Sixteen Texans attended the National Newspaper Association’s annual Governmental Affairs Conference in Washington, D.C., March 8-11.

A personal appearance, speech and Q&A session with President Bush highlighted an interesting meeting that included both elected and appointed officials giving their take on what is transpiring in national government.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., began the session berating the current status in D.C. as partisan to the extreme and a bad way to run a government. The major Iraqi war critic addressed the group and hit on his recurring themes about the war.

Rep. John Murtha, D-Penn., said it’s time to get our troops out of Iraq. He laid out an outline giving reasons for his demands and said he continues to believe we are wasting our resources in a place that will never be what we expect or want it to be.

The group also heard from Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on many topics but naturally the chief topic was Hurricane Katrina.

In a place where blame is cast around like lightning bolts, he made the simple statement, “I blame the hurricane.”

A former Central Intelligence Agency head presented the group with a history lesson. Adm. Stansfield Turner discussed the ups and downs of every secretary in charge of the top-secret group.

One of the more interesting bits of his talk centered on a major weapon system. Turner said he now believes that aircraft carriers are obsolete.  

“The Japanese sunk our battleships in Pearl Harbor, forcing us to turn to aircraft carriers as the primary fighting system in World War II,” he reminded the group.

He said that smaller ships carrying long-range missile systems have made these huge floating targets, with 60-year-old technology, out of date.

During the meeting, several of the Texas delegation spread out across Capitol Hill and scheduled appointments with their representatives and senators.  

The groups briefed their reps on several talking points NNA is interested in, including small business associations’ ability to form groups to set up health insurance plans; recommendations that the current policy of gradually eliminating the onerous estate tax be made permanent; a federal shield law; and enhanced open government acts in accordance with Sunshine Week.

Postal reform including pension plan restructuring also was a hot topic.

NNA also asked for Hurricane Katrina-related legal notice advertising in community newspapers to make the government expenditures known to the general public. The legal notices would make any spending of government funds more transparent, providing the public with a service of showing where the money is going and how necessary the funds are to the area. (Reports are rife that billions of federal dollars have disappeared on the Gulf Coast.)

This also would allow the affected newspapers to receive some much-needed revenue to continue publishing in areas where advertising sales have been much depleted, while also setting a precedent for any future FEMA projects.

The Texas group included Susie and Larry Jackson, Buddy and Judy Johnson, Lynn and Linda Brisendine, Carolee and Roy Robinson, Jerry and Vana Tidwell, John and Frances Buzzetta, Micheal Hodges, and Marshall and Debbie Day. Luke McClure, grandson of the Jacksons, enjoyed the kids’ GAC sidetrips.