Ben Kamisar

The Diplomatic Security Training Center trains all diplomatic security agents, as well as foreign service officers heading to high-threat posts. But the facility is only an interim one, built in 2007 to augment previous training sites that the Government Accountability Office called “inadequate” and said posed a “critical challenge” to training. Today, the State Department says the temporary center decreases productivity, interrupts scheduling and increases costs. That’s why the department hopes the site won’t be its permanent home.

An Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran and her female spouse will be eligible for spousal benefits after a California federal judge ruled that the Department of Veterans Affairs could not bar same-sex couples from receiving them.

Barack Obama, the nation’s first African-American president, honored the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington on Wednesday by calling for economic equality – a crucial step to long sought after racial equality – as he pushed to usher in a new era of civil rights in the United States.

As thousands of people congregate in Washington to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington, Republican Party leaders met to once again take a new step forward engaging black voters.

All 107 nuclear reactors in the United States are inadequately protected from terrorist attacks, according to a Defense Department-commissioned report released Thursday. The report, by the Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Project at the University of Texas at Austin, warns that the current security required of civilian-operated reactors fails to safeguard against airplane attacks, rocket-propelled grenades and more than a small handful of attackers.

For Bryan Ruiz and his partner, naval Engineering Duty Officer Jamie Mason, military rules regarding their same-sex relationship made each day more difficult. Without access to military health care for Ruiz, his medical bills from motorcycle accidents piled up. Since he isn’t in the military, even the mundane became tough: Mason had to escort Ruiz to and from the base so he could get to volleyball practice. But Wednesday changed all that, as the Defense Department announced that it will extend marriage benefits to same-sex spouses.

For commercial truck drivers such as Charles Ryser, when the wheels aren’t turning, you aren’t earning. Until July, Ryser and his father – who drive in a team from a base in Forsyth, Ga. – worked on their own terms. Charles took the day shift, while his father, David Ryser, got behind the wheel at dusk. But because of a Department of Transportation attempt to cut down on fatigued drivers, Ryser now has to comply with rules that lead to more downtime and force him to switch shifts regularly with his father, breaking him from his rhythm.

When the president lifts off from the White House lawn, he’s joined by a few new wingmen. On his vacation flight Saturday to Martha’s Vineyard, new MV-22 Ospreys made their debut escorting his staff, Secret Service agents and the news media – although not the chief executive himself – to the island off the Massachusetts coast.

The Republican-run House of Representatives voted 232-185 Friday to bar the besieged Internal Revenue Service from enforcing or implementing the new health care law, but the effort was largely a political exercise.

Forget the logistical nightmare of adding another star to the American flag – Puerto Rican politicians argued Thursday over whether their constituents want statehood in the first place.

Congress had a dream to celebrate the anniversary of the March on Washington before leaving for a five-week recess, and luckily for its members it had the clout to pull some strings.

Invoking the shooting death of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, two Democratic congressmen joined civil rights leaders Tuesday to promote legislation abolishing racial profiling by police officers.

More than four years after President Barack Obama ordered the closure of the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, members of Congress are still sparring over the future of the facility. The latest round came Wednesday in a Senate hearing room, where just five senators listened to service members and think tank leaders in a new attempt to take the issue off the back burner as hunger strikes and force-feedings continue at the prison.

Congress is growing increasingly wary of controversial National Security Agency domestic surveillance programs, a concern likely to erupt during legislative debate _ and perhaps prod legislative action _ as early as next week.

The sounds of djembe drums and traditional African music filled the halls of the U.S. Capitol on Thursday as members of Congress, the diplomatic corps and the public ushered in a birthday celebration for former South African President Nelson Mandela.