Vadrad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their visit to the Center of Excellence on Vegetables in Vadrad, Gujarat on Jan 17, 2018. (Photo: IANS/PIB)
GANDHINAGAR – The greetings from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, ‘Dhanyavad Mere Pyare Dost’ to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and ‘Aliechem Shalom’ by Modi to his Israeli counterpart depicted the bonhomie between the two leaders during their visit to Gujarat on Wednesday.
While Modi expressed his dream of achieving the goal of doubling farmers’ income by 2022 through Israeli technology, the Israeli Prime Minister hoped that under the able leadership of Modi, India would achieve that.
Both the leaders dedicated a centre of excellence for date farming at the Kukma centre in Kutch district through a digital switch, during their visit to the horticulture centre at Vadrad near Prantij. “Since the Biblical days, Israelis have been growing dates, wheat, and conventional produce. We have created new parameters in agriculture through scientific methods in a desert like Israel,” said Netanyahu.
He expressed his delight at knowing that the farmers could increase their output through the Vadrad centre of excellence formed with Israeli help. “India and Israel both believe in the policy of knowledge is the future. India has the vision and leadership under Modi,” said Netanyahu. Both leaders also unveiled the Memory Tower to mark 25 years of Indo-Israeli cooperation at the Vadrad centre.
“Israel shows the way on how to transform a nation with the agriculture sector at the core. As we work towards doubling farmers income by 2022, the factors such as optimum utilization of land resources, minimum wastage and understanding the needs of the market assume prime importance,” Modi said to the gathered audience of farmers, agriculture scientists and expert researchers.
Both the leaders expressed optimism of developing future technologies jointly by forging entrepreneurial alliances amongst youth, while they inaugurated the newly-built campus of International Centre for Entrepreneurship and Technology (iCreate) near Ahmedabad. The centre was formally dedicated to the nation by both the dignitaries.
An autonomous centre for start-ups, ‘iCreate’ was formally launched in 2011 when Modi was Gujarat Chief Minister. “I am delighted to be here. The world knows about iPads and iPods, there is one more i that the world needs to know about, that is iCreate. Israel wants to build partnership with you,” Netanyahu said before concluding his speech by chanting, “Jai Hind, Jai Bharat, Jai Israel.”
Narendra Modi said, “We are working towards making the entire system innovation-friendly, as intent leads to ideas, ideas to innovation and innovations would help form a New India. When I had visited Israel for the first time, I had decided that we should have relationship with this nation.”
The Israeli Prime Minister gifted the Gal-Mobile, a water desalination and purification vehicle, to India and both the Prime Ministers witnessed the demonstration of a vehicle that was stationed at Suigam, a village several kilometres away in the border district of Banaskantha, where BSF and villagers would benefit from clean drinking water using Gal-Mobile. The Gal-Mobile can purify around 20,000 liters of sea or salty water daily. The vehicle was dedicated by both the leaders through a video link.
The leaders began their one day visit to the state with host Prime Minister Modi and his Israeli counterpart embarking on an eight-km-long roadshow on their arrival in Ahmedabad, amidst heavy security blanket and thousands lined up to greet both. The leaders witnessed glimpses of India’s rich cultural heritage showcased at 50 stages erected alongside the route to Sabarmati Ashram.
Playing a perfect host at the Ashram, Modi showed his guest the possessions of Mahatma Gandhi. Netanyahu even tried his hand at Bapu’s ‘Charkha’ and after spending about 20 minutes at the Ashram, the Israeli Premier penned his thoughts, “An inspiring visit to the hearth of one of humanity’s great prophets of inspiration – Mahatma Gandhi.”
The leaders also experienced the thrill of the popular kite festival in Gujarat – Uttarayan – that was celebrated a couple of days ago by flying kites on the banks of the Sabarmati river. The Indian Prime Minister taught Netanyahu how to fly the kite.
FILE PHOTO: India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks during the inauguration ceremony of the ‘Make In India’ week in Mumbai, India, February 13, 2016. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui/File Photo
NEW DELHI/TOKYO – Japanese steel and engineering companies are in the driver’s seat to bag major supply contracts for a $17 billion Indian bullet train, several sources said, undermining a key component of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s economic policy – a push to ‘Make in India’.
Japan is funding most of the project, and Japanese companies are likely to supply at least 70 percent of the core components of the rail line, said five sources in New Delhi with direct knowledge of the matter.
A spokesman for Modi’s office declined comment.
The Indian company executing the project, National High Speed Rail Corporation Ltd. (NHSRCL), said in a statement late on Thursday that procurement from Japan will be only 18 percent of the total project cost. Indian companies will carry out the construction of bridges and structures for the elevated rail, which will amount to more than half the cost, it said.
A Japanese transport ministry official involved in the project said the two countries were still working out a strategy for the supply of key components, and would unveil a plan for procurements around July. The official spoke on condition of anonymity.
The September 2017 agreement between Japan and India for the bullet train project included two clauses – the promotion of ‘Make in India’ and ‘Transfer of Technology’ – through which New Delhi had hoped to set up manufacturing facilities in the country, generate jobs and get a toehold in Japanese technology.
Modi faces a general election in 2019 and is under pressure to provide more jobs to millions of unemployed in India. Critics also say the bullet train is wasteful and that the money could be better used elsewhere.
“The Japanese have reservations on certain issues because they have a concern that there is a difference in the culture and systems of Japan from the culture and systems in India,” said Achal Khare, the managing director of NHSRCL.
“The work culture is very different,” he told Reuters.
Khare did not elaborate but two Indian railways officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said their Japanese counterparts had raised questions about efficiency in Indian companies and their ability to meet timelines.
The World Bank currently ranks India 100th out of 190 nations on the ease of doing business, giving it relatively low marks for starting a business, enforcing contracts and dealing with construction permits.
NHSRCL said that Japan will train more than 300 Indian personnel on the high-speed technology as part of efforts to build local expertise.
Tomoyuki Nakano, director for international engineering affairs in the railway bureau at Japan’s transport ministry, said the issue was that Indian companies had no experience or technologies specializing in high-speed railway systems at present.
“I don’t think Japanese are concerned about a difference in the work culture,” Nakano said. He and other Japanese officials said efforts were continuing to fulfill the ‘Make in India’ component of the agreement by promoting collaborations between companies from the two countries.
Still, several Indian officials said it was by and large accepted that Indian companies would not have a major part to play in the bullet train project.
Japan will get major leeway because the bullet train is largely funded by a 50-year loan provided by its government, said a close aide of Modi, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“At this stage to expect Indian companies to have a bigger share in manufacturing appears to be a little difficult,” said a senior official at the Indian government’s policy think-tank, NITI Aayog, who is involved in the negotiations.
Modi’s flagship ‘Make in India’ initiative aims to lift the share of manufacturing in India’s $2 trillion economy to 25 percent and create 100 million jobs by 2022.
However, midway through Modi’s five-year term, manufacturing was still at 17 percent of India’s GDP in the 2016/17 financial year from 15 percent previously.
ONLY ONE JOINT VENTURE
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe laid the foundation stone for India’s first bullet train in September last year. It will link Mumbai with Ahmedabad, the largest commercial city in Modi’s home state Gujarat.
Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Corp., Japan’s biggest steelmaker, and other companies like JFE Holdings Inc., Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., Toshiba Corp and Hitachi Ltd. are likely to bid for various contracts, said three senior Indian government officials directly involved in the project.
Nippon Steel said it would not comment on specific projects.
JFE, Hitachi and Toshiba said they were interested in the project but had not finalized plans, including any possibilities of joint ventures with Indian firms.
Mitsubishi Heavy said it had not decided if it wanted to be involved.
The sole collaboration aimed at the bullet train project is between Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd., which aims to win carriage orders.
Japanese government officials have asked for more bullet train corridors in India before transferring technology, three senior Indian officials said.
But New Delhi is unlikely to announce any new projects until the final cost and commercial feasibility of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad link is clear, the officials said.
“It’s like a chicken and egg situation on technology. The Japanese want an economy of scale and business but the Indian view is that India is a big market that once this market is explored the business will automatically be generated,” said Khare from NHSRCL.
MISSED OPPORTUNITY
New Delhi has tried to help Indian steel companies grab a slice of the pie.
The Indian government last year mediated negotiations between Nippon Steel and Jindal Steel and Power Ltd. to set up a joint venture to manufacture rails, but the talks fell through after the Japanese major raised quality concerns, three sources in New Delhi said.
The Steel Authority of India (SAIL), which for decades has been the main supplier of rails to Indian Railways, was also overlooked by Japanese companies due to quality concerns, the sources said.
Nippon Steel declined comment and while Jindal and SAIL did not reply to e-mails seeking comment.
Left with little choice, Indian firms will now largely provide raw materials like cement and supply manpower for the assembly of rails, the sources said.
UltraTech Cement Ltd., Larsen & Toubro Ltd., Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. and Ambuja Cements Ltd. are among those in the race for the supply of construction materials and power, the two Indian railways officials said.
These companies did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
FILE PHOTO: Students gather in support of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) at the University of California Irvine Student Center in Irvine, California, U.S., October 11, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo
WASHINGTON – With an immigration deal looking fraught on Capitol Hill, the Trump administration is offering public assurances that undocumented immigrants known as “dreamers” will not be targeted for deportation even if lawmakers fail to provide them permanent legal status.
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said this week that immigrants who have lived in the country illegally since they were children remain a low priority for removal – behind felons, suspected terrorists and those with outstanding deportation orders.
The promise appeared to be intended to rebut suggestions that the Department of Homeland Security would initiate mass roundups of dreamers if Congress and the White House are unable to strike a deal to preserve the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program President Donald Trump terminated last fall.
Trump called the program, established by former President Barack Obama, “unconstitutional,” and he set a March 5 deadline for lawmakers to act before the bulk of 690,000 work permits distributed to dreamers begin to expire. The congressional talks have stalled, with Trump rejecting a bipartisan Senate proposal last week.
But Nielsen’s pronouncements have conflicted with other signals from the administration. In his first week, Trump signed an executive order that significantly broadened Obama-era enforcement priorities and stipulated that no groups of immigrants have a blanket exemption from deportation.
Immigration experts said that without specific policy safeguards, the dreamers are bound to become caught up in removal proceedings.
“There’s a real disconnect between the political statements and what the written policies state,” said John Sandweg, who served as acting general counsel at DHS during the Obama administration. “A few times, they’ve talked about prioritizing criminals. But the policy memos sent out to the field have been very clear that there is no distinction among anybody in the country unlawfully.”
Nielsen, in an interview with “CBS This Morning” on Tuesday, emphasized that dreamers who do not commit crimes are “not going to be a priority of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement. I’ve said that before. That’s not the policy of DHS.”
But Nielsen added that DHS will “enforce the law.”
To Doris Meissner, who served as commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service under President Bill Clinton, the Trump administration’s conflicting positions have obscured the significant shift in DHS’ enforcement posture since the president took office.
“A large level of effort continues to go toward people who have criminal backgrounds, but the big difference is they have not precluded the idea of removing people who don’t fall into those categories of criminals,” Meissner said. “So that creates an entirely different atmosphere.”
The question over how the United States should conduct enforcement operations against an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants has become a crucial battleground as Congress has failed repeatedly over the past decade to enact a comprehensive legislative retooling of immigration laws.
After a bipartisan bill failed in 2007, the George W. Bush administration ramped up enforcement, conducting workplace raids that resulted in the apprehension of immigrants who had not committed crimes.
Protesters calling for an immigration bill addressing the so-called Dreamers, young adults who were brought to the United States as children, carry a sign supporting DACA in the office of Senator Chuck Grassley on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 16, 2018. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
As deportation levels spiked to more than 400,000 a year in Obama’s first term, his administration began to implement increasingly narrow guidelines aimed at prioritizing violent criminals and newly arrived immigrants, while allowing others to live largely without fear of deportation.
The legal rationale for the move was “prosecutorial discretion” – the concept that law enforcement agencies with limited resources must set priorities.
But Republicans revolted. In 2013, the GOP-controlled House approved an amendment, offered by Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, to a government spending bill that would have forced DHS to scrap its discretion policies.
It is in this environment that DACA was born. Obama announced the program in 2012, arguing that immigrants who were low priorities for removal should be afforded the right to work and go to school.
A threat last year from Texas and several other Republican-led states to sue the Trump administration over DACA led Trump to rescind the program.
Nielsen’s assurances that dreamers are a lower enforcement priority than other groups of undocumented immigrants conflict with the Trump administration’s own legal analysis, said Simon Rosenberg, founder of the liberal think tank NDN.
“This is thin gruel – a vague assurance from the DHS secretary that ‘we are not going after you,’ ” he said. “But there’s also no ability for her to stop their deportation if they get into proceedings.”
Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for lower immigration levels, agreed that dreamers will be deported if they are apprehended.
But he added that “there is zero chance of a dragnet on people who lost their work permits. That’s complete fiction.”
Democrats repeatedly pressed Nielsen to clarify her position during a lengthy Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday. Citing a spike in the immigration arrests of non-criminals, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., raised the case of a Michigan dad who arrived illegally from Mexico at age 10 and was deported this week after 30 years – based on an outstanding court order of removal from 2009.
“That’s how we’re using our limited-enforcement resources?” Leahy asked Nielsen. “Is it to strike fear in the hearts of everybody – whether they’ve done something wrong or not?”
Nielsen defended her agency, saying 92 percent of arrests made by ICE complied with DHS’ enforcement priorities.
“Our statistics show that that is, in fact, what we’re doing,” she said, before adding: “I understand that there will always be exceptions.”
Photograph of a U.S. Department of Homeland Security logo.
SAN FRANCISCO – U.S. technology trade groups on Thursday urged the Trump administration to retain an Obama-era rule that allows certain spouses of highly skilled guest workers to also work legally in the United States.
The call was made in a letter published on the website of the Information Technology Industry Council, whose members include Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Facebook Inc., Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Microsoft Corp. Ten other national business groups also signed the letter.
The Department of Homeland Security indicated in a regulatory notice in December that it would at least partially undo the 2015 Obama administration decision granting work authorization to spouses of workers on H1b visas, which are used widely in the tech industry.
In fiscal 2016, about 42,000 spouses, who entered the country on H-4 visas, were granted work authorization. The total exceeded 36,000 in the first three quarters of fiscal 2017, according to data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, a component of DHS.
If the work authorization is repealed, H1b visa holders may move to countries where their spouses can legally work, said David Leopold, a partner at Ulmer & Berne LLP who specializes in immigration. “It’s a disincentive to stay here.”
The DHS notice did not give specifics, but said the agency was reviewing the final rule in light of the April 2017 “Buy American and Hire American” executive order by President Donald Trump.
In their letter, the groups urged the Trump administration to keep the rule in place, “not just to attract and retain talent, but to promote immigration to the United States on the basis of one’s skills and merit.”
It noted that competitors, including Canada and Australia, allow accompanying spouses to work.
Changes to the spousal work program could limit “our access as a nation to the most talented people who we need to help drive our economy,” said Dean Garfield, chief executive of the Information Technology Industry Council, in a telephone interview.
Business groups that signed the letter include Compete America, CompTIA, the Council for Global Immigration, FWD.us, the National Association of Manufacturers, the Semiconductor Industry Association, the Society for Human Resource Management, TechNet and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
No decision about the rule will be final until the rulemaking process has been completed, said Joanne F. Talbot, a spokeswoman for USCIS, in an email.
“USCIS is focused on ensuring the integrity of the immigration system and protecting the interests of U.S. workers, and is committed to reforming employment based immigration programs so they benefit the American people to the greatest extent possible,” Talbot said.
Deep Sran is running for Congress in Virginia. (Courtesy: Facebook)
Deep Sran, an Indian American educator from Virginia is considering running for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 10th Congressional District.
According to PTI, Sran, 45, is one of almost a dozen Democrats who are trying to challenge the two- term Republican Congresswoman Barbara Comstock.
“I’m a teacher, school founder, technology entrepreneur, lawyer, and child of immigrants from India,” Sran says on his website.
According to his website, the top issues that Sran is focusing on are education, transportation, environment, national security, and the economy and jobs.
“As the child of immigrants, I would push back against intolerance and hatred,” Sran told PTI.
Sran’s parents emigrated from India over 50 years ago and his father was a refugee during India’s partition, according to PTI.
He was born and raised in Montgomery County, Maryland and often felt like an outsider growing up, which made a difference in his “understanding of the potential and promise of America,” according to his website.
“He was able to see the differences and common ground between cultures and faiths, and he learned to avoid the many ways in which people can divide ourselves from one another. More than anything, he learned why America is the greatest nation on the planet, and must be a model for the world,” it states on his website.
Being an educator for his entire life, Sran founded and runs the Loudoun School for the Gifted, a school “based on the premise that the adults who know their subjects and their students best should lead the way.”
He also co-founded Actively Learn, which according to his website is “an educational technology company to develop reading technology to promote deeper learning in every classroom, including those in urban and rural schools without rich libraries for their students.”
Sran has a Ph.D. in human development and a political science degree from the University of Maryland.
He also attended law school at Georgetown University and was a corporate attorney for large firms in both Baltimore and Chicago before making education his top priority.
Sran has also been a columnist for Loudoun Now, where he has shared his thoughts on education and democracy.
Logo of new organization and political action committee launched to help India-Americans win political office (Photo: Facebook)
An organization made up of high profile Indian-American philanthropists, community leaders, and political operatives has been launched to follow up on the historic wins at the ballot box this past November 2017.
The Indian American Impact Project (“Impact Project”) and Indian American Impact Fund (“Impact Fund”) was formally launched Jan. 17. It is based in Washington, D.C. and is co-founded by former Kansas Democratic State lawmaker Raj Goyle, currently the CEO of Bodhala, a company that helps the legal community optimize operations, and Deepak Raj, chairman of the well-known non-profit Pratham USA and founder of the Raj Center on Indian Economic Policies at Columbia University.
Both initiatives are led by Gautam Raghavan, who previously served as vice president of policy for the Gill Foundation, as an Advisor in the Obama White House, and in various roles for the 2008 Obama campaign and Democratic National Committee.
“… these bold new initiatives will help talented and patriotic Indian Americans run for office, win, and lead,” the organization said in a press release.
Goyle will chair the Impact Project, a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization focused on leadership development and training, while Raj will chair the Impact Fund, a political action committee that will endorse and support viable candidates who reflect the Indian American community’s values, organizers said.
“Despite rapid growth and professional success, for too long Indian Americans have been underrepresented in elected office from state capitols to the U.S. Congress,” Goyle is quoted saying in the press release. “As a result, our needs, concerns, and priorities often go unheard in the halls of power. At a time when our community and our values are under attack by xenophobic rhetoric and regressive policies, it is more critical than ever that Indian Americans build and wield political power to fight back,” he added.
“This is our time,” said Raj. “Across the country, a record number of Indian Americans are running for office. We can’t leave it to chance that they will win on their own. We owe them our support — and we have a plan to help them run, win, and lead.”
As of January 2018, five Indian Americans currently serve in the United States Congress: Senator Kamala Harris, D-California; and Representatives Ami Bera, D-California, Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington, Ro Khanna, D-California, and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Illinois.
Impact said it is also tracking an additional 60 Indian-Americans currently serving in state and local office as state legislators, mayors, city council members, judges, and other elected positions.
The Impact Project Board of Directors includes Priya Dayananda, managing director of Federal Government Affairs for KPMG LLP, Vinai Thummalapally, former U.S. Ambassador to Belize and former executive director of SelectUSA, and Mini Timmaraju, executive director of External Affairs at Comcast and former National Women’s Vote Director for Hillary for America.
The Impact Fund Board of Directors includes Ravi Akhoury, former chairman and CEO of MacKay Shields LLC, and Raghu Devaguptapu, partner at Left Hook Strategies and former political director for the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) and Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC). Vikas Raj, managing director of Accion Venture Lab, will serve as a non-voting observer on both boards.
Logo of Buffalo Public Schools (Courtesy: buffaloschools.org)
About a month ago, many teachers at School 18, a pre-K to grade eight school in Buffalo, New York, wanted their Indian American Principal Aakta Patel, out for allegedly creating an unsafe atmosphere in the school, however, the superintendent has revoked the decision after some have come out in support of Patel, according to a WIVB.com report.
The Buffalo Teacher’s Union had told WIVB.com that “Patel continues to ignore misbehaving students and the union claims that she repeatedly makes inappropriate comments” and The Buffalo News, reported that teachers are accusing Patel of making racially insensitive and cruel statements, adding that she was covering up the “chaos” at the school to make the suspension data look good.
But now some people are defending Patel saying that she has fixed everything in the school after it received a “revolving door of administrators.”
Though one teacher claimed that she once said quote “who do you have to sleep with to get a snow day around here?” while another teacher told WIVB.com that Patel said “families were late because they are on CPT, colored people’s time,” Jacqueline Morris, another teacher at the school told The Buffalo News “to say that our principal is creating a hostile environment for students is absurd. She is focused on changing our building’s mindset, which in turn has ruffled some feathers.”
“She took over a building with rapidly declining test scores and at risk for receivership with stamina, determination and an action plan. She continues to hold us to high standards of rigorous instruction and provides effective feedback. Unfortunately, I believe that there are teachers who have become frustrated with these efforts and heightened expectations and are using this complaint as a way to target our principal,” Jessica Emerson, a staff member told The Buffalo News, noting that she and Patel did have a side conversation in which the principal made a non-aggressive, humorous comment, that she said, was repeated inaccurately by other teachers, who portrayed it unfairly as a derogatory statement about Emerson’s Polish ethnicity.
According to The Buffalo News, Marisela Rodriguez, a clerk at School 18, called Patel “a ‘firm leader’ who is compassionate, fair and supportive.”
“The claim that she is racist has never been a thought in my mind and she treats everyone with equal respect and care,” she told The Buffalo News.
Marisol Antonetti, a parent and volunteer at the school told WIVB.com that she pulled all of her children out of a charter school to attend School 18.
“This principal, she stepped up and she really did a good job with everything and I think kids could get out of hand, but she deals with them really well. I don’t understand how they can make her look as bad as they made her look,” she told WIVB.com.
Phil Rumore, the President of the Buffalo Teacher’s Federation told WIVB.com that the behavior at the school had been going on for the last two years and the teachers were afraid that someone would eventually get hurt because student behavior is out of control, saying “it’s the leader of the building that sets the tone. The stress at the school is becoming unbearable, we have over 25 teachers that were going to apply for a transfer, and that’s a good school,” adding that the union had sent home a survey to teachers, which suggested that most educators do not believe the principal disciplines students appropriately.
Superintendent Kriner Cash though, was thankful to Patel’s supporters saying that now there is “a more ‘balanced picture’ of what is going on at School 18, one of the ‘most complicated, challenging schools in the district,’ and was well before Patel took over as principal.”
“As educators, even when we disagree, we can disagree civilly and with respect. We don’t try to tear the heart out of somebody’s whole professional career,” Cash said, supporting Patel, indicating that she would be staying at School 18.
“Get behind the principal. We have a good action plan in place over there and let’s make it work. If you really, really can’t work it and still don’t like it, put in your transfer papers. I’ll find a place for you. That school is going forward under this principal’s leadership,” he said to teachers.
In a statement to WIVB.com, Buffalo Public Schools wrote:
“When allegations are made against an individual, a thorough investigation with the purpose of identification and resolution is carried out by the District. In the case you have referenced, the District put together a team last week to work with the staff at School #18. The team is comprised of the Associate Superintendent of School Leadership assigned to School #18, along with the Associate Superintendent for Student Support Services, the Assistant Superintendent for Student Support Services, a Buffalo Council of Supervisors & Administrators (BCSA – Administrators Union) representative, and a Principal Coach (a principal currently serving at another school), to work with all parties involved toward resolution.”
Darkness sets in over the U.S. Capitol building hours before U.S. President Barack Obama is set to deliver his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington January 24, 2012. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
WASHINGTON – The showdown over government funding shifted Friday to the Senate after the House passed a short-term extension that was cobbled together with enough GOP votes to overcome an internal revolt.
Still, the possibility of a federal shutdown moved closer to a certainty after Senate Democrats rallied against the GOP proposal, announcing they would not lend their votes to a bill that did not reflect their priorities on immigration, government spending and other issues.
“Shutdown coming?” President Donald Trump tweeted Friday, attempting to blame Senate Democrats for the logjam with the midnight deadline looming.
“Government Funding Bill past last night in the House of Representatives,” Trump wrote. “Now Democrats are needed if it is to pass in the Senate – but they want illegal immigration and weak borders. Shutdown coming? We need more Republican victories in 2018!”
By Thursday evening, nine Senate Democrats who had voted for a spending measure in December said they would not support the latest proposed four-week extension, joining 30 other Democrats and at least two Senate Republicans – and leaving the bill short of the 60 votes needed to advance.
As a result, Republican leaders – long on the defensive against claims that they were failing to govern – appeared emboldened as they sought to cast the Democrats as the obstacle to a compromise to keep critical government functions operating.
“My Democratic colleagues’ demands on illegal immigration, at the behest of their far-left base, have crowded out all other important business,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Thursday night. “And now they are threatening to crowd out the needs of veterans, military families, opioid treatment centers and every other American who relies on the federal government – all over illegal immigration.”
Senators of both parties voted to open debate on the House bill late Thursday, but Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Democrats remained opposed to the measure and proposed a spending extension that would last just a few days to allow talks on a broader agreement to continue.
“We have to sit down together and solve this, with the president or without,” he said.
Republican leaders rejected that suggestion. They did not lay out a Plan B to pursue if the House bill is ultimately rejected, except to point blame at Democrats for a shutdown.
“I ask the American people to understand this: The only people in the way of keeping the government open are Senate Democrats,” House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said Thursday night. “Whether there is a government shutdown or not is entirely up to them.”
Senate GOP leaders prepared to force Democrats into a series of uncomfortable votes, aimed at splitting their ranks by pitting moderates from states that Trump won against party leaders and the handful of outspoken liberals considering a run for the presidency.
For one, Republicans attached a long-term extension of the Children’s Health Insurance Program and delays to several unpopular health-care taxes. The bill does not include protections for “dreamers,” immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children or who overstayed their visas as children, a top Democratic priority.
That represented an election-year bid by the GOP to cast the spending vote as, in part, a choice between poor children and undocumented immigrants. Ryan, McConnell, and other Republicans also sought to highlight the potential erosion to military readiness that could result from a shutdown.
Emboldened Democratic leaders, meanwhile, rallied lawmakers for a showdown on what they believe is favorable ground, fighting on behalf of popular policies against an unpopular president who has had a brutal week of news coverage. As Thursday wore on, undecided senators steadily stepped forward to say that they would oppose the Republican measure – risking GOP political attacks and angry constituents.
Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark R. Warner, Virginia Democrats who represent tens of thousands of federal employees who stand to be furloughed during a shutdown, said they could not vote for a bill that did not include relief for dreamers, disaster funding, opioid treatment funding and more – echoing the demands of Democratic leaders.
“These issues are not going away and need to be addressed immediately,” they said in a joint statement that also criticized Trump: “He has to decide whether he wants to be President and engage in necessary compromise, or continue offering commentary from the sidelines.”
Trump fired back at Democrats during a trip to Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, saying that they’re pushing for a shutdown to distract voters from the GOP’s recent tax legislation. “That is not a good subject for them, the tax cuts,” Trump said.
The late-night showdown capped a long, tense day on Capitol Hill that began with a flurry of tweets from Trump that doubled down on his demands for an expensive border wall and accused Democrats of snubbing the military. Another tweet, however, seemed to upend the Republican strategy for avoiding a shutdown and contradict his administration’s stated policy position – suggesting that the children’s health program ought not to be attached to a temporary spending bill.
Republican lawmakers and aides, who were already pressed to secure enough GOP votes to get the bill through the House, scrambled to decipher Trump’s intentions. Much as he had to do a week ago after Trump tweeted about an intelligence bill, Ryan got on the phone with the president to clarify matters, and hours later, the White House confirmed that Trump indeed supported the bill.
The tweets inflamed frustrations in both parties over what they characterized as an all-too-often uncooperative president.
“We don’t have a reliable partner at the White House to negotiate with,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said. “This has turned into an s-show for no good reason.”
Schumer called Trump and his administration “agents of chaos” who have foiled attempts to reach a bipartisan agreement on immigration, which remained the most salient sticking point Thursday.
“The one thing standing in our way is the unrelenting flow of chaos from the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue,” Schumer said. “It has reduced the Republicans to shambles. We barely know who to negotiate with.”
Meanwhile, Republican leaders were having trouble smoothing out a wrinkle in their plans to blame a shutdown on Democrats: Hard-line House conservatives demanded concessions in return for their votes, casting doubt on whether the funding patch would even reach the Senate.
All but a few House Democrats said they would not support the bill without an immigration or long-term budget deal.
“If we can’t agree, your party has the majority in the House and the Senate to pass your own funding resolution. But that will be a bill we cannot support,” 171 of 193 House Democrats wrote in a letter to Ryan on Thursday.
While Ryan worked the House floor during an afternoon vote series, trying to lock down votes for the patch, leaders of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus tried to persuade Republicans to withhold their votes.
“I promise you he doesn’t have the votes,” said Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., heading to a closed-door Freedom Caucus meeting, where Trump called in to try to win over restive conservatives.
Meadows and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, then went into Ryan’s office, where they hashed out a deal with Republican leaders to secure future votes on measures that would increase defense spending and tighten immigration laws. With that accord in place, the House voted 230 to 197 to pass the legislation. Only six Democrats broke ranks to support it.
Senators strategized through the day on how to turn the clash to their advantage – retreating into party lunches to plan for a showdown that could stretch into the weekend or beyond.
Reflecting the election-year stakes, aides to McConnell told senior staffers that he was intent on muscling the bill through the upper chamber and putting pressure on Democrats to vote for it, according to a person familiar with the meeting.
“Let’s bring the House bill over and have a quick vote and make the Democrats up in 2018 figure out what they want to do,” the person said of the meeting.
Ten Democrats are seeking reelection in states that voted for Trump in 2016, and Republicans believe they can force them into tough votes that would either force a rift in Democratic ranks or provide powerful fodder for political attacks later in the year.
Democrats expressed confidence that they would come out on top in the public-opinion battle over who would shoulder the blame for a shutdown – citing broad public sympathy for dreamers, political winds blowing against Republicans and Trump’s approach to bipartisan negotiations.
Last week, he rejected an immigration compromise in an Oval Office meeting where he referred to poor nations as “shithole countries,” driving days of public criticism.
“I think their argument falls apart because of last week in the Oval Office, because of their inability to even get a [temporary funding bill] out of the House in a timely fashion without making concessions to the Freedom Caucus,” said Sen. Brian Schatz (D- Hawaii).
Even as a shutdown grew more likely, some senators hoped to find a path away from it. Some senators discussed the possibility of passing one- or two-day extensions of government funding to avoid a shutdown while lawmakers continue to negotiate.
But Republican leaders did not immediately embrace the idea, and it was unclear how it would work for the House, which is scheduled to be out of session next week.
Top leaders of both parties continued meeting Thursday to seek an immigration compromise, but no agreement appeared to be in sight. Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, leaving a meeting with other deputy leaders, rejected the idea that a deal to protect dreamers could be concluded by Friday evening at midnight. “No, no,” he told reporters.
A government shutdown causing employee furloughs has never occurred under unified party control of Congress and the White House.
The Trump administration is drawing up plans to keep national parks and monuments open despite a shutdown as a way to blunt public anger, and while the military would not cease to operate, troops would not be paid unless Congress specifically authorizes it.
The last shutdown, in 2013, lasted for 16 days as Republicans tried unsuccessfully to force changes to the Affordable Care Act. On Jan. 30, Trump is scheduled to deliver his State of the Union address.
Stephanie Kripa Cooper-Lewter, of Charlotte, North Carolina, has been named the executive director of Leading on Opportunity, a group created last year to implement recommendations on how to lift children and families out of poverty.
The recommendations were outlined by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Opportunity Task Force Report which was formed in 2015 following a study by Harvard University and University of California, Berkeley, which showed Charlotte ranked last among 50 cities where children were least likely to escape poverty.
The Council on Children’s Rights announced the appointment Jan. 16, in a press release. Cooper-Lewter, 45, an Indian-American with a compelling back story, was chosen from among 100-plus candidates following a nationwide search. She was abandoned at the doorstep of a Sisters of Charity home in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, as a baby, several news reports said. The Kanpur Sisters of Charity placed Cooper-Lewter with an Indian foster family before she came to the U.S. as a toddler on an immigrant orphan visa through international adoption, according to Qcitymetro.com.
“My journey has guided my life purpose to ensure every child – regardless of income, race and zip code – has the same opportunities as yours and mine,” Cooper-Lewter said. “I have given my heart to this cause, and to racial equity. I can’t wait to move to Charlotte to begin the work of connecting people in a way that fosters change. I believe Charlotte-Mecklenburg is ready to do the work.”
She has extensive experience collaborating with both public and private sector organizations as well as with diverse communities. Most recently, Cooper-Lewter served as Vice President of Initiatives and Public Policy for the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina.
She brings nearly 25 years of experience in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors, previously serving as president and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Columbia, North Carolina. In that role, she was the first Indian-American CEO in the United Way of the Midlands community partner network.
“We believe we are at a pivotal time in Charlotte’s history. We need every facet of the community to understand that we have a collective responsibility to ensure every child has a chance to prosper no matter their starting point in life,” James Ford and Andrea Smith, co-chairs of the Leading on Opportunity Council, are quoted saying in millmag.org.
Cooper will assume her new position as executive director on Feb. 20.
Cooper-Lewter’s husband, Nicholas, is a social work clinician in private practice who retired from teaching at the University of South Carolina College of Social Work. The couple has two children.
Indian-American Gurbir S. Grewal is the first Sikh to be appointed as attorney general for the state of New Jersey Jan. 17.
Grewal received a unanimous vote of 29-0 and was sworn in just hours after New Jersey’s new governor, Phil Murphy, took office replacing Republican Gov. Chris Christie.
“Today is one of the most important cabinet picks. This is the right pick for New Jersey, this is the right pick for law enforcement, this is right pick for ensuring that all citizens of New Jersey are treated equally,” Sen. Paul Sarlo, Democrat from Bergen County, said at the Senate judiciary meeting in Trenton, according to NJSpotlight.com. Grewal was Bergen County Prosecutor from 2016 to 2018, appointed by outgoing Gov. Christie.
“Governor Murphy got this one right. He picked the most qualified candidate to be the next attorney general,” said Sen. Gerald Cardinale, a Republican from Bergen County, who also described Grewal’s nomination as “the best thing [Murphy] has done” so far.
Grewal thanked his mentors, law enforcement from Bergen county and religious leaders from the community as well as his wife and three young daughters, saying “Girls, I continue in this public service journey for really one reason, and that’s to ensure that each of you grow up in a fair and just society,” according to NJSpotlight.com.
“I am a proud son of New Jersey. I never once imagined that my life’s journey could bring me here today,” Grewal added.
A graduate of George Washington University in Washington, D.C., Grewal did law from the College of William and Mary. He was assistant U.S. attorney in the Economic Crimes Unit in the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey from 2010-2013; From 2013 to 2014, Grewal served as deputy chief of the Economic Crimes Unit and Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property Section; Eight months into that job he was promoted to chief of the Economic Crimes Unit. In 2016, he became Bergen County Prosecutor.
FILE PHOTO: A man poses with a smartphone in front of displayed Whatsapp logo in this illustration September 14, 2017. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/File Photo
NEW DELHI – To help businesses communicate better with their customers globally including in India, WhatsApp on Thursday launched “WhatsApp Business” – a free-to-download Android app for small businesses.
The new app will make it easier for companies to connect with customers, and more convenient for its 1.3 billion users to chat with businesses that matter to them.
“People all around the world use WhatsApp to connect with small businesses they care about from online clothing companies in India to auto parts stores in Brazil,” the Facebook-owned app said in a statement.
Currently, “WhatsApp Business” is free to download on Google Play in Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Britain and the US. The app will roll out for other countries, and in India, in the coming weeks.
“WhatsApp Business will make it easier for people to connect with them, and vice versa, in a fast and simple way,” the company said.
The app will help customers with useful information such as a business description, email or store addresses and website.
It will also save time with smart messaging tools – quick replies that provide fast answers to frequently asked questions, greeting messages that introduce customers to your business, and away messages that let them know you’re busy.
“People will know that they’re talking to a business because you will be listed as a Business Account. Over time, some businesses will have Confirmed Accounts once it’s been confirmed that the account phone number matches the business phone number,” WhatsApp said.
People can continue using WhatsApp as usual as there’s no need to download anything new.
“People will continue to have full control over the messages they receive, with the ability to block any number, including businesses, as well as report spam,” the company added.
For over 80 per cent of small businesses in India and Brazil, WhatsApp helps them communicate with customers and grow their business.
In India, 84 per cent of SMBs think that WhatsApp helps them communicate with customers, andA80 per cent of SMBs think that WhatsApp helps them grow their business.
Glassics is a fashion eyewear company that tested WhatsApp Business first-hand to message customers quickly and build personal relationships with them.
“WhatsApp Business helped us develop stronger relationships with our customers. We were able to respond faster to customers with features like away messages and quick replies, and offer a better overall experience,” said its co-founder Devesh Nichani.
FCC chairman Ajit Pai has appointed Nirali Patel, an Indian-American staffer for Federal Communications Commission Commissioner Brendan Carr, to his Special Counsel.
According to a FCC press release, Patel has been a legal advisor to Carr and advised on media, wireless, public safety, international, consumer protection and enforcement matters.
Prior to working for Carr, Patel was the deputy chief of the Competition Policy Division of the Wireline Competition Bureau.
Before joining to FCC, Patel was on the technology, media and telecommunications practice counsel at Hogan Lovells US LLP and practiced communications law at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP as well as Sidley Austin LLP.
Patel graduated from the American University Washington College of Law and received her undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
“I’m pleased that Nirali is joining my office as Special Counsel. She has a wide range of expertise and experience in communications law and policy issues and will be an asset to my team,” Pai said in a statement.
Even Carr welcomed Patel to the Special Counsel saying, “she has been an invaluable member of the team, bringing a depth of knowledge and thoroughness to every issue she tackled.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, poses with a copy of the U.S. India Global Review, a publication brought out by Padma Shri Dr. Sudhir Parikh, right, of the U.S.-based Parikh Worldwide Media, LLC, and founder of the think tank, Parikh Foundation for India’s Global Development.
The U.S.-based think tank, Parikh Foundation For India’s Global Development, launched with the goal of empowering India’s development as a global power, is gaining momentum.
Founder and Chairman Dr. Sudhir Parikh, recipient of India’s Padma Shri award, established the think tank last year with a view to developing it as a vehicle for dialogue among policymakers, and thought leaders, with input from all stakeholders on issues ranging from defense strategy and commercial interests to civil society, culture, arts, religion, and the contributions of Indian-Americans and Indians around the globe.
This think tank, which plans to hold seminars and conferences in the U.S. and India as forums for developing innovative ideas, also seeks to be a venue for exploring new aspects of India and U.S. bilateral and multilateral relations in the 21st century and how they can benefit the world beyond their borders.
“Indian-Americans are playing an important role across the U.S., from technology and medicine, academia and business, to politics and government,” Parikh said.
“The time has come to mobilize their intellectual energy and creativity for promoting India-U.S. relations and take it to the next level of becoming a global force for good. The Foundation wants to be a catalyst for this,” he emphasized, especially in light of the marked deepening of relations evident in Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s “100 Year Vision” of India’s global role, that he delivered at the Center for Strategic and International Studies Oct. 18, on the eve of his first visit to India as Secretary of State.
Tillerson unveiled a centennial roadmap marking a “profound transformation” in U.S.-India cooperation “in defense of a rules-based order” one where New Delhi would be “fully embracing its potential as a leading player in the international security arena.” The United States and India are “increasingly global partners with growing strategic convergence,” Tillerson said, asserting that, “Our nations are two bookends of stability – on either side of the globe – standing for greater security and prosperity for our citizens and people around the world.”
“President (Donald) Trump and Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi are committed, more than any other leaders before them, to building an ambitious partnership that benefits not only our two great democracies, but other sovereign nations working toward greater peace and stability,” Tillerson said.
Not taking advantage of this propitious environment would be to let a golden opportunity get by, Parikh said, adding he felt duty-bound to establish the think tank and initiate a dialogue through future seminars and conference, but also through the flagship magazine, U.S.-India Global Review, two issues of which are already published. They feature leading intellectuals on bilateral relations between the U.S. and India, as well as in-depth pieces on the economic development of India over the decades.
With an Indian-American citizenry that has gained a seat at the national table, the magazine also ran an exclusive from four U.S. lawmakers on Capitol Hill, dwelling on their accomplishments and vision of the future. Projecting India’s soft power, the journal has also included articles on culture and cuisine.
The next issue of the magazine slated to be out in February, will focus on ASEAN and India’s 25-year relationship that is gaining new momentum with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Act East policy.
Several leaders from ASEAN countries are invited guests at India’s Republic Day, symbolizing the growing closeness and commonality of interests in the Indian and Pacific Ocean regions. Catalyzing that relationship is critical to India and U.S. interests, and as such, the magazine plans to carry the analyses and understanding of experts on the subject.
The logo of Amazon is seen at the company logistics center in Lauwin-Planque, northern France, February 20, 2017. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol
NEW YORK – Amazon has pared down to 20 contenders for their proposed $5 billion HQ2, in a new North American city outside of headquarters in Seattle. It’s definitely raised more excitement than when Los Angeles bid for the 2024 summer Olympics, losing out eventually to Paris. Construction of the 8 million square feet campus is expected to commence in 2019. The company says it will hire 50,000 workers for high-paying jobs, at the new campus; the same number of employees they have in Washington state.
Now, your guess is as good as anybody else’s, if any of the 19 cities in the US would be able to prevail over the lone contender from Canada, Toronto, help get over the disappointment of losing out on the 2024 Games.
Here’s a far weightier question too for Amazon to ponder in coming to a decision, apart from real estate issues and tax freebies thrown at them: where are the tens of thousands of STEM workers they will look to hire, come from?
There’s no doubt that Amazon, which industry experts reckon is on track for $1 trillion evaluation, is one of the best American companies to work for. Amazon ranks #1 on Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies, #2 on Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies, #1 on The Harris Poll’s Corporate Reputation survey, and #2 on LinkedIn’s U.S. most desirable companies list.
Its investments in Seattle from 2010 through 2016 resulted in an additional $38 billion to the city’s economy – every dollar invested by Amazon in Seattle generated an additional $1.40 for the city’s economy overall, according to the company.
There was also tremendous increase in Fortune 500 companies with engineering/R&D centers in Seattle, burgeoning from 7 in 2010 to 31 in 2017. Apart from the 50,000 employees on campus, Amazon helped create an additional 53,000 jobs in the Seattle area because of direct investments. It has 540,000 employees worldwide.
The critical question of hiring new workers, though, is significant.
During the Obama administration, when Amazon begun to blossom, skilled immigrant workers were encouraged; Silicon Valley thrived. The scenario has changed under the Trump Administration. Now, visa for skilled workers, or ease of getting it, has eroded drastically; there’s danger of it coming to an abrupt halt altogether.
Add the fact that there is sustained lack of interest among American teenagers to take up STEM careers, the problem of getting skilled STEM talent will likely increase in the years to come.
Take a look at this new survey by the Pew Research Center, released this week, which indicates paucity of STEM workers in the US. Most Americans when asked why more students don’t pursue a degree in science, technology, engineering or math (STEM), they are most likely to point to the difficulty of these subjects, according to the survey. About half of adults (52%) say the main reason young people don’t pursue STEM degrees is they think these subjects are too hard.
Only 13% of the U.S. workforce was employed in STEM occupations as of 2016, while the vast majority (87%) was employed in other occupations, said the survey.
“Policymakers and educators have long puzzled over why more students do not pursue STEM majors in college, even though those who have an undergraduate degree in a STEM field of study earn more than those with other college majors – regardless of whether they work in a STEM job or a different occupation. Yet only a third of workers (33%) ages 25 and older with at least a bachelor’s degree have an undergraduate degree in a STEM field,” the survey report said.
It’s evident that the problem has not been tackled by US educators and policy makers over the years: a 2013 Pew Research Center survey, using similar question wording, found that Americans were also most likely to point to the difficulty of science and math as the main reason more young people don’t pursue degrees in these fields.
In the new survey, smaller shares say the main reason more young people don’t pursue degrees in STEM is that they think STEM subjects are not useful for their careers (23%) or they think these subjects are too boring (12%).
The most commonly cited reason for not pursuing a STEM career was cost and time barriers (27%), such as high expenses required for education or a lack of access to resources and opportunities. One-in-five (20%) say the reason they did not pursue a STEM career is they found another interest, while 14% say they found STEM classes were too hard or they lost interest.
This widening chasm of STEM haves and STEM have-nots, just like the wealth gap, can only be addressed by opening the doors for more skilled workers from overseas.
Tech companies and their lobbyists have pointed to the acute shortage of STEM workers in the US. With the protectionist and prohibitive approach by the Trump Administration, the question facing a lot of the tech companies in the US will be where to investment for future growth, and importantly, how to get the right talent to make those new centers profitable.
If the Trump Administration continues with its vilification of skilled workers, especially those on H-1B visa, continue to clamp down hard on family members of these workers – forcing spouses on H-4 visas to remain unemployed for decades till permanent residency, as well as act tough with foreign students on F-1 visas – make it hard for them to get permanent jobs after they graduate, they may well find out that it comes with repercussions: Amazon may well decide to spurn all the 19 cities in the US; create their fantastic new campus in Toronto, where liberal immigration policies for skilled workers are in place.
(Sujeet Rajan is Executive Editor, Parikh Worldwide Media. Email him: sujeet@newsindiatimes.com Follow him on twitter @SujeetRajan1)
PM Narendra Modi attends 14th ASEAN-India summit at Vientiane, Laos.
That 10 leaders of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) occupy seats on the rostrum as the parade of India’s cultural and economic diversity, and military might passes by with music and color on New Delhi’s Rajpath this Republic Day this Jan. 26, is a testament to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Act East’ policy’s ambitious agenda of building bridges across the oceans.
Their presence also signals the measure of India’s economic growth and the resulting regional and global importance, recognized in both the East and the West.
The optics of the presidents, prime ministers and a Sultan at the nationally televised Republic Day, marks a “big step forward” for India’s looking East policy, says Sadanand Dhume, resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. “It’s a gift the Modi administration has of using spectacle in furthering India’s foreign policy,” Dhume told News India Times. This isthe first time South East Asia is being so prominently displayed in India, he says.
The invitation to the 10 ASEAN leaders is not just symbolic, concurrs Anubhav Gupta, assistant director with the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York. It signals a relationship in which ASEAN and India are willing to invest heavily, both politically and diplomatically.
More than a thousand years of history between India and the ASEAN countries is being seemingly infused with new life, geared in this modern and technological age, toward economic, strategic, national security, environment, and connectivity, building on a foundation of historical cultural commonalities.
“ASEAN is central to India’s ‘Act East’ Policy. And, our ties are a source of balance and harmony in the region,” Modi said on Sept. 8, 2016, noting that the engagement was driven not just by shared civilizational heritage, but “also driven by our commonstrategic priorities of securing our societies and bringing peace, stability and prosperity to the region.”
After taking office, Modi took a proactive approach to ASEAN. The country’s search for economic space with the 1990s liberalization resulted in the ‘Look East Policy.’ That policy has today matured into a dynamic and action oriented ‘Act East Policy’ articulated by Modi at the 12th ASEAN India Summit in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar’s new capital, in November, 2014, just months into his administration.
Walking the Talk
While India will not be a member of ASEAN, it is trying to build relations at the institutional level and the individual country level, Dhume notes.
Important change elements in India’s ASEAN relationship had already been jumpstarted by the Modi administration, noted Gupta.
By making the ASEAN policy pro-active, New Delhi stands to reap benefits way beyond the more incremental pace of the past, he said, adding, “The strategy itself is not new but has a new invigorated focus.” For instance, Modi has traveled far more extensively in the region than Indian leaders before him, and with more clearly targeted economic objectives.
“Even though India has for a long time talked about it (engaging Southeast Asia), now it is finally walking the talk,” Gupta said.
India-ASEAN trade and investment relations have been growing steadily, with ASEAN being India’s fourth largest trading partner. Bilateral trade stood at approximately US$ 76.53 billion in 2014-15.
India’s imports from ASEAN are higher by several billions than its exports to the region in recent years, which reality may explain Modi’s focus on the economics of the relationship.
According to an analysis by Pyaralal Raghavan in the Times of India, India’s exports to ASEAN were up significantly in the initial years — $18.1 billion in 2009-10 to $ 33.1 billion in 2013-14. But they fell to $ 25.1 billion in 2015-16. The share of Indian exports to ASEAN rose to as high as 16.9% by 2012-13, but dropped to it has 9.5% by 2015-16. Foreign Direct Investment has also not been in India’s favor, MEA figures show.
Gupta recommends India be even more engaged economically than before, with the region, and promotes APEC, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation grouping, as one of the solutions. The 21-member APEC stretches all the way from Southeast Asia to Peru, taking in seven ASEAN members and major economies including Australia, China, Russia, Japan, Canada and the United States.
Dhume on the other hand, contends APEC is a complex relationship and the more appropriate organization where India can get results is RCEP or the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership of which India is a member. The RCEP also includes all the ASEAN members and Australia, China, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand and aims at equalizing economic disparities and broadening and deepening engagement in the economic development of the region, the RCEP website states.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Thailand Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha.
Energizing Diplomacy
Dhume lauded the policy vigor adopted by New Delhi in more recent years.
“Looking toward East Asia is more an example of how the Modi administration has energized Indian diplomacy. It is a symbol of greater ambition. This is a question of trying to do more in this region, not that the West has become less important,” says Dhume.
Modi has ratcheted up this relationship even as President Donald Trump put India front and center in the Asian power equation, renaming the region “Indo-Pacific” from the older “Asia-Pacific” in Washington’s strategy. Washington now wants to develop a quadrilateral alliance in the region with India, Australia and Japan.
A stronger relationship with the U.S. gives India a strong hand to play with ASEAN, because Washington remains the dominant power in Asia, and ASEAN looks to the U.S. for direction.
“If Washington indicates a larger role for India, it strengthens India’s hand,” Dhume opines.
Gupta reverses the equation. India’s current assertiveness vis-a-vis ASEAN, strong positions it has taken even in areas where personal interests are not so directly connected, is a result of its own strong economic growth, Gupta contends.
“India’s more confident and engaged outlook and strong economy has led other countries (including the U.S.), to include it in their strategic equation,” contends Gupta. One outcome is Washington switching terminology in its strategic vision to “Indo Pacific” from “Asia Pacific” changing the frame of reference and “suddenly making India the anchor rather than the peripheral country in the region,” Gupta said. Yet, while India has begun the process, it needs to play a more active role in Asia and South East Asia, and express its own positions and principles as it has begun doing on wanting “open” seas and the rule of law to govern the seas.
All this is transpiring in the backdrop of increasingly aggressive postures adopted by the Chinese leadership in the region, which worry nations of ASEAN and others.
Despite this posturing both in the oceans and on India’s land border, New Delhi’s strong position open oceans and the rule of law, harkens to an independence and strength, an awareness that appeasing China seldom assures a positive outcome, Gupta notes.
Meanwhile, alongside the development of the “Quad” alliance proposed and initiated by the U.S. last year, hovers in the background, and shows a yearning for reviving an idea that appeared to have died in 2007, Gupta says.
ASEAN-India Relationship Built On Measurable Plans Of Action
India’s 25-year relationship with ASEAN, an organization that was founded in 1967, could be counted among its foreign policy successes. Based on concrete five-year “Plan(s) of Action” under the rubric of “Partnership for Peace, Progress and Shared Prosperity,” the latest being the 2016-2020 plan, the relationship covers political and security concerns, economic, socio-cultural cooperation, connectivity and a host of other areas.
India’s relationship with ASEAN dates back to 1992, growing from merely a “sectoral” dialogue to a “full” dialogue partnership in December 1995. The relationship was further elevated with the convening of the ASEAN-India Summit in 2002 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, from when the ASEAN-India Summit has been held annually. “All these tookplace in a decade, which clearly signifies the importance of the dialogue partnership to ASEAN and India and the progress made in the cooperation,” the organization says on its website.
At the 13th ASEAN-India Summit held in Kuala Lumpur in November 2015, the ASEAN leaders welcomed Modi’s “Act East Policy” and noted the initiatives potentially complemented their own efforts.
“Economics is more important than culture for these young economies – looking to build jobs, and interested in trade and manufacturing,” said Sadanand Dhume, resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
Modi mirrored the goals expressed by ASEAN leaders — economics was his focus as well.
“The substance of our strategic partnership covers all three major segments of ASEAN activities-security, economic and socio-cultural. And, the ASEAN India Plan of Action for the period 2016-2020 has served us well in fulfilling our objectives. We have already implemented 54 out of 130 activities identified in the Plan of Action,” Modi said in his 2016 address to ASEAN leaders.
“Enhancing connectivity in all its dimensions- physical, digital, economic, institutional and cultural-is at the heart of India’s strategic partnership with ASEAN. And, readiness to link our economic success, and share development experiences with ASEAN nations, especially the CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam) countries, drives our engagement,” Modi asserted.
NEW YORK – Three Indian Americans professors, Amit Sheth, Gaurav Sukhatme and Dinesh Manocha, are among those selected as the 2018 Fellows of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI).
Sheth is a computer science and engineering professor at Wright State University and the executive director of Kno.e.sis – Ohio Center for Excellence in knowledge-enabled computing.
According to a university news release, his research has pioneered development and use of knowledge graphs to enhance AI techniques of Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing, and for making sense of Big Data.
Sheth received his B.E. from BITS-Pilani, India in 1981 and his doctorate in computer and information science from Ohio State University in 1985.
Sukhatme is the dean’s professor and chairman in the University of Southern California’s School of Engineering’s Department of Computer Science; he also serves as the co-director of the Robotics Research Lab and the director of the Robotic Embedded Systems Lab, which he founded in 2000.
According to his university bio, his research interests are in multi-robot systems and sensor/actuator networks and he has published extensively in these and related areas.
He has also served as the principal investigator on numerous NSF, DARPA and NASA grants as well as a co-principal investigator at the Center for Embedded Networked Sensing, an NSF Science and Technology Center, is a fellow of the IEEE and a recipient of the NSF CAREER award and the Okawa Foundation research award.
He is one of the founders of the Robotics: Science and Systems conference. He was program chair of the 2008 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation and program chair of the 2011 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Robots and Systems.
Sukhatme received his undergraduate education in computer science and engineering at IIT Bombay and has a Master’s and doctorate degrees in computer science from USC.
Manocha is currently Phi Delta Theta/Matthew Mason Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
He has coauthored more than 420 papers in the leading conferences and journals on computer graphics, robotics, and scientific computing and has received numerous awards.
According to his university bio, he has served on the editorial board of 10 leading journals and program committees of more than 100 conferences in computer graphics, robotics, high performance computing, geometric computing and symbolic computation and has supervised dozens of M.S. and doctorate students over the last 23 years at UNC Chapel Hill.
Manocha received his B.Tech. degree in computer science and engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi in 1987 and a doctorate in computer science at U.C. Berkeley in 1992.
According to its website, each year the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence recognizes a group of individuals who have made significant and sustained contributions to the field of artificial intelligence through the continuation of its Fellows program.
NEW YORK – Indian American Vivek Viswanathan, who served as a policy adviser in the Clinton campaign, has announced he will be running for California State Treasurer this year.
“I am running for California State Treasurer, beginning today, and announcing my 500-mile run across our state to take my campaign directly to voters. Share my video, like my Facebook page, and join me at http://www.vivekforca.com #500MilesforCA #RunwithVivek,” he tweeted.
Viswanathan said in the statement that he will be campaigning “by running for all Californians”.
Starting “next month, Vivek will begin a 500-mile route through the Central Valley, from San Francisco to San Diego, to listen to voters and ensure that they have a voice in the state government,” a release said.
He also added that he will not be accepting donations from corporations, political action committees or other special interest groups and instead will be seeking the help of Californians to win the election.
On his website, he lists the “10 big ideas” that he will be focusing on, including, generating more revenue by broadening sales tax, start a college savings account for every baby born in California, refinance student debt, enact public financing for all state-level campaigns, allow all Californians to place a security freeze on their credit information without having to pay a fee, promote public health for children by imposing a statewide tax on sugary drinks, ramp up contributions from all levels of government to our retirement system, eliminate California’s mortgage-interest deduction for second homes, protect homeowners and protect California from possible economic downturns.
Viswanathan earned a JD and an MBA from Stanford and studied U.S. history and international relations at Harvard and Cambridge along with earning his master’s in historical studies as a Henry Fellow at the University of Cambridge.
He was also the recipient of the 2013 Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans and during his undergraduate years at Harvard, he was the managing editor of the Harvard Political Review.
Viswanathan’s father, Ramaswamy Viswanathan, is a psychiatrist at the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center and his mother Kusum Viswanathan is a pediatric hematologist-oncologist, who also chairs the department of pediatrics at Brookdale University Hospital.
“I am the son of immigrants who gave me a chance to get an education and go into public service. We must keep California fiscally strong to give others the opportunity I had,” Viswanathan said in a statement.
Margaritaville Key West Resort & Marina in Florida is offering a free fifth night plus a resort credit. The Escape to Paradise package costs about $1,200 for five nights, including taxes; the free night is worth about $300. Guests also receive a $100 resort credit per stay. Book by March 31; travel by Dec. 22. Info: 855-366-8045, margaritavillekeywestresort.com
Save $100 on International Culinary Tour’s new Southwest France: Yoga, Wellness and Cooking tour in Bordeaux. With the discount, the trip costs $3,095 per person double and includes seven nights in an 18th-century chateau in Monflanquin; all meals, including wine at dinner; two cooking classes; several excursions, such as visits to wineries, an outdoor market, a flea market and chateau; private transportation with guides; airport transfers; yoga instruction and life-coaching sessions; and taxes. Book by Jan. 31; depart Aug. 9. Info: 800-341-8687, internationalculinarytours.com
With Wyndham Extra Holidays, save up to 20 percent at 18 ski resorts. The promotion applies to Wyndham vacation ownership resorts in 11 U.S. states and three Canadian provinces. Two- or three-night minimum stay required. For example, at Wyndham Vacation Resorts Steamboat Springs in Colorado, a one-bedroom suite that sleeps four costs $630 for three nights in early March, including taxes — a savings of $149. Travel by April 8. Book at extraholidays.com/promotion/ wyndham-vacation-ski-resort-deals using promo code SNOW18
Sea
Forever Resorts, an authorized National Park Service concessionaire, is discounting houseboat rentals on Lake Mead and Lake Mohave in Nevada, and Lake Powell in Arizona. Save $450 to $550 on a variety of houseboats, plus save 15 percent on smaller watercraft. Four-day minimum rental required. For example, a 59-foot deluxe houseboat that sleeps 10 at Lake Mead’s Callville Bay Resort & Marina costs $3,397 for four nights in early April, including taxes — a savings of $450. Sale rates are not available in July. Call 800-255-5561 to book. Info: foreverhouseboats.com
Viking Cruises is offering two-for-one prices plus free air on select ocean and river cruises sailing through 2020. The deal applies to nearly a dozen itineraries, including Around the Caribbean Sea; New York, Bermuda and the West Indies; Paris to the Swiss Alps; and Waterways of the Tsars. Prices vary. For example, for the Nov. 7 departure of the West Indies Explorer, which sails round trip from San Juan, Puerto Rico, a deluxe veranda stateroom starts at $3,999 per person double, including taxes; the fare was $7,998. Free air worth $545 each is included. Book by Jan. 31. Info: 866-984-5464, vikingcruises.com
Air
United Airlines has sale fares from Washington Dulles to Indianapolis, Nashville and Columbia , S.C. Round-trip fare to Indianapolis starts at $121 for Tuesday and Wednesday travel; fare typically starts at $260. Book at least 21 days in advance by Jan. 25 and travel through May 23. Info: united.com
Package
JetBlue Vacations is offering discounted packages and extra savings of $100 or $200 per reservation, based on the destination. Save $100 on domestic packages costing at least $1,500 and save $200 on international trips costing at least $2,000. For example, a four-night trip to Fort Lauderdale , Fla., in early March starts at $1,773 per couple. Price includes round-trip air from Reagan National, accommodations at the W Hotel and taxes. Priced separately, the trip goes for about $2,450. Book by Jan. 26; travel Jan. 29-April 30. Use promo code DOM100 for domestic trips and INTL200 for international travel. Info: 800-538-2583, jetblue.com/vacations/sale/savings-cap
Photograph of a U.S. Department of Homeland Security logo.
Lars Larson, a conservative radio host in Portland, Oregon, who supports President Donald Trump, uses the phrase “illegal aliens” on his nationally syndicated talk show to describe immigrants living in the country unlawfully.
“I think it’s a way to define a problem,” Larson said. “We’re a nation of laws.”
Cecilia Muñoz, a longtime immigrant rights advocate who served as President Barack Obama’s domestic policy adviser, calls those words “pejorative” and prefers alternatives such as “undocumented immigrants.”
“Aliens, in the public mind, are not a good thing,” Muñoz said.
Their disagreement over how to describe an estimated population of 11 million people might seem like minor semantics in the tempestuous, decades-long debate over how to overhaul the nation’s immigration system. But people on both sides say the yawning gap in language has come to symbolize – and directly contribute to – the inability of Congress, and the general public, to forge consensus. An impasse on immigration was at the center of the budget fight that led to a partial shutdown of the federal government on Saturday.
Though Trump’s use of a vulgarity in a recent immigration meeting at the White House drew widespread condemnation, a series of more mundane terms has been weaponized by immigration hawks, and to a lesser degree advocacy groups, in pursuit of political advantage.
On the right, Trump and his allies have warned of the dangers of “chain migration,” railed against “amnesty” for lawbreakers and urged a shift toward a “merit-based” system. Their choice of words suggests immigrants are taking advantage of the United States and are a drain on society.
On the left, advocates have defended a tradition of “family reunification” and cast immigrants who arrived illegally as children as “dreamers” and “kids” in need of special care – even though some are in their 40s. Their rhetoric paints immigrants as the fabric of the American experience and as strivers seeking a chance at success.
The starkly different terms show why it’s so hard for Washington to agree on major immigration reform. For years, over several administrations, the two sides have accused each other of being unable, or unwilling, to accurately name the problem with a system they agree is broken.
“Who controls the parameters around language really has a lot of power in the debate,” said Roberto Gonzales, a Harvard Graduate School professor who specializes in immigration. “How do you frame an issue in a way that sways public opinion?”
Though disagreements over immigration terminology predate Trump’s presidency, Gonzales said his willingness to use extreme rhetoric in the name of undermining political correctness has exacerbated the problem and raised the stakes. He pointed to Trump’s campaign against “chain migration” in the wake of a terrorist attack in New York last fall in which Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov, an immigrant from Uzbekistan, struck and killed eight people while driving a truck on a bike path.
The president claimed, falsely, that Saipov, a permanent legal resident who is not a citizen, had helped two dozen foreign-born relatives immigrate to the United States. In fact, there is no evidence he brought a single family member.
Advocates say Trump aims to cast aspersions on all immigrants, whether they are here legally or illegally, and his repeated denunciations of “chain migration” are intended to advance policies to curb legal immigration channels – a longtime goal of Republican hard-liners and restrictionist groups.
The advocates use the term “family reunification” to describe the process of U.S. citizens petitioning for family members in limited categories – spouses, children, parents and brothers and sisters – to come here, a process that can take as long as 20 years. After changes were made to the immigration system in 1965, the family category has been responsible for about half of the roughly 1 million immigration visas the nation distributes each year.
But some newspapers and cable television stations have parroted Trump’s use of “chain migration,” often with limited context.
“It’s a real problem,” Gonzales said. “It’s become so distorted. If you use a term in an incorrect or incendiary way enough times people start using it that way.”
Jose Antonio Vargas, chief executive of Define American, a media advocacy group that focuses on immigration coverage, said conservatives have deliberately “created this entire linguistic parallel reality that is framed by the language they use.”
Vargas pointed to outlets such as Breitbart News, which supports Trump and – until this month – was overseen by his former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon. Breitbart published recent stories with headlines such as “Illegal Aliens Escalate Amnesty Demands” and “Anchor Baby Population in U.S. Exceeds One Year of American Births.”
Define American has run a campaign called “Words Matter” that asks news organizations to commit to dropping what Vargas calls “dehumanizing” phrases, such as “illegal immigrant.” Though some major outlets, including the Associated Press, have complied, Vargas said progress has been slow. (The Washington Post’s style guide still permits use of the phrase.)
“The right has been so good at using language as a weapon,” said Vargas, a former Post reporter who came out publicly in a 2011 New York Times story as an unauthorized immigrant from the Philippines. “Now we have gotten to the point where even legal immigration is a dirty word for people. That’s how successful they’ve been.”
Immigration hard-liners accuse advocacy groups of trying to discredit terms that have been considered mainstream for decades. The Department of Homeland, for example, continues to use the phrases “illegal alien” and “criminal alien” in reports, news releases and on Twitter.
In 2014, after Congress failed to approve a comprehensive immigration bill, Obama used his executive authority to announce a deferred action program to shield up to 4 million undocumented parents of U.S. citizens from deportation by granting them renewable, three-year work permits.
In making his announcement, Obama declared the program was “not amnesty.” His critics scoffed.
“Any time a politician says something is not really amnesty, what everyone hears it that this is an amnesty,” said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for lower immigration levels. “It would be, politically, so much better for them to just say, ‘Look folks, I don’t like it either, but we have a tax amnesty, we have a parking ticket amnesty, and sometimes we have to do it.'”
Larson, the radio host, said immigrant advocates are “lying to the public to try to make something sound good that is not. I don’t say a bank robber is making undocumented withdrawals.”
Enrique Gonzalez, a former aide to Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said the warring terminology has further inflamed an already emotion-laden debate.
In 2013, Rubio voted in favor of a comprehensive immigration bill that offered a 13-year path to citizenship, telling conservative talk shows that the bill did not amount to amnesty. His stance engendered such fierce blowback from his base that Rubio ended up dropping his public support.
“It creates this hysteria where everyone is going to the far left or the far right,” said Gonzalez, now an immigration lawyer in Miami. “The gap is growing wider and wider.”
U.S. President Donald Trump signs the $1.5 trillion tax overhaul plan in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, U.S., December 22, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump pressured Congress on Sunday to end a government shutdown that reached its second day amid deep uncertainty over whether Democrats and Republicans could soon break an impasse to restore federal funding.
“If stalemate continues,” he wrote on Twitter, Republicans should use the “Nuclear Option” to change the rules of the Senate and try to pass a long-term spending bill with a simple majority.
The president’s statement came amid deep uncertainty over whether Democrats and Republicans could soon break an impasse to restore federal funding. Lawmakers were set for another tense day, with the start of the workweek for many federal employees less than 24 hours away.
Trump praised Republicans for “fighting for our Military and Safety at the Border,” while he said Democrats “just want illegal immigrants to pour into our nation unchecked.”
Trump has previously advocated changing a long-standing Senate rule requiring 60 votes to pass most legislation. On Sunday, it was again met by opposition from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
“The Senate Republican Conference opposes changing the threshold for cloture votes on legislation,” said McConnell spokesman Don Stewart.
The Senate will gavel into session at 1 p.m. McConnell has vowed to take up a new spending plan by Monday morning, or sooner, that would keep government open through Feb. 8.
But the proposal does not contain a solution for “dreamers,” undocumented immigrants who were brought into the United States as children, raising doubts about whether the plan will win enough support to pass.
On Sunday morning news shows, Democrats and Republicans pointed fingers at each other for the shutdown and batted away charges of hypocrisy in light of past comments about shutting down the government.
Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin, the second-ranking Democrat, said Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Trump had appeared to be closing in on a broad deal Friday that would also address immigration. He blamed the White House for backing away from a plan he said included a generous concession from Democrats on Trump’s border wall.
“I can’t answer that question directly,” Durbin said on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” when asked whether the government would re-open Monday.
White House legislative affairs director Marc Short on the same program declined to provide assurances that the president would guarantee a vote on an immigration bill Democrats are seeking in exchange for supporting a short-term spending deal. Some lawmakers see this as a potential way to end the deadlock.
“We want to have the right resolution,” Short said, noting that bipartisan Senate negotiators have not yet released their complete immigration plan.
On CNN’s “State of the Union,” White House budget director Mick Mulvaney defended Trump’s “nuclear option” tweet, arguing that if “ordinary rules prevailed,” the government would be open.
In recent years, Democratic and Republican Senate leaders have changed rules protecting the minority party. In 2013, then-Majority Leader Harry M. Reid, D-Nev., did away with the 60-vote threshold for most executive branch nominees and judicial picks. This year, McConnell ended it for Supreme Court nominees, clearing the way for Neil M. Gorsuch to win confirmation.
Lifting that requirement on most legislation, however, would be a step too far, many senators believe. “That would the end of the Senate as it was originally devised,” Durbin said on ABC.
Congressional leaders in both parties refused to budge publicly from their political corners Saturday on the first day of the shutdown, avoiding direct negotiations and bitterly blaming each other in speeches. Trump joined the fray with a series of charged tweets.
But glimmers of a breakthrough were evident by late in the day, as moderate Democrats and Republicans began to rally behind a new short-term funding proposal to reopen the government through early February.
That plan could include funding for storm-ravaged states, reauthorization of the Children’s Health Insurance Program – and an implicit agreement to hold votes at some point in the coming weeks on a bipartisan immigration deal, according to senators involved in the discussions.
The moderate senators are trying to reach a deal on immigration in hopes that, should a three-week spending accord be approved, McConnell would allow it to come up for a vote alongside a longer-term spending plan.
Democrats, however, remained intensely opposed to McConnell’s approach, unsure he would agree and frustrated by Republicans’ refusal to meet their demands on immigration while the government is closed. At issue for Democrats is the fate of thousands of young immigrants eligible for protection from deportation under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Trump canceled the program in September, and it is set to expire in March. Lawmakers are scrambling to enact a legislative solution.
Democrats also questioned the ability of the negotiating group to reach an agreement that can pass the Senate and House and also earn Trump’s approval.
McConnell and Schumer did little in public Saturday besides trade insults in brief speeches on the Senate floor or on television. There were no substantive talks between the two leaders.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Sen. Joe Manchin III, D-W.Va., are leading the moderate group, with Sens. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., both of whom have worked closely with Schumer on immigration issues in the past, serving as go-betweens for the two parties. The duo shuttled back and forth between Schumer’s and McConnell’s offices on the second floor of the Capitol trying to forge a political peace, but they left for dinner shortly after 6 p.m. with no solid agreement with either leader.
It is unclear whether there is enough bipartisan support for the immigration proposal being floated by the moderates – or for one that Senate conservatives are also drafting. And the possibility of no resolution to the immigration standoff before the DACA deadline remained. So far, Trump, McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., have refused to consider Democrats’ demands until there is a bipartisan agreement to reopen the federal government.
At the White House Saturday, a phone line for comments directed callers to voice mail with a message slamming Democrats. “Unfortunately, we cannot answer your call today because congressional Democrats are holding government funding, including funding for our troops and other national security priorities, hostage to an unrelated immigration debate. Due to this obstruction, the government is shut down,” a woman’s voice said on the message.
The White House said it supports the plan for funding through Feb. 8, eliminating a potentially significant hurdle to its enactment. Yet the simmering tensions between the Trump administration and Schumer, who said Saturday that negotiating with the president was like negotiating with “Jell-O,” underscored the delicacy of the moment.
There was scattered and acrimonious activity on the House and Senate floors on Saturday.
McConnell sought to bring up the four-week spending bill that failed Friday night; Democrats blocked the attempt. Democrats asked to vote on a bill guaranteeing federal workers their back pay for the period of the shutdown; McConnell objected, saying they deserve a full funding bill.
Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee who objected to McConnell’s attempt to revive the short-term bill, questioned McConnell’s embrace of the GOP proposal to extend funding of the Children’s Health Insurance Program – and highlighted the discord that defined the day.
“He sounded like Marian Wright Edelman last night, the founder of the Children’s’ Defense Fund, with his newfound interest in the children’s health plan,” Wyden said in an interview. “It sounds like I’m listening to Ted Kennedy talk about health … I’ve never heard of this being a priority (for Republicans).”
In the House, lawmakers prepared for a possible deal by debating a special rule allowing them to consider any bill that passes the Senate on the same day. The debate devolved into a shouting match over displaying disparaging photos of other members – such as Schumer – on the floor.
