United States Resolutions

The Democratic-controlled Congress, closing ranks behind President Bush at a crucial moment in American history, voted Saturday to authorize U.S. troops to attack Iraq as early as Wednesday. Bush's victory was decisive and bipartisan, even though the authorization was strongly opposed by the Democratic leadership and most aspirants for the Democratic presidential nomination. Many Democrats abandoned their party leaders, and Republicans were nearly unanimous in support of the President.

A divided congressional panel Tuesday approved a resolution that would characterize as genocide the killing of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in the early decades of the 1900s, despite warnings by the Clinton administration and the Turkish government that the measure could damage U.S. security interests. The House International Relations Committee sent the measure to the House floor by a 24-11 vote. The measure urges the U.S.

In building a community in a new country, Vietnamese Americans also had to rebuild a cultural life from scratch, one that evolved and flourished in virtual isolation from the land that is its source. So says Co Pham, president of the Westminster-based Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce and a longtime (and often embattled) proponent of lifting the U.S. trade embargo against Vietnam, an action President Clinton took Thursday.

The House pledged Thursday to fight prejudice and intolerance as it voiced outrage over the beating death of a gay University of Wyoming student. "We cannot bury our heads and we cannot sit on our hands," said Rep. Barbara Cubin (R-Wyo.), sponsor of a resolution that passed by voice vote. "We will not stand for the arbitrary killing of other people due to any hateful act of intolerance," added Cubin, whose two sons knew the 21-year-old victim.

Early this week, Adm. Charles R. Larson, the commander-in-chief of American forces in the Pacific, sat back in his spacious headquarters office above Pearl Harbor and mused about the possibility of a renewed U.S. military relationship with Vietnam. "It's not inconceivable that our ships could once again visit Cam Ranh Bay," the commander told The Times, referring to the prized Vietnamese port that has been used during the last 15 years by the Soviet Union and Russia.

A last-ditch attempt by Orange County Rep. Dana Rohrabacher to head off growing opposition to his plan to promote "merit-only" college admissions policies collapsed last week when a key California congressman rejected the second of two proposed compromises. The opposition of Asian-Americans to his proposals has surprised Rohrabacher, who says his intention is to correct an injustice suffered by that ethnic group.

For Mexican diplomats in Washington, dealing with the United States government too often is like wrestling with a hydra, the Greek mythical monster of many heads. So many U.S. agencies and institutions concern themselves with Mexico, no sooner does a diplomat finish business with one than another pops up snarling. The latest example involves the controversial money-laundering sting, Operation Casablanca.

A divided congressional panel Tuesday approved a resolution that would characterize as genocide the killing of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in the early decades of the 1900s, despite warnings by the Clinton administration and the Turkish government that the measure could damage U.S. security interests. The House International Relations Committee sent the measure to the House floor by a 24-11 vote. The measure urges the U.S.

The Senate, trying to cut a partisan knot, voted along party lines Tuesday to begin limited hearings into the Whitewater controversy before the end of next month. With all 56 Democrats voting yes and 43 Republicans voting no, the Senate approved a resolution offered by Majority Leader George J. Mitchell (D-Me.) to authorize the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee to investigate some aspects of Whitewater at hearings to begin no later than July 29.

President Clinton's decision to lift the trade embargo against Vietnam hit home with Vietnam war veterans, business leaders and members of Orange County's Vietnamese community. The news brought anger, jubilation and hopeful talk of future cooperation. On Thursday, several people offered their thoughts on the decision. * The Rev. Joseph Son Nguyen, 30, is a priest at St. Boniface Church in Anaheim. He often works as a youth counselor in the Vietnamese community.

For Mexican diplomats in Washington, dealing with the United States government too often is like wrestling with a hydra, the Greek mythical monster of many heads. So many U.S. agencies and institutions concern themselves with Mexico, no sooner does a diplomat finish business with one than another pops up snarling. The latest example involves the controversial money-laundering sting, Operation Casablanca.

"Money is the mother's milk of politics," the late Jesse Unruh, California's powerful Assembly speaker, used to say. And if you want to see how right he was, take a look at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent ruling that oxygen compounds from renewable sources must be added to gasoline next year in Los Angeles and other smoggy cities, including New York, Chicago, Houston and Philadelphia.

The Senate, trying to cut a partisan knot, voted along party lines Tuesday to begin limited hearings into the Whitewater controversy before the end of next month. With all 56 Democrats voting yes and 43 Republicans voting no, the Senate approved a resolution offered by Majority Leader George J. Mitchell (D-Me.) to authorize the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee to investigate some aspects of Whitewater at hearings to begin no later than July 29.

President Clinton's decision to lift the trade embargo against Vietnam hit home with Vietnam war veterans, business leaders and members of Orange County's Vietnamese community. The news brought anger, jubilation and hopeful talk of future cooperation. On Thursday, several people offered their thoughts on the decision. * The Rev. Joseph Son Nguyen, 30, is a priest at St. Boniface Church in Anaheim. He often works as a youth counselor in the Vietnamese community.