Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 122, No. 26 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
JUDGE APROVES BP SETTLEMENT
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday approved an agreement for BP PLC to plead guilty to manslaughter and other charges and pay a record $4 billion in criminal penalties for the company’s role in the 2010 rig explosion and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. - PAGE B5
January 30, 2013
‘Now is the time’ to fix immigration
WEDNESDAY
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LAS VEGAS, Nev. (AP) — Declaring “now is the time” to fix the nation’s broken immigration system, President Barack Obama on Tuesday outlined broad proposals for putting millions of illegal immigrants on a clear path to citizenship while cracking down on businesses that employ people illegally and tightening security at the borders. He hailed a bipartisan Senate group on a similar track but left unresolved key details that could derail the complex and emotional
effort.
Potential Senate roadblocks center on how to structure the avenue to citizenship and on whether legislation would cover same-sex couples — and that’s all before a Senate measure could be debated, approved and sent to the Republican-controlled House where opposition is sure to be stronger. Shortly after Obama finished speaking, cracks emerged between the White House and the group of eight senators, which put
out their proposals one day ahead of the president. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a potential 2016 presidential candidate, faulted Obama for not making a citizenship pathway contingent on tighter border security, a central tenet of the lawmakers’ proposals.
House Speaker John Boehner also responded coolly, with spokesman Brendan Buck saying the Ohio Republican hoped the president would be “careful See OBAMA, Page A3
Blowin’ up cold
AP Photo
Hobbs trial begins
President Barack Obama speaks about immigration reform in Las Vegas, Nev., Tuesday.
JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
TOP 5 WEB
For The Past 24 Hours
• Sen. Pirtle seeks input • Peggy Sue Thomas gets plea deal ... • Thin mints dethrone Oreos! ... • Big Brothers Big Sisters resolves ... • Local briefs: Bronco men fall at Cahoon
INSIDE SPORTS High, chilly winds create a mini-sandstorm near the Wool Bowl, Tuesday.
House committee tables driver’s license bill ILISSA GILMORE RECORD STAFF WRITER
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — One guy is a bruiser of a back, just as comfortable running through defenders as around them. The other is more of a slasher, darting this way and that to make people miss, requiring only the slightest opening to bust off a big gain. They may be different in style — Frank Gore of the San Francisco 49ers, Ray Rice of the Baltimore Ravens — but the featured runners at this Super Bowl have at least one thing in common. - PAGE B1
GORE & RICE
TODAY’S • • • • • •
OBITUARIES
Dudley Stefhon Linda Nell Foster George Didlake Kenneth Baker Virginia Lee Pinching Glenn D. Cook - PAGE A3, A7
HIGH ...52˚ LOW ....27˚
The House Labor and Human Resources committee voted 5-4 Tuesday to table a bill that would repeal the New Mexico law that allows driver’s licenses to be issued to undocumented immigrants. Rep. Paul Pacheco, RAlbuquerque, sponsor of House Bill 132, said the bill would bring New Mexico in compliance with the REAL ID Act. The act, created by the Department of Homeland Security, establishes “minimum requirements for the production and issuance of state-issued driver’s licenses and identification cards” in an effort to reduce fraud and acts of terrorism. Several states, including New Mexico, have been given more time to allow them to become compliant with the act. The bill would have allowed issuance of licenses to those with Social
Security numbers and valid, unexpired visas. Issuance to applicants without Social Security numbers would be allowed with “proof of valid authorized presence,” such as a visa or passport, and the license would have only been valid for the time of authorized presence. The bill also would have made it a fourth-degree felony for anyone to apply for a license under false terms and a third-degree felony for Motor Vehicle Division employees to knowingly provide licenses for those not “lawfully entitled” to receive them. Pacheco said his bill was not anti-immigration, but an attempt to make the state’s borders safe and its identification valid to the federal government. State Taxation and Reveune Secretary Demesia Padilla testified in favor of the bill and said it would help deter instances of See LICENSE, Page A2
CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B4 FINANCIAL .............B5 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate overwhelmingly confirmed President Barack Obama’s choice of five-term Sen. John Kerry to be secretary of state, with Republicans and Democrats praising him as the ideal successor to Hillary Rodham Clinton. The vote Tuesday was 94-3. One senator — Kerry — voted present and accepted congratulations from colleagues on the Senate floor. The roll call came just hours after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee unanimously approved the man who has led the panel for the past four years. No date has been set for Kerry’s swearing-in, but in a letter to Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, Kerry says his resignation is effective at 4 p.m. Friday. Obama tapped Kerry, 69, the son of a diplomat, decorated Vietnam veteran and 2004 Democratic presidential candidate, to succeed Clinton, who is
NOAH VERNAU RECORD STAFF WRITER
INDEX
Noah Vernau Photo
Wounded Warrior fellow Eric Espinoza in his new office, Tuesday, at Executive West Office Plaza.
See TRIAL, Page A2
Senate confirms Kerry for State
Pearce welcomes Eric Espinoza to staff
TODAY’S FORECAST
Mark Wilson Photo
The first day of New Mexico vs Gregory Hobbs began, Tuesday, as the Archuleta family relived the night of June 15, 2012, when they saw two family members shot. Hobbs is on trial for the possible homicide of Ruben Archuleta Sr. The shooting occurred in the 300 block of East Bonney Street. In opening statements, Assistant District Attorney Emily Maher described how Officer Ryan Craine was alerted to the incident as he finished another call and heard the sound of gunfire. When Craine arrived at the scene,
Congressman Steve Pearce, R-N.M., welcomed Eric Espinoza to his congressional staf f Tuesday as a fellow under the Wounded Warrior Fellowship Program. The program, established in 2008, provides two-year fellowships within the House of Representatives, with a possibility for fulltime employment at the conclusion of the fellowship. Espinoza served in the U.S. Army for 10 years, including service in Iraq and Korea. A Sweetwater, Texas, native, Espinoza has been a military contractor for the past five years, working as an instructor at the McGregor Range Complex at Ft. Bliss. He will be called on to use his expertise in military and veterans’ issues to aid Pearce in See ESPINOZA, Page A3
AP Photo
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., after a unanimous vote by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approving him to become America’s next top diplomat, Tuesday.
stepping down after four years. The Massachusetts Democrat, who had pined for the job but was passed over in 2009, has served as Obama’s unofficial envoy, smoothing fractious ties with Afghanistan and Pak-
istan. Kerry, a forceful proponent of climate change legislation, also will have a say in whether the United States moves ahead on the Keystone XL pipeline See KERRY, Page A3
‘Hello, gorgeous!’
Mark Wilson Photo
Peafowl at the Spring River Zoo gather around a temporary drinking spot created by a garden hose, Tuesday morning.