ARAB TIMES, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2015

14INTERNATIONAL

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks during the 2015 National Immigration Integration Conference in New York, on Dec 14. (AP)

Clinton outlines immigration reform planDemocratic presidential front-run-ner Hillary Clinton proposedMonday that people applying to beUS citizens should get a break infees and lamented complex immi-gration laws that she said can tearfamilies apart.

In a speech to the annual National

Immigration Integration Conferencein Brooklyn, the former secretary ofstate said she wants to give morehelp to people eligible for citizenship.She said she would waive the fees,increase access to language pro-grams and close privately run deten-tion centers as part of a plan to create

a “path to full and equal citizenship.”“If you work hard, if you love this

country and want nothing more tobuild a good future for you and yourchildren, we should give you a way tocome forward and become a citizen,”she said.

She described the uncertain fate of

one family living under the threat ofdeportation. Prior to the speech, shemet with the Suarez family, who fledHonduras and now lives on LongIsland. The five members of the fami-ly have four different immigration sta-tuses, the father, Osman Suarez,explained to Clinton.

“I want to put an end to familiesbeing torn apart,” Clinton said.

She also took aim at some of herRepublican rivals’ anti-immigrationrhetoric. Without directly naming him,Clinton cited Republican front-runnerDonald Trump’s campaign slogan.(AP)

Republican presidential hopefulDonald Trump speaks at a rally at theWestgate Hotel and Resort in LasVegas, Nevada on Dec 14. Trumpwill face off with Texas Sen Ted Cruz,retired neurosurgeon Ben Carsonand six other main stage candidatesat the GOP debate on Dec 15. (AFP)

Garden Murray

America

‘Drivers’ OK to join unions: Seattleon Monday became the first city in thenation to allow drivers of ride-hailingcompanies such as Uber and Lyft to union-ize over pay and working conditions.

Supporters erupted into cheers after theCity Council voted 8-0 in favor of the legisla-tion, which is seen as a test case for thechanging 21st century workforce. The com-panies strongly oppose it, and several councilmembers acknowledged there would be legalchallenges ahead but said it was worth doing.

The measure requires companies thathire or contract with drivers of taxis, for-hire transportation companies and app-based ride-hailing services to bargain withtheir drivers, if a majority shows theywant to be represented. Drivers would berepresented by nonprofit organizationscertified by the city.

Seattle has been a national leader onworkers’ rights, such as gradually raisingthe minimum wage to $15 and requiringmost employers to provide paid sick leave.

“My intent is to make sure that the peo-ple, the drivers, the workers in our com-munity continue to have access to goodwage jobs,” Councilmember MikeO’Brien said. He added innovation cancontinue to happen, but it shouldn’t bedone at the expense of workers.

Many drivers in Seattle are immigrants

Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio (left), speaks during a cam-paign rally as his wife Jeanette Dousdebes looks on at the Renaissance LasVegas on Dec 14, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Marco Rubio is campaigning in Las

Vegas a day ahead of the final GOP debate. (AFP)

who depend on full-time work, but somemake less than minimum wage and lackbasic worker rights, such as sick leave and

protection from retaliation, he said.The National Labor Relations Act does

not extend collective bargaining rights to

independent contractors.San Francisco-based Uber and others

say federal labor law prevents cities from

regulating collective bargaining, and theordinance would violate federal antitrustlaws. Opponents also argue it would be

Politics

WH urges Hill to invest in renewable energy

Oil export ban in final-stage talksWASHINGTON, Dec 15, (Agencies):Congressional negotiators and theWhite House closed in on a deal lateMonday on a $1.1 trillion govern-ment-wide spending bill to stave off ashutdown, and a tax package extend-ing dozens of breaks.

In a Monday evening conferencecall among House Republicans,Speaker Paul Ryan said bargainerswere close to agreements on thespending and tax measures that heexpected to publicly release Tuesday,which would set up votes later in theweek. He said the bills would containvictories for both parties but providedfew details, according to an officialwho described the private conversa-tion on condition of anonymity.

In return for lifting the four-decade-old oil export ban, Democrats wereseeking various environmental con-cessions, including extending taxcredits for solar and wind energy pro-duction for five years, and reviving anenvironmental conservation fund.Democrats also were trying to blockRepublican efforts to roll back Obamaadministration environmental regula-tions, with Democratic lawmakers

who traveled to the Paris climate talksreturning energized to fight.

Government funding runs outWednesday at midnight, but Congressmay need to pass another short-termextension of a day or two to completework on the $1.14 trillion government-wide spending bill. Negotiations havedragged on as the legislation has becomean increasingly complex grab-bag forpriorities and trade-offs large and small.

It’s also intertwined with anothermassive bill extending dozens of taxcredits benefiting interest groupsacross the political spectrum, sparkingintense lobbying on numerous fronts.

MessyCongressional passage would mean

lawmakers would then head home forthe holidays, having done their neces-sary work in typically messy and last-minute fashion.

“Many of us in the Senate and theHouse and our staffs worked throughthe weekend and have made a lot ofprogress,” Minority Leader HarryReid of Nevada said on the floor as theSenate gaveled back into session atmid-afternoon Monday. “We’re not

there yet.”The ban on exporting crude oil was

instituted during energy shortages ofthe 1970s but Republicans, and someDemocrats, say it’s long outlived anyusefulness. They note a boom indomestic energy production.Environmental groups and mostDemocrats counter that the main ben-eficiaries would be big oil companies.

At the White House Monday presssecretary Josh Earnest refused toweigh in on inclusion of the provision.US President Barack Obama hasthreatened to veto the measure asstand-alone legislation but seems like-ly to accept if it’s made part of themust-pass spending bill.

“I would anticipate that there will besome elements of the budget bill that arenot consistent with the kinds of policiesthat we have long supported here,”Earnest said. “But that’s the essence ofcompromise and the president’s onlygoing to support the budget agreementif he does believe that it is clearly in thebest interests of the country.”

Lobbyists said it was becomingincreasingly likely that the spendingpackage would lack a provision

pushed by House Minority LeaderNancy Pelosi easing curbs against gunviolence research by the federalCenters for Disease Control andPrevention. Democrats had been hop-ing this month’s shooting massacre inSan Bernardino, California, wouldboost support for the proposal, or atleast increase the political cost forRepublicans opposing it.

It was also possible that Congresscould opt for more modest two-yearextensions of most existing tax creditsrather than a major package with per-manent and long-range changes.

US President Barack Obama wouldlike to see Congress make investmentsin renewable energy in its omnibusspending bill, though final details ofthe funding measure would be up tolawmakers, the White House said onMonday.

White House spokesman JoshEarnest told reporters the administra-tion continues to oppose any legisla-tion that would lift the ban on exportsof US crude oil.

The White House does not condoneor oppose any sort of “potential trade”on the two issues, Earnest added.

WASHINGTON, Dec 15, (AFP):White House contender DonaldTrump released a statementMonday by his physician whodescribed the Republican frontrun-ner as being in excellent health,with extraordinary strength andstamina and “no significant med-ical problems.”

In a one-page statement, doctorHarold Bornstein of New York’sLenox Hill Hospital said Trump,69, has lost 15 pounds (6.8 kgs)over the past year, and that hiscardiovascular status is “excel-lent.”

A recent medical examinationshowed his blood pressure regis-tered at 110/65 and that those andother laboratory results were“astonishingly excellent,” accord-ing to Bornstein.

Trump ‘health report’picture of excellence

costly for the city to implement, it wouldviolate drivers’ privacy since their infor-mation would be given to the organiza-tion, and it would stifle the growth of theon-demand economy.

In a response to a request for a commenton the legislation, Uber said in a statementMonday it is “creating new opportunitiesfor many people to earn a better living ontheir own time and their own terms.”

San Francisco-based Lyft urged themayor and council to reconsider the meas-ure and listen to those who seek the flexibleeconomic opportunity the company offers.

“Unfortunately, the ordinance passedtoday threatens the privacy of drivers,imposes substantial costs on passengersand the city, and conflicts with longstand-ing federal law,” Lyft’s statement said.

Charlotte Garden, an assistant lawprofessor at Seattle University, said it’s a“virtual certainty” that the ordinance willbe challenged in court if it’s enacted.

Mayor Ed Murray told the council in aletter Monday he supports the right ofworkers to unionize but has concernsabout the bill. Murray worried about theunknown costs of administering the meas-ure. (AP)

Politics

Charm donors

Heidi ‘trying’ torebuild bridgesWASHINGTON, Dec 15, (RTRS):When US presidential candidateTed Cruz withdrew from afundraiser in Texas, his wife Heidistepped in to charm donors. Amajor backer uses her whenevershe needs to close a deal. Another isplanning a women’s only event fea-turing Mrs. Cruz.

Heidi Cruz, a Harvard BusinessSchool graduate and former Bushadministration official, hasemerged as a central figure in herhusband’s campaign, charming on-the-fence donors while acting as abridge to the Republican establish-

ment.The effort to

broaden TedCruz’s appeal iscrucial as hesoars in thepolls. He haslong had astrong base ofsupport amongc o n s e r v a t i v e

Republican activists, but he hasalienated moderates and the party’ssenior leadership, partly because ofhis penchant for confrontation,including leading an effort to shutdown the government in 2013.

Whatever people may think ofher husband, Heidi Cruz tellspotential donors and supporters, heis a man of his word, cool underpressure and won’t shy from a fightto implement the free market prin-ciples they believe in. Severaldonors interviewed say her pitchhas helped to win them over.

While it is not unusual for spousesto serve as character witnesses, whatsets Heidi Cruz apart is her role as abridge to the Republican establish-ment and the zeal she brings to it.Many political spouses, includingfellow Republican candidate JebBush’s wife, Columba, and PresidentBarack Obama’s wife, Michelle,engage in politics only reluctantly.

But Cruz, on leave from her job asa Goldman Sachs executive inHouston, has immersed herself in the2016 presidential race. She not onlywoos donors but takes part in strate-gy sessions, bringing her businesssavvy to the effort to keep the cam-paign’s budget as lean as possible.

When she goes out on the cam-paign trail, she sometimes bringsalong the couple’s daughters, agedfive and seven, and says it is a goodlearning opportunity for them.

DonorsCruz fundraiser Aaron Sean

Poynton, who taps donors insidethe Washington “Beltway,” saidaudiences find Heidi Cruz relat-able, particularly women who iden-tify with the challenges of jugglingcareer with family. An event she didin October was so successful thatPoynton is planning a women’sonly event in January.

One of Heidi Cruz’s chief missionsis to bolster her husband’s fundrais-ing network and broaden his base ofsupport beyond the evangelical vot-ers and Tea Party activists who havelong been his most ardent fans.

Winning over establishment vot-ers to Ted Cruz may be a tough sell,as Heidi Cruz herself acknowl-edges. The Texan senator wasroundly criticized over the summerwhen he called Senate Republicanleader Mitch McConnell a liar fromthe Senate floor in a spat over theExport-Import Bank.

“Got it. Got the memo,” saidHeidi Cruz, cracking a smile in aninterview with Reuters. “I feel bad, Ifeel sad that they have this view ofTed. First of all, do I think they’rewrong on Ted? Of course, but to theirdetriment, because he’s a great guy.”

Heidi Cruz is focusing heavilyon courting entrepreneurs - shemeets them in small groups - aswell as women voters and support-ers of failed Republican presiden-tial candidate Rick Perry, a formergovernor of Texas.

“She has all the facts on the tip ofher tongue and is a lot like her husbandin that way,” said Karen Henry, co-founder of one of the top public rela-tions firms in Texas, the PR Boutique.Henry said she had been leaningtoward supporting Cruz, but HeidiCruz’s presentation was the clincher.

Mica Mosbacher, a veteranRepublican fundraiser, supportedthe establishment candidate thatCruz ousted in a Senate primary in2012. Now she is supporting Cruz’spresidential run and credits HeidiCruz for winning her over.

Mosbacher said that when she iscourting new donors, she oftenenlists Mrs. Cruz to close the dealbecause she trots out polling dataand makes her pitch all about elec-tability to counter more moderateRepublicans who suggest that Cruzis too conservative to win a generalelection.

In visits to states like Virginiaand North Carolina, Heidi Cruztries to soften her husband’s hard-edged image. She regales support-ers with stories about the flowers hebrings her on Valentine’s Day andhis adherence - despite a hecticcampaign schedule - to the couple’sSunday date nights. Cruz met herhusband on George W. Bush’s pres-idential campaign in 2000.

Heidi

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