Lawmakers urge Obama to push for Mideast peace

More than 400 US lawmakers have signed letters urging President Obama to step up efforts aimed at achieving Mideast peace.In the lower House of Representatives, 330 legislators signed a letter sponsored by Democratic majority leader Steny Hoyer and Republican minority leader Eric Cantor.The letter was sent to the White House, the same day Obama hosted Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas for their first Oval Office talks since the US president took power in January.
In the Senate a similar letter, signed by 76 senators, was sent to Obama last week during a visit here by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu."While the obstacles are formidable, we agree with you that every effort should be made to try to realise that peace at the soonest possible time," the House letter reads.
It pointed out key priorities for the lawmakers: the parties must negotiate the peace themselves; the United States would work in close cooperation with Israel; it would insist Palestinians renounce violence and build institutions needed for a viable Palestinian state; and the United States should encourage more participation in the process by Arab states.

Bush takes last Air Force One flight

President George W Bush had to be reminded that he was taking his last scheduled trip aboard Air Force One. After Barack Obama is sworn into office on January 20, Bush will fly again on the familiar blue-and-white presidential aircraft, but it won't be called Air Force One because he no longer will be the president."I don't think it had dawned on him that it was his last flight on Air Force One," White House press secretary Dana Perino told reporters on the plane as it returned to Washington from Norfolk, Virginia, where he commissioned the Navy's newest ship, the USS George H W Bush, named after his father. Bush's father told the sailors that "the freedom we seek and the peace we desire can only be found in the countless sacrifices you will make in everyday tasks you will perform."After a reporter mentioned it, the president said, "You know, you're right," Perino said, adding that he was moved by the commissioning ceremony."His whole family is here and that's all that matters to him," she added.Members of the Bush family and some of the president's friends, who attended the commissioning ceremony, shared the roughly 40-minute flight with Bush back to Washington.
After it returned to Andrews Air Force Base, just outside Washington in suburban Maryland, the Boeing 747, wet from rain, was towed into a hangar.Once inside, Bush got off and spent about 25 minutes visiting privately with members of the Presidential Airlift Group.First lady Laura Bush, their daughters, Barbara Bush and Jenna Hager, and her husband, Henry Hager, joined him in thanking the dozens of flight attendants, maintenance workers and others who handle everything from food to fuel for Air Force One.

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