Paul O'Connor, Winston-Salem Journal

When the history of political news and the 2008 campaign is written, U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry of Cherryville may deserve a footnote.

The 10th District Republican has been much in the news lately for his reference to a “two-bit security guard” who denied him access to a gym inside Baghdad’s Green Zone. McHenry was there on a photo opportunity so he would look concerned enough about our troops to get re-elected.

Contrary to that mission, however, McHenry may have hurt his prospects for renomination with his own reporting about the trip.

The House Committee on Science and Technology’s Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight today examined how and why the Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry (ATSDR), a sister agency of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), failed to protect the public’s health after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The agency failed to translate scientific findings and facts into appropriate public health actions which would have resulted in properly informing and warning tens of thousands of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita survivors living in FEMA-provided trailers and mobile homes of the potential health risks they faced. Instead of pushing to have the residents removed immediately, the agency did virtually nothing.

Bradley Brooks, Associated Press

BAGHDAD (AP) — The number of wounded soldiers has become a hallmark of the nearly 5-year-old Iraq war, pointing to both the use of roadside bombs as the extremists' weapon of choice and advances in battlefield medicine to save lives.

About 15 soldiers are wounded for every fatality, compared with 2.6 per death in Vietnam and 2.8 in Korea.

But with those saved soldiers comes a financial price — one veterans groups and others claim the government is unwilling to pay.

Those critics also say that the tens of thousands of soldiers wounded in Iraq are part of a political numbers game, one they say undermines the medical system meant to care for them.

The most frequently cited figure is the 29,320 soldiers wounded in action in Iraq as of Thursday. But there have been 31,325 others treated for non-combat injuries and illness as of March 1.

"The Pentagon keeps two sets of books," said Linda Bilmes, a professor at Harvard and an expert on budgeting and public finance whose newly published book, "The Three Trillion Dollar War," was co-authored with Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz.

The Durham Herald Company

The Federal Emergency Management Agency manipulated scientific research in order to play down the danger posed by formaldehyde in trailers issued to hurricane victims, according to an investigation by congressional Democrats released Monday.

Rep. Brad Miller, D-N.C., led the investigation.

FEMA "ignored, hid and manipulated government research on the potential impact of long-term exposure to formaldehyde" on Katrina and Rita victims now living in FEMA trailers, Democrats on a House Science and Technology subcommittee wrote in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. FEMA is part of the Homeland Security Department.

In a separate letter, lawmakers said the federal health agency that provided guidance to FEMA was "complicit in giving FEMA precisely what they wanted."

The House took the first step toward overriding President Bush’s veto of a key defense bill today, which would ensure a halt to the Navy’s proposed outlying landing field in eastern North Carolina’s Washington County.

“If the Navy wants to move forward with an OLF, it should now be clear that they will need the support of the community,” Congressman G. K. Butterfield said.

Today, the House again approved the FY 2008 National Defense Authorization Bill, taking the first step toward overriding President Bush’s veto. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill next week.

Last month, the conference report on the FY 2008 National Defense Authorization Bill included language repealing “the authority for construction of an outlying landing field at Washington County, North Carolina.” The bill won overwhelming support from the House and Senate, but was vetoed by President Bush.

Rep. Brad Miller (NC-13) returned to Washington today after visiting with U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.

News of the trip, which began January 8, was strictly embargoed until the Congressman and other members of the congressional delegation reached Kuwait earlier yesterday. This is Rep. Miller’s third trip to Iraq.

"I met with a number of soldiers from North Carolina deployed in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Whatever our views on the wisdom of our nation’s policy in Iraq, our men and women in uniform have served admirably there and deserve our thanks for their service,” Miller said. "They are good at what they do."

Miller says improved equipment and technology was noticable in both Iraq and Afghanistan for U.S. forces. Military vehicles have been redesigned to deflect some of the force of roadside bombs, for instance.

Congressman Miller met North Carolina soldiers from Henderson, Smithfield, Apex, Morganton, Charlotte and Fayetteville. "There is no doubt that repeated deployments are taking a toll on military families."

The Congressman also met with Gen. David Petraeus, Commander, Multi-National Forces Iraq and Ryan Crocker, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq.

Congressman David Price (D-NC) today participated in a press conference unveiling a new Human Right First report on the government’s management and supervision of private contractors in the war zone.

The report – entitled “Private Contractors at War: Ending the Culture of Impunity" – calls upon Congress to enact Price’s legislation (H.R. 2740) to ensure that all war contractors are held accountable under the U.S. criminal code. The group also urges the Justice Department to use its current authority to investigate and prosecute cases of potential contractor abuse that have been documented in the media.

“The Human Rights First report is a milestone, a clarion call for immediate action to address a problem that has plagued the U.S. missions in Iraq and Afghanistan from the start,” Price said in a speech this morning. “I sincerely hope that the Senate will act soon and that the Administration will cooperate with our efforts [to pass my contractor accountability legislation].”

Gov. Mike Easley today praised Congress for their strong support of the National Guard’s dual missions of national defense and emergency response with the passage of the Defense Authorization Bill conference committee report. He urged President Bush to quickly sign the bill. The legislation, which overwhelmingly passed the U.S. House on Wednesday and the Senate today, provides critical improvements that clarify governors’ authority over the National Guard so it can respond quickly to domestic emergencies. The legislation also provides a stronger and more effective voice for governors to make sure their National Guard units are well organized, trained, equipped, compensated and supported to accomplish their federal and state missions.