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Viewing Category: Federal Government
McCain, Kyl sponsor land-swap billU.S. Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., have put forward a bill that would swap federally owned lands for private parcels in southeastern Arizona. The aim is to facilitate copper mining in Superior by Resolution Copper Co. while preserving other lands in the state.The McCain-Kyl bill has British-owned Resolution giving the federal government more than 4,500 acres near the San Pedro River for conservation purposes.
In exchange, Resolution will get 3,000 acres of federally owned land near Superior to for copper mining and exploration.
Permalink [Filed under: Federal Government, Kyl, Land, McCain, State]
Posted by Editor at 10:26 AM
Napolitano eyes federal, state funds for forest managementPHOENIX — Gov. Janet Napolitano wants more money, more staffing and more planning to create healthy forests and to keep those we have from burning down.Permalink [Filed under: Federal Government, Land, State]The governor, in particular, wants Congress to boost funding for programs to clear brush, small trees and waste from the forests, most of which are federally controlled. She also wants federal dollars to help local communities.
But Napolitano acknowledged the state also has a role to play. For example, she specifically is asking the Legislature to appropriate $5 million each year for community fire protection plans.
Posted by Editor at 01:17 AM
Hayworth turns info over to feds but denies he's under investigationFormer Scottsdale congressman J.D. Hayworth said this week he is not the target of a U.S. Justice Department investigation, but he has turned over information to federal authorities in response to continued inquiries into disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.Permalink [Filed under: Federal Government, US House]"I have nothing to hide. I have done nothing illegal or unethical," Hayworth said on his KFYI-AM 550 talk show earlier this week.
Abramoff was a lobbyist who eventually pleaded guilty to fraud charges and influence peddling. Hayworth was among the congressional members who received campaign contributions from Abramoff and from the lobbyist's clients, including a number of American Indian tribes.
Posted by Editor at 07:56 AM
Former congressman Hayworth says he is cooperating with federal probePHOENIX - Former Republican congressman J.D. Hayworth said Monday that he has sent documents to the Justice Department in response to its investigation of disgraced fundraiser Jack Abramoff.Permalink [Filed under: Federal Government, US House]Hayworth spoke about the Justice Department request during an extended rant against Arizona Republicans, journalists and others whom he blames for helping oust him from office last year.
"I have nothing to hide. I've done nothing illegal or unethical," Hayworth said on his afternoon show on Phoenix radio station KFYI.
Posted by Editor at 07:39 AM
Retired general named director of state services for veteransPHOENIX — The interim leader of Arizona Department of Veterans' Services was appointed as the permanent director of the agency on Friday, Gov. Janet Napolitano announced.Permalink [Filed under: Federal Government, Military, Veterans]Retired National Guard Brig. Gen. Richard Gregg Maxon was named interim director in March, after Patrick F. Chorpenning resigned from the post after revelations of problems at the state nursing home for veterans.
Napolitano said Maxon's leadership during the past four months has been exemplary and called Maxon "the perfect person to guide the agency."
Posted by Editor at 10:11 PM
Giffords hears how illegal immigration affects local agenciesFederal immigration measures may come back piecemeal but that's not likely until fall, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., said Tuesday after a round-table discussion with southern Arizona agencies affected by the issue.Permalink [Filed under: Federal Government, Giffords, Immigration]Giffords described the U.S. Senate's failure to approve comprehensive immigration reform as "devastating" to southern Arizona.
Narrower legislation providing for enforcement at the border could be brought up in the fall but the climate is poor for conferring provision legal status on illegal immigrants, she said.
Posted by Editor at 07:59 AM
Border security up to the statesStates will continue to enact their own immigration and border security measures unless and until Congress finally steps in, Gov. Janet Napolitano warned Wednesday.Permalink [Filed under: Border, Border Patrol, Federal Government, Security]Napolitano, in Washington to speak at the National Press Club, said any national immigration reform measure likely will have provisions that preempt states from enacting their own laws on the same subject. And that, she said, could make various state laws superfluous -- including one she is weighing which would sanction companies that knowingly hire undocumented workers.
But the governor, in an interview with Capitol Media Services, noted the draft immigration bill being debated in the U.S. Senate is "a moving target." And even if it gains approval there, its future in the House is questionable.
Posted by Editor at 07:33 AM
Alert: Immigration Reform Bill Dies in SenateNothing will be done now about our pressing immigration issues until 2009 or beyond.... So what else is new?
...Senate opponents have succeeded in stopping immigration reform bill...The Senate's immigration reform bill died once again Thursday morning, needing 60 votes to survive a procedural motion but failing to achieve even a majority of 50 -- a feeble showing for a bill that had supposedly been revived.
It was another loss for not only the legislation but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and President George W. Bush, who was making phone calls this morning to lobby wavering Republicans -- apparently to little avail.
Only 46 senators voted in favor of the bill, with 53 casting votes against the measure. The lopsided vote on the procedural motion signified paltry support for the compromise as two of the original compromisers -- Sens. Johnny Isaskson and Saxby Chambliss, Republicans of Georgia -- worked against the bill.
Permalink [Filed under: Federal Government, Immigration]
Posted by Editor at 10:01 AM
Immigration bill faces make-or-break vote ThursdayWASHINGTON - Conservative Republican senators and a handful of Democrats are trying to put a final knife in President Bush's plan for legalizing millions of unlawful immigrants.Permalink [Filed under: Federal Government, Immigration]A broad immigration bill, embracing what critics call amnesty, survived a series of unfriendly amendments Wednesday. Supporters pointed to the bill's tighter borders and workplace rules to keep it alive.
Both sides agreed the crucial vote occurs Thursday. Supporters must gain 60 votes in the 100-member chamber to limit debate and clear the way for a roll call on final passage, perhaps by Friday. Anything less will likely doom the legislation until a new president and Congress take office in 2009.
Posted by Editor at 07:38 AM
Veterans home's restrictions liftedPHOENIX — The federal Department of Veterans Affairs has lifted referral restrictions placed on the state veterans home in the wake of shortcomings of care reported earlier this year at the facility in Phoenix, the home's parent department announced Wednesday.problems found by state and federal inspection teams during separate visits to the 200-bed home earlier this year.The action by officials of the federal agency's medical center in Phoenix means the state home is in compliance with federal and state standards and can again admit new patients, the state Department of Veterans' Services said.
A letter sent by federal officials to a home official commended the staff for "diligence and hard work" in resolving
Permalink [Filed under: Federal Government, Health Care, Veterans]
Posted by Editor at 06:22 AM
Feds ramp up deportations in Phoenix, other citiesAs a spotlight shines on lawmakers who are debating immigration reform, federal officials are methodically rounding up and sending home illegal immigrants who have defied orders to leave the United States.Permalink [Filed under: Federal Government, Immigration, Law Enforcement, Phoenix, Security]Hundreds are arrested each week.
Deportations have become daily occurrences in Phoenix and cities across the country as the federal government ramps up efforts following the 9/11 terrorist attacks to remove some 600,000 deportation scofflaws, including about 5,800 in Arizona.
Posted by Editor at 06:46 AM
Bill Adds Fuel to Flames in a Divided Border StatePHOENIX, May 23 — Here in Arizona, where fighting over immigration comes as naturally as the desert heat, the Senate bill to overhaul immigration laws has ignited a particularly ardent round of fire breathing.While cultural and economic ties to Mexico run deep in Arizona, the country’s fastest-growing state, it is also where more people cross illegally from Mexico than anywhere else along the 2,000-mile border.
Republicans are fighting openly among themselves, Democrats are taking conflicting positions on the bill — or hoping to stay beneath the radar by taking none at all — while nonpartisans are wondering if, really, anything will come of it all.
“These splits are a harbinger of things to come at the national level, because Arizona is on the front lines,” said Rodolfo Espino, an assistant professor at Arizona State University who studies ethnic politics. “It shows this issue is not going to fall cleanly on party lines, especially here.”
Permalink [Filed under: Federal Government, Governor, Immigration, Legislature]
Posted by Editor at 11:09 PM
Governor faults border boss on IraqPHOENIX — Gov. Janet Napolitano wants the head of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to stop recruiting his officers to go to Iraq.Permalink [Filed under: Border, Border Patrol, Federal Government, Governor, Iraq, Law Enforcement, Military, Security]In a letter to customs chief Ralph Basham on Thursday, the governor said he cannot fulfill his commitment to Arizona residents to secure the border while "siphoning Border Patrol agents from their critical domestic security mission." She told Basham he should "terminate this misguided recruitment program immediately."
Napolitano also chided Basham, whose agency oversees the Border Patrol, for not mentioning the recruitment program when he met with her last week to discuss border security, a month after Basham sent a memo to all his officers and agents urging them to volunteer for six-month stints in Iraq, with a 70 percent bonus in their pay.
Posted by Editor at 12:50 AM
Napolitano wants Congress to investigate gas price hikesArizona Gov. Janet Napolitano has joined 21 other governors in asking for a congressional investigation into the latest spike of gasoline prices.Permalink [Filed under: Energy, Federal Government, Governor]Gas prices are above $3 per gallon with worries they will continue to rise this summer.
Napolitano and the other governors have written congressional leaders, asking them to investigate price spikes, supply issues and why U.S. refineries have not been expanded or modernized more considering oil companies have reaped record multi-billion-dollar profits.
Posted by Editor at 06:58 AM
Critics take aim at immigration deal as Senate debatesKey senators and the White House are eager to push their bipartisan immigration deal through the Senate by Memorial Day, but as details of the bargain emerged Monday, hope for that deadline was slipping. Critics of the measure denounced its key elements, including its quick grant of legal status to millions of unlawful immigrants, and said they would seek to revise it. Tensions run high on immigration, and the bargain reached last week sparked intramural hostility between Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who had a bitter exchange during the last closed-door meeting before a deal was announced.Permalink [Filed under: Federal Government, Immigration]
Posted by Editor at 03:42 AM
FBI trains Mexican police officers in TucsonThe FBI has just finished training a group of Mexican police officers in Tucson to join in the fight against crime.Permalink [Filed under: Federal Government, Law Enforcement, Mexico]It's called MALET, or Mexican American Law Enforcement Training, and has been around since 1988.
The officers are trained by FBI Agents, who are border liaisons.
Posted by Editor at 01:44 AM
Immigration deal "treasonous," says Mesa's PearceU.S. Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., will face a bunch of angry conservatives for his role in helping to craft a compromise on immigration, said a leading Arizona voice critical of immigration.Permalink [Filed under: Federal Government, Immigration][..]
State Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, said the Senate immigration agreement Kyl helped broker is "horrible" and "treasonous."
Pearce has been behind a series of ballot measures overwhelmingly approved by voters that restrict the state government from issuing benefits to people who can't prove they are in the country legally.
Posted by Editor at 02:27 AM
Bill backed by Kyl is 'amnesty' to someThe coalitions needed to pass immigration overhaul bills in both the House and Senate could be torn apart by presidential election politics if a bill isn't approved by the end of the summer.Permalink [Filed under: Federal Government, Immigration]"The reality is, if we do not pass this before August, we will have missed an opportunity we won't have again for 18 months," said U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz.
But though there is broad support of some method to regularize the status of people in the U.S. illegally, a sizable contingent calls such a move "amnesty" despite a proposed $5,000 fine.
Posted by Editor at 02:19 AM
Immigation Proposal prompts instant oppositionWASHINGTON — It took an improbable alliance of senators from the hard right and the far left to strike a sweeping immigration deal to fix problems that have bedeviled Republicans and Democrats for decades.Permalink [Filed under: Federal Government, Immigration]The coalition faces a daunting test of its strength next week as the Senate begins debating the plan unveiled Thursday, one that would grant legal status to millions of people in the country unlawfully and fulfill a top domestic goal of President Bush.
Bush said the proposal would "help enforce our borders but equally importantly, it'll treat people with respect."
Posted by Editor at 02:10 AM
Immigration compromise: Here's how it would workMajor provisions of the bipartisan immigration compromise announced Thursday by U.S. senators: Current illegal immigrantsPermalink [Filed under: Federal Government, Immigration]• They could come forward immediately and receive probationary legal status.
Posted by Editor at 02:08 AM
Ariz. politicians split on Senate migrant dealWord of a U.S. Senate deal on immigration drew cautious optimism Thursday among Arizona Democrats and an outright rejection from one of the GOP's leading state voices on the issue.Permalink [Filed under: Federal Government, Immigration]Gov. Janet Napolitano called the agreement "a start," but noted that much remains unresolved in terms of how and when some of the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants living in this country would be able to pursue legal status.
Posted by Editor at 02:01 AM
Immigrants say deal could drive some people deeper into shadowsLOS ANGELES - David Guerra wants to be legal, but he says the path to citizenship offered by the Senate on Thursday would be too risky and too expensive, and could end up driving him deeper into the shadows.Permalink [Filed under: Federal Government, Immigration]Guerra's wife and children in El Salvador depend on the $300 he sends home each month from his job as a day laborer. Key provisions of the legislation would require him to return home to apply for residency, pay a $5,000 fine and spend thousands more in application fees.
Posted by Editor at 01:59 AM
Immigration sticking point: handling family tiesRepublicans and Democrats struggled Wednesday over the final details of an elusive deal that would grant quick legal status to millions of illegal immigrants living in the U.S. and fortify the border.Permalink [Filed under: Federal Government, Immigration]Among the last sticking points was how much family ties should count toward green cards for future immigrants. Democrats and Republicans also haggled over how to treat new temporary guest workers. For the most part, they would be barred from putting down roots or eventually gaining a path to permanent residency.
The emerging bipartisan compromise among senators and the White House would set the stage for a freewheeling Senate debate next week. The divisive issue is exposing deep rifts in both parties and carries political risks.
Posted by Editor at 02:14 AM
Bipartisan group struggles to reach immigration dealWASHINGTON - Republicans and Democrats struggled Wednesday over the final details of an elusive deal that would grant quick legal status to millions of illegal immigrants living in the U.S. and fortify the border.Permalink [Filed under: Federal Government, Immigration]Among the last sticking points was how much family ties should count toward green cards under a new so-called point system that prioritizes advanced skills and education levels for future immigrants. A key hurdle was cleared when negotiators agreed that low-skilled workers could also receive credit toward permanent legal status.
Posted by Editor at 01:43 AM
Ousted Ariz. official: Veteran Home was no Walter ReedConditions at the Arizona State Veteran Home were blown out of proportion by the shadow of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center scandal, the former director of the state Department of Veterans' Services said Thursday.Permalink [Filed under: Federal Government, Health Care, Veterans]Patrick Chorpenning came out swinging during a legislative hearing, blaming the media, the Legislature, the governor and the state Department of Health Services for equating the home's conditions with widely reported problems at Walter Reed.
"Everybody made it into Walter Reed," Chorpenning, an injured Vietnam War veteran, told lawmakers. "And my one-legged butt was thrown under the train."
Posted by Editor at 08:09 AM
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