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May 21, 2013, 6:00 pm
By
Eric Balderas
I have much in common with my home state’s junior senator, Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Like Cruz, I was not born in the U.S. Like Cruz, I moved to Texas at the age of 4 and grew up pledging allegiance to the American flag. Like
Cruz, I graduated as valedictorian of my high school class and then
attended college at an Ivy League university. As a law student, the
senator undoubtedly walked the same Harvard Yard that I cross as a
rising undergraduate senior. In fact, like Cruz, I hope to also embark
on a career in public service. Also like Cruz, I am in
Washington, D.C., this week at the Senate Judiciary Committee’s markup
of immigration reform legislation. Why am I choosing to miss Harvard’s
senior week and celebrating my friends’ graduations in favor of a bill
markup? Because of a major, troubling difference I have with Cruz.
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May 21, 2013, 4:30 pm
By
Former Reps. Tom Ewing (R-Ill.) and Marty Russo (D-Ill.)
Throughout our respective political careers, we have seen the damaging
effects of partisan gridlock. Oftentimes when politicians engage in
fierce debate on a contentious issue, they fail to recognize that it is
ordinary citizens who suffer most from this counterproductive
quarreling.
But we are also aware of the momentous breakthroughs
made possible due to lawmakers’ willingness to come together and achieve
results on historically divisive issues. Whether it was the passage of
the Tax Reform Act of 1986 during Marty’s tenure on the Ways and Means
Committee or the enactment of the welfare reform law of 1996 while Tom
was serving in the House, we understand that it is possible to overcome
major challenges in a bipartisan fashion.
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May 21, 2013, 4:00 pm
By
Pedro Pierluisi
Puerto Rico’s governor recently wrote about the results of the U.S. territory’s November status referendum (“Moving forward together,” May 20), painting a picture that bears little resemblance to what actually transpired. The
governor supports Puerto Rico’s current territory status, while I
support statehood. I cannot comprehend how one can defend a status that
deprives the 3.7 million U.S. citizens residing in Puerto Rico of voting
representation in their national government, denies them equal
treatment under federal law, and is the root cause of the significant
economic and security problems on the island that the governor bemoans. Pro-status
quo leaders are entitled to their beliefs. But they are not entitled to
distort the referendum results simply because those results are not to
their liking.
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May 21, 2013, 3:25 pm
By
Rear Adm. (Ret.) Thomas Cropper and Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.)
“Go West young man, go West.”
These words by author
Horace Greeley in the mid-1800s helped spur the American westward
movement that ultimately created the state of California. Tomorrow marks
National Maritime Day, and Greeley’s words resonate all the more
strongly for the citizens of our maritime state as we embark upon the
American Pacific century. We need only look West once more to find
golden opportunities on our Pacific doorstep.
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May 21, 2013, 2:30 pm
By
Jeff Bachman
With the revelation that the Department of Justice secretly obtained two
months of The Associated Press’ telephone records and used security
badge access records to track James Rosen’s visits to the State
Department, along with a warrant to search Rosen’s personal emails,
there has been a rush in the mainstream media to declare the DOJ’s
actions to be part of what they claim to be President Obama’s aggressive
pursuit of those who would leak secret information to the press.
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May 21, 2013, 12:30 pm
By
Ellynne Bannon
The cozy relationship between politicians and big business has been a
fact of life in America since the days of the robber barons. Today, this
affiliation is especially strong between certain governors and the oil
and gas industry. And, the consequences could include drastic impacts on
the health and safety of their constituents. Nowhere is this more
apparent than in the case of Colorado’s Gov. John Hickenlooper. Given
that Colorado is the epicenter of both the gas boom and the controversy
over its impacts, the governor has become a leading national figure on
oil and gas. Earlier this year, Hickenlooper appeared in front of the
U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee during a hearing and
stated that he drank fracking fluid, implying that it’s safe. Shortly
after, he was forced to clarify that what he drank isn’t actually used
commercially, stating that: “I don’t think there’s any frack fluid right
now that I’m aware of that people are using commercially that you want
to drink.” It turns out that this wasn’t the last time that the governor would go to bat for the oil-and-gas industry.
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May 21, 2013, 10:30 am
By
Robert N. Tracci
Legislative efforts to shield the media from disclosing sources of
classified information often follow perceived incidents of prosecutorial
overreach. Following the Valerie Plame investigation, media shield
legislation received consideration in both houses. The Free Flow of
Information Act curtailed investigate authority to compel disclosure of
media sources who disclose national security and other law enforcement
sensitive information.
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May 21, 2013, 8:30 am
By
Steven Jansen
As Congress begins debating immigration reform measures, prosecutors
across the country are striving to pursue justice and provide for safer
communities. We strive for case outcomes that reflect a balance of
punishment, compassion and concern for victims and community, including
for offenders who are not citizens of the United States. Individuals who
are not citizens oftentimes face immigration penalties that are not
conducive to these outcomes.
The current immigration system fails
to provide clear guidelines for prosecutors and judges who are
attempting to provide a holistic approach to law enforcement. The
criminal justice system, when applied to immigrants, often leads to
mandatory no-bond detention and deportation sentences.
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May 20, 2013, 6:30 pm
By
Lundy Khoy
I arrived in America as a refugee from Cambodia when I was only one year old. This country is the only place I know. But
during my first year of college at George Mason University in 2000, I
made a mistake that could have led to me being banished me from my home
and sent back to Cambodia. I was arrested with friends for having
ecstasy on me after going to a party. I know, a stupid thing to do, but
perhaps made more understandable because I was only 19 at the time. But
if an amendment proposed by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is included in
the final immigration reform bill that is currently being marked up in
the Senate, immigrants who are convicted of similarly minor crimes, and
even those who are not convicted of any crime, could be detained
indefinitely, even for life.
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May 20, 2013, 5:30 pm
By
Robert Atkinson
As globalization and offshoring have ramped up, the left and right have both responded with failed strategies. The
right’s response has been Panglossian, denying the problem. The left’s
response has been vituperative, and worse in its consequences. When
liberals see U.S. companies sourcing globally, they don’t see trade,
they see betrayal. They don’t see the inexorable creation of an
integrated global market — they see, in the words of Lou Dobbs, a “War
on the Middle Class.”
These observers miss the fact that the
United States is in a race for global innovation advantage that requires
policies that promote a competitive business climate to attract
investment instead of repel it. Notwithstanding the recent surge in
energy production, American companies still face sharp competition as
other countries become more attractive places to do business.
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