Casper Star-Tribune from Casper, Wyoming • 1

A rsj ot OnC A in IP Sunday, December 18, 2005 WYOMING'S STATEWIDE NEWSPAPER www.casperstartribune.net -41 1 -13 1 lIOiLMlC An effective compromiser U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi, right and Sen. Craig Thomas, left, exchange words during last month's announcement regarding grizzly bear delisting. Sen.

Larry Craig, R-ldaho, is at center. 7T it A ii i My i By NOELLE STRAUB Star-Tribune Washington bureau WASHINGTON Last year, when Sen. Michael Enzi became chairman of the Senate committee responsible for health, education and labor issues, he decided first to sit down with the panel's top Democrat, Sen. Edward Kennedy. The Wyoming Republican pulled out a list of 31 expiring laws that needed to be renewed, handed it to the famous Massachusetts liberal right And he did.

And we have." In his first year chairing the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Enzi said, his panel has approved 22 bills. The Senate has passed many of those, and President Bush already has signed four into law. Some of the most important issues tackled by Enzi's panel in the past year include measures that Please see ENZI.A16 Inside Enzi aids passage of key legislation A16 and said he wanted to get them all done. "And (Kennedy) said, Tou know in the last two years we did two of them, and some of these are very difficult," Enzi recalled. "And I said, "Well, would you mind checking the ones that you think are really difficult and we'll get started on them Associated Press Bush: I (lid it Acknowledges, defends eavesdropping order By PETER BAKER The Washington Post WASHINGTON President Bush said Saturday that he secretly ordered the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans with suspected ties to terrorists because it was "critical to saving American lives" and "consistent with U.S.

law and the Constitution." Bush said Young Katrina survivors await Christmas By MARTHA IRVINE AP national writer CHICAGO The first time Mary McCray's granddaughters saw snow, it was Christmas in New Orleans last year. Few of the flakes stuck, but to them, it was a miracle. The four girls, ages 8 to 12, remember the chicken, stuffed peppers and baked macaroni their grandmother made for a special dinner and the presents Santa brought And now, despite all they've been through wading through neck-high flood water to escape Hurricane Katrina, sleeping on the ground outside the Su-perdome and a long bus ride to Houston and then Chicago they're just as excited this year. "We're going to have another white Christmas!" Rabriel McCray, the eldest of the girls, shouts gleefully as she watches an all-put blizzard from a window. Their grandmother is more subdued and looks worried.

"You know what I told you," she says, looking at a boxed-up Easy Bake oven she purchased to replace one they left behind and a TV that has a few basic video games. "This is all I can buy you." Even so, the girls stay upbeat, a testament to the resilience of some of the youngest Katrina survivors, whose families are often struggling. Parents and aid workers note that many storm-displaced children are helping in their own way, making modest requests when asked what they'd like Santa to bring them this year. "When I look at their lists, I find it quite amazing. Usually kids ask for PlayStations or DVDs these kids are asking for necessities," says Cher-rell Jackson, who is coordinating a holiday gift program for about 200 Katrina families for the Heartland Alliance, a Chicago-based service organization.

"One boy asked for a necklace for his mother and a football that was it" retiree Bruce Wal-stad says. "A 9-year-old boy asked for clothes for his 3-year-old sister and he knew the sizes. Another just wanted 'someone to help my mom take care of It can bieak your heart." Each of the girls has put clothing at the top of her list for Santa, along with scarves, hats and gloves. "And an ice cream maker!" Wilshondra says. Mari, their 10-year-old sister, also asks to put in a request for their grandmother: "A big fluffy coat the biggest you got! And a truck to ride around in." the program has been reviewed regularly by the nation's top legal authorities and targets only those people with "a clear link to these 1 iUSH Sarah Beth Bamett, Star-Tribune Four-month-old Charla gets a kiss from Santa during the Seton House Christmas party on Monday night.

Santa arrives at terrorist networks." Noting the failures to detect hijackers already in the country before the strikes on New York and Washington, Bush said the NSA's domestic spying since then has helped thwart other attacks. In his statement, delivered during a live and unusually long radio address, the president assailed the news media for disclosing the eavesdropping program, and rebuked Senate Democrats for blocking renewal of the USA Patriot Act, which gave the FBI greater surveillance power after 911 and which expires Dec. 31. "The terrorist threat to our country will not expire in two weeks," said Bush, calling a filibuster by Democratic senators opposed to the Patriot Act "irresponsible." The speech represented a turnaround for a White House that initially refused to discuss the highly classified NSA effort even after it was revealed in news accounts. Advisers said Bush decided to confirm the program's existence and combine that with a demand for reauthorization of the Patriot Act to put critics on the defensive by framing it as a matter of national security, not civil liberties.

Congressional Democrats and some Republicans have expressed outrage. touse etoxii it 4 The 4-year-old is advised to turn around, and the second she does, Santa Claus walks through the door. It's Christmas at Seton House and, as will be repeated in households all over a week from today, it's chaos at the sprawling compound of buildings on North Durbin Street. After a dinner of turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes and ham and potluck dishes ranging from green chile and chicken mole to divine cauliflower and broccoli salad with red grapes, Pam Kozola tried to deliver a Christmas message. Please see SETON HOUSE, A1 6 By SALLY ANN SHURMUR Star-Tribune staff writer Her luminous brown eves are the first thing you notice.

That, and her wispy blonde pixie haircut. A visitor's eyes are then drawn to the moist brownie crumbs all over her lips, rosy cheeks and chin. This 4-year-old is a veteran of all things Santa. "I want a talking tree and a talking duck," she said. Soon, the visitor spies something red and furry through the floor to ceiling window next to the door.

JeffRobarsoaAP Mary McCray, center, sits in her apartment on Chicago's far South Side, with her granddaughters, left to right, Wilshondra, Rabriel, 12; Keoka, and Mari, 10, on Thursday. Wea1 -Htia Low: 4 The m1 Index Advisers C10 Business C1 Casper A3 Classified E4 Comics inside Movies C7 Obituaries B3-4 Opinion A10 Puzzles E19 Weather B8 Weddings C12 I Cityof Charityfor Dodgeball FTTF" II There's still time New Orleans politicOS It's a classic schoolyard I Dreaming of a white Arlo Guthrie and Senator's AIDS game played by Christmas? Decorating friends ride that train of charity pays fees children and wannabe ispartofwhatisneces- song to benefit Katrina to his associates gladiators alike. 4 sary to make that dream victims SA2 See A3 come true. SC14 See" I know who the ACLU is giving coal to. 1 0.