11.   Influencing the debate is the experience a century ago of U.S. soldiers conducting bloody counterinsurgency campaigns to consolidate control over the Philippines, a former Spanish colony.

12.   In the scramble to influence this debate, a group of public relations officials apparently jumped the gun last weekat a scientific conference here.

13.   In the United States, older people heavily influence debates over the future of Social Security, Medicaid and the setting of other priorities in national budgets.

14.   Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, a fellow Republican who has no direct role in the fight but could influence the debate, said Thursday that he supports the current system.

15.   Neither the administration nor the Republicans seem concerned about how our actions on missile defense might influence that debate.

16.   Others, including Mohamed Abdu Yaman, a former information minister, argued against boycotting the event, arguing that Saudi Arabia could help influence the debate.

17.   That is where Biden hopes to influence the debate.

18.   The group hopes to influence political debates on criminal justice issues including prison reform, sentencing laws, and alternatives to incarceration.

19.   The presidential commission is developing potential industry rules that could influence debate in Congress over regulation of managed-care health insurers.

20.   Then they can develop new strategies to influence the debate on these issues, he said.