Arizona Capitol Times, July 10, 2009
By Jeremy Duda

Between the recent cap-and-trade bill and the alternative energy provisions of the stimulus act, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has seen some of her top priorities take center stage in Congress this year.

But with issues like comprehensive immigration reform and a massive health care overhaul on the horizon, Giffords and her colleagues have a lot on their plates, and there are no obvious answers. On health care, Giffords is talking to constituents, listening to the experts and even hobnobbing with the president in search of the best solution.

In a telephone interview that required a half-dozen breaks so Giffords could run back out to the House of Representatives floor to vote, Arizona’s motorcycle-riding Blue Dog Democrat spoke with the Arizona Capitol Times about energy independence, Congress’s ambitious agenda and whether Arizona can look forward to another stimulus package.
What is the likelihood that there will be a second stimulus act, and would you support one?
At this moment I’d like to see the stimulus dollars distributed to the states, put into action and the jobs actually created. The stimulus bill that we passed a few months ago was about an $800-billion piece of legislation, and approximately 40 percent of the bill went for tax cuts, but a significant amount went into reinvesting in our nation’s infrastructure.

A lot of shovel-ready projects were funded, as well as our education system, including community colleges and universities, also the K-12 system, and a lot of our research institutions that had been underfunded for many, many years. So at this point, I don’t believe that members of Congress have an appetite to pass an additional stimulus bill until we actually see the dollars in the first bill distributed to the states and the jobs created that we had anticipated.

How effective do you think the first stimulus act has been?
I think in some ways it’s been effective in terms of allowing the American people to know that these resources are being made available. The challenge right now is that the money has been very slowly distributed to the states, or the states have not, because of their own budget crises, not been in a situation, like in the case of Arizona where we haven’t actually been able to pass a budget, been able to take advantage of those dollars.

So I know that additional funding to the science agencies has been helpful. I know that, in terms of states shoring up their overall budgets, they can look to the federal dollars and know that they’re there. But the reality is that we’d like to speed up the process. So like I said, going back to passing another stimulus, at this point in time we need to make sure the first stimulus works before we add an additional piece of legislation.

What more can the federal government do to help the economy recover?
Obviously we’re fighting two wars right now, so in terms of redeploying our troops from Iraq and assisting the Iraqi people to secure their nation so that we can leave that country, we are refocusing a lot of our efforts on Afghanistan. The resources that have gone toward these wars have been very large, so not having to spend that money in Iraq and Afghanistan – or specifically in Iraq. Afghanistan’s budget is not nearly as (big) as Iraq’s – that will be important.

The best way that we are going to get out of this crisis is by re-growing our economy. And looking at manufacturing in this country and trying to keep a solid infrastructure – for example, the auto industry – was something that we thought was a priority from the national security standpoint, and also from an economic standpoint.

Now, I voted against the auto bailout bill because I didn’t believe the auto companies had provided sufficient information or a good enough plan. … But now that we are a majority shareholder in GM and Chrysler, we’re talking about really millions of jobs when it comes to the indirect effects of the auto industry. So one (way the federal government can help) is looking at manufacturing in this country and those sorts of jobs.

When you understand that right now we are exporting about $400 billion a year to pay for foreign oil, being able to produce America’s energy in America not only will save us money when it comes to the investments that we’re making abroad and the money that we have to borrow in order to secure those energy sources, but the money that we could create by taking advantage of this new energy revolution. And that’s one of the reasons I’m so passionate about solar energy.

And the third way is the money that we’re planning to save with health care. Right now, approximately one in every five dollars spent in our economy goes toward health care. So one of the reasons we’re having such a vigorous debate right now on health care reform is because we have close to 50 million Americans who don’t have health care. The leading cause of bankruptcy in our nation is because of health-related emergency. We spend well over 50 percent more than the next country behind us when it comes to costs associated with health care. Yet almost 50 million Americans don’t have access to it, and another 20 million are currently underinsured. So in terms of helping our economy as well, having a healthy work force is absolutely critical.

What type of health care system would you like to see passed by Congress? Do you support a public option?
Right now, because I’m not on any of the three committees with jurisdiction, I’m currently weighing in through my involvement with the Blue Dog Coalition, and also through the New Democrats. And right now we’ve seen a couple of drafts and we’ve had meetings almost morning, noon and night on health care reform. I’m weighing in largely from the perspective I’ve gathered from my constituents. I had a health care town hall a couple weeks ago where we had over a thousand participants.

Arizona has some really unique challenges. We’re directly on the border. We are disproportionately impacted with the costs of illegal immigration. We have a large retirement community. And my district has a lot of lower-income individuals. So the challenges associated with us in Arizona are just different than the folks in Connecticut.

One of my top priorities is no matter what we do that it’s paid for, that we don’t push the bill off on future generations. My second top priority is that if we do something that it encompasses all Americans, that we don’t rack up a $1.5 trillion bill that will only cover 11 million additional Americans.

That’s not acceptable.

Obviously cost will be a major issue in the debate. How can we pay for health care reform?
As a Blue Dog, I’m very committed to PAYGO. The president has said that he’s committed to PAYGO. So that will be one of the largest obstacles that we will have to deal with if we’re going to pass something out of the House with support from the Democrats.

And I also feel strongly that the bill has to be bipartisan. Health care should not be a partisan issue. Democrats and Republicans should work together on this legislation and own this legislation.

The recent vote on cap-and-trade legislation, the American Clean Energy and Security Act, split Arizona’s Democratic delegation, with Reps. Ann Kirkpatrick and Harry Mitchell voting against it. Why did you vote for the bill?
This legislation has the ability to – and it’s a broad piece of legislation – to truly transform our dependency on foreign oil. It’s critical to our national security.

Arizona is a real winner in this legislation. In CD8, the cost of this legislation, and this is after the 2012 implementation, will be about 46 cents a day, and the efficiency that we’re looking at saving will be a household reduction by 2020 of over $130. It’s also estimated, because of our solar resources and wind and other renewables, that the potential is to create 30,000 jobs in this state. I look at it as a jobs bill and a national security bill as well.

And there’s a lot of emphasis on new technology. For example, a piece of legislation that I worked on last year is called ARPA-E, and it’s modeled after DARPA, which was the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. It was the agency that developed the Internet and developed the stealth bomber. Some of the coolest stuff that we’ve ever developed in this country has come out of DARPA, and this agency, which will be housed in the Department of Energy, is very similar. It’s for the most cutting-edge advanced-energy research.

I was also able to add language into the bill that will be very helpful for increasing the use of renewable energy resources by the federal government, because currently about 80 percent of the energy used by the federal government is used by the Department of Defense.

In the big picture, I’m concerned about climate change. And instead of increasing this deficit, the energy act, American Clean Energy and Security Act … is deficit neutral, and it requires the polluters who are currently emitting dangerous carbon emissions to pay. Also included in the legislation are some provisions for rural communities and farmers, folks that I have over in the eastern part of my district, to be able to generate new incomes as well. So I look at this as a bill that will protect consumers and will help Arizona really lead.

What do you think Congress should in regard to the upcoming debate on comprehensive immigration reform?
I was very pleased to have been invited to the White House two weeks ago to be part of the president’s initial discussion on immigration reform. And what the president said is if he has any political capital left over after health care and after the energy vote, that he would put it toward a comprehensive immigration reform bill.

I was really pleased to see both Senator McCain and Senator Kyl at that meeting, because I think they have been and hopefully will be instrumental in passing a comprehensive bill. Even though you don’t hear about the problems with immigration, the problems are still there. Last year, the Tucson sector of the Border Patrol, and I represent part of that area, apprehended 319,000 illegal immigrants. It’s slightly down from around 389,000 the previous year.

So we have the most heavily trafficked part of the U.S.-Mexico border. And because I represent four counties very close to the border, I feel very strongly that the federal government needs to step up and take responsibility for the enforcement of our immigration laws and reimbursing local entities for costs associated with the government’s failure to secure the border.

That includes SCAAP (State Criminal Alien Assistance Program) funding, and we were successful last year when SCAAP provided $17.4 million to the Pima County Sheriff’s Office and other local law enforcement agencies. Out of that $17.4 million, the Arizona Department of Corrections received $12.8 million to house approximately 5,600 criminal illegal immigrants. And Ann Kirkpatrick, Harry Mitchell and I also achieved a major victory earlier this year when we got the House’s support on an amendment that appropriated $400 million toward SCAAP.

So I’m optimistic that with Janet Napolitano heading up the Department of Homeland Security that we’re going to see a smarter border policy. So far, the numbers have gone down in terms of the apprehensions. But the problem is still clearly there.

Speaking of our former governor, what do you think of the job Napolitano has done at DHS?
Janet Napolitano is very smart. She has a no-nonsense approach toward the work that she does. She was a very strong governor for the state of Arizona. I’m sorry to have seen her leave during a very difficult time for us here. But I think that settling into her new position at the Department of Homeland Security provides her an entirely new challenge.

Her successor here in Arizona certainly had her work cut out for her. What do you think of the job Jan Brewer has done as governor?
I know that Governor Jan Brewer is working really hard to try to put a budget together, and it’s very difficult dealing with a divided Legislature and a budget deficit as large as the deficit that we have in the state.

I’m concerned about the future of our state. I’m concerned about our public education system and our health care system and the people that rely on having a solid budget. But ultimately, I think Governor Brewer will be strong and I think that she will realize that she is the governor of the state of Arizona and settle better into her role, and lead the state for the time that she has remaining.

Who knows what’s going to happen in 2010 with her running or not running for re-election, but meanwhile there’s a lot of work that needs to be done in the state.

Brewer has run into a lot of opposition to her tax increase proposal. What do you think of the idea?
There are only certain ways to balance the budget, and she apparently did what she thought was an appropriate step. Because I’m not actively involved with the state budget, I’m not clear what the current options are for closing the hole.

You’re considered by many to be a rising star in the Democratic Party in Arizona. Have you considered running for higher office?
At this moment in time I’d just like to hold onto my seat while I have the passion and the energy to work very hard for the people of southern Arizona. I believe that I’m the first southern Arizonan in our history to serve on the House Armed Services Committee, and with Fort Huachuca and Davis-Monthan in the district and Air National Guard and an Army Guard unit as well in southern Arizona, I am very focused on readiness issues that affect the Air Force and also the Army.

So at this point, I’ve got a very tough district, a district that voted for President Bush twice; a district that did not support Barack Obama in the primary or in the general election, and right now I’m just focused on my job. And so far, so good.

Wmicentral.com – 07/03/2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Reps. Ann Kirkpatrick, Gabrielle Giffords and Harry Mitchell capped their push to restore funding for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program with a major legislative victory June 17.

As the amendment they co-sponsored to restore funding to SCAAP passed the House with bipartisan support. The Arizona lawmakers have been leading efforts to block the cuts to SCAAP in the FY 2010 budget. The program is supported with $400 million this year, but was set for elimination in the president’s budget for next year.

It was partially restored in the Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations Bill currently before Congress, but remained 25 percent short of this year’s funding level.

The amendment sponsored by the three members fully reverses the cut and restores $100 million back into SCAAP, keeping the program at the FY 2009 level.

“This is a victory for the folks on the frontlines, fighting to stop cross-border trafficking and illegal immigration,” Kirkpatrick said. “Our law enforcement needs more resources, not fewer, and congressional leadership has recognized that. Now we can focus on launching a sustained, comprehensive effort to secure our borders and keep our communities safe.”

“As long as local law enforcement agencies in Arizona are doing the federal government’s job of securing our border, it is critical that they get compensated for it,” Giffords said. “This is the fair thing to do and Congress clearly recognizes that.”

“This is excellent news for states like Arizona that have seen their law enforcement communities burdened by the federal government’s inability to secure the border,” Mitchell added. “Their manpower and their budgets have been stretched thin and the SCAAP funding has been critical to helping ease the financial strain.”

When the Obama Administration first announced its intention to terminate SCAAP in May, Kirkpatrick, Giffords and Mitchell wrote a letter to key House lawmakers such as Reps. David Obey and Jerry Lewis, the chairman and ranking member on the House Appropriations Committee, urging them not to cut the program.

That letter earned widespread support, and the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science responded to their concerns by restoring $300 million.

However, this was just three-quarters of current funding levels for a program that was already cash-strapped, and earlier this month the Arizona members wrote another letter to congressional leaders calling for them to continue funding SCAAP at $400 million. The amendment that passed was proposed in response to these concerns.

In 2008, the Arizona Department of Corrections received $12.8 million from the federal government to house the 5,600 criminal illegal immigrants who were in state prisons. That is only 10 percent of the $124 million the state spent to house illegal immigrant inmates that year.

ADC estimates it will spend $128 million in 2009 to house, clothe, feed and provide medical care to illegal immigrant inmates, accounting for over 10 percent of their $978 million budget at a time when the ADC is facing severe cuts.

Currently, Arizona’s state prisons hold 6,100 illegal immigrants – 15 percent of the state’s inmate population.

San Pedro Valley News-Sun – Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Thelma Grimes

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, D-District 8, remains busy, working with President Barrack Obama to cut government spending, and announcing millions in funding for Arizona education.

It has been a busy time for Congress as budget talks continue, the debate over a new Supreme Court nomination looks to be lengthy, and the District 8 congresswoman is joining President Obama in several initiatives.

Giffords joined the president in supporting legislation to restore fiscal discipline for the federal government.

The congresswoman praised President Obama for supporting legislation that will require any new mandatory government spending to be matched with budget cuts.

“The federal government needs to do what most American families do,” Giffords said. “We need to restrain spending, pay our bills and live within our means.”

The legislation will reinstate pay-as-you-go rules. Known as PAYGO, these requirements are to offset spending increases that were in place in the 1990s. They were instrumental in allowing the federal government to balance its books and achieve a $128 billion budget surplus.

“Our country faces a $1.8 trillion budget deficit,” Giffords said. “If we do not begin paying our bills, we will short-change our children and grandchildren by saddling them with higher taxes and cutting federal investments in education, health care and national security.”

Giffords said PAYGO is a clear indication of the president’s commitment to restoring fiscal responsibility and accountability to government over the long-term.

Giffords is a current member of the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of fiscally responsible members of Congress who have worked for years to require the federal government to spend within its means.

While Giffords supports legislation to push elected officials to be more fiscally responsible, she was pleased recently to announce that Arizona will benefit from the stimulus package approved by Congress earlier this year.

Arizona is set to receive $681 million in economic recovery funds, which will save teachers’ jobs and lay the foundation for a generation education reform.

Arizona continually ranked in the bottom when it comes to education funding, and with the state facing a more than $3 billion this year, public schools looked to be taking another hit. Schools are still expecting between 6 and 8 percent decreases.

According to U.S. Secretary Arne Duncan, the recovery funds represent the largest boost in education funding in recent history.

In order for Arizona to receive the funds, state officials had to provide assurances that it will collect, publish, analyze and act on information regarding the quality of classroom teachers, annual student improvements, college readiness, the effectiveness of state standards and assessments, progress on removing charter caps and interventions in turning around underperforming schools.

The Arizona Department of Education is also required to report the number of jobs saved through the recovery funding.

Giffords has also stayed true to her campaign promise to make herself more accessible to the public, recently hosting the 17th ‘Congress on your Corner’ session in Vail.

At the events, Giffords takes time to hear directly from her constituents.

There are no sessions currently scheduled in Cochise County.

KGUN9 News

October  24, 2010

Reported by: Jessica Chapin

TUCSON (KGUN9- TV)- After one hundred years, a piece of Tucson history is now on display. Tucson’s Jewish History Museum revealed a century-old time capsule Sunday, hidden in the cornerstone of their building, formerly the state’s first Jewish temple.

Hundreds gathered outside to watch the capsule excavation. It was placed in June 1910, two years before Arizona became a state. At the time, Tucson’s population was just 13 thousand. To some, witnessing the contents of the box was like witnessing the perseverance of their community.

“They came when there was nothing here,” said Joan Elder, “and especially for Jewish people to leave the comforts of New York where there were other Jewish people and come out here where it was wild at that time. It’s just very exciting to me.”

The capsule contained copies of the Arizona Daily Star and the Tucson Citizen from 1910, with headlines describing possible state-hood. It also included coins and a Masonic medal.

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords had the honor of removing the box from the stone.

“I could just feel the power and the history as I removed the box from the cornerstone,” she said, “and to be here in Tucson Arizona thinking what it was like a hundred years ago and then seeing the box put back in by a young child who hopefully will be here a hundred years from now, it’s very humbling.”

In full Masonic ritual, a new time capsule took its place. The contents include a copy of Sunday’s newspaper, a set of 2010 coins, brief histories on the museum and holocaust survivors of Southern Arizona, and both the American and Israeli flags.

The Jewish History Museum will sell individual time capsules open to anyone for the rest of the year. They will be placed in a crypt behind the museum for the next century.

SOURCE The Valley of the Sun Human Resource Association

A More Reliable Alternative to E-Verify Sought by Valley of the Sun Human Resources Association

PHOENIX, June 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Valley of the Sun Human Resources Association (VSHRA) today endorsed the New Employee Verification Act (NEVA), as introduced by U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ). NEVA is intended to improve on the E-Verify program, which Arizona requires all employers to use, yet has been criticized for inaccuracies and a vulnerability to fraud and identity theft.

NEVA is intended to prevent unauthorized work in the United States by requiring verification of all new hires through the use of a more reliable, technologically advanced verification system than currently exists.

“Employers in Arizona are in an increasingly difficult position. If an unauthorized worker is added to the payroll, our companies face severe consequences in terms of fines and potential loss of license. Yet we have no foolproof system to determine whether an applicant is presenting forged or stolen identity documents,” said Kelsie McClendon, President, Valley of the Sun Human Resources Association.

McClendon noted that the E-Verify system only matches names and birthdates and with Social Security Numbers or Immigration Document Numbers. If these items match, such as the case with identity theft, the system will return the individual as an authorized worker even if those documents don’t belong to the person presenting them.

“Although E-Verify provides an employer a defense from prosecution in Arizona if an unauthorized worker is hired, it doesn’t provide protection from the costs of business disruptions caused by local and federal law enforcement investigations and workplace raids, nor potential legal costs,” McClendon continued. “NEVA will go a long way towards rectifying this situation and improving employment verification throughout the country.”

The Giffords legislation would create a voluntary biometrics option that employers could choose to use in the verification process. This system would include a standard background check and the collection of a “biometric” characteristic — such as a thumbprint — to secure an employee’s identity and prevent the illegal use a Social Security number, stolen or fraudulently-obtained drivers’ license, or altered identification documents.

“Arizona’s HR professionals can be part of the solution to preventing unauthorized workers, we just need an effective tool to help us achieve our common goal,” said Larry R. Betz, Chair of the VSHRA Legislative Action Committee. “We commend Representative Giffords for a forward-thinking look at the problem of employment verification, and urge others in the Arizona Congressional delegation to co-sponsor NEVA.”

The Valley of the Sun Human Resource Association (VSHRA) is a Superior Merit Award chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). With over 400 members representing over 250 companies throughout metropolitan Phoenix, VSHRA the largest local chapter of the Arizona State SHRM Council. Founded in 1947, VSHRA is an organization committed to advancing the profession through educational and career development opportunities, networking and community involvement.

University of  Arizona News, Published May 27, 2009

By Ginny Geib, UA College of Pharmacy

Helping set the stage for a community town hall discussion on national health care reform in Tucson May 26 were Richard Carmona of The University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health and J. Lyle Bootman of the UA College of Pharmacy.

The Health Care Town Hall sponsored by U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords drew approximately 1,000 Southern Arizonans to Sahuaro High School for a wide-ranging discussion of issues surrounding how health care is financed and delivered in this country. Congress expects to take action “before the August recess” on several legislative proposals, Giffords told the audience.

In responding to the Congresswoman’s invitation to provide overviews of the current state of American health care, Carmona, the most recent U.S. Surgeon General, declared that currently the country has a “perversely incentivized sick-care system” rather than one that supports disease prevention, educates citizens on the consequences of their own behaviors and provides access to quality care to all populations.

Bootman, dean of the UA College of Pharmacy and a member of the National Institute of Medicine, said much of the current debate centers on “whether health care is a right or a privilege.” An estimated 47 million Americans lack health coverage, he said, with the cost of providing services rising from 7 percent of Gross National Product to 16 percent over the last 40 years.

Following up on Carmona’s emphasis on disease prevention, Bootman told the audience that 15 chronic conditions accounted for 56 percent of all increased health care spending over the past 20 years, and that one-third of total health care costs are associated with just five conditions (heart disease, pulmonary diseases, mental health disorders, cancer and hypertension).

Following remarks by Bootman and Carmona, Giffords introduced 14 representatives from Tucson-area business groups, health care providers, nonprofit organizations, community service agencies and other interest groups to share their perspectives.

Topics included examples of the need for better mental health coverage, using case managers more widely to improve access to services, how health coverage affects an employer’s competitive edge in government bids, the inadequacies of health services in rural areas, cost-shifting by payers, reimbursement to providers and the complexity of Medicare plans.

Several presenters supported universal coverage and a greater participation by government in payment and delivery, with one declaring that guaranteed health care is a right. Another presenter drew both applause and disapproval from the audience when he called for patients to pay directly for their services.

Giffords entertained a dozen or so comments from the audience before ending the forum, which lasted more than two hours. One speaker urged the representative to make sure the concerns of family members providing long-term care to loved ones were included in any reform legislation, a physician pointed to the federal employee benefits system and Medicare as models that work well and others argued for the special needs of the disabled, retirees and people with lifelong conditions such as diabetes.

Sierra Vista Herald/Review,  Published Saturday, May 16, 2009

By Bill Hess

TUCSON – Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas says it is time the few remains of soldiers from the 1860s through the 1880s  who died in the then Arizona Territory be given a final resting place.

“They need land where they will have final peace,” the bishop of the Diocese of Tucson said Friday morning.

Prior to blessing the remains of 57 soldiers, three children and an Army civilian employee at All Faiths Cemetery in Tucson, the bishop said, “All of us want our lives to be remembered and respected.”

In the case of the remains, which were placed in small wooden caskets constructed by Palominas resident Joe Smith, they have been moved a few times.

Some of the remains may have even been separated, with some being moved to California while parts remained in Tucson.

“These bodies will find their eternal rest,” Kicanas said.

The remains of the soldiers who protected the Arizona Territory in the 1800s have been forgotten for more than a century.

Years ago, their graves were paved over as roads were built in downtown Tucson. But as preparations were made for a new Pima County and city of Tucson court complex, the remains were rediscovered.

In a legal archaeological process, the remains of the 61 people, along with more than 1,700 other remains, were processed for removal and relocation.

The Arizona Department of Veterans Services, through the state-operated Southern Arizona Veterans Memorial Cemetery’s administrator Joe Larson, then started the process of having the soldiers placed among the honored dead of all branches of the services that served after them.

Before the bishop gave the final blessing for the journey from Tucson to Sierra Vista on Friday, motorcyclists representing many veterans organizations carefully placed 35-star flags on each small coffin. The national banners were from the era the remains of soldiers fought under in the 1800s. The remains included cavalrymen, infantrymen, cooks, farriers, musicians and others who were stationed in the territory from the Civil War through some of the Indian Wars.

Kicanas led the people at the Tucson cemetery in singing the first verse of “Amazing Grace.”

“We pray for their souls, for those who gave their lives for the protection of our country,” the bishop said.

Blessing each casket with holy water, Kicanas told each of those whose souls were represented in the caskets to “sleep in everlasting peace.”

Then he asked the riders to form a semi-circle in an area between the rows of the caskets and blessed each of them asking God to grant them a safe drive from Tucson to Sierra Vista as they escorted the remains.

Each casket was then carried by two of the riders and placed on one of two government vehicles as a pair of soldiers from Fort Huachuca’s 11th Signal Brigade saluted each coffin as it went between them.

The trip from All Faiths Cemetery to the Southern Arizona Veterans Memorial Cemetery on Buffalo Soldier Trail took slightly more than two hours.

Upon arrival, Fort Huachuca Chaplain (Col.) Thomas Day said a prayer as the remains were received in Sierra Vista.

Soldiers and airmen from the fort then removed and ceremonially folded two large 50-star American flags that covered the caskets in the trucks.

The caskets were then removed and placed in an area where they would remain overnight waiting for today’s 10 a.m. reburial ceremony in Sierra Vista.

The Victorian-era style cemetery-within-a-cemetery that will be the final resting place was nearby. Each grave will be marked with a marble headstone in the style of the 1880s.

There will be no names on the markers, even though records indicated the possibility of names for some of those in the Tucson graves. Each tombstone will be marked unknown because of the lack of DNA required by the federal government to confirm the identification of a set of remains.

Kicanas said the short farewell ceremony in Tucson and the one today in Sierra Vista are meant to give those who served so many years ago in Arizona the recognition they deserve.

As birds sang in the growing heat of the Tucson cemetery, the bishop again addressed the remains in the caskets, saying where they were going in Sierra Vista.

“May this new resting place be a your final eternal resting place,” he said.

U S Army Online Magazine May 7, 2009

By C. Todd Lopez

Two members of Congress who’ve lived the life of a military spouse say the experience has better helped them understand the military family and helps them connect better with those who serve.

“Since being married to him, I understand the stresses that military families go through,” said Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, congresswoman from Arizona’s 8th district.

Giffords’ husband is Navy Capt. Mark E. Kelly, an astronaut, who currently is assigned at Johnson Space Center, Houston Texas. Kelly works on the space shuttle and has spent nearly 40 days in space — he’s served as pilot on STS-108 in 2001 and STS-121 in 2006, and was Space Shuttle Discovery’s commander on STS-124 in 2008. He spends a lot of time training in Texas while Giffords remains in either Washington, D.C. or Arizona.

“We try to see each other if possible twice a month. That’s our goal. But it’s been more like once every three weeks,” she said. “But I am very proud of what he does — he serves his country with great honor and great distinction.”

Giffords serves on the House Armed Services Committee, where she is responsible for helping make decisions that affect the entire Department of Defense. She said her short time as a military spouse — she and her husband have only been together since 2007 — has given her better insight to the lives of both military members and their spouses.

“As a woman on the Armed Services Committee and a military spouse, it provides me a unique perspective,” she said. “(I’m) able to visit our troops in theater and have a conversation (with them,) not about how the weapons systems are working or not necessarily how the operation is going, but what is happening back at home. How are the kids? How is the spouse doing? ”

Giffords said she believes that communities can do more to help military families, on a person-to-person level, in the school systems, and also with the mental health issues for military members and their spouses.

“I feel very strongly that counseling should be made available to Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, spouses and family members that are struggling because of maybe post traumatic stress disorder, maybe traumatic brain injury or maybe the stress of just being deployed,” she said. “And I am concerned about the divorce rate, about domestic violence rate, and the suicide rate. Those are problems we as a community cannot ignore.”

Both Giffords and husband Capt. Mark Kelly are serving their country though — she in the Congress and he in space. She said she’s proud of the work he does and proud to serve.

“Both of us are really honored to serve our nation,” she said.

Rep. Thomas Rooney, of Florida’s 16th district, is also a former military spouse — though it’d be more appropriate to say he was half of a dual-military household. Both he and his wife, Tara, began serving in the Army in 2000 as part of the Judge Advocate Corps, after the two attended law school together.

“We got married after law school and decided to join,” Rooney said, saying a recruiter had convinced them the opportunities for advancement and exciting cases were greater in the Army than in the civilian world.

The two served first at Fort Hood, Texas, where he was part of the 1st Cavalry Division and she was in III Corps.

“She was probably the most squared-away judge advocate that I ever met,” he said. “Very attention-to-detail oriented and she was a great legal assistance attorney.”

The two took a second assignment in New York at West Point, where Rooney served as an instructor of law and wife Tara switched to the Reserves. While Rooney was half of a military couple, his interactions with other military families at both his assignments have brought him a perspective that many others don’t have.

“Seeing what the spouses had to go through, supporting their spouse whether male or female, watching some of them deploy, and just becoming a support system with the rest of our friends that we either went through basic with or were stationed with — especially spouses with small children — it was very hard,” Rooney said.

“I think that what spouses go through in the modern era is certainly something I am very comfortable with, which is why I want to be on the subcommittee for personnel. You want people to want to be in the military. You want spouses to be happy — to be happy their better half served in the military. It should not be an encumbrance at all.”

Military spouses, he added are “probably the most unsung hero part of the military.”

Rooney said he is working on legislation now that helps military spouses better deal with some of the stresses they face when Soldiers come home — specifically dealing with PTSD.

“Our bill would make it a lot easier to identify what the needs are of each individual warfighter when they get home,” he said. “A large part of it was to assist the spouses who really have to deal with it in a way they probably never anticipated.

“I think the first or second bill I sponsored was directly written because of my concern for military spouses — with PTSD. I talked to a lot of women who when their husband got home, whatever level of stress they may have had, they were not ready to deal with that. And so I just thought if as a Congress we can make it easier on them by making (more accessible) whatever care the returning warfighter is going to get … then all the better.”

ARIZONA DAILY STAR Published: 05.22.2009
Editorial

When President Obama unveiled his detailed budget plan earlier this month, he proposed eliminating or trimming 121 programs in an effort to save $17 billion in the next fiscal year. He said some of the cuts were “more painful than others.”

One cut, we believe, was also more irresponsible than others.

The Obama plan would eliminate the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, or SCAAP, which helps states partially offset costs they incur to prosecute and imprison illegal entrants. The program received $400 million last year.

This cut is unconscionable because it makes border states pay all the law-enforcement costs associated with illegal immigration, which is a federal responsibility. It is, after all, the United States border.

Many members of Congress justifiably were quick to criticize the elimination of SCAAP funding. We call on them to continue fighting to save the program.

Former President Bush also eliminated funding for SCAAP in his 2009 budget, but lawmakers were able to restore the money.

We would like to see a repeat of that effort this year.

Soon after Obama unveiled his budget, Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., signed a bipartisan letter asking the Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., to reject the Obama proposal and fund SCAAP.
The letter, dated May 8, says: “Border protection and enforcement of immigration laws remains a federal responsibility. We will continue to make our case to the new administration that SCAAP is an important component of the Department of Justice’s support of state and local law enforcement.”

That same day, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., joined fellow Arizona Democratic Reps. Harry Mitchell and Ann Kirkpatrick in writing a letter to House appropriations leaders urging renewal of SCAAP funding. Since then, 20 other lawmakers – 15 Democrats and five Republicans – have co-signed the letter.

“I’m working very hard, along with other members of Congress, to make sure the federal government stands up to its responsibilities,” Giffords told us Thursday. “State and local governments are spending a lot of tax money to make up for the federal government’s failure to protect the border. They need to be compensated for it.”

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department and other state law-enforcement agencies received $17.4 million in SCAAP funding in 2008 and $18.4 million in 2007.

That may sound like a decent sum, but for years border-area law-enforcement agencies have been receiving about 10 cents for every dollar they spend to prosecute and incarcerate illegal entrants.
With local governments straining to pay for essential services, cutting payments for doing the federal government’s job is wrong.

Gov. Jan Brewer made an issue of the SCAAP cut in a speech Wednesday to the Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, calling it another example of the federal government’s unpaid bills.
“I have personally spoken to President Obama about this and asked that he re-review his plans to eliminate the so-called SCAAP funds,” Brewer said.

Giffords said her office has been in touch with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, the former governor of Arizona, in an attempt to persuade the administration to renew SCAAP funding.

“She gets this,” Giffords said of Napolitano. “She herself has billed the federal government for border costs. We think she can be a conduit to the president.”

Giffords expressed cautious optimism that SCAAP funding can be restored. She also added this it is an issue with support on both sides of the aisle and from lawmakers who don’t live in border states. Lawmakers from Massachusetts, New York and Ohio have signed her letter.

Border communities are unfairly burdened by the government’s failure to solve the illegal-immigration problem.

Until that issue is solved, border states should be reimbursed for trying to clean up the federal government’s mess.

The Citizen’s Demise
GABRIELLE GIFFORDS
Tucson Citizen Published: 05.16.2009

Arizona’s oldest continuously published newspaper will hit Tucson newsstands and doorsteps for the last time on May 16.

As a longtime reader of the Tucson Citizen, I think I speak for many when I say the paper’s closure will be like saying goodbye to an old, trusted friend.

What a friend it has been. The Citizen already was 11 years old when it told us about Wyatt Earp’s shootout at the OK Corral in 1881. It had been around 42 years when Arizona became a state in 1912. And when the city of Tucson celebrated its bicentennial in 1975, the Citizen had a 105-year record of reporting behind it.

Tucson will be very different without the Citizen. Our community will have one fewer voice, one fewer watchdog, one fewer place to go for the news we need to understand our increasingly complex world.

Many believe that, as an afternoon newspaper, the Citizen’s days have long been numbered. Perhaps, but the loss of the Citizen is emblematic of a far more troubling trend. The entire newspaper industry is struggling as never before, thanks in part to a seismic shift in how we get our news.

Today the Internet, not the daily newspaper, serves as our window to the world.

For news junkies and avid newspaper readers, this is a truly sad turn of events. I count myself among this shrinking community.

Sure, going online is fast and handy. But old school types love newspapers – we love holding them, with a cup of coffee at hand, and learning about what has happened in our neighborhood, city, state and country.

Some of us – the real die-hards – even like comparing competing articles and editorials on the same subject among rival newspapers. Tucson was one of the few cities where this was possible; ours was one of the last two-newspaper towns left in America.

With the demise of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the Rocky Mountain News in Denver over the past month, Tucson is by no means alone in having to rely on one newspaper. That, however, is little comfort. Competition is a good thing for newspapers, as it is for any business.

Having two newspapers fostered a competitive spirit that allowed the Tucson Citizen and Arizona Daily Star to bring out the best in each another. Reporters, editors and photographers at each of our papers wanted to scoop the other guy. In that race, readers were the winners.

Since 1870, the Citizen has kept southern Arizonans informed. We didn’t always agree with an editorial position or like the angle of a news story, yet we kept reading.

We needed the Citizen. Sometimes we needed it to figure out a City Council decision. Sometimes we needed it to tell us how the Wildcats did. And sometimes we just needed it to tell us when movies began at The Loft.

The point is, the Citizen was there for us.

From the era of the Butterfield Overland Stage to the Phoenix Mars Mission, the Citizen helped chronicle Arizona’s amazing journey from a rough and tumble territory to the second-fastest growing state in the country.

It was an indispensable part of our community. It educated us, entertained us and inspired us. It will be missed.

Goodbye, dear friend.

Gabrielle Giffords is a member of the U.S. House representing Tucson and southern Arizona.