John McHugh

As Azi reported yesterday, Mike Bloomberg doesn’t seem to be a fan of the sweeping Energy Bill that President Bush signed yesterday – in particular, its mandate for an massive increase in ethanol production.

Bloomberg called the ethanol provision “an outrage” and said it would drive up food costs and “have worldwide implications on the food supply.” Ethanol, of course, is a sacred product in Iowa, the key caucus that the presidential candidates dare not offend.

So did New York’s Congressional delegation agree with the mayor? Apparently not: 28 of 29 New Yorkers in the House voted for the bill when it came up for its final vote last week (it cleared the chamber on a 314-100 vote). The lone exception was Staten Island’s Vito Fossella, who didn’t show up to vote. The bill cleared the Senate on an 86-8 vote, with Chuck Schumer voting yes and Hillary Clinton, perhaps too busy campaigning in Iowa, not voting.

In fairness, earlier versions of the bill produced slightly less unanimity. The initial version passed by the House (on a 264-143 vote) was supported by all of New York’s Democrats but only three Republicans: Randy Kuhl, John McHugh and Jim Walsh. Tom Reynolds, Peter King, and Fossella votes against it.

Hillary Clinton's 2 p.m. press conference with Sen. Evan Bayh and Rep. John McHugh about their trip to Iraq and Afghanistan has been rescheduled for 3 p.m. tomorrow.

According to the Clinton people, the decision to delay the event on this busy news day was made because McHugh is stuck in Germany due to illness.

-- Azi Paybarah

A spokeswoman for Congressman John M. McHugh, who is traveling to Iraq this weekend with Hillary Clinton and Evan Bayh, just filled me in on some more details about the delegation's agenda this weekend.

According to the spokesperson, Brynn Barnett, the group has a "packed schedule," and will be meeting with "government officials from Iraq and Afghanistan and top U.S. military and civilian leadership in the region."

For security reasons, she asked that I not write about the actual camps and bases that the delegation will be visiting, but she did say that Hillary and company will be meeting with soldiers representing New York.

"The Congressman and Senator Clinton obviously both have a vested interest in those troops," she said.

Barnett said the delegation wants to sound out the troops and leadership in Iraq about how and whether they think President Bush's new strategy of increasing troop levels to stabilize Baghdad can work. (Clinton has expressed opposition to the troop increase.)

As for the timing of the visit, just after the president's big speech, Barnett said, "This is obviously a very timely occasion to go. Clinton had been interested to go."

Clinton herself explained the timing to the Associated Press this way:

"This was the first opportunity we had to be able to go because of the long weekend, and it turns out that the timing is propitious because of the president's plans."

--Jason Horowitz