U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, a Banner Elk Republican, this morning said Americans have more to fear from the Democratic health bill than from terrorists, reports Barb Barrett.

According to a YouTube clip posted by liberal media watchdog Media Matters, Foxx said in a House floor speech:

“I believe that the greatest fear that we all should have to our freedom comes from this room -- this very room -- and what may happen later this week in terms of a tax increase bill masquerading as a health care bill. I believe we have more to fear from the potential of that bill passing than we do from any terrorist right now in any country.”

A full House floor vote on the health care bill could come as early as Friday.

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr wants U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to hold off on investigating CIA interrogators for suspected abuse of detainees.

Burr, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, was one of nine Republicans signing a letter to Holder, who is reportedly considering an investigation, according to Congressional Quarterly.

In the letter, the senators say Holder ought to focus instead on investigating suspects in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, reports Barb Barrett. And they argue that an investigation would send the wrong message to government interrogators.

“The intelligence community will be left to wonder whether actions taken today in the interest of national security will be subject to legal recriminations when the political winds shift,” the senators wrote.

A Senate investigation has shown that the Bush Justice Department gave authority to the CIA for harsh interrogation techniques, including waterboarding, of detainees. But CQ reports that an upcoming Inspector’s General report will show that many interrogators went beyond those guidelines.

An earmark from two state Democrats would study virtual warfare.

Reps. David Price of Chapel Hill and Mike McIntyre of Lumberton both requested $3.7 million for UNC-Chapel Hill to start a Center on Experiential Technologies.

The center would create and study simulations of urban warfare, terrorist scenarios and natural disasters.

"The military increasingly uses such simulation training to enable leaders and responders to optimize their tactics using 'what-if' simulations based on real world situations they may encounter," Price wrote in his request.

McIntyre said the center would also boost the economy.

"This Center will stimulate and promote economic growth in North Carolina through existing and new collaborative ties to the statewide defense, simulation and gaming industry," he wrote in his request.

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr will look into terrorism involving weapons of mass destruction.

The Winston-Salem Republican announced today that he and Sen. Bob Casey, a Pennsylvania Democrat, are starting the Senate Caucus on WMD Terrorism.

The bipartisan group of eight senators will highlight the problem of terrorist groups obtaining nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and discuss policy responses.

"We must ensure the U.S. government continues to make the prevention of, and preparedness for, bioterrorism and other WMD threats a top priority," Burr said in a statement.

The other members of the caucus are Democratic Sens. Evan Bayh and Russ Feingold; Republican Sens. James Inhofe, Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson; and independent Sen. Joe Lieberman.

U.S. Rep. David Price is heading to Southeast Asia this week.

The Chapel Hill Democrat will lead a bipartisan delegation to monitor the work of the Department of Homeland Security in the Phillippines, Hong Kong and Vietnam.

The trip is designed to give members of Congress a better understanding of the department's coordination with foreign governments to secure U.S.-bound cargo and work on anti-terrorism efforts and international adoption issues.

The delegation includes Democratic Reps. Sam Farr, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Mike Honda and Mazie Hirono as well as Republican Rep. John Carter.

Most of the members sit on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, which Price chairs.

They were scheduled to meet with Phillippines president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, among other foreign leaders, during the trip.

U.S. Rep. David Price traveled to New York City on Monday to take a look at how the city is protecting sites from radiological or nuclear attacks.

New York recently received $29.5 million for its "Securing the Cities" protection program. The federal project is to be expanded to other cities as well, Barb Barrett reports.

Price and three other members of Congress flew over sites by helicopter and visited Grand Central Station. Price also was a guest of Mayor Michael Bloomberg for dinner at the mayoral residence.

Such visits allow host cities to show how they're spending federal dollars and lobby for more funds. Price, a Chapel Hill Democrat, holds the purse strings as chairman of the funding subcommittee for the Department of Homeland Security.

Price visited New York at the invitation of Rep. Steve Israel. 

Pat McCrory called George W. Bush a "great president" in 2004.

During a two-minute speech at the Republican National Convention in New York City on Aug. 30, the Charlotte mayor praised Bush's leadership on behalf of the Republican Mayors and Local Officials 527 group.

"As mayors, we are on the front lines of government," he said. "So I'm pleased to say that our president has been a very good friend to mayors."

He spoke about brownfield legislation that rehabilitates industrial waste sites, tax cuts and increased homeownership and "strong and decisive leadership" from Bush on terrorism:

"But most of all, President Bush has helped cities by reassuring people through strong and decisive leadership on the war on terrorism. He understands that to protect our cities we must take the war to those trying to destroy us. We have witnessed leadership in the toughest of times from a great Republican mayor right here in New York City and from a great president during the past four years. Cities large and small will benefit by having President Bush leading us for another four more years."

A new ad from Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beverly Perdue attacks McCrory for his ties to Bush, noting that he called him "a great president."

Barack Obama's third TV ad to air since the primary focuses on foreign policy.

After a biographical themed ad and one on domestic policy, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee talks about the role of the United States in the world in his latest ad.

"We are a beacon of light around the world," he says. "At least that's what we can be again."

He notes his time working with Republican Sen. Dick Lugar of Indiana on legislation to reduce the stockpile of used nuclear weaponsin other countries.

"The single most important national security threat that we face is nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terrorists," he says. 

The ad will air in 18 states, including traditional battleground states like Florida and Michigan and unusual states like Alaska and Virginia. 

U.S. Reps. Brad Miller and David Price spent part of their summer vacation this week in a hotel in Liberia's capital city of Monrovia that lacked hot water but had exposed wiring, that smelled of gasoline and whose power blinked off occasionally through the night.

It was a change from the plush digs of Capitol Hill, Barb Barrett reports.

It also was a sobering reminder of the conditions in poor nations plagued by civil strife.

"We have just visited two of the poorest nations on the planet," Miller said Wednesday in an interview from Africa. "Liberia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Both have been through horrific conflict."

Liberia had 14 years of civil war, and the Democratic Republic of Congo is emerging from a civil war that has killed more than 5 million people, said Miller, of Raleigh.

"These societies are not the slightest threat to us economically," he said. "Their poverty is a security threat to the United States. Failed societies and ungoverned areas are where extremism and terrorism really take hold."

Miller joined a Price-led congressional trip to the region to learn more about developing countries there and assist new democracies in strengthening their legislative branches. U.S. Rep. Mel Watt of Charlotte also was on the trip.

The delegation will be in Kenya, Malawi and Mauratania before returning to the United States. 

An independent ad campaign attacking Barack Obama will air in North Carolina.

The 60-second spot, called "Victims," will be aired later this month as part of a plan to raise the Democratic presidential candidate's negatives among Republican voters, Time reports.

It is being spearheded by a group of conservative activists led by Floyd Brown, who created the famous Willie Horton ad that helped derail Michael Dukakis' candidacy.

The ad attempts to tie Obama's record on crime to his handling of terrorism.

A narrator recounts the deaths of three Chicago residents in gang violence in 2001, when Obama was a state legislator.

"That same year, a Chicago state senator named Barack Obama voted against expanding the death penalty for gang-related murders," the narrator says. "So the question is, can a man so weak in the war on gangs be trusted in the war on terror?" 

A second ad focusing on driver's licenses for illegal immigrants will also air in North Carolina.