Politics

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Former Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich talks about his new book "Turn That Car Around" and fields questions about the political climate during an interview at Johnny's on the Half-Shell in Washington, DC, Friday, December 2, 2011. (Rod Lamkey Jr/ The Washington Times)

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"North Korea's progress in developing the TD-2 shows its determination to achieve long-range ballistic missile. ... The TD-2 could reach at least portions of the United States," said James Clapper, director of national intelligence. (T.J. Kirkpatrick/The Washington Times)

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, and France's President Nicolas Sarkozy, right, speak to the media during a joint press conference at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Monday , Dec. 5, 2011. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

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French President Nicolas Sarkozy waves goodbye to German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday as she leaves the Elysee Palace after their meeting in Paris. The two leaders discussed a cohesive plan to help save the euro through stricter oversight of government budgets. The warning by Standard & Poor's of a possible credit downgrade of European nations over the debt crisis came after U.S. financial markets closed Monday. (Associated Press)

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Supporters of Russian opposition parties chant anti-goverment slogans during a rally in Moscow on Monday. It was thought to be the largest opposition rally in years and ended with police detaining some of the activists. They chanted "Russia without Putin." (Associated Press)

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Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai shakes hands with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (center), while German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle (right) stands next to them at the International Afghanistan Conference in Bonn on Monday. (Associated Press)

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Washington goalie Tomas Vokoun played the past four seasons with Florida, but he was given the night off Monday when the Capitals took on the Panthers. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

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** FILE ** Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani gives an interview at his home on Monday, Dec. 5, 2011. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

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President Obama urges Republican lawmakers to extend the payroll-tax cut in remarks to reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington on Monday, Dec. 5, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

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Russian opposition members chant anti-government slogans during a rally in Moscow on Monday, Dec. 5, 2011, to protest against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his party. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

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D.C. Council Chairman Kwame R. Brown (center) is seated between Committee on Government Operations Chairman Muriel Bowser (left) and council member David A. Catania (right) during a committee hearing in which a wide-ranging ethics-reform bill was advanced to the full council.

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French President Nicolas Sarkozy greets German Chancellor Angela Merkel before their meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Monday, Dec. 5, 2011. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere)

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Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton (left) and former President Bill Clinton (right) pose with 2011 Kennedy Center Honorees (front row from left) Sonny Rollins, Barbara Cook, (back row from second from left) Yo-Yo Ma, Meryl Streep and Neil Diamond at the State Department following a dinner and reception on Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011, in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

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"Respect for human rights is a cornerstone of our foreign policy. The committee is deeply concerned about what happened to Sergei Magnitsky, and I strongly support the administration's decision to use its authority to bar human-rights abusers from coming to the U.S.," said Sen. John F. Kerry, Massachusetts Democrat and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. (Associated Press)