May 21, 2012

Graham on Arizona law: Solution begins with border security

A federal judge on Wednesday decided to stop Arizona’s controversial immigration law, just before it would have gone into effect. That move averted what authorities feared would have been numerous protests and confrontations between activists and police.  Experts say now the Arizona issue may end up in the Supreme Court.

Senator Lindsey Graham appeared on Fox News Wednesday, saying that he has pushed for immigration and border security reform since he took office seven years ago, and that President Bush pushed the legislation very hard as well.

We failed then. But we have a chance now to send more border patrol agents to the border, more unmanned aerial vehicles. I would urge the President to focus on border security right now, that would stop this law from spreading to other states.

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Meeting of Southern lawmakers to bring millions to SC economy(AUDIO)

This year’s meeting of the Southern Legislative Conference(SLC) will bring around 2000 state lawmakers from 15 Southern states to Charleston for a 64th annual conference to be held Saturday through Wednesday. Charleston was chosen because South Carolina House Speaker Bobby Harrell was elected to chair the conference.

Harrell projects that the conference’s economic impact on the state to be more than $3.5 million. And he says it will be a nice tourism boost.

AUDIO: Harrell on SLC (2:55)

Attendants will hear some high-powered speakers, including Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who grew up in Dillon, South Carolina, as well as U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham and U.S. House Majority Whip James Clyburn, all speaking about issues that affect Southern states. Music will be provided by Darius Rucker, a country music recording artist from Hootie and the Blowfish fame.

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Latest numbers show SC’s high school dropout rate down (AUDIO)

South Carolina’s high school dropout rate  has dropped.

South Carolina Department of Education spokesman Jim Foster says South Carolina’s dropout rate was stable at around 8,000 for several years, but did improve for the 2008-09 school year, dropping by 1,000 students.   But Foster says even with the drop, that’s 7,000 too many dropouts.

AUDIO: Foster on dropping out (:46)

Foster says, “Some students and their parents need to get over a big hurdle, the idea that high school diplomas aren’t important anymore.”

The non-profit group Citizens for Responsible Government (SCRG) recently sent out a press release that information from the U.S. Department of Education indicated “another rise” in the state’s dropout rate, a total of 8,000 for the 2007-08 school year.  Foster says SCRG did not have access to the newest figures that showed the drop.