Feinstein and Boxer poised for pivotal roles in U.S. policy
They're planning to change national course on global warming and Iraq strategy
Carolyn Lochhead, Chronicle Washington Bureau
Friday, November 10, 2006
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Nowhere is the change starker than with Boxer's impending chairwomanship of the Environment and Public Works Committee, where she takes the reins from a conservative Republican who thinks global warming is a hoax.
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Among the Senate's severest critics of Bush, Boxer said the administration had already extended an olive branch, with a top aide from the President's Council on Environmental Quality contacting her staff indicating a willingness to work together.
"In five minutes, (former Defense Secretary) Donald Rumsfeld resigned, and in 10 minutes we got a call on global warming, so change is in the air," Boxer said.
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"If I had my way, I would go all 100 yards to do what we need to do," Boxer said. "But if people are willing to go 90 or 80 or 70, we'll find out. But the call from the White House means this is a very different world we're living in."
Feinstein, for her part, warned that Bush's new nominee for secretary of defense, Robert Gates, faces a Senate grilling on Iraq.
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"You have to realize that going into a slim majority is not dominant control," Feinstein said. "Dominant control can only come with 60 votes. ... In other words, we can stop something, but you can't necessarily pass something."
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http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/11/10/MNG6SMA41J1.DTL