Security Screens Block Door to the U.S. for Iraqi Refugees
WSJ WASHINGTON WIRE
In Global
MaryLu Carnevale reports from the Wall Street Journal's Capital Bureau.
AMID AN OUTCRY over U.S. treatment of Iraqi refugees, only 63 Iraqis get asylum in June.
U.S. officials insist they want to open the door to as many as 7,000 Iraqis this year, but Department of Homeland Security screening procedures delay entry for hundreds of former interpreters and embassy employees. Since September, the U.S. has let in only 133 Iraqis, compared with 3,478 Iranians.
Iraq's three million refugees are creating deep strains in Jordan, Syria and even distant Sweden, which has accepted more than 18,000 since 2006. Sens. Kennedy and Smith seek faster action by DHS, and others say all 20,000 unallocated asylum visas should go to Iraqis.
U.S. adds $19 million to United Nations fund to help Iraqi refugees in the region.
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES release details of second-quarter fund raising Sunday, and eyes will be on McCain's debt level.
The campaign said two weeks ago it had $2 million in the bank, but it is staying mum on how much money it owes or how it spent funds in the quarter. Giuliani reports $18 million in the bank and no debt. Romney — after making a $6.5 million personal loan to his campaign — has $12 million in his war chest with about $60,000 of debt.
In the first three months of the year, the McCain campaign raised $13.1 million and spent only $2.7 million on salaries, payroll taxes and other payroll expenses.
AUTO-INDUSTRY ALLIES in the House try to brake momentum for Senate plan to raise fuel-economy standards.
With Energy and Commerce Chairman Dingell's support, two junior lawmakers push bill to raise "CAFE" standard less aggressively than Senate's 35 mpg level in 10 years. Indiana Democrat Hill and Nebraska Republican Terry also want to give auto makers more time to comply.
Democratic leaders have begun quiet discussions on handling the CAFE issue in advance of House debates on energy legislation. They could allow votes on both Hill-Terry bill and one backed by climate change panel Chairman Markey that closely tracks Senate plan. Another option: a compromise between the two bills.
"I'm finding unprecedented levels of support," Markey says. Hill worries stringent action "would put the auto industry in peril."
MERGER MANIA: A week after agreeing to merge, America's Community Bankers and the American Bankers Association denounce the combination of two industry regulatory agencies, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision. The associations say a "focus on greater cooperation and communication" among existing regulators is better.
NOT-SO-WARM WELCOME: Only a few protesters show up at the opening of John Edwards's South Carolina office, sporting signs like: "Hair Stylists for John Edwards" and "Ambulance Chasers for John Edwards." Republicans in the state urged a big turnout to give "a real South Carolina Republican welcome" to Elizabeth Edwards, who, in the end, couldn't attend because of a family emergency.
COMPANY CAR: New World Bank President Robert Zoellick asks that he no longer be picked up in the Audi the bank sends for him each morning. He prefers a hybrid, and World Bank security is trying to find him one with enough legroom.
WATCH LIST: Following credit-rating downgrades of investments linked to subprime mortgages, House Financial Services Chairman Frank plans to hold a hearing on credit-rating agencies, telling reporters, "Somebody sure as hell was overvaluing something. I don't know whose fault it was." Sens. Schumer, Brown and Casey include $100 million in appropriations bill for groups that help consumers prevent foreclosure.
PRIVATE-EQUITY, hedge-fund and real-estate lobbies seek support among Democrats as they try to stave off new taxes.
Lobbyists meet with the 70-member centrist New Democrat Coalition on Capitol Hill to say higher taxes on "carried interest" would stifle investment and hurt economic growth. Private-equity lobbyists target Democrats and labor unions, arguing that higher taxes on fund managers will hurt returns for public-employee pension funds. States with large pension-fund investments in private equity are overwhelmingly represented by Democrats in the Senate.
New York's Rep. Crowley, who's on the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, tells Chairman Rangel to be wary of driving capital markets overseas. New York Sen. Schumer echoed that argument during Finance Committee hearing this week.
So far, labor unions and most Democrats aren't biting. |
