In Today’s Times:
Navy investigators are examining a female student’s claim that she was raped by several midshipmen at the Naval Academy who were not punished after the assault even as she faced discipline, Jim Risen reports. The investigation at the elite academy, which has sputtered along for about a year, has come to light as the military faces intense pressure to reverse a rising tide of sexual assaults within its ranks.
Robert Pear dissects a report issued Friday that predicted a brighter future for Medicare and a stable but unsustainable position for Social Security as the economy improves and health care spending falls. The report, from the trustees of Medicare, urges Congress to strengthen financing for both programs.
President Obama is urging Congress to take action to prevent student loan interest rates from doubling next month, when a temporary extension of the current rates expires. But, as Sarah Wheaton explains, the president and Democrats disagree with Republicans over what would make a good permanent solution. The Senate is expected to vote next week to extend the current rates for two more years.
John M. Broder explains a high-stakes fight between environmental groups and a forestry panel over how timbers are labeled that aims to test new federal rules laying out the circumstances under which a company can claim that a product or process is environmentally sound.
The Weekly Address:
Pointing to improvements in the economy, President Obama prodded Congress to encourage further growth by taking steps to aid homeowners, create infrastructure jobs and overhaul the nation’s immigration laws. “We’ve got to keep this progress going until middle-class families start regaining that sense of security,†he said. “And we can’t let partisan politics get in the way.â€
Happening in Washington:
Condoleezza Rice, the former secretary of state, and Bill Russell, the Hall of Fame basketball player and coach, will receive the Lincoln Medal on Sunday at the Ford’s Theater gala. Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. is expected to attend the ceremony.
President Obama’s week ahead includes hosting a mental health conference, meeting with the president of Chile, congratulating the Baltimore Ravens on winning the Super Bowl, and a stop in Charlotte, N.C., on the way to Los Angeles, where he will meet with the president of China.
