Daily Briefing: Keep On Working

• White House is willing to open the Strategic Petroleum Reserve if needed in aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. [WSJ, WP]
• Bush, in attempt to change topic from Iraq, again calls for overhaul of Social Security and says “there is more we can do” about border security. Bush on Social Security: “I’m going to keep working this issue.”[NYT, WP, USAT]
• Roberts argued for a permanent ban of racial quotas in the workplace and against school busing designed to integrate students. [WP]
• Roberts advised the Reagan administration not to expand policing powers to government agencies such as the Interior and Agriculture Departments; called “a classic conservative articulation of the individual’s right to be protected from state power.” [NYT]
• Leahy gives heads-up to Roberts: expect questions about the “Bybee memo” that defines the legality of torture. [NYT, LAT]
• White House official says Republicans have lost their advantage on education; No Child Left Behind is increasingly unpopular among both parties. [WSJ, LAT]

• Abramoff pleads not guilty to conspiracy and wire fraud charges. [WP]
• Global weapons sales reach five-year high, with the United States in the lead. [NYT]
• Top Air Force general says Iraq will need their support for the long-haul. [NYT]
• Gonzales prefers House version of revised Patriot Act. [WP]
• Jesse Helms equates abortion to the Holocaust and 9/11 in his new book. [WP]

READ MORE: Democrats, Republicans, White House, air force, alberto gonzales, borders, congress, george w. bush, hurricane katrina, iraq, jack abramoff, jesse helms, john g. roberts, no child left behind, oil, social security