by Dan Nowicki

The Arizona Republic

WASHINGTON – Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is on a letter-writing crusade to counter the economic boycott of Arizona over the state’s controversial immigration law.

Giffords, a two-term Democrat who represents a southern Arizona congressional district, opposes the measure signed April 23 by Gov. Jan Brewer. But Giffords also worries that economic protests ultimately will unfairly punish struggling hospitality workers and businesses rather than the Arizona Legislature.

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By Gabrielle Giffords

The Hill

Our nation’s border security efforts are a litany of failure.

Robert Krentz was a victim of that failure, murdered by a suspected drug smuggler on a Southern Arizona ranch that has been in his family since territorial days.

Pinal County Sheriff’s Deputy Louie Puroll was a victim of that failure, shot by a suspected drug smuggler while on patrol in a remote stretch of desert south of Phoenix.

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By Philip Franchine

Green Valley News

Older workers need congressional help in a tough economy, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords said Monday as she explained two bills she is introducing.

The congresswoman acknowledged that the bills are unlikely to move toward passage this year because it is an election year, but said she wanted to get them into the legislative process now.

“In 2009, adults 55 and over made up almost 20 percent of the workforce, the highest percentage we’ve ever had,” Giffords said at the Pima Council On Aging in Tucson.

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By Nathan Thornburgh

Time Magazine

Published June 14, 2010

The trackers mustered at Tex Canyon Road, 20 miles north of the Mexican border, on the afternoon of March 27. There were border-patrol agents, six search-and-rescue units from the Cochise County sheriff’s department and dogs trained to track escaped inmates from nearby Douglas State Prison. Several ranchers were also there, many of them descendants of the Germans and Irish who came to the San Bernardino Valley a hundred years or more ago. Back then, the ranchers settled here in part to feed the U.S. troops stationed at the border. One military mission in those days: prevent the chaos of the Mexican Revolution from spilling into the Territory of Arizona. Now another period of powerful unrest in Mexico had brought a different kind of war to the valley, and the ranchers were mindful that the violence might have claimed one of their own, a man named Rob Krentz.

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by Brady McCombs

Arizona Daily Star

President Barack Obama will deploy 1,200 National Guard troops to help secure the U.S.-Mexico border. But Sen. John McCain of Arizona says that is not nearly enough. (May 25)

The White House plans to send as many as 1,200 National Guard to the U.S.-Mexico border to assist with surveillance, intelligence, training and drug enforcement.

President Obama has also asked that $500 million be included in supplemental spending legislation to be used to fund more agents, more prosecutors, more technology, and improve information sharing among local, state and tribal law enforcement, said an Obama administration official via email.

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by Brady McCombs

Arizona Daily Star

Tuesday, May 25, 2010 11:33 am

The White House plans to send as many as 1,200 National Guard to the U.S.-Mexico border.

A press release from the office of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., says that President Obama will authorize the deployment of up to 1,200 National Guard troops to the southwest border, and request that $500 million be included in supplemental spending legislation for enhanced border protection and law enforcement activities.

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by Brady McCombs

Arizona Daily Star

Smugglers using ultralight aircraft to fly drugs over the border could face stiffer penalties if caught, under proposed legislation.

A bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, a Tucson Democrat, would amend the Tariff Act of 1930 to include ultralight aircraft under the aviation smuggling provisions.

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by Megan Neighbor

Arizona Daily Star

U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords held a conference call Monday to discuss her efforts to address border issues.

In her opening and closing comments, Giffords said she was angry “because the federal government has failed to secure the border, and this is unacceptable.”

She said she hoped to change that by encouraging more funding for the U.S. Border Patrol and projects such as Operation Stonegarden in the next U.S. budget.

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By Dennis Cauchon

USA Today

Amid complaints about high taxes and calls for a smaller government, Americans paid their lowest level of taxes last year since Harry Truman’s presidency, a USA TODAY analysis of federal data found.

Some conservative political movements such as the “Tea Party” have criticized federal spending as being out of control. While spending is up, taxes have fallen to exceptionally low levels.

Federal, state and local taxes — including income, property, sales and other taxes — consumed 9.2% of all personal income in 2009, the lowest rate since 1950, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reports. That rate is far below the historic average of 12% for the last half-century. The overall tax burden hit bottom in December at 8.8.% of income before rising slightly in the first three months of 2010.

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Op-Ed by U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords

Sierra Vista Herald

The 40 American volunteer aid workers had survived the earthquake. But they were separated into five small groups, waiting to be rescued from the devastated foreign nation.

Using rudimentary tools — hand-drawn maps, signaling mirrors and large letters stomped into the dirt — the aid workers attracted the attention of U.S. Air Force helicopter crews who had been dispatched to rescue them.

The men and women were located, loaded into the choppers and taken to a central point to be evaluated for injuries. All returned home safely.

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