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	AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite
	President Bush greets family members and invited guests after his staff was sworn in during an East Room ceremony Monday. First lady Laura Bush stands at rear.

WASHINGTON - Getting swiftly down to work, President Bush ushered in his new administration Monday morning by welcoming his staff to "the honor of a lifetime'' and calling on them to uphold high ethical standards. As scores of new White House staff members were sworn in, Bush asked them to help deliver on promises he made during the campaign, saying, "We are here to make progress, we are not here just to mark time.'' "I want it said of us that promises made were promises kept,'' Bush said in his first official appearance in the East Room.
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WASHINGTON – President Bush has decided to block U.S. funds to international family-planning groups that offer abortion and abortion counseling, a White House official said Monday. The action, which reverses a Clinton administration stance, is among the first policy moves of the new Republican administration and was leaked on the same day that abortion opponents staged their annual march on Washington. "The president does not support using taxpayer funds to provide abortions,'' press secretary Ari Fleischer said.    [Story]
• On Roe v. Wade's 28th anniversary, the fight goes on

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New secretary of state warmly welcomed WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Colin Powell, mixing flattery, humor and his vision for the future, introduced himself Monday to State Department employees, who offered him a warm and sometimes raucous welcome. "There will be consistency, there will be some coherence in our foreign policy but there also will be changes coming. That's what elections are all about,'' Powell said. [STORY]

Bush to visit Mexico next month WASHINGTON – President Bush will travel to Mexico next month, his first trip abroad as president, the White House announced Monday. Bush will travel to Mexico on Feb. 16, said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer. He will meet with President Vicente Fox and return to the United States later that day, Fleischer said. Fox's office said the meeting will take place at Fox's family ranch in San Cristobal in central Mexico. [STORY]

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WASHINGTON Bushes' proud past makes way for next generations WASHINGTON - The Bushes are a large and sentimental clan. So it was little surprise that both Presidents Bush - the nation's 41st and the 43rd - fought tears as the family's place in history was further cemented on Saturday. WASHINGTON First day on the job filled with inauguration bustle WASHINGTON - A political consultant once said that presidents have only two really good days: when they're sworn in and when they dedicate their presidential libraries. WASHINGTON Starr calls Clinton deal `very reasonable and sensible' WASHINGTON – Kenneth Starr, whose six-year investigation of former President Clinton ranged from Whitewater to Monica Lewinsky, said Sunday the deal sealed by Clinton last week was a fitting end to an "unfortunate era.''

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