Row erupts over Berkeley's anti-Marine stance

 Liberals tell U.S. Marine Corps recruiters no longer welcome...

"If the U.S. Marines are not good enough for Berkeley, neither are taxpayer dollars," Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, said in a statement.

Last week, the Berkeley City Council agreed to send a letter to the Marines stating their recruiters were not welcome in the city and that those who stayed would be considered "uninvited and unwelcome intruders."

The council also applauded people who "impede" the recruiters' work and awarded a free parking permit to Code Pink, an anti-war group that demonstrates daily outside the Marine recruiting office in the city.

Three of the group's supporters were arrested recently for chaining themselves to the office's entrance.

The Marine office is the only military recruiting center in the city. The Marines had no immediate comment on the city's move.

"It's pretty outrageous," state Assemblyman Guy Houston said in an interview. "They're allowing an organization to harass and abuse a storefront (office). ... Berkeley has to understand that there are ramifications."