thedrifter
01-05-07, 07:40 AM
A hero's welcome for Webb in Senate
He introduces a new GI Bill on first day and is measured on a possible Iraq troop surge
BY PETER HARDIN
TIMES-DISPATCH WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT
Friday, January 5, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Democrat Jim Webb, whose underdog campaign shook up Virginia's and U.S. politics, took the oath of office in the Senate yesterday and quickly introduced his first bill.
The newcomer to elective office seemed to strive for a perception as independent-thinking and hard-working as he sponsored a new GI Bill and spoke temperately on a troop surge for Iraq.
His role in helping Democrats capture control of the Senate was underscored when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid dropped by Webb's reception and saluted him as "a real American hero" and lifelong "star."
"He has physical courage. He has got a lot of brains. We look forward to him in the Senate being one of the great senators of all time," Reid, D-Nevada, told cheering Webb supporters in an ornate Senate meeting room.
Webb, 60 and a former Navy secretary under President Ronald Reagan, did not reject outright yesterday the notion of a troop surge in Iraq.
"The question is what is the strategy, and does this sort of action fit the strategy," Webb told reporters.
The sometimes-combative Webb is a decorated Marine Corps veteran of the Vietnam war who made "Born Fighting" his campaign motto against Republican Sen. George Allen. Yesterday, he talked about getting along.
"I do think things through for myself," he told reporters. "On the other hand, I've got four years having worked as a committee counsel in the Congress, and five years at the Pentagon," including four in the executive branch.
"So I'm very comfortable with the idea of working with leadership to get things done."
His blunt-talking side showed in an interview on MSNBC's "Hardball" show, when he called events surrounding Saddam Hussein's hanging "really a blunder" that could have consequences for U.S. troops in Iraq.
Webb's GI Bill would provide veterans of the post-Sept. 11 era what Webb described as equivalent educational benefits to those offered service members at the end of World War II. A Webb spokesman said the bill's cost had not been estimated.
The former Republican took the oath of office from Vice President Dick Cheney after walking up the aisle with former Sen. Charles S. Robb, D-Va., and Sen. John W. Warner, R-Va.
All three are former Marines. Robb, invited by Webb to participate, was ousted from office in 2000 by Allen, whom Webb had endorsed at the time.
Webb's wife Hong Le Webb, who was a refugee from South Vietnam, cradled their infant daughter in the visitors' gallery. Other VIPs seated there included former President Bill Clinton and his daughter, Chelsea.
When Webb posed for a swearing-in re-enactment, the family scene made for a strikingly American tableau.
Hong Le Webb, a lawyer, was wearing a flowing, traditional Vietnamese garment called ao dai. She and Webb were joined by their children and his grandchildren from former marriages.
With his long-shot Senate bid against Allen, Webb not only knocked off a popular former governor but also derailed the Republican's potential presidential candidacy in 2008.
From the outset Webb "seemed like he might be a harbinger of change," said Steve Davis of Annandale, who works for the Social Security Administration and was celebrating at Webb's reception.
"It gives me hope" to see him installed in the Senate, said B.J. Haflinger of Reston. A retiree, she lamented seeing "our young men and women dying for a war based on lies."
Webb stood atop a table to address his fans, jammed into the hearing room and spilling into a corridor.
He lifted infant daughter Georgia LeAnh and kissed her. He praised Robb and his wife, Lynda. Responding to an admirer's shouted plea for beer, he offered lightheartedly how the setting would make a "real beer moment."
Contact staff writer Peter Hardin at phardin@timesdispatch.com or (202) 662-7675.
Ellie
He introduces a new GI Bill on first day and is measured on a possible Iraq troop surge
BY PETER HARDIN
TIMES-DISPATCH WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT
Friday, January 5, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Democrat Jim Webb, whose underdog campaign shook up Virginia's and U.S. politics, took the oath of office in the Senate yesterday and quickly introduced his first bill.
The newcomer to elective office seemed to strive for a perception as independent-thinking and hard-working as he sponsored a new GI Bill and spoke temperately on a troop surge for Iraq.
His role in helping Democrats capture control of the Senate was underscored when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid dropped by Webb's reception and saluted him as "a real American hero" and lifelong "star."
"He has physical courage. He has got a lot of brains. We look forward to him in the Senate being one of the great senators of all time," Reid, D-Nevada, told cheering Webb supporters in an ornate Senate meeting room.
Webb, 60 and a former Navy secretary under President Ronald Reagan, did not reject outright yesterday the notion of a troop surge in Iraq.
"The question is what is the strategy, and does this sort of action fit the strategy," Webb told reporters.
The sometimes-combative Webb is a decorated Marine Corps veteran of the Vietnam war who made "Born Fighting" his campaign motto against Republican Sen. George Allen. Yesterday, he talked about getting along.
"I do think things through for myself," he told reporters. "On the other hand, I've got four years having worked as a committee counsel in the Congress, and five years at the Pentagon," including four in the executive branch.
"So I'm very comfortable with the idea of working with leadership to get things done."
His blunt-talking side showed in an interview on MSNBC's "Hardball" show, when he called events surrounding Saddam Hussein's hanging "really a blunder" that could have consequences for U.S. troops in Iraq.
Webb's GI Bill would provide veterans of the post-Sept. 11 era what Webb described as equivalent educational benefits to those offered service members at the end of World War II. A Webb spokesman said the bill's cost had not been estimated.
The former Republican took the oath of office from Vice President Dick Cheney after walking up the aisle with former Sen. Charles S. Robb, D-Va., and Sen. John W. Warner, R-Va.
All three are former Marines. Robb, invited by Webb to participate, was ousted from office in 2000 by Allen, whom Webb had endorsed at the time.
Webb's wife Hong Le Webb, who was a refugee from South Vietnam, cradled their infant daughter in the visitors' gallery. Other VIPs seated there included former President Bill Clinton and his daughter, Chelsea.
When Webb posed for a swearing-in re-enactment, the family scene made for a strikingly American tableau.
Hong Le Webb, a lawyer, was wearing a flowing, traditional Vietnamese garment called ao dai. She and Webb were joined by their children and his grandchildren from former marriages.
With his long-shot Senate bid against Allen, Webb not only knocked off a popular former governor but also derailed the Republican's potential presidential candidacy in 2008.
From the outset Webb "seemed like he might be a harbinger of change," said Steve Davis of Annandale, who works for the Social Security Administration and was celebrating at Webb's reception.
"It gives me hope" to see him installed in the Senate, said B.J. Haflinger of Reston. A retiree, she lamented seeing "our young men and women dying for a war based on lies."
Webb stood atop a table to address his fans, jammed into the hearing room and spilling into a corridor.
He lifted infant daughter Georgia LeAnh and kissed her. He praised Robb and his wife, Lynda. Responding to an admirer's shouted plea for beer, he offered lightheartedly how the setting would make a "real beer moment."
Contact staff writer Peter Hardin at phardin@timesdispatch.com or (202) 662-7675.
Ellie