Napolitano says bill would help security
WASHINGTON – Sweeping immigration legislation would improve U.S. security by helping authorities to know who is in the country, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Tuesday, as supporters of an immigration overhaul marshaled arguments against opponents trying to slow it down in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings.
Testifying at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Napolitano said a wide-ranging bill circulating in Congress devotes more money to securing the border, requires employers to verify their workers’ identity and implements new systems to track people as they leave the country – something that might have helped flag when one of the suspected Boston bombers traveled to Russia last year. Of great importance, Napolitano said, is the eventual path to citizenship for the 11 million immigrants here illegally.
Montana’s Baucus to leave Senate
WASHINGTON – Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus of Montana announced plans Tuesday to retire at the end of his term after a career of enormous power and notable independence, producing collaboration and conflict with fellow Democrats on major tax and health-care legislation.
“I don’t want to die here with my boots on. There is life beyond Congress,” the 71-year-old Baucus said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.
He became the eighth senator to announce retirement plans for 2014, and the sixth Democrat. One public poll recently suggested he would have faced a difficult challenge if he had sought a seventh term.
Apple to dole out $100B to shareholders
NEW YORK – Apple is opening the doors to its bank vault, saying it will distribute $100 billion in cash to its shareholders by the end of 2015. At the same time, the company said revenue for the current quarter could fall from the year before, which would be the first decline in many years.
Apple CEO Tim Cook also suggested that the company won’t release any new products until the fall, contrary to expectations that there would be a new iPhone and iPads out this summer.
Apple Inc. on Tuesday said it will expand its share buyback program to $60 billion – the largest buyback authorization in history. It is also raising its dividend by 15 percent from $2.65 to $3.05 per share. That equates to a dividend yield of 3 percent at current stock prices.
Associated Press
