Sen. Richard Burr will be part of a small congressional delegation who will lead the Memorial Day Ceremonies at the Normandy American Cemetery in France.

The Winston-Salem Republican will deliver a speech and help lay a wreath in honor of the thousands of American servicemen who lost their lives during the D Day invasion and its aftermath during World War II.

Burr, who is the ranking Republican on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, will be going with Senators Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and Rep. John Kline of Minnesota.

The trip is being sponsored by the Senate Intelligence Committee and the delegation will also visit other unspecified countries.

Cindy McCain said her husband knows the personal costs of war.

Introducing him at a rally in Fayetteville today, she said that he took his stands on the Iraq war and the surge knowing that it would affect his two sons.

She pointed to a woman in the audience who had a sign with two Blue Stars, denoting that her children were in the military.

"I'm a two-star Blue Star mom too! Thank you!" she said. 

Gov. Tom Ridge then took the stage, telling the crowd of more than 8,500 that McCain would promote strength and security. He also stressed that the next president could nominate up to three Supreme Court justices.

He also noted the applause and excitement of the crowd. 

"If I didn't know better, I'd say we were at the Duke-Carolina basketball game with all this enthusiasm," he said.

Sen. Lindsey Graham then spoke, arguing that McCain would win North Carolina.  

"He's going to win North Carolina because he fits North Carolina like a glove," he said. "I'll beat Michael Phelps in swimming before Barack Obama wins North Carolina."

John McCain's campaign got an unfortunate metaphor today.

A few minutes after landing at the Fayetteville airport, one of the lead SUVs in the Republican presidential candidate's motorcade got a flat tire.

The motorcade stopped along Airport Road near the intersection with Dunebuggy Lane, just a mile from the general aviation terminal where he had landed.

His wife Cindy, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and former Homeland Security head Tom Ridge were briefly spotted switching cars. It's not clear yet whether McCain was in the same SUV.

It was not the first bit of bad luck for McCain today, who had to cancel a scheduled event in Quakerstown, Penn., earlier this morning because of rain.

He instead will spend the next two and a half hours doing satellite interviews with national TV news outlets from the Hilton Garden Inn in Fayetteville.

These kinds of car trouble are routine in political campaigns, but they are especially nerve-wracking for staffers when they happen just one week out from the election.

A campaign rally will be held at the Crown Center later this afternoon.

Update: Ridge confirmed that he, the McCains and Graham were in the SUV when it got a flat tire.

"I heard a thump-thump and figured something was wrong," he said. 

Gracie Kays got a pretty unique birthday present today.

The Wilmington resident, who turned 14, will get a piece of green construction paper with the words "Happy Birthday Gracie" on it signed by none other than Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

Her father, Chuck, handed the card to McCain along with a hardcover copy of "Faiths of Our Fathers" as the Arizona senator stepped off the Straight Talk Express at the Wilmington airport around 1:40 p.m.

Chuck Kays is a local plastic surgeon and one of four members of the airport authority who were allowed to greet McCain, along with U.S. Sens. Richard Burr and Lindsey Graham 

He said Gracie and her sister, 9-year-old Lily, are both big McCain fans. So what will Lily get for her birthday?

"Now you're stirring up family trouble," he told a reporter. 

MINNEAPOLIS — So Sen. Richard Burr's sitting at the bar Wednesday night.

He's in the Hilton hotel, toniest address in town, hanging with his boys Sen. Lindsey Graham, Sen. Saxby Chambliss and Iowa Rep. Tom Latham, kickin' it after the vice presidential nominee's big speech, Barb Barrett reports.

All the bigwigs are staying at the Hilton, from Burr to Sen. John McCain himself. Who knows who could walk into the bar?

"...when Sarah Palin came down!" Burr told the North Carolina delegation at its breakfast the next morning.

"It turned into quite an event," he said.

Burr didn't say what she was drinking.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole also ranks poorly compared to the rest of her class.

Of the nine senators elected in 2002 still in office, Dole is ranked eighth in power rankings put together by the nonpartisan Congressional data company Knowlegis.

Here's the ranks of her classmates:

Lamar Alexander: 32nd
Lindsey Graham: 60th
Saxby Chambliss: 61st
Mark Pryor: 62nd
John Cornyn: 80th
Norm Coleman: 82nd
John Sununu: 89th
Elizabeth Dole: 93rd
Lisa Murkowski: 96th

Except for Pryor, all of Dole's 2002 classmates are Republicans.

Knowlegis cofounder Brad Fitch said that comparing senators to others who took office in the same year is the best way to gauge their power, since seniority gives senators more power. 

Sen. Richard Burr, a Winston-Salem Republican, scored a minor victory today when part of his plan for education benefits for returning military veterans was included in the massive war supplemental package this week.

The majority of House and Senate members wanted the GI bill pitched by Sen. Jim Webb, a Democrat from Virginia, that allows vets to get into the most expensive in-state university in their home state, Barb Barrett reports.

Burr, along with Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, had an idea allowing military members to transfer benefits to spouses or children after several years in the service.

That transferability option was preferred by the Pentagon, which said Webb's generous benefits package could encourage troops to leave the military at a critical time.

The war supplemental bill has bounced among the House, Senate and White House in recent weeks as politicians argued about funding for the war and domestic programs.

The deal reached Wednesday night by congressional leaders has been okayed by the White House.

After a political deal cut late Wednesday, Senate Democrats plan to allow a vote on Sen. Jim Webb's bill to expand college benefits for military veterans.

Webb's bill, which would cost $52 billion over 10 years, would allow veterans to attend the most expensive in-state public university in their home state, Barb Barrett reports.

His bill is co-sponsored by a majority of the Senate and has been endorsed by several veterans' groups.

Sen. Richard Burr is trying to persuade leadership to allow a debate on his and Sen. Lindsey Graham's bill as well. Their proposal, about $38 billion over 10 years, would raise the monthly stipend for veterans.

To address concerns from the Pentagon about troop retention, their bill also allows the full education benefit to be transferred to military members after 12 years of service. It also is authored by Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

"What we're here today to do is have a choice between something and nothing. I'm not sure that's fair for our veterans," Burr said on the floor. "The politics of this has gotten ugly."

Republican Sens. Richard Burr of North Carolina and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina cribbed a few details today from a Democratic colleague for their version of the GI bill, which helps pay for college for military veterans.

But both men say their version is still superior to the one offered by Sen. Jim Webb, a Virginia Democrat, which is wrapped inside the massive war supplemental package being considered in the Senate, reports Barb Barrett.

The pair, along with Sen. John McCain of Arizona, increased the annual payment for books to $1,000, allowed Guard and Reservists to more easily qualify for benefits and eliminated the $1,200 join-up fee for military members to participate in the program.

All match details of the Webb bill.

But in a news conference today, Burr and Graham said their bill will better help retention in the military. It allows military members to transfer half their college benefits to a spouse or child after six years, and 100 percent of the benefits after 12 years.

“I am not going to sit on the sidelines and under feel-good politics create a program that will hurt America’s ability to retain its force,” Graham said. “Now is not the time to put a benefit on the table that incentivizes people to leave the military.”

Read more after the jump.

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