The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 27, 2006, Page 5, Image 5
Swamped with illegal immigrants at home, governors pushing for action in Washington
Lynne Sladky / The Associated Press
U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., speaks at a town hall
meeting at Miami Dade College in Miami on Thursday.
McCain spoke in support of an immigration bill he and
Sen. Ted Kennedy are sponsoring in Congress. Several
hundred supporters of immigration reform attended the
meeting.
Robert Tanner
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — A
growing number of
governors, along the border
and beyond, are sharpening
their complaints about the
flood of immigrants pouring
into their states, pushing
the Bush administration and
Congress for action.
Republicans and
Democrats alike on Sunday
said they planned to bring
the concerns to President
Bush and his Cabinet in
private meetings this week,
bringing a front-line security
worry of a different order
than the latest Washington
obsessions on . ports and
eavesdropping.
i ms is a national
issue,” said Democrat Janet
Napolitano of Arizona,
where 500,000 attempts to
illegally cross the border
were turned back last year
— and an untold number
got through. Nationally
there are an estimated 11
million illegal immigrants
draining government
resources. “We’re absorbing
through taxpayer dollars the
incarceration costs, health
care costs, education costs,”
Napolitano said.
Immigration was one
contentious issue among
many as more than 40
top state leaders gathered
for the winter meeting of
the National Governors
Association. Governors also
hope to get attention on the
National Guard, where they
fear cuts, and on Medicaid
and welfare.
In states as far from the
southern border as Utah,
Missouri, Tennessee and
Vermont, governors said
immigrants are costing states
dollars and spurring state
legislation. All agree the
answer lies in Washington
and hope to provide a push
as Congress weighs several
competing bills.
its important to come
together as governors with
a single voice to give some
direction,” said Republican
Jon Huntsman Jr. of Utah.
“We deal with these issues
day in and day out.”
Western governors have
put together a multipoint
plan that asks for tougher
border enforcement
that makes better use of
technology, improvements
in the visa system, adoption
of a guest worker program
and working with Mexico
and other Latin America
countries to tackle the root
economic causes that send
millions north looking for
work.
“The notion of being
opposed to it, but turning a
blind eye to it, doesn’t make
sense,” said Democrat Phil
Bredesen of Tennessee.
The pressure has been
rising in recent months. In
Texas, there was an armed
standoff last month between
state authorities and
apparent drug smugglers
wearing Mexican jnilitary
style uniforms.
in Minnesota, KepuDiican
Tim Pawlenty wants the State
to track immigrants and fine
employers who knowingly
hire immigrants. Last year,
illegal immigration spurred
Napolitano and Democrat
Bill Richardson of New
Mexico to declare states
of emergency in border
counties in each state.
At the same time,
governors warn that harsh
measures alone would
cause severe damage to
many states, especially
where agriculture depends
on immigrant labor. “Our
industry really relies on
foreign workers to be
successful,” said Republican
Jim Douglas of Vermont,
where low unemployment
and an aging population
makes it hard to find workers
for the state’s dairy farms.
Two years ago, Bush
laid out guidelines for a
temporary worker program,
but the 2004 elections made
the administration and
some in Congress reluctant
to address it. That year,
frustrated members of a
Senate committee openly
criticized Bush for failing to
fight for his own proposal.
The House passed an
immigration enforcement
bill last year that called for
building fences on the U.S.
Mexican border, allowing
local law officials to enforce
immigration laws, and
tequiring employers to
verify the legal status of
their employees.
Majority Leader Bill rrist,
R-Tenn., has told lawmakers
the Senate will begin
considering immigration
legislation March 27, but
Sen. John McCain, R
Ariz., has predicted the
Senate would not consider
immigration reform until
April or possibly later.
Governors also spoke as
one on their worries about a
Pentagon plan to restructure
the Army National Guard
that many warn will leave
the states with ability to
respond to homegrown
disaster and emergencies,
whether they are floods in
the Midwest, forest fires out
West or hurricanes along
the Gulf Coast.
DEMURE • COMinUEDFROIDI
in several companies with
young founders. “They
are able to put together
a product or service that
speaks better to that
generation — and do it
without enormous amounts
of capital.”
It’s not nearly as frothy
as the dot-com era. But it’s
also a distinct comeback
from the post-bubble era
of 2002 and 2003, when
few twentysomething
entrepreneurs got venture
backing. After the bubble
burst, many venture
capitalists felt the need
to return to maturity and
experience, seeking to
avoid what they saw as the
excesses of youth.
No precise data
exists on the number
of twentysomething
entrepreneurs backed
by venture capitalists,
but anecdotal evidence
suggests it’s rising. They’re
“popping up left and right,”
said Sean Parker, 26, who
had been chief executive of
Plaxo, a company that lets
users update their contact
information online.
“Being a young
entrepreneur post-bubble
quickly became one of the
loneliest jobs in America,”
he recalled. “The young
entrepreneur went from
being an exotic to an
endangered species.”
So Parker decided to
create a support network
in Silicon Valley for young
entrepreneurs. The group’s
members, meeting at
each other’s homes, faced
similar challenges, such
as managing executives
older than themselves,
and being so busy that
having a normal social life
is difficult, Parker said.
Lately, he’s considering
calling the group “Valley
Brats.”
“We plan to
systematically invade the
toniest and crustiest of
the old hangouts where
VCs meet to talk and do
deals. Our first target: the
Village Pub in Woodside,”
Parker said. It’s a watering
hole not far from the VC
epicenter on Sand Hill
Road.
There’s even a Stanford
University group, called
Entrepreneur 7, launched
by Stanford students
to help them network
while building their own
companies.
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smoKinG • conTinucDFRomi
Some local bar and
restaurant owners are
worried about the effect a
smoking ban will have on
business.
“It would have a huge
negative impact,” said
Ryan Gleason, manager at
Delaney’s Speakeasy. “I am
from New York, and I know
it affected bar business quite
a bit. Many people who
hang out in bars smoke. I
absolutely oppose it.”
Karen Martin, manager
of Yesterdays in Five Points,
also opposes the smoking
ban.
“I don’t want it to pass.
I think it will badly affect
business,” she said.
First-year business student
Bob Dunleavy said that
although he doesn’t smoke,
he thinks the ban could
affect local bar business.
“A lot of my friends
probably wouldn’t go to bars
as much if there was a ban,”
Dunleavy said.
Mac Leaphart, assistant
manager at the Salty Nut
Cafe, isn’t as worried about
business as Gleason and
Martin.
“I don’t smoke and
secondhand smoke doesn’t
bother me personally, but I
can understand why some
people wouldn’t want it,”
Leaphart said. “I don’t
think it will affect business
that much because all bars
will have to do it. People
will still come out and have
beers, they will just have to
smoke outside.”
Lindsey Miller, a second
year business student, said
she does not smoke and a
ban would not have a great
impact on how often she
goes out.
“I guess I would initially
like the ban, but it probably
wouldn’t change the amount
I went out. I can understand
the argument against it,”
Miller said.
Although (jleason and
Martin oppose the bill on
economic grounds, Sharky’s
and Knock Knock Club
owner Scott Linaberry
objects to the bill from a
political viewpoint.
“I run at Riverfront Park
and can smell smoke while
I’m running. Why make
me choose what to do in
my own business when they
don’t enforce it in a public
park? I think they need to
enforce it in public parks
before they try it in the
private sector,” Linaberry
said.
Tobacco company Phillip
Morris USA states its
position on the company
Web site, www.pmusa.
com. The policies section
of the site says that “in
many indoor public places,
reasonable ways exist to
respect the comfort and
choices of both non-smoking
and smoking adults. We
believe that business owners
— particularly owners of
restaurants and bars — are
most familiar with how to
accommodate the needs of
their patrons and should
be awarded the opportunity
and flexibility to determine
the smoking policy for their
establishment. The public
can then choose whether or
not to frequent places where
smoking is permitted.”
Kutherrord said his bill
is solely for the purpose
of eliminating secondhand
smoke, and economic and
other smoking initiatives are
not the focus of his bill.
“It’s not a bill aimed at
reducing teen smoking or
anything else. It is simply
aimed at eliminating
secondhand smoke dangers
from public areas,”
Rutherford said.
The bill also faces some
opposition from other -
democratic representatives,
such as Walton McLeod of
Newberry County.
“I am generally supportive
of outlawing smoking in
restaurants. I want to craft a
bill to see if we can put the
burden on the restaurant
to ask a smoker to leave
if they wish to smoke. If
a smoker refuses to leave,
then the law everywhere
says that that is trespassing
and can be enforced by
law enforcement,” McLeod
said.
McLeod objects to
imposing criminal charges
against people for smoking
a legal product. Although he
doesn’t have a plan to fix the
issues he objects to, he plans
to look at similar legislation
in other states for guidance.
“I don’t have a plan, but
I have proposals from other
states, and I will endeavor
to craft some provision
that will delete the criminal
aspects of the bill,” McLeod
said. “I object to the heavy
handedness of issuing a
criminal summons against
someone who smokes.
Tobacco is legal; marijuana
is illegal. I don’t think we
should place smoking of
legal cigarettes into the same
category as marijuana.”
wnatever tne outcome
of the legal battle, Leaphart
said he believes the tobacco
legislation will some day
become standard.
“It seems like it’s only
a matter of time until it
happens. It’s happening
everywhere else, so I think
that it’s inevitable that it will
happen here eventually,”
Leaphart said.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecocknews@gwm.sc. edu
RAFFLE • COnTinUED FROR1I
Carolina’s anti-raffle laws,
students and members of
the community are welcome
to enter the drawing with a
suggested donation of $5.
“If they enter and win
it is fine, as long as that is
their intention,” Davis said.
“If they exploit the archaic
anti-lottery laws then they
are a fraud and enemies of
the Constitution.”
Davis said The Observer
will publicize any contention
from faculty and students.
“We have national media
contacts that would love
to hear that Clemson
faculty are enemies of the
Constitution,” Davis said.
“They are taking away from
free speech, democracy
in Iran, and from the
students who are wanting
to participate in this
celebration of the Second
Amendment.”
Proceeds will go
toward The Observer and
an advocacy group for
democracy in Iran.
The drawing begins today
and is open to students and
members of the Clemson
community. Those entering
must be at least 18 years of
age, have no criminal record,
and must be eligible to own
a firearm.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecocknews@gwm.sc. edu
FLU • COnTinUCDFROflll
were erecting a protective
zone around the area where
the duck was found.
Hans Wyss, director of
the Switzerland’s veterinary
office, said officials have been
prepared for the possibility
of bird flu reaching Geneva
after Germany and France
both reported their first
cases of the disease in wild
fowl earlier this month.
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with Michael J. Oana landed ’ ^
me a job as a Financial
Advisor with Merrill Lynch
right out of college.”
Bryan Webber
Cultural Awareness Commission Brings you: Who made her fortune developing a
MW* -ml successful line of cosmetics for African
H Vi I Ctl Americans in the early 190§^?
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