Politics

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Jack Brooks, who represented southeastern Texas in Congress for 42 years, stands at far right, behind Jacqueline Kennedy, as Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn in as president on Nov. 22, 1963, aboard Air Force One. Mr. Brooks, who was in the Dallas motorcade when President Kennedy was assassinated, died Dec. 4, 2012, in Beaumont, Texas, at age 89. He was a strong proponent of civil rights and government accountability. Vice President Joseph R. Biden said he was “never afraid to fight for what he believed in.” (White House via Associated Press)

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GOP Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, citing terrorism, sponsored legislation to give former U.S. presidents and their wives lifetime Secret Service protection. (Associated Press)

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** FILE ** Rep. Tim Huelskamp, Kansas Republican. (Associated Press)

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“I think he definitely qualifies as the first American Indian president,” said Swinomish Indian Tribal Community Chairman Brian Cladoosby of President Obama during the Tribal Nations Conference on Wednesday.

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Rep. Darrell E. Issa, California Republican, and Democratic Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District’s nonvoting member of Congress, have been working for the past 18 months on a legislative route to D.C. budget autonomy. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

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Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev says Congress, in attaching a human rights provision to trade legislation, is “making a big mistake.” (Associated Press)

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A Lebanese army soldier stands on top of a tank during clashes that erupted in the northern port city of Tripoli, Lebanon, on Wednesday. The fighting comes as rebels close in on Syrian President Bashar Assad’s seat of power in Damascus. (Associated Press)

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A U.S. Marine stands guard in Kuwait. Next year, the Marines will incorporate Mind Fitness Training classes into an infantry school at Camp Pendleton, Calif., making it a tentative part of the regular training cycle. (J.M. Eddins Jr./The Washington Times)

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**FILE** Defense Secretary Leon Panetta listens during a Sept. 27, 2012, news conference at the Pentagon in Washington. (Associated Press)

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Speaker of the House John Boehner, Ohio Republican, and the House GOP leadership speak to reporters following a closed strategy session at the Capitol in Washington on Dec. 5, 2012. From left are House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Boehner, Chief Deputy Whip Rep. Peter Roskam, Illinois Republican, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Washington Republican, and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Virginia Republican. (Associated Press)

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President Obama speaks about the "fiscal cliff" before the Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive officers, in Washington on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)