

Answer: surge in exports

Answer: some Chinese tires

Answer: Chinese leaders

Summary:
U.S. to impose tariffs on some passenger car and light truck tires from China .
Surge in exports has hurt the U.S. tire industry .
Chinese leaders have strongly opposed possible tire tariffs .


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President-elect Barack Obama called his former Republican presidential rival, Sen. John McCain, a hero at a bipartisan dinner Monday night and encouraged politicians to reach across the aisle.

President-elect Barack Obama greets Sen. John McCain on stage after praising him at a bipartisan dinner.

"I could stand here and recite the long list of John's bipartisan accomplishments ..." Obama said.

"Campaign finance reform. Immigration. The Patients' Bill of Rights. All those times he has crossed the aisle and risked the ire of his party for the good of his country. And yet, what makes John such a rare and courageous public servant is not the accomplishments themselves, but the true motivation behind them."

McCain returned the gracious feelings at the dinner.

"I am very grateful to the president-elect and to all of you for this very considerate gesture, and for allowing me to play a small role in the inauguration of the 44th president of the United States, even if it isn't the one I had in mind a few months ago," McCain said.

"Tomorrow, the President-elect will accept the burdensome privilege of leading America to its next accomplishments and its future greatness," McCain went on to say. "He has my sincere best wishes for his success, and my promise of assistance. For his success will be our success."

After praising McCain, Obama urged everyone to take the bipartisan dinner past "just an inaugural tradition" and turn it into a "new way of doing the people's business in this city."

"We will not always agree on everything in the months to come, and we will have our share of arguments and debates," Obama said. "But let us strive always to find that common ground, and to defend together those common ideals, for it is the only way we can meet the very big and very serious challenges that we face right now."

On the eve of his inauguration, the president-elect even made time for a joke.

"I'm here tonight to say a few words about an American hero I have come to know very well and admire very much -- Sen. John McCain," Obama said as he opened his speech. "And then, according to the rules agreed to by both parties, John will have approximately 30 seconds to make a rebuttal."

Obama's speech at the bipartisan dinner capped a day filled by appearances, including visiting wounded soldiers and exhorting Americans to spend more time in the service of others.

In Washington people took in the sights of pre-inauguration activities and concerts.

"The energy on the streets is something I've never seen before," said Nancy Wigal, who lives in Vernon Square. "People are walking lighter, standing taller and are reaching out to one another. It feels like hope. It feels like shared happiness."

Wigal said Obama's inauguration has given residents hope that change actually will happen.

"It's all because of Obama -- we dare to feel positive that we may have actually elected a leader, not just a politician," she said. "There are impromptu progressive dinner parties, cookouts and house parties. We finally feel like a real change has come to town."

Obama began his day with a surprise visit to wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He met with 14 patients injured in either Iraq or Afghanistan.

Obama visited a National Day of Service project, stopping by the Sasha Bruce House, an emergency shelter for homeless teenagers in the Washington area.  Watch Obama speak about service on the eve of his inauguration »

The shelter provides a variety of services, including counseling, job training, and substance abuse prevention assistance, for up to 15 teenagers at a time.

Roughly 30 teenagers are spending the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday volunteering at the shelter by helping to renovate a dorm room.

Obama rolled up his sleeves and pitched in during the visit, using a roller to help paint a couple of walls and a piece

Question: Who did McCain wish success?

Question: who praises Sen. John McCain's leadership?

Question: Who is the president-elect?

Question: who says has my sincere best wishes for his success?

Question: who urges students to join him and take responsibility?

Question: Who did Obama praise?

Answer: Barack Obama

Answer: Barack Obama

Answer: Barack Obama

Answer: McCain

Answer: Obama

Answer: John McCain,

Summary:
NEW: John McCain: President-elect "has my sincere best wishes for his success"
Barack Obama praises Sen. John McCain's leadership at bipartisan dinner .
"The energy on the streets is something I've never seen before," D.C. resident says .
Obama urges students to join him and take responsibility .


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President-elect Barack Obama plans to nominate New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson to be secretary of commerce, a Democratic source told CNN on Tuesday.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination this year.

The former Democratic presidential candidate's name has been bandied about as the next head of Commerce.

Obama spoke with Richardson about the position November 14, a senior Democratic source said. The source said Richardson has always been on Obama's list of possibilities for the key Cabinet position.

Richardson, 61, also traveled to Chicago, Illinois, in November to meet with Obama, according to a source.

"He brings to this plate, in particular in an era where the economy is the focus of attention, a lot of skills that could be put to use -- perhaps opening up marketplaces for U.S. products abroad," CNN senior political correspondent Candy Crowley said.

"In New Mexico, he sought to bring in new businesses and to create jobs ... so the Obama team considers this part of the economic team."

One of the most prominent Hispanic politicians in the nation, Richardson withdrew from the race for the Democratic presidential nomination January 10 and later endorsed Obama.

He has served as a U.N. ambassador and as energy secretary in the Clinton administration.

If Richardson steps down as chief executive of New Mexico, Democratic Lt. Gov. Diane Denish takes over. She was Richardson's running mate in the 2002 and 2006 gubernatorial elections.

It's a very different situation in neighboring Arizona, where another Democratic governor, Janet Napolitano, is also stepping down to join the Cabinet. Arizona doesn't have a lieutenant governor. Under state law, Secretary of State Jan Brewer -- a Republican -- takes over.

Richardson sought the Democratic presidential nomination but dropped out of the race after a poor showing in the January 8 New Hampshire primary.

Declaring that Obama is an "extraordinary American," Richardson endorsed Obama to be the Democratic nominee for president March 21.

"Barack Obama will make a great and historic president," Richardson said at a rally in Portland, Oregon, with Obama at his side. "[It] is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our nation, and you are a once-in-a-lifetime leader."

Obama said, "I am extraordinarily grateful to have the support of one of the great public servants of these United States."

"He's done the kind of work that you want from your public servants, somebody who's driven not just by raw ambition, not just by an interest in personal aggrandizement," Obama added. "He's been somebody who's been motivated by the desire to make the lives of his constituents and working people a little bit better."

Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton both lobbied Richardson for his endorsement.

Richardson said that his "affection for Hillary Clinton and President Bill Clinton will never waver" but that "it is now time for a new generation of leadership."

Obama "can bring us the change we so desperately need by bringing us together as a nation here at home and with our allies abroad," he said.

Hillary Clinton was named this week as Obama's pick for another Cabinet post: secretary of state.

Richardson caused controversy in Democratic circles with his endorsement of Obama this year.

In April, Richardson said he was "very close to endorsing" Clinton but decided not to after the campaign became negative.

His endorsement was viewed as an act of betrayal by some longtime Clinton supporters.

CNN political analyst James Carville, who has close ties to both Clintons, likened Richardson's endorsement to Judas' betrayal of Christ.

Richardson responded to Carville's criticisms by saying that Carville and other Clinton supporters believe they are a "dynasty" and that they were "clinging to the throne."

CNN's Candy Crowley, Ed Hornick and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

Question: Name of the former NM governor and UN ambassador?

Question: Who will be announced as commerce secretary?

Question: What other famous politician is mentioned?

Question: What party is Bill Richardson associated with?

Question: How was a rival of Barack Obama's during the primaries?

Question: Who is New Mexico's former U.N ambassador?

Question: What will Richardson be announced as?

Question: What position did Richardson get nominated for?

Answer: Bill Richardson

Answer: Bill Richardson

Answer: President Bill Clinton

Answer: Democratic

Answer: New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson

Answer: Bill Richardson

Answer: secretary of commerce,

Answer: secretary of commerce,

Summary:
Bill Richardson is New Mexico's governor, former U.N. ambassador .
Richardson to be announced as commerce secretary nominee Wednesday .
He was a rival of Barack Obama's during the Democratic primaries .


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President-elect Barack Obama will invoke God when he takes the oath of office January 20, despite a lawsuit filed by atheist and non-religious groups, according to an attorney for Chief Justice John Roberts, who will administer the oath. President-elect Barack Obama has asked to invoke the phrase "so help me God" at the end of his oath. The groups have sued in federal court to block any mention of God during the inaugural ceremonies. Roberts was among those named in the suit. However, Obama wishes to conclude the oath with the phrase "so help me God," Jeffrey Minear, an attorney and administrative assistant for Roberts, told a federal court in documents Friday. The Constitution mandates the exact language to be used in the 35-word oath of office: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." Some chief executives have embellished the oath with "so help me God." It is not constitutionally required, unlike in other federal oaths. Historians have been at odds over whether George Washington established precedent by invoking the phrase on his own at the first inaugural in 1789. The Library of Congress Web site says he did. Most presidents have used the phrase. iReport.com: Your photos from the inauguration Inaugural officials and presidents or presidents-elect usually coordinate behind the scenes on whether the judge or government official administering the phrase will invoke it. Michael Newdow, supported by several groups including the American Humanist Association, claims in his lawsuit that "so help me God" violates the constitutional ban on government "endorsement" of religion. He asked a federal judge to intervene and block references of God or religion in the formal ceremonies. The lawsuit also opposes the traditional invocation and benediction to be delivered by pastors invited by Obama. "There can be no purpose for placing 'so help me God' in an oath or sponsoring prayers to God, other than promoting the particular point of view that God exists," according to the lawsuit. The federal government revealed in its response that Obama wants to use the phrase. The declaration was apparently aimed at blunting Newdow's concession that Obama could add the phrase on his own but that Roberts or any government official should not force or prompt him to say it. Among those named in the lawsuit besides the 53-year-old chief justice are the Presidential Inauguration Committee; the Joint Congressional Committee on Inauguration Ceremonies and its chairwoman, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California); and the Armed Forces Inaugural Committee and its commander, Maj. Gen. Richard Rowe Jr. Newdow said December 31 that he did not name Obama in his suit because in addition to participating as a government official in the ceremony, Obama possesses rights as an individual that allow him to express religious beliefs. "If he chooses to ask for God's help, I'm not going to challenge him," Newdow said. "I think it's unwise." A decision from the federal judge is expected in the next few days. The high court ruled against Newdow in 2004 after he tried to block the Pledge of Allegiance from being recited at his daughter's Sacramento, California-area public school because it contains the phrase "under God." He argued the case himself before the justices, making an impassioned plea that the teacher-led pledge forces religion on impressionable youngsters and carries the stamp of government approval.

Question: Who did Obama ask to invoke?

Question: What was mentioned during the inaugural ceremonies?

Question: What phrase do presidents add at end of oath?

Question: What are groups suing to block mention of?

Question: What are groups suing for?

Question: Who added the phrase "so help me God"?

Question: What phrase have many presidents added?

Answer: the phrase "so help me God"

Answer: God

Answer: "so help me God"

Answer: God

Answer: to block any mention of God during the inaugural ceremonies.

Answer: President-elect Barack Obama

Answer: "so help me God"

Summary:
Court documents say President-elect Barack Obama asked to invoke God .
Groups are suing to block any mention of God during the inaugural ceremonies .
Many presidents have added the phrase "so help me God" at end of oath .


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Promising "a new era of openness in our country," President Obama signed executive orders Wednesday relating to ethics guidelines for staff members of his administration.

Members of the National Economic Council brief President Obama on the economy Wednesday.

"Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency," Obama said.

In his first full day in office, Obama touched upon many of the major issues facing his administration, and even carved out time to retake the oath of office.

The move was aimed at dispelling any confusion that might arise from Tuesday's oath, which Chief Justice John Roberts flubbed by mixing up the order of the words.

The do-over was also intended to erase any questions regarding the legitimacy of Obama's presidency, although per the Constitution, Obama became president at noon Tuesday without taking the oath.

Earlier in the day, Obama said he would issue a pay freeze for his senior staff members.

The new president has also promised swift action on the beleaguered economy. House Democrats, at Obama's urging, have signed an $825 billion economic recovery package that the president says will save or create up to 4 million jobs and invest in health care, energy and education.  Watch Obama address his staff »

House Republican leaders, however, asked to meet with Obama on Thursday to offer major changes to the recovery proposal.

"The challenge as we see it is to create a plan that helps middle-class taxpayers and small businesses without wasting money or exploding our national deficit," the leaders wrote in a letter to the new president.

Rep. Paul Ryan, the top Republican on the House Budget committee, argued that the main tax provision in the Democrats' plan -- cutting payroll taxes -- was not an effective way to jump-start the economy.

House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence declined to say whether the Democrats' package would get any Republican support if it didn't change significantly.

Obama also moved fast to address a campaign promise to close the controversial Guantanamo Bay detention facility.

The administration is drafting executive orders calling for the closure of the detention facility, according to two administration officials.

Obama began the day with a moment of solitude in the Oval Office. When he arrived, he spent 10 minutes alone there, reading a note left for him on a desk by outgoing President George W. Bush.

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel met with the president 10 minutes later to discuss the daily schedule, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

Obama called Middle East leaders, including King Abdullah of Jordan, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Gibbs said.

On Sunday, Israel and Palestinian militants declared a cease-fire after 22 days of fighting in Gaza.

First lady Michelle Obama joined her husband in the Oval Office at 9:10 a.m., shortly before the first couple departed for the National Prayer Service at Washington National Cathedral.

Later in the day, Obama and the first lady greeted those who came to the White House for a formal open house. Obama joked, "Don't break anything."

Obama also met with his economic team and top brass from the Pentagon. iReport.com: What do you think Obama should do first?

Later in the afternoon, he met with the Ambassador to Iraq, the commander in Iraq, and the "theater commander" in the region for an update on the situation in Iraq.

"The meeting was productive and I very much appreciated receiving assessments from these experienced and dedicated individuals. During the discussion, I asked the military leadership to engage in additional planning necessary to execute a responsible military drawdown from Iraq," he said in a statement.

"In the coming days and weeks, I will also visit the Department of Defense to consult with the Joint Chiefs on these issues, and we will undertake a full review of the situation in Afghanistan in order to develop a comprehensive policy for the entire region," he said.

He plans to tell the top U.S. officers that he wants them

Question:
Who retakes oath of office?
What closure is called for?
What do the orders call for?
Who will the President freeze pay for?
What did Obama retake?
Who will Obama meet with?
What happens on Wednesday night?

Answer: Obama

Answer: the detention facility,

Answer: the closure of the detention facility,

Answer: his senior staff members.

Answer: the oath of office.

Answer: House Republican leaders,

Answer: Members of the National Economic Council brief President Obama

Summary:
NEW: Obama retakes oath of office Wednesday night .
NEW: Obama meets with military advisers to assess situations in Iraq, Afghanistan .
Administration drafting executive orders calling for Guantanamo Bay's closure .
President to freeze pay for senior staff, signs ethics guidelines .


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Questions surrounding Judge Sonia Sotomayor's past speeches generated more controversy in the final day of her Supreme Court confirmation hearings Thursday, as Democrats again called her a mainstream jurist and Republicans portrayed her as a liberal activist likely to legislate from the bench. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor greets Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, Thursday. One GOP senator said Sotomayor's most controversial speeches "bug the hell out of me," an expression of frustration as Republicans tried -- with little success -- to get Sotomayor to reveal more about her personal views in her fourth and final day of questioning. GOP critics also summoned New Haven, Connecticut, firefighter Frank Ricci, who was the lead plaintiff in perhaps the most controversial case in Sotomayor's appellate career. Ricci testified that her 2008 rejection of his reverse discrimination claim had undermined the concept of a merit-based civil service system. In a potential sign of Sotomayor's strong political momentum, however, Senate Republicans indicated they do not intend to filibuster her nomination on the Senate floor. They also indicated their belief that the full Senate would vote on her nomination before breaking for its August recess. Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, said he plans to put a confirmation vote for Sotomayor on the committee's calendar for next Tuesday. The committee's questions once again touched on a range of hot-button issues, including gun control, abortion, same-sex marriage, the death penalty, and the role of international law in American jurisprudence. "I think you're a walking, talking example of the best part of the United States of America," Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, told Sotomayor. "It is my belief that you are going to be a great Supreme Court justice." South Carolina GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham was less complimentary, telling Sotomayor that she has "said some things that have bugged the hell out of me," but he quickly conceded that her judicial record has "been generally in the mainstream." "Your speeches are disturbing, particularly to conservatives," Graham said. "Those speeches to me suggested gender and racial affiliations in a way that a lot of us wonder, will you take that line of thinking to the Supreme Court in these cases of first precedent." But, Graham conceded, "to be honest with you, your record as a judge has not been radical by any means. ... You have, I think, consistently, as an advocate, took a point of view that was left of center." Graham defended the importance of probing Sotomayor's political beliefs by highlighting the high court's 1955 landmark ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, which mandated the desegregation of schools. The ruling was "instructive in the sense that the court pushed the country to do something politicians were not brave enough to do," he said.  Watch Graham talk about Sotomayor's record » The personal views of Supreme Court justices matter, he argued, because "you're not going to find a law book that tells you" how to rule on contentious social issues such as same-sex marriage or whether there is a "fundamental" right to bear arms. Sotomayor later fired back at the Republican line of questioning, asking Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Oklahoma, if he wanted a judge who pre-decided cases before hearing the evidence and facts.  Watch Sotomayor's record on discrimination » "Would you want a judge or nominee who came in here and said, 'I agree with you, this is unconstitutional,' before I had a case before me?" Sotomayor said, adding: "I don't think that's a justice I can be." She noted that the Supreme Court spends considerable time on cases, including Second Amendment cases involving gun control -- an issue Republicans have repeatedly emphasized during her confirmation hearings. The National Rifle Association, unswayed by Sotomayor's assertion earlier in the week that she recognizes an individual right to bear arms, announced Thursday that it is opposed to her nomination. "We believe any

Question: What is the name of the GOP Sen. ?

Question: who's confirmation hearing did senate wrap up?

Question: What is Sotomayor's first name?

Answer: Lindsey Graham,

Answer: Judge Sonia Sotomayor's

Answer: Sonia

Summary:
NEW: Senate wraps up Sotomayor's confirmation hearings .
Chief plaintiff in Ricci case testifies during final day of confirmation hearings .
Republicans fail to get nominee to reveal more about her personal views .
GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham says Sonia Sotomayor's judicial record "mainstream"


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Race and politics are a combustible combo that explodes into headlines when an ex-president lights the fuse, as Jimmy Carter did recently. President Obama during the 2008 campaign faced questions over race and politics. "When a radical fringe element of demonstrators and others begin to attack the president of the United States as an animal or as a reincarnation of Adolf Hitler or when they wave signs in the air that said we should have buried Obama with Kennedy, those kinds of things are beyond the bounds," the Democrat told students at Emory University on Wednesday. "I think people who are guilty of that kind of personal attack against Obama have been influenced to a major degree by a belief that he should not be president because he happens to be African-American," he added. The controversy erupted this week when Carter first raised the race issue to NBC. "An overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man," he said. Bill Cosby, a black comedian and actor, said Wednesday in a written statement that he agrees with Carter. "During President Obama's speech on the status of health care reform, some members of Congress engaged in a public display of disrespect," he said. CNN contributor David Gergen said that some of the allegations of race-baiting might have some weight among Democratic voters. "Jimmy Carter, I'm afraid, is not alone in his views," he said. But Gergen warns that the racists tend to be on the fringes of the right and do not reflect on the greater field of opponents to Obama's ideology. "But I think it's wrongheaded, and I think it's unfair, and I think it's indeed a libel upon many of the opponents, most of the opponents of health care reform, to say that they're racist," he said. "Seven previous presidents have tried to bring health care reforms of this kind. All seven have failed. And, as I recall, all seven were white." Carter's comments, though, are the kind that raise people's defenses. In particular, they turn off independents, who by nature tend to hate the hard edges of politics. The White House, for its part, wants no part of the Carter controversy. "The president does not believe that that criticism comes based on the color of his skin," said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs. As a candidate, Obama understood the political danger in letting his race become a major topic. He largely avoided it when he could, but race was always a subtext, as it is now in his presidency. "But I can also say, frankly, that this White House and even his campaign were very afraid to even go down this road dealing with anything with race," said CNN contributor Roland Martin. Carter also told NBC that there is an "inherent feeling among many people in this country that an African-American ought not to be president and ought not to be given the same respect as if he were white." Framing criticism as racism cropped up several times during the campaign. When Geraldine Ferraro, a Clinton supporter, said during the 2008 Democratic primaries that Obama would never have gotten as far as he had if he had not been black, candidate Obama pointedly left race out of it. "I think that her comments were ridiculous," Obama said at the time. But Ferraro blamed Obama supporters for her hate mail, saying "I have been called all kinds of names. And the attacks are ageist. They're sexist. They're racist." iReport.com: Freedom from speech? And the topic of race even came to haunt Bill Clinton, the so-called first black president. Before the New Hampshire primary in January 2008, Clinton told an audience that "there's no difference in [Obama's] voting record and Hillary's ever since. Give me a break. This whole thing is the biggest fairy

Question: What does't Obama believe?

Question: What is the controversy about?

Question: Which former president spoke about Obama?

Question: What doesn't Obama believe?

Answer: that that criticism comes based on the color of his skin,"

Answer: a belief that he should not be president because he happens to be African-American,"

Answer: Jimmy Carter

Answer: that criticism comes based on the color of his skin,"

Summary:
Former President Carter says criticism of Obama is largely based on race .
Obama doesn't believe criticism is based on color of his skin, spokesman says .
CNN contributor: Carter shouldn't paint such broad strokes on racism .
GOP strategist says all the racism controversy is "absurd"


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Ready for your Super Bowl party? Sure, you have drinks, hot wings, maybe even a favorite jersey. But do you have an M-16, a Kevlar helmet and body armor? Pittsburgh Steelers fan Sheresa Coleman will watch the Super Bowl from the USS Mahan in the Gulf of Aden. Not everybody is watching the game from the comfort of the family den. Hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops will be deployed in remote war zones, on lonely oceans and at overseas bases -- all far away from an NBC affiliate. So the military is going out of its way to make sure that many soldiers, Marines, airmen and sailors can watch Super Bowl XLIII live. "Super Bowl day has really become a holiday, military-wise, over the last couple years," said Petty Officer 1st Class Grant Shannon. Shannon is from a town about an hour north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but is on board the USS Mahan, a destroyer deployed to stop pirates working off the coast of Somalia. When they finish their duties, sailors like Shannon can head to the ship's mess to watch the Pittsburgh Steelers take on the Arizona Cardinals. The same is true for soldiers, Marines and airmen in combat zones. "We can broadcast to every forward operating base in Iraq and Afghanistan," said Andreas Friedrich, the deputy director of Armed Forces Radio and Television Services, which has been sending the Super Bowl to troops overseas since the first Super Bowl, broadcasting it live since 1981.  Watch how troops will be able to watch big game » All told, about 1 million American military personnel and civilians overseas will be able to watch the big game. Some of those watching will be benefiting from the same technology that makes Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle missions possible. A global broadcast system will beam the game to ships and submarines far out in the Pacific Ocean. GBS is how pilots in the United States can watch and fly an unmanned vehicle over a battlefield halfway around the world, and then feed what they see to the battlefield commanders on the ground below. Raytheon, the company that runs the system, will use one of its video channels to feed the game to several U.S. Navy submarines and ships in the Pacific. Tens of thousands of sailors will be able to see the game via GBS, which first broadcast a Super Bowl in 2003, according to Guy DuBois of Raytheon. "It's a pretty amazing feeling, when you get to do that, to watch it on the ship and knowing that everybody else is back home having a good time, just like we will be," said Petty Officer 3rd Class Ryan Wright, a Cardinals fan from Arizona. Wright is on board the USS San Antonio, an amphibious transport dock that is part of the anti-piracy task force. A Steelers fan on board the USS Mahan agrees. "It would be nice to be home and watch the game in my hometown," said Seaman Sheresa Coleman of Pittsburgh. "But it's a great honor to support and defend the Constitution of the United States." One thing Wright and the other overseas Super Bowl viewers will miss is the legendary Super Bowl commercials. Friedrich said the Armed Forces Radio and Television Services would have had to pay high fees for the rights to broadcast the Super Bowl commercials to an international audience. Instead, the multimillion-dollar ads that some people consider the best part of the game will be pre-empted in favor of Department of Defense-produced ads and public service messages. Still, even without seeing football-playing Clydesdales or movie-shilling monsters, those in uniform appreciate being part of America's unofficial midwinter holiday. "We have lots of sailors and Marines on board who have followed the season," said Cmdr. Eric Cash, the commander of the USS San Antonio. "Any time we can enjoy some traditional American sports like the Super Bowl, it's always a great time for us, a good mental break and also a good time for people to get together and socialize." Just

Question: Who said that watching a game was a good mental break?

Question: What kinds of ads do the troops see during the games?

Question: What will beam the game to ships?

Question: What is a "mental break" for the troops?

Question: How many American military personnel, civilians overseas could catch game?

Question: What will beam the game to ships and submarines?

Question: Troops get ads for what instead of Super Bowl commercials?

Question: How many overseas personnel and civilians could catch the game?

Question: What do troops get during the game instead of Super Bowl commercials?

Answer: Eric Cash,

Answer: public service messages.

Answer: global broadcast system

Answer: traditional American sports

Answer: about 1 million

Answer: A global broadcast system

Answer: and public service messages.

Answer: about 1 million

Answer: Department of Defense-produced ads and public service messages.

Summary:
About 1 million American military personnel, civilians overseas could catch game .
Troops get Department of Defense ads instead of Super Bowl commercials .
Global broadcast system will beam game to ships, submarines in the Pacific Ocean .
"It's always a great time for us, a good mental break," commander says of game .


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Records from a cell phone used by President-elect Obama were improperly breached, apparently by employees of the cell phone company, Verizon Wireless said Thursday. An Obama spokesman said the transition team was told  Verizon Wireless workers looked through billing records. "This week we learned that a number of Verizon Wireless employees have, without authorization, accessed and viewed President-Elect Barack Obama's personal cell phone account," Lowell McAdam, Verizon Wireless president and CEO, said in a statement. "All employees who have accessed the account -- whether authorized or not --- have been put on immediate leave, with pay." The Obama transition team was notified Wednesday by Verizon of the breach, said team spokesman Robert Gibbs. He said the president-elect no longer uses the phone. McAdam said the device on the account was a simple voice flip-phone, not a BlackBerry or other smartphone designed for e-mail or other data services, so none of Obama's e-mail could have been accessed. Verizon Wireless, meanwhile, has launched an internal probe to determine whether Obama's information was simply shared among employees or whether "the information of our customer had in any way been compromised outside our company, and this investigation continues," McAdam said in an internal company e-mail obtained by CNN. "Employees with legitimate business needs for access will be returned to their positions, while employees who have accessed the account improperly and without legitimate business justification will face appropriate disciplinary action," McAdam said, "up to and including termination." The company has alerted "the appropriate federal law enforcement authorities," McAdam said. Gibbs said that while the Secret Service has been notified, he is not aware of any criminal investigation. He said he believes it was billing records that were accessed. Gibbs said that anyone viewing the records likely would have been able to see phone numbers and the frequency of calls Obama made, but that "nobody was monitoring voicemail or anything like that." CNN White House correspondent Ed Henry contributed to this report.

Question: what says Internal Verizon?

Question: who monitored calls?

Question: Was there  any  indication any calls were monitored or voicemails improperly accessed?

Question: What did the Obama spokesman say?

Question: Who  says Verizon Wireless employee accessed billing records?

Question: Which employee accessed billing records?

Question: Spokesman says the phone is what?

Answer: used by President-elect Obama were improperly breached,

Answer: Verizon Wireless employees

Answer: Records from a cell phone used by President-elect Obama were improperly breached,

Answer: Verizon Wireless workers looked through billing records.

Answer: Lowell McAdam,

Answer: Verizon Wireless workers

Answer: a simple voice flip-phone,

Summary:
NEW: Internal Verizon e-mail says no e-mail accessible on phone .
Obama spokesman says Verizon Wireless employee accessed billing records .
Spokesman says the phone is old and Obama no longer uses it .
No indication any calls were monitored or voicemails improperly accessed .


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Rep. Paul Gillmor of Ohio was found dead in his townhouse in Arlington, Virginia, on Wednesday, leadership aides for both the Republican and Democratic parties said. Rep. Paul Gillmor was first elected to Congress in 1988. Gillmor, a Republican, was 68. The leadership aides did not say how Gillmor died. House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, told fellow congressmen on the floor of the House that their colleague died "suddenly overnight." "He was a good friend to all of us," said a somber Boehner. "He's going to be missed by us all." A tribute to Gillmor will be held in the House later Wednesday afternoon, Boehner said.  Watch Boehner tell colleagues of death » Gillmor, the deputy minority whip, was in his 10th term in the House, representing the 5th Congressional District in the northwest part of the Buckeye state. He was a member of the House Committee on Financial Services, and the ranking Republican on the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit. Gillmor also served on the Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored-Enterprises and the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity. He was elected to Congress in 1988, after serving in the Ohio State Senate for 22 years, where he was elected Republican leader five times. Gillmor was born Feb. 1, 1939, in Tiffin, Ohio. He received a bachelor of arts degree from Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio, and a law degree from the University of Michigan Law School. In 2006, Roll Call -- a Capitol Hill newspaper -- listed him as the 43rd richest member of Congress, with an estimated net worth of $6.16 million. He formerly ran a financial services company. Gillmor was also a U.S. Air Force veteran -- where he attained the rank of captain -- and ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1986. He served in the Vietnam War in 1965 and 1966. He was married to Karen Gillmor, vice chairman of the State Employment Relations Board in Ohio and a former state senator. Their family includes two daughters, Linda and Julie, and three sons, Paul and twins Connor and Adam. E-mail to a friend

Question:
Which area did Gillmor represent?
What did the GOP leader say?
Who did he represent?
Who died suddenly?
when was he found

Answer: representing the 5th Congressional District in the northwest part of the Buckeye state.

Answer: colleague died "suddenly overnight."

Answer: House Committee on Financial Services,

Answer: Rep. Paul Gillmor of Ohio

Answer: Wednesday,

Summary:
NEW: Rep. Paul Gillmor died suddenly during night, GOP leader says .
No word on cause of death .
Gillmor represented northwest area of Ohio .


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Rep. Tom Lantos, the Democratic chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, died Monday due to complications from cancer, his office said. Lantos was 80. Rep. Tom Lantos represented his Northern California district for 14 terms. He died at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, surrounded by his wife, Annette, daughters Annette and Katrina and many of his 18 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, according to his office. Lantos' life was "defined by courage, optimism, and unwavering dedication to his principles and to his family," said his wife, Annette, his childhood sweetheart, in a statement the House of Representatives released. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday that she was "quite devastated" by the death of her "dear, dear friend." She called him "a true American hero" and "the genuine article." "He's going to be really, really missed," she said. Rice described Lantos as "the embodiment of what it meant to have one's freedom denied and then to find it and to insist that Americans stand for spreading the benefits of freedom and prosperity to others." Lantos, who was serving his 14th term in the House, was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in December. He announced last month that he would not seek a new term. "It is only in the United States that a penniless survivor of the Holocaust and a fighter in the anti-Nazi underground could have received an education, raised a family and had the privilege of serving the last three decades of his life as a member of Congress," Lantos said in a statement at the time. "I will never be able to express fully my profoundly felt gratitude to this great country."  Watch Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid remember Lantos » The lawmaker is the only Holocaust survivor to have served in Congress. The Hungarian-born Lantos came to the United States in 1947 after surviving a forced-labor camp in his Nazi-allied homeland. He escaped and was sheltered in a Budapest safe house set up by Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who was credited with saving tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews during World War II. He arrived in the United States after being awarded an academic scholarship to study, according to his congressional Web site. He received bachelor's and master's degrees in economics from the University of Washington in Seattle and later earned a doctorate in economics from the University of California, Berkeley, the site said. As a lawmaker, Lantos was an outspoken human rights advocate. He supported the 2002 congressional resolution that authorized President Bush to launch the invasion of Iraq but later became an outspoken critic of the conflict. He was the latest of more than a dozen members to announce plans to leave the House at the end of the year, most of them Republicans. His San Francisco-area district is solidly Democratic, and he won re-election with more than three-quarters of the vote in 2006. "Chairman Lantos will be remembered as a man of uncommon integrity and sincere moral conviction -- and a public servant who never wavered in his pursuit of a better, freer and more religiously tolerant world," House Republican Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri said in a statement. E-mail to a friend

Question: who disclosed last month he was suffering from cancer?

Question: who was the only holocaust survivor?

Question: what did california congressman disclose?

Question: What was Rep. Tom Lantos called?

Question: where did the congressman come from

Question: according to the secretary who is a true American hero

Question: Who was Lantos?

Question: who calls Rep. Tom Lantos "a true American hero?

Question: What was Lantos suffering from?

Question: who was only Holocaust survivor to serve in Congress?

Question: Lantos has served how many terms to date

Answer: Tom Lantos,

Answer: Rep. Tom Lantos,

Answer: plans to leave the House

Answer: "a true American hero" and "the genuine article."

Answer: Hungarian-born

Answer: Rep. Tom Lantos,

Answer: Democratic chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs,

Answer: Condoleezza Rice

Answer: cancer,

Answer: Rep. Tom Lantos,

Answer: 14

Summary:
NEW: Secretary of state calls Rep. Tom Lantos "a true American hero"
Lantos was only Holocaust survivor to serve in Congress .
California congressman disclosed last month he was suffering from cancer .
Lantos had said he would not seek re-election to 15th term in House .


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe has shown throughout her career that when it comes to voting, it's her principles and constituents that guide her, not her party. Sen. Olympia Snowe has received overwhelming support from her constituents in past elections. Those principles, analysts note, are guiding her to find a compromise on health care reform currently stalemated in Congress. Jennifer Duffy, who follows the Senate for the Cook Political Report, said Snowe's independent streak is "not new behavior for her." "I think they [Republicans] also realize that the only reason that the state of Maine has two Republican senators at all is the fact that they are very independent-minded and they vote their state," she said, referring to Snowe and Sen. Susan Collins. In fact, some estimates place Snowe as having voted with her party only 57 percent of the time in the current Congress. While her moderate views are at odds with GOP opposition to several of President Obama's economic plans this year, the senator's constituents seem to agree with her. In 2006, she won re-election with 74 percent of the vote, compared to her Democratic opponent's 21 percent. In 2000, Snowe received 69 percent of the vote. In an interview with National Public Radio in 2006, she said that while her views are moderate, Maine, like other New England states, has been "naturally independent" "Oftentimes, I tell my leadership, don't blame me, it's just where I grew up," she said at the time. Snowe, 59, was elected to Congress in 1978 at age 31, and served Maine's 2nd District for 16 years. She ran for Senate in 1994 and won, "becoming the first woman in American history to serve in both houses of the state legislature and both houses of Congress," her Senate Web site notes. Her political career began in 1973 after her husband, Maine Rep. Peter Snowe, was killed in a car accident and she was elected to fill his seat. After two years in the state Senate, she won the U.S. House seat held by William Cohen when he ran for the U.S. Senate in 1978. Snowe was elected to the Senate with 60 percent of the vote during the Republican revolution of 1994, filling the seat of longtime Democratic Sen. George Mitchell, who retired. She married then-Maine Gov. John McKernan in 1989. In 2006, Time Magazine named her one of the top 10 U.S. senators, calling her "the caretaker." "Because of her centrist views and eagerness to get beyond partisan point scoring, Maine Republican Olympia Snowe is in the center of every policy debate in Washington," the article read. "But while Snowe is a major player on national issues, she is also known as one of the most effective advocates for her constituents." Duffy said that if Snowe and Collins started voting with the Republican leadership all the time, "They would probably both lose re-election." Part of the so-called "Gang of Six" on the Senate Finance Committee, which includes three Democrats and three Republicans, she has been actively negotiating with the White House. The White House said that Sens. Chuck Grassley and Mike Enzi, the other two Republicans in the Gang of Six, have backed away from negotiations, although Enzi released a statement that said he is still willing to talk. Snowe said it's important to work with the other party despite criticism. "I think sometimes, yes, I'd find myself in that position, you know, with fewer and fewer ... people who are willing to reach across the political aisle and to create what I ... call the sensible center," she told NPR last week. "I mean, that's where the majority of Americans are. And I try to sort of build those ... bridges." Part of that bridge building was seen with her votes for the president's $787 billion economic stimulus package in February. For the past months, Snowe has been pushing

Question: What state is Snowe from?

Question: Time magazine named her one of the top 10 U.S. senators in which year?

Question: What happen to Sen. Olympia Snowe in 2006?

Question: Where is Sen. Olympia Snowe from?

Question: In what year was Snowe named one of the top 10 senators?

Question: Sen. Olympia Snowe is one of two GOP senators from where?

Question: What magazine named her one of the top 10 senators?

Answer: Maine

Answer: 2006,

Answer: won re-election

Answer: state of Maine

Answer: 2006,

Answer: Maine

Answer: Time

Summary:
Sen. Olympia Snowe is one of two GOP senators from Maine .
Snowe has said she is guided by principles and constituents, not her party .
Analyst: Snowe's independent streak is "not new behavior for her"
In 2006, Time magazine named her one of the top 10 U.S. senators .