Pete King's Thoughts & Whereabouts: 3/16 - 3/18

Tuesday, March 16, 2010
7:00 p.m. - 9:45 p.m. - Retired firefighters (IAFF) dinner at Washington Hilton with Jimmy Boyle

Wednesday, March 17th
Happy St. Patrick's Day!

8:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. - Irish breakfast at Vice-President Biden's home for Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen. Small group. Only other Republican was Sen. Scott Brown (Mass.). I sat next to Chris Matthews discussed status of healthcare legislation. No one knows what will happen. Looks as if the vote won't come until Saturday at the earliest.

11:00 a.m. - 11:15 a.m. - Meet with Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams in 1102 Longworth Building. Have known Gerry for almost 30 years. He is a true hero of the Irish Peace Process - once reviled by many, is now admired by Irish and British, Catholic and Protestant.

Noon - 1:45 p.m. - Annual Speaker's lunch in Rayburn room in the Capitol for Prime Minister Cowen and President Obama. Dates back to Ronald Reagan - Tip O'Neill days. As always, bipartisan and well done.

6:30 p.m. - 9:45 p.m. - To Radio & TV Correspondents Dinner at Convention Center. I was guest of Fox News. Best part of evening was pre-dinner Fox Cocktail Party. Spoke with everyone from Liz Cheney (see below photo) to Jesse Jackson, and Bill O'Reilly, Don Rumsfeld, Geraldo Rivera and Fred Thompson. At the dinner I sat at table with Bill O'Reilly and Dan Snyder who owns the Redskins. V.P. Biden was the main speaker.

Thursday, March 18th
8:00 a.m. - 8:45 a.m. - Breakfast meeting in 311 Cannon with DHS Secretary Napolitano and GOP members of Homeland Security Committee.

9:00 a.m. - 9:40 a.m. - GOP Senators and House members meet on House floor to discuss strategy against Obama healthcare bill. John McCain & Scott Brown were main speakers.

11:30 a.m. - 11:40 a.m. - Telephone conversation with Sen. Lindsay Graham regarding terrorist trials. I support his efforts to try enemy combatants in military tribunals and also to set up a seperate legal framework for terrorists, including those who we believe to be dangerous but cannot be brought to trial. Sen. Graham and I do not agree on building a terrorist prison in the U.S. (Thomson, Illinois).

1:50 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. - To House floor to vote against allowing Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats to pass the Senate healthcare bill without them actually voting on it. Unfortunately, Pelosi won this procedural vote (H. Res. 1190) (222-203). It appears the healthcare vote - whatever form it takes - will be sometime Sunday afternoon.