Latest news with #Kamlager-Dove
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Congressional leaders call for streamlined visa process ahead of World Cup, L.A. Olympics
A bipartisan group of Congressional representatives are calling on Secretary of State Marco Rubio to streamline the government's visa processing system to ensure visitors from abroad will be able to attend next year's FIFA World Cup as well as the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The World Cup, which kicks off in less than 400 days, is expected to generate $3.75 billion in economic activity in the U.S. With SoFi Stadium in Inglewood hosting eight games, the economic impact on Southern California is estimated at nearly $600 million. But cost-cutting measures proposed by Rubio could threaten that by reducing staff and closing some embassies and consulates, increasing visa wait times and making an already cumbersome system more complicated and costly. That could keep tens of thousands of fans at home. Even without the changes, six countries have at least one U.S. diplomatic post with visa wait times that extend beyond the start of the World Cup. Read more: Visa approval crisis threatens to cost 2026 World Cup and L.A. Olympics millions Rubio is scheduled to appear Wednesday before the House Foreign Affairs Committee where he will be asked about the visa process, said Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Los Angeles). Kamlager-Dove, a member of that committee and a proponent of sports diplomacy, laid out her concerns and those of her colleagues in two-page letter addressed to Rubio and signed by 52 representatives, including Rep. Young Kim (R-Anaheim Hills), the first Republican to sign on; Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee; and Ted Lieu (D-Manhattan Beach), a member of Democratic House leadership. 'I'm hoping to get some answers and some solutions,' said Kamlager-Dove, whose sprawling districts ranges from the border with Beverly Hills to South Los Angeles. 'This is a real problem because it impacts attendance and it impacts economic activity.' The 2026 World Cup will be the largest in history, with a record 48 countries participating. It will also be the first World Cup played in three countries, with Mexico and Canada sharing host duties with the U.S. However the vast majority of the games — 78 of 104 — will be played in 11 U.S. cities between June 11 and July 19, 2026. 'The economic stakes of these games and significant for red and blue districts nationwide, as is the diplomatic and soft-power opportunity of being at the center of the international sports universe,' Kamlager-Dove wrote in her letter. 'However the success of these games hinges on the State Department's ability to efficiently process the visa applications of spectators, athletes and media.' Read more: 'America will be open': Casey Wasserman assures IOC visa issues won't plague 2028 L.A. Olympics Kamlager-Dove believes the opportunity is too important to be sacrificed to politics. 'The United States has an obligation to put its best foot forward as the host of these games,' she said. 'Sports diplomacy is an important tool for us as we continue to talk about peace and cooperation. It's also so important as we recognize all of the different ethnic communities that help make up the United States and want to root for their home team. 'And so you want restaurants to be full, clubs and bars to be full, hotels to be full.' Earlier this month President Trump held the first meeting of a White House task force charged with overseeing what the president called 'the biggest, safest and most extraordinary soccer tournament in history.' But the administration has sent mixed signals over exactly how welcoming it intends to be. At that meeting attended by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, Vice President JD Vance — co-chair of the task force — said the U.S. wants foreign visitors 'to come, we want them to celebrate, we want them to watch the games. But when the time is up we want them to go home, otherwise they will have to talk to Secretary Noem.' He referred to Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem, whose agency has detained and interrogated visa holders at U.S. points of entry. 'It is up to [Rubio] to square that circle for us when he comes to our committee,' Kamlager-Dove said. 'The good news is you have Republicans and Democrats asking these questions. These games are non-partisan. And I believe that these are practical, logistical, solvable log jams that deserve a solution. 'Staff the State Department to focus on them. Accelerate and streamline these processes and prioritize diplomacy. Because the games are diplomatic.' Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
21-05-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Congressional leaders call for streamlined visa process ahead of World Cup, L.A. Olympics
A bipartisan group of Congressional representatives are calling on Secretary of State Marco Rubio to streamline the government's visa processing system to ensure visitors from abroad will be able to attend next year's FIFA World Cup as well as the 2026 Los Angeles Olympics. The World Cup, which kicks off in less than 400 days, is expected to generate $3.75 billion in economic activity in the U.S. With SoFi Stadium in Inglewood hosting eight games, the economic impact on Southern California is estimated at nearly $600 million. But cost-cutting measures proposed by Rubio could threaten that by reducing staff and closing some embassies and consulates, increasing visa wait times and making an already cumbersome system more complicated and costly. That could keep tens of thousands of fans at home. Even without the changes, six countries have at least one U.S. diplomatic post with visa wait times that extend beyond the start of the World Cup. Rubio is scheduled to appear Wednesday before the House Foreign Affairs Committee where he will be asked about the visa process, said Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Los Angeles). Kamlager-Dove, a member of that committee and a proponent of sports diplomacy, laid out her concerns and those of her colleagues in two-page letter addressed to Rubio and signed by 49 representatives, including Rep. Young Kim (R-Anaheim Hills), the first Republican to sign on; Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee; and Ted Lieu (D-Manhattan Beach), a member of Democratic House leadership. 'I'm hoping to get some answers and some solutions,' said Kamlager-Dove, whose sprawling districts ranges from the border with Beverly Hills to South Los Angeles. 'This is a real problem because it impacts attendance and it impacts economic activity.' The 2026 World Cup will be the largest in history, with a record 48 countries participating. It will also be the first World Cup played in three countries, with Mexico and Canada sharing host duties with the U.S. However the vast majority of the games — 78 of 104 — will be played in 11 U.S. cities between June 11 and July 19, 2026. 'The economic stakes of these games and significant for red and blue districts nationwide, as is the diplomatic and soft-power opportunity of being at the center of the international sports universe,' Kamlager-Dove wrote in her letter. 'However the success of these games hinges on the State Department's ability to efficiently process the visa applications of spectators, athletes and media.' Kamlager-Dove believes the opportunity is too important to be sacrificed to politics. 'The United States has an obligation to put its best foot forward as the host of these games,' she said. 'Sports diplomacy is an important tool for us as we continue to talk about peace and cooperation. It's also so important as we recognize all of the different ethnic communities that help make up the United States and want to root for their home team. 'And so you want restaurants to be full, clubs and bars to be full, hotels to be full.' Earlier this month President Trump held the first meeting of a White House task force charged with overseeing what the president called 'the biggest, safest and most extraordinary soccer tournament in history.' But the administration has sent mixed signals over exactly how welcoming it intends to be. At that meeting attended by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, Vice President JD Vance — co-chair of the task force — said the U.S. wants foreign visitors 'to come, we want them to celebrate, we want them to watch the games. But when the time is up we want them to go home, otherwise they will have to talk to Secretary Noem.' He referred to Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem, whose agency has detained and interrogated visa holders at U.S. points of entry. 'It is up to [Rubio] to square that circle for us when he comes to our committee,' Kamlager-Dove said. 'The good news is you have Republicans and Democrats asking these questions. These games are non-partisan. And I believe that these are practical, logistical, solvable log jams that deserve a solution. 'Staff the State Department to focus on them. Accelerate and streamline these processes and prioritize diplomacy. Because the games are diplomatic.'
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Stay in L.A. Rally Calls for Increased Tax Incentives to Keep Production Local: ‘This Is Our Iconic Industry'
An impassioned rally to keep Los Angeles production at home and spotlight the blue-collar workers working in the film industry were the driving themes of the Stay in L.A. rally. Hosted by SirReel Studio Services, hundreds of people gathered April 6 in Sun Valley, Calif., to call attention to Gov. Newsom's proposal to increase the state film incentive to $750 million a year. Speakers including 'The Pitt' executive producer Simran Baidwan, Burbank Mayor Nikki Perez and Assemblyman Rick Chavez Zbur rallied support for AB 1138 and SB 630, which would hike the incentive and broaden the types of productions that qualify. More from Variety Film Workers to Rally Sunday in Support of Doubling California Tax Incentive: 'There's Been No Work' Before taking the stage, Zbur told Variety that although he feels 'grateful' for the support AB 1138 has gotten so far, he admits that it's 'sad' that rallies like Stay in L.A. have to even happen in the first place. 'The reason why we can get hundreds of people here on a Sunday afternoon is because people have seen these jobs lured away by other states,' Zbur said. 'This is our iconic industry. It defines California. We have to protect what we invented and what is ours.' Lawmakers also broached the subject of a nationwide film incentive — long a goal of the entertainment unions — instead of relying on a state-by-state patchwork to compete with other countries. Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Los Angeles, said it is important to 'make the case' in Congress for federal subsidies. 'The World Cup is coming up. The Olympics are coming here. These are worldwide productions,' Kamlager-Dove said. 'If you want to make America great again, make America produce again. And we have to help our colleagues on the other side of the aisle impress that upon this administration.' Kamlager-Dove also put the pressure on the most privileged actors in the industry to advocate for Los Angeles. 'Oftentimes, people are thinking about the A-List celebrities – they will be OK,' she said. 'They have the influence and the power to force production to stay here. But if you don't have those exerting that kind of influence, we will see that production go to New Zealand and Mexico. And that hurts us.' Rep. Luz Rivas, a Democrat from the San Fernando Valley, noted there are a lot of 'competing priorities' for federal funding, with the wildfires recently devastating Southern California among other pressing concerns. 'I mean they're all important, right? There's just so many things that are equally important,' Rivas said. 'As legislators, we get into fights … But these are jobs and if people lose them, people are going to leave the state.' Stay in L.A. is not the only coalition fighting to increase tax incentives, with the California Production Coalition and Keep California Rolling also putting pressure on lawmakers. Pamala Buzick Kim, co-president of California United and co-founder of Stay in L.A., stressed the importance of staying competitive when location decisions are being made. 'I don't think we're trying to be the best tax incentives out of everywhere because we don't have the same economy as some of those other places,' she said. 'We have to have the tax incentives do just enough to keep us in the conversation.' The key, added Teamsters' Local 399 leader Lindsay Dougherty, is to keep on being 'aggressive' and 'militant' and not let the fight stop. 'If we lit it slip just a little bit, that's enough time and money going elsewhere to then building an infrastructure workforce outside of California,' Dougherty said. 'That's when we get into trouble.' Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week What's Coming to Disney+ in April 2025 The Best Celebrity Memoirs to Read This Year: From Chelsea Handler to Anthony Hopkins
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Democrat Kamlager-Dove takes aim at DOGE ahead of potential State Department cuts
As Democrats continue to express frustrations over Elon Musk's outsized role in reshaping the federal bureaucracy, a new effort on Capitol Hill takes aim at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) while proposing guardrails to reassert congressional oversight authority over the executive branch. California Democratic Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove is proposing the Defending American Diplomacy Act, which would prohibit the executive branch from reorganizing the State Department without Congressional consultation and approval. "They are gutting foreign assistance, and I'm not going to be complicit in that," Kamlager-Dove, who sits on the Foreign Affairs Committee, told ABC News in an exclusive interview ahead of the bill's release Wednesday. "It is unfortunate that they are crushing USAID -- What that means is American farmers are not going to have contracts that they would normally have to produce crops to sell them to other countries. By crushing foreign assistance, it also means that people in other spaces are going to get sick." MORE: Elon Musk's disclosure of planned Social Security fraud arrest troubles top law enforcement officials: Sources The measure, which has more than 20 Democratic original cosponsors, requires any major reorganization of the State Department to be passed into law by an act of Congress and calls for the secretary of state to submit a detailed plan to Congress about the administration's intended reorganization and an assessment of any impacts to the U.S. diplomatic toolbox. "We have three pillars: defense, development and diplomacy," Kamlager-Dove said. "All of those things are very important when you are trying to stop us from going into war. And if we are going to get rid of those tools in our toolbox because of some dodgy thing called DOGE that is using taxpayer dollars to actually hurt taxpayers, I feel like I have a responsibility to step up and say no." The bill has consequences for noncompliance built into the legislative text, directing Congress to cut funding for DOGE and even prohibit travel for President Donald Trump's political appointees, including every member of his cabinet, if the administration initiates a reorganization that circumvents Congress. MORE: DOGE says it's saved $105 billion, though it's backtracked on some of its earlier claims "DOGE has been operating in the shadows," Kamlager-Dove said. "So part of the noncompliance elements of the bill is about bringing in a little sunlight so that we have a sense about what is actually going on." While the administration has signaled that some eliminated jobs could be potentially absorbed by other federal agencies, the bill also prohibits that from happening without Congressional say-so. Kamlager-Dove explained that her gripe with DOGE "is not about efficiencies." "It is about unlawfully accessing our systems and our codes and stealing taxpayer dollars and doing things in the shadows," the representative said. "The American people deserve to know what is happening, and if what DOGE is doing is so great, then I would think they would be more than willing to come to Congress and share with us and the American people all that they are doing," she added. "But the reality is they are not willing to share that information." MORE: Federal workers laid off by DOGE sound off as they look for new jobs With narrow Republican majorities in both chambers and a Trump White House -- there is virtually no chance the bill becomes law in this session of Congress. But at a minimum, it gives Democrats who are powerless on the legislative front another messaging tool to campaign alongside their hopes to seize congressional majorities. Still, Kamlager-Dove argues the measure is more than a messaging bill. "There is a lot of dysfunction with this Republican Congress right now, and the reason why we probably won't have this come up for a vote is because Republicans are too afraid of the bill. If it does come up for a vote, then they would have to put their cards on the table," Kamlager-Dove said. "They would have to say, I recognize that Congress is being complicit in self-neutering itself and yielding all of its power to Donald Trump." Despite the long odds, Kamlager-Dove maintains optimism that her bill won't be lost among thousands of other bills as Democrats toil in the minority. "My hope is that having this bill, having other bills like this, talking about these issues in committee, will rattle their brains and clear out the hypnotic fog that they're in," she said. "If you continue to beat the drum, you do make headway, and that's what this bill is about: Beating the drum." Democrat Kamlager-Dove takes aim at DOGE ahead of potential State Department cuts originally appeared on
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Lawmakers call on Trump administration to nix plan to shoot 450,000 owls, citing cost
A bipartisan group of federal lawmakers is calling on the Trump administration to cancel a controversial plan to kill up to nearly half a million barred owls to protect the vulnerable northern spotted owl. Last year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service approved a plan to shoot the owls in California, Oregon and Washington over three decades. In a March 7 letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, 19 U.S. representatives — including Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Los Angeles) — say the strategy will cost about $1.35 billion to implement. "In the spirit of fiscal responsibility and ethical conservation, we urge you to halt all spending on this plan to mass kill a native, range-expanding North American owl species," states the letter co-led by Kamlager-Dove and Rep. Troy E. Nehls (R-Texas). Supporters of the strategy — including federal wildlife officials and prominent scientists — believe scrapping it will have disastrous consequences for northern spotted owls, which have suffered precipitous declines as barred owls have muscled them out of their territory. A recent study also estimated the cost of the plan to be far lower than the lofty figure cited by the legislators. "We're at risk of losing one of the signature species of Pacific Northwest old-growth forests," said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director for the Center for Biological Diversity, a conservation group. Read more: The federal government plans to kill half a million West Coast owls A spokesperson for the Department of the Interior said that the agency doesn't comment on congressional correspondence but that it would carefully review the letter. Barred owls and spotted owls are similar in appearance and the birds can even interbreed. But barred owls — which originally hail from the eastern U.S. — are more aggressive, less picky about food and reproduce faster, allowing them to outcompete their fellow raptors. Barred owls are considered a top threat to northern spotted owls, which are scarce but widely distributed in Northern California, Oregon and Washington. If barred owls' expansion is left unchecked, some experts believe they'll go on to decimate California spotted owls — which inhabit California's central and southern mature forests. But some animal welfare groups and legislators say shooting thousands of barred owls is not the solution, citing moral reasons in addition to the potential cost. 'As a conservationist, I believe it is contradictory to kill one species in order to preserve another," Kamlager-Dove said in a statement. "And as an animal lover, I cannot support the widespread slaughter of these beautiful creatures." Other legislators who signed the letter to the Interior secretary include Rep. Josh Harder (D-Stockton) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.). Lawmakers in the letter also questioned the workability of the plan. They said the government "has conducted wildlife control programs with limited success" and there was no precedent for the vast scale of the plan that was approved. Greenwald, however, said there have been extensive pilot studies on barred owl removal that worked. He pointed to other examples of successful animal control programs, including trapping brown-headed cowbirds to benefit the least bell's vireo, a small endangered bird. Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy have sued in U.S. District Court in Seattle to stop the owl-killing plan. Another animal welfare group initiated a similar suit in Oregon. The more than $1-billion cost for the plan cited by legislators is extrapolated from a $4.5-million contract awarded to a Northern California Native American tribe last year to hunt about 1,500 barred owls over four years. The "price tag in this political environment is a big fat target," said Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy. Pacelle has appealed to the so-called Department of Government Efficiency — headed by Elon Musk, who has led much of the Trump administration's cost-cutting efforts — to nix the plan. However, a 2024 research paper concluded that barred owl removal in the range of the northern spotted owl would cost from $4.5 million to $12 million a year during the initial stages, and was likely to decrease over time. At $12 million a year, the 30-year plan would run $360 million. Read more: Spotted owls are disappearing fast, and federal cuts could mean no one's left to count them Tom Wheeler, executive director of the Environmental Protection Information Center, which supports tamping down the barred owl population, said it wouldn't just be the federal government footing the bill. "It is a collaborative process between multiple private, state, federal and tribal entities so that the costs are going to be spread across multiple different entities," he said. His group has intervened in the two lawsuits against the federal government in defense of the plan. In recent weeks, federal job cuts have upended surveys for the northern and California spotted owls. Conservationists say the data are needed to protect the raptors. There are as few as 3,000 northern spotted owls left on federal lands. The brown raptors with white spots are listed as threatened under the California and federal Endangered Species Act. California spotted owls are also in decline. In 2023, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed that a distinct Southern California population be listed as endangered under federal law. A Sierra Nevada population was recommended for threatened status. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
