The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee plans to run newspaper ads Friday targeting GOP Sens. Gordon Smith (Ore.) and John Sununu (N.H.) over their stance on the Iraq War.

In a fundraising appeal released Tuesday, DSCC Executive Director J.B. Poersch said the committee has taken out ads in The Oregonian and the New Hampshire Union Leader — the biggest newspapers in the Senators’ states — to pressure “two of the Senate’s biggest obstructers of real debate on Iraq.”[IMGCAP(1)]

Poersch said the ads are designed “to get the truth out about Sununu and Smith — who have shamelessly worked to prevent a vote on George Bush’s Iraq escalation.”

Smith and Sununu happen to be seeking re-election next year in states that lean Democratic.

Caucusing for Israel. The Congressional Christian Allies Caucus, a bipartisan group of 14 Members that formed last month to work with Christian leaders on Israeli security and diplomatic issues, will hold a news conference today at 3:30 p.m. in Room 121 of the Cannon House Office Building with members of its counterpart group in the Israeli Knesset. Reps. Dave Weldon (R-Fla.) and Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), founders and co-chairmen of the caucus, will speak at the event, which also will feature members of the Knesset. Prominent pastors and representatives from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee also are expected to attend.

At their inaugural meeting prior to today’s news conference, the two groups are scheduled to discuss an array of topics related to Israeli security.

Salute. Incoming House Clerk Lorraine Miller will be ceremonially sworn in Thursday by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) during a reception to honor the first-ever black holder of the title.

All Members of Congress have been invited to the event, which will be held in the Hall of Service at the American Red Cross National Headquarters. A slew of community leaders also are expected to attend.

In Congress, Miller served three Speakers — Pelosi, Jim Wright (D-Texas) and Tom Foley (D-Wash.) — as well as Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.). Miller also worked for the Clinton administration and currently serves as head of the Washington, D.C., branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Pelosi is scheduled to speak at the reception, which is set to begin at 6 p.m.

— Josh Kurtz, Bree Hocking and Elizabeth Brotherton