Idaho Statesman

IDAHOSTATESMAN:AMcClatchyNewspaper,1200N.CurtisRoad, Boise, ID•P.O.Box40,Boise, ID83707• (208)377-6200•©2015 IdahoStatesman,Vol.150,No. 275, 5 sections, 50pages

NEPAL QUAKE KILLS THOUSANDS; WORLD OFFERS AID A9

MODERATE

62° / 38° SEE A16

ANEWSCatchingUpA2-3 | Local newsA4-6 |WesternU.S.A7-8 | BusinessA13 |Nation/WorldA9-15 | IdahoHistoryA6 |WeatherA16

DDEPTHDanaMilbankD1 |OpinionsD3 | Letters to theEditorD4 |GeorgeWillD6 | CharlesKrauthammerD7EEXPLORE TimWoodward E1 | TV E2 | CarolynHax E3 |Horoscopes E3 | Puzzles E3 | Books E4 | Religion E5 |Obituaries E12-13 | Calendars E10

SSPORTSVarsity Extra S1 | Letters to theSports Editor S2 | SportsTV/Radio S2 | College football S3 | Pro sports S4 |NFL S5 | Scoreboard S6

INSIDE TODAY

BIG MAY CALENDAR

Events on tapfor kids, pets,music lovers

EXPLORE, E1

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

AT WASHINGTON, CATCHUP WITH COACH PETEPlus, Boise State QB Finley, 20,

arrested on alcohol, other chargesSPORTS, S1

TIMWOODWARD

PitchingBoise toa BeatleEXPLORE, E1

SUNDAY EDITION

$2 SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2015

Refugees who arrive in Idaho to begin new lives have advanced degrees and vast work

experience in fields such as medicine, accounting and academia. But what happens to

thosecareerpathswhenrefugeesleavetheirhomecountries?GlobalTalentIdahohelps

immigrants reclaim their careers inways thatwill benefit themselves and their community—

immigrantssuchasBurmeserefugeeRichardNaing,above,whohasacivilengineeringdegree.

He uses his computer skills to help people such as Ah Thin, left, reinstall software. “It is my

pleasuretodothings,”saidNaing.ReporterAnnaWebbexplainshowtheprogramisworkingin

theTreasureValley.DEPTH,D1

REFUGEES IN IDAHO

HELPING HIGHLY SKILLEDWORKERS FIND AWAY

‘The larger the gap between a person’s previous professional experience and their job search,the longer and harder it is to find a job. We’re trying to close that gap sooner rather than later.’

KATHERINE JONES / kjones@idahostatesman.com

Formeremployeesat a

WoodgrainMillwork

plant inOregonsaid they

soundedalarms to the

Idahoownerof themill

many timesabout leaks

and thedeteriorating

conditionof the roof.And

theywere ignored.Read

an investigativepiece

fromOregonPublic

Broadcasting.NEWS,A4

OREGON MILL

WORKERS: ROOFBOUND TO FAIL

HOSPITALOUTBREAK

SECRECY, ANGEROVER INFECTIONSDEPTH,D1

CAVEART

FRANCE BRINGSHISTORY TO LIFENEWS,A14

IDAHOHISTORY

In 1915, Buffalo Billand fighting ‘sins’ARTHURHART,A6

LisaDeDapperdidn’tunderstandwhyhermindwasacting thisway,whyshecouldn’t remembernumbers.Nowsheknowswhy, andshe’snotbackingdownfromearly-onsetAlzheimer’s. EXPLORE,E1

LIVING WITH DEMENTIA

Diagnosis changes Boisean’s life

PrimeMinisterShinzoAbewill trytofocusonthefuturethisweek,butforWWIIveter-ansandKoreanwomenabusedduring thattime, thepast is justas important.NEWS,A12

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

WATCHING JAPANESEPREMIER’S VISIT TO U.S.

D LETTERS TO THE EDITOR D4 • GEORGEWILL D6 SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2015

DepthInside:

HIGH-SPEED RAIL IN U.S. HAS MANY FANS, LOUD CRITICS D2

KRAUTHAMMER: OBAMA NEEDS CLUE ON IRAN D7

MichiganRepublicanTimWalbergwasaChristianministerbeforewinning

electiontoCongress in2010,andhehasn’tentirelychangedjobs.

InarareTuesdaynightcommit-teemeetingatwhichHouseRe-publicansadvancedabillcurtail-ingreproductiverights,Walbergtooktheevenrarerstepof lectur-inghiscolleaguesonScripture.

“It isclearly taughtbyJesustheChristhimself,”Walbergpreachedtomembersof theHouseOver-sightandGovernmentReformCommittee, “for thoseofuswhobelieve inhim—andIunderstandandIaccept thefact that therearethosewhodon’t—buthesaidrenderuntoCaesarwhat’sCae-sar’sandGodwhat’sGod’s, andIthinkthat’san importantconsid-erationforusonthiscommitteetonight.”

ClaimingJesus inapoliticaldispute is inflammatory,partic-ularlywhenyouaccuseyouropponents,asWalbergdid,of“acontinuedattackonreligion.”Theappeal to theocracyTuesdaynightwasevenmore incendiarybe-cause itwasusedto justifyabidtostrikedownanewDistrictofColumbia lawprotectingwomenfromworkplacediscriminationiftheyreceivefertility treatments,usebirthcontrolorhaveabor-tions.

Rep.GerryConnolly,D-Va.,took issuewithWalberg. “I studiedfor theRomanCatholicministry,”heresponded.“ButIcertainlydon’t thinkthat it ismyjobtopropoundthedogmaofmychurchasamemberofCongress.”

RepliedWalberg: “WhileIwillnotwearmyreligiononmysleeve,Iwillnothidemyfaith.”

Clearly.Thelatecommitteemeeting,

whichendedafter7p.m.,wasboundtoget littlemediaattention.Thiswasprobablynoaccident,becausethecommittee(thesameonethat threeyearsagorefusedtoseatSandraFlukeonanall-malepanelaboutbirthcontrol)wascausingyetmoretrouble for theparty.This time,notasingleRe-publicanwoman(there’sonlyoneonthecommittee)spoke insup-portof theGOPeffort,whichwasdemandedbyconservativegroupssuchasHeritageAction.

Instead, itwasaclassicculturalskirmish:DemocraticwomendefendedreproductiverightsandRepublicanmendefendedreli-gious liberty. “This isanotherexampleofwomenbeingsecond-classcitizens,”saidRep.RobinKelly,D-Ill. “Wetalkaboutreli-gious freedom,but it isonlyfree ifyouthink likethemajority—whatever thathappenstobe.Somuchhatredanddiscriminationin

See MILBANK, D2

Commentary

DANA MILBANK

The pulpitin D.C. fordelusionalRepublicans

LOS ANGELES — The cardiacsurgeonhadunknowinglyspreadastaphinfectionfromtherashonhishandtotheheartsofatleastfivepa-tients by the time Los AngelesCounty health investigatorslearnedof theoutbreak.

The doctor had operated on

more than 60 others in recentmonths,andcountyofficialsfearedthosepatientscouldbestruckwiththesamedangerous infection.

Investigators didn’t ultimatelytieanydeaths to the2012outbreak,butfourpatientsneededadditionalsurgerybecauseof the infection.

The only public mention of thecasecameayear later ina little-no-ticed appendix to the health de-partment’s350-pageannualreport.It referred only to “Hospital A.”Evennow, thenameof thehospitalremainssecret.

L.A. County health officials in-vestigate and confirm an infectionoutbreak insideoneof thecounty’shospitals once or twice a month.But details are rarely disclosed —not even which hospital is in-volved.

Thesecrecysurroundinghospi-tal outbreaks runs counter to thepush toward more public disclo-sure inhealthcare. In recentyears,consumers have benefited fromdata comparing some health

HEALTH CARE

ALLEN J. SCHABEN / Los Angeles Times

Carole and Ty Moss, seen in Lake Perris, Calif., hold a photo of their son,Nile Calvin Moss, who died at age 15 after he went to an Orange Countyhospital for an MRI and got infected with a superbug.

Veil of secrecy shields hospitalswhere infection outbreaks occurThe public rarely finds outhowmany patients werestricken or whether any died.

BY MELODY PETERSEN

LOS ANGELES TIMES

See HOSPITALS, D2

Thepeoplewhoworkwithrefugeeresettlementbattleacertainpublicperception—thatrefugeesareunskilled,orhaveskillsthatdonottranslateintomodernAmericanlife,or that theyspeaknoEnglish.The reality, said Lisa Cooper, founder ofGlobal Talent

Idaho,isthataround100ofthe1,000refugeeswhocometoIdahoeachyeararehighlyskilleddegreeholders.Amongthem are professors, doctors, computer specialists andmechanics.Despite their skills andonce-thriving careersin theirhomecountries, theystrugglewhen theycometoIdaho.

“Youcouldarguethatfolkswiththosebackgroundshavethegreatestpotentialtofindtheirownway.Butthey’renot.Thosewho come here with college degrees and language skills stillmakeanaverageof less than$9anhour,”saidCooper.

Thereareafewreasons.Evenifrefugees speakEnglish, theymaynot be completely fluent. Theymay have difficulty re-establish-ing professional licenses in theU.S. In some cases, that task iscomplicatedbyhavinghadtofleetheirhomes,leavingtheirperson-al documents, academic recordsandmorebehind.

Therefugee-resettlementpro-gram provides eight months ofcash assistance for new arrivals,saidCooper.When that runs out,refugees often take any job avail-able, even one below their skilllevel,tosupporttheirfamiliesandto repay transportation costs totheU.S.government.

CooperandTaraWolfson,spe-

cialprojectsmanagerandregion-al employment specialist at theIdaho Office for Refugees, part-neredtolaunchtheGlobalTalentIdaho program inMay 2014. Theprogramismeanttoprovidealinkfor refugee job-seekerswhohavestrongprofessionalbackgrounds,andgetthemonapaththat’srelat-edtotheir fieldsofexpertise.

“Youhearlotsofconversationshere that there are not enoughpeoplewithSTEM(science,tech-nology, engineering,math) skills,saidCooper.Wehavedoctors,en-gineers and accountants on ourroster.Ourprogramcanbeawin-win to help skilled refugees re-

REFUGEES IN IDAHO

Immigrants reclaimprofessional lives

KATHERINE JONES / kjones@idahostatesman.com

On his days off, Richard Naing, center, helps other refugees with computers. “He teach me,” says Ya Fa, left, who also came from Burma. “If Iwant to know something, I ask him.” Naing gets little chance to relax, even after work, said Ya Fa: “He just teaching people.”

A new program through the IdahoOffice of Refugees helps them makeconnections in the community.

BY ANNA WEBB awebb@idahostatesman.com© 2015 Idaho Statesman

See REFUGEES, D2

!FIND OUT MORE ABOUT GLOBAL TALENT IDAHOIdahoStatesman.com

REFUGEES IN IDAHO

About 1,000 refugees resettle in Idaho each year; 700 in Boise and300 in Twin Falls.

Who’s coming?➤ 48percent of Idaho’s refugees came from theNear East andSouthAsia, themost from Iraq andBhutan (all numbers for 2014).➤ 32 percent fromAfrica, the largest numbers fromCongo, Sudanand Somalia.➤ 10 percent fromEastAsia, specifically Burma.➤ 10 percent Europe andCentral Asia, specificallyAfghanistanandUzbekistan.➤ Asmall number fromColombia andCuba.

Who’sworking?➤ 78percent of Idaho’s refugees looking for jobs found them. Theaverage hourlywage: $8.66.➤ Of those, 88 percentwere still employed after 90days.➤ 15 percent of arrivalsmigrated to another state.

WANTTOHELP?Global Talent Idaho is looking for volunteers to serve asmentorsand other kinds of advisers. Call TaraWolfson at 336-4222, Ext. 6,or email twolfson@idahoforefugees.org.

D2 ● SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2015 IDAHO STATESMAN ● IDAHOSTATESMAN.COM

claim their careers, and helpthestateretaintalent.”

Global Talent Idaho is asix-monthprogram for refu-gees with a bachelors orhigherdegree,whohavetwoyearsormoreofprofessionalexperience, and intermedi-ateorbetterEnglishskills. Inthe program, participantslearntowriteresumes.Theywork one-on-one with vol-unteer mentors in profes-sional fields. They learn theart of describing their skillsin ways that will appeal toAmerican employers. Theyhone their English throughmock interviews and mocknetworking sessions not un-like cocktail parties — butwithout the cocktails —where they have just a fewminutes to introduce them-selves to fellow profession-als and describe their jobskills and ambitions. An in-ternship program also pro-vides job experience and,thanks to a Department ofLaborgrant, salaries.

REMAKINGCAREER,REMAKINGFAMILY

In many ways, RichardNaing, 30, is a typical GlobalTalent Idahoparticipant.Hehas a degree, lots of talentsand interpersonal skills, butno job.

An oppressive govern-ment forced him to leave

BurmaforthesafetyofaMa-laysian refugee camp in2002. He fled alone, cuttingall ties to his family so thatthey would be safe. Nainghas been in the U.S. for twoyears.Hehasadegreeincivilengineering and is a self-taught computer whiz. Na-ing isworkingonhisEnglishand networking skillsthrough Global Talent. Hehasworkedarangeof jobstosupport himself in Boise,from doing laundry andhousekeeping at a Down-town hotel to testing chipson a production line at Mi-cron on a temporary con-tract.

Afull-time,permanentjobinhis field, though, has elud-ed him. Determined to puthisskillstouse,Naingfound-ed his own business — theBoise Burmese ComputerLab. He operates the lab inhis apartment on the BoiseBench,or inhisgaragewhentheweather is warm.He gotthe idea after hearing thatmany of his fellow refugeeshad inherited old or brokencomputers fromwell-mean-ing donors and were payingup to $150 to get them fixed.Naing started repairing thecomputers, which grew intotutoring — especially forpeople who haven’t usedcomputers much. He helpsBurmese and other refugeessetupFacebookandTwitteraccounts, and teaches themto use email. Naing doesn’tcharge for his work. There

areotherrewards.“My life is safe.My family

is far away. This communityhas becomemy family awayfromfamily,”hesaid.Heben-efits froman informal bartersystem.He’s tradedhis skillsfor driving lessons. Olderrefugees have taught him togarden. That, along with ta-ble tennis and chess, areamonghis favoritepastimes.

‘APROVENTENACITY’BeingaGlobalTalent Ida-

ho volunteer mentor, saidDenise Caruzzi, mainlycomes down to lending mo-ralsupportfornewlyarrivedrefugee jobseekers.

“Letting them know thatsomeone in Boise caresabout their success,” shesaid.

Caruzzi’sbackgroundisinthe corporate world. Sheruns a small private consult-ing business focusing on in-tercultural and leadershiptraining and human re-sources. Alongwith themo-ral support, she has alsoshared her knowledge of re-sume writing and interviewskills, helping job-seekers“explain their skills in waysan employer would recog-nize intheU.S.”

She recently got somegood news. She had men-tored a Global Talent job-seeker — a woman fromCentralAsiawhohadbeenadoctor in her home country— who found an internshipas a phlebotomist in a hospi-

tal. This followed a stint as ahousekeeper inBoise.

The doctor, said Caruzzi,had decided that the path toregaining her medical li-cense in the U.S. was toolong. “But she, andeveryonein the program, hopes to atleastgetanentry-leveljobonthe career ladder in theirfield so they can demon-strate their ability to dowork, and eventually dohigher levels of work, andshow what they’re capableof,” saidCaruzzi.

Caruzzi isplanningacele-brationfor thedoctor.

“One of the big things isthat not only do we want tocelebrateher,but it’s inspira-tion for other refugees, thehope that something reallycan happen here,” said Ca-ruzzi. “Here are peoplewithtremendous skills, but morethan that, a proven tenacityand sense of accountabilitythat we don’t even under-stand.”

ADOPTINGASUCCESSFULPROGRAM

Global Talent Idaho re-quires its participants tohave a bachelor’s degree.Nearlyhalfofthe60refugeesin the program have ad-vanced degrees. Most are intheU.S. throughtherefugee-resettlement program, al-though some participantsare not refugees. All havepermanent legal status andare on track to become U.S.citizens. The gender break-

down is close to half-and-half,withslightlymoremen.

The largest group of refu-gees coming to Idaho todayarefromIraq.

“Countries like Iraq, Iran,which we are seeing repre-sented more, have more de-velopededucationsystems,”saidCooper.“Manyhavehadthe benefit of education andhave lived upper-class lives.Many come to the U.S. onspecial immigrantvisas.”

The latter group includesIraqis who worked as trans-latorsorinotherrolesfortheU.S. military, putting theirlives at risk in Iraq. Morewell-educated refugees willmeanmore need for profes-sional development pro-gramslikeGlobalTalentIda-ho.

Thegroupbeganmodest-ly just over a year ago, saidCooper. She and Wolfsonscrambled tosignup for Ida-ho Gives, a day of onlinefund-raising organized eachMaybytheIdahoNonprofitDevelopmentCenter.Wordgotout, andsoonGlobalTa-lent Idaho had raised a fewthousanddollars.

A grant also helped it re-ceive training from a15-year-old refugee job pro-gram, Upwardly Global,with offices around thecountry. Upwardly Globalhas placed nearly 2,500skilled immigrants in pro-fessional jobs.

Global Talent Idaho isamong the recipients of a $3

millionstatewidegrantfromthe IdahoDepartmentofLa-bor to provide workplacelearning opportunities andpaid internships for Ida-hoanswhohavestruggled tofind work, including refu-gees,long-termunemployedpeople and others on thebrink of exhausting unem-ploymentbenefits.

Global Talent Idaho hasplaced 14 interns thanks tothe grant, including an Iraqichemical engineer at a localdairy, a teacher from theDemocratic Republic ofCongo who speaks six lan-guages and is teaching En-glish at College of WesternIdaho, a computer engineerwho’s starting work at theIdaho Department of Laborand the doctor fromCentralAsiawho returned to amed-ical lab. She’s in a new coun-try, but that’s an environ-mentsheknowswell.

AnnaWebb:377-6431;

Twitter:@IDS_AnnaWebb

REFUGEESCONTINUED FROM D1

ANNAWEBB

Anna, a Boise native,coversnonprofitsand char-ities for theStates-man. Shewrites aweekly Tuesday columnand is the author of thebook “150Boise Icons.”

outcomes by hospital, thefees hospitals charge for va-rious procedures and thepayments doctors receivefromdruganddevicemanu-facturers.

Keeping outbreaks confi-dential isacommonpracticeof federal, state and localhealth investigators acrossthecountry.Therationale: Itencourages hospitals to beopenandquickly report sus-pectedsurgesof infections.

“We rely on them to callus,” saidDr. LaureneMasco-la, chiefof thecounty’s acutecommunicable disease con-trol program, though she ac-knowledges that the hospi-talsdon’talwaysself-report.

InCalifornia,hospitalsarerequired to report unusualevents such as outbreaks tostate health officials — butface no financial penalty iftheydon’t.

Proponentsofmoreopen-ness argue the secrecy canprevent hospitals fromlearning from one another’smistakes.Theysayitalsode-prives patients of informa-tion theycoulduse inchoos-ingwheretoreceivecare.

Sixyears ago, a lethal bac-teria struck two hospitals in

Florida, killing 15 patients.The case was nearly identi-cal to therecentoutbreaksatUCLA and Cedars-Sinaimedical centers. In eachcase,ahard-to-cleanmedicalscope transferred the samesuperbug frompatient topa-tient.

Since that 2008 Floridaoutbreak, investigators havetied the same scopes toscores of patient infectionsin other states. Most of theoutbreaks were not dis-closeduntilmonths or yearslater, often only when doc-tors wrote about them inmedical journals.

“When you keep it secret,other hospitals are unin-formed,”saidLisaMcGiffert,a patient safety expert atConsumers Union. “Publicdisclosure is absolutely es-sential.”

By keeping the outbreaksconfidential, the county hasbeen more successful in en-couraginghospitalstoreportincidents quickly, Mascolasaid. The county staff workswith hospitals to improvetheirpracticesand lower thechanceofanother incident.

The investigations are of-ten scientifically complex.And at times, hospitals havedisagreed with the county’sfindings.

For example, three years

ago the county investigatedwhat appeared to be anout-break of aggressive fungalinfections caused by dustfrom hospital construction.Sixchildrendied.

In all, a dozen children inthebonemarrowtransplantunit testedpositiveforsignsof the infections. Theyoungestwas 6months old.Thechildrenwereallsuffer-ingfromleukemiaandotherserious illnesses.

In three of the fatal cases,doctors listed the fungal in-fectionasacauseofdeath.

The county’s findingswere publishedmonths lat-er at the end of the publichealth department’s annualreport.Thehospitalwasnotidentified, but the Los An-geles Times traced the casetoChildren’sHospitalofLosAngeles.

Outbreaksfromconstruc-tion dust have happened re-peatedly inside U.S. hospi-tals, although the risk is littleknowntothepublic.

The danger comes from acommontypeofmoldcalledAspergillus. The fungus ismostly harmless to healthypeople but can be lethal tothosewithcompromisedim-mune systems such as thechildren in thebonemarrowtransplantunit.

At the time, Children’s

Hospitalwasbuilding aped-estrian bridge over SunsetBoulevard. Investigatorsfound that visitors and staffwalked by the constructiontoget tothemainentrance.

In their report, county in-vestigators said “there weresignificant reasons to sug-gest that an outbreak oc-curred.”

Theypointed tohowdoc-tors had listed invasive fun-gal infection on the deathcertificatesofthreechildren.

Investigators also foundtracesofAspergillusin10pa-tientrooms.

Intheend,countyofficialsstopped short of calling thecase“atrueaspergillosisout-break.”Insteadtheysaid“themost likely hypothesis” wasthat the patients “were ex-posedtoasourceintheenvi-ronment” and “the probablesource”wasaspergillosis.

Mascola, the county’s dis-ease control chief, said offi-cials would disclose an out-

break if they believed itwould be in the public’s in-terest. County officials saidthey couldn’t immediatelypoint to a case inwhich thathappened.

In the recent superbugoutbreak at UCLA, the uni-versity confirmed the out-break after questions fromTheLosAngelesTimes.

The samedevice—adu-odenoscope—wasfoundtobe thecauseof theoutbreakin the Florida hospitals thatbegan in late 2008. In bothcases, the reusable scopetransferred a super-bugknown as CRE, or carbape-nem-resistant Enterobacte-riaceae, among patients.Thegermkillsasmanyas50percentof itsvictims.

Florida officials said theydiscussedtheoutbreakwithfederal officials from theCenters for Disease ControlandPreventionandtheFoodand Drug Administration inJune2009.

But there was no publicdisclosure of the case untilFlorida doctors wrote aboutitfouryearslaterinamedicaljournal. The hospitals havenotbeennamed.

Melissa Brower, a CDCspokeswoman,saidit isuptostate and local health offi-cialstodecidewhethertotellthepublicaboutoutbreaks.

HOSPITALSCONTINUED FROM D1

ANAPPEAL FORTRANSPARENCY

Both theCenters forDiseaseControl and Preventionand the Food andDrugAdministration say they did notwarn the public about the deadly Floridamedical scopecase in 2008because investigators found that hospitalstaff had failed to properly clean the instrument—along-standing and repeated problem that the agencieshad alreadywarned hospitals about. The agencies sent anadditional generalwarning about sloppily cleaned scopesin late 2009.

UCLAandCedars-Sinaimedical centers, which experi-enced similar superbug outbreaks in 2012, said they hadfollowed themanufacturers’ instructions for cleaning thescope—pointing to a problemwith the device’s designthatmade it almost impossible to disinfect.

PeterMendel, who studies hospital-acquired infectionsfor the RANDCorp. in SantaMonica, Calif., said thatpublic disclosure of the 2008outbreak could have helpedregulators concludemore quickly that the scope designwas flawed. “Peoplewould realize therewas account-ability,” he said.

LosAngeles Times

thenameof theLord:slav-ery, lynchings, theHolo-caust,Selma, Japaneseinternment.”

Rep.SteveRussell,R-Okla.,whoseemedtothinkthoseevilswerebeing“laidat thefeetofourparty,”counteredbytyingDemo-crats toJimCrow, intern-mentandrestrictionsonJewish immigrationbeforeWorldWarII.Russell saidhewouldnotbecowedfromfightingfor thevoice-lessunborn,whomhecalled“murder”victims:“Until theyhavethatvoice,Iwillmakenoapologyforbeingtheirs.”

RepublicansarguethattheD.C. lawdoesn’tex-emptreligiousandpoliticalgroups, thoughtheoriginallawamendedbythenewprovisionsstillhassuchexemptions.

There’snodoubtCon-gresshastheright to“dis-approve”D.C. laws,butlawmakershaven’tusedtheprocess in23years,andit isatoddswithconserva-tives’professeddevotiontoreturningpowerto locallevels.Republicansplantobringtheir“disapproval”resolutiontothefullHouse,andSen.TedCruz,R-Texas,has introducedasimilarmeasure intheSenate,but theGOPdoesn’thaveaveto-proofmajority tokill the law.The

mainthingRepublicansareachieving is invitingDemo-crats torevivetheir“waronwomen”allegations.

“Thisbill isan insult towomeneverywhere,”Rep.CarolynMaloney,D-N.Y.,toldthecommittee.

Thecommittee’s rank-ingDemocrat,Rep.ElijahCummingsofMaryland,pointedout thatundertheRepublicans’ logic,amancouldbefiredforusingacondom,or ifhiswifeusedthepill,or ifhisunmarrieddaughterbecamepregnant.

ButperhapsthemostcompellingargumentcamefromRep.TammyDuck-worth,D-Ill., aveteranwholostboth legs incombatandanewmother,whopleadedforanamendmentprotectingfertility treat-ments.

“Mypregnancylikelycouldnothavehappenedwithout invitro,duetotheexcessofradiationexpo-sureIreceivedduringtreatment formycombat-relatedamputations,”shesaid. “I feelverystronglythat it isheartbreakingthatwomeninthiscountrycouldbefiredsimplyforusing invitro.”

ChairmanJasonChaf-fetz,R-Utah, ruledDuck-worth’samendmentoutoforder, saying itwasa“steptoofar” totrytorewriteD.C.’s law.

Actually, itwouldappearthatChaffetz is theonewhooverstepped.

OnTwitter,@Milbank

MILBANKCONTINUED FROM D1

WASHINGTON — IsPresidentBarackObama’svi-sion forhigh-speedraildead?Ifso,youcouldn’ttellitfromagroupofrail supportersgath-ered in Washington thisweek.

And for the first time, theycan point to tangible pro-gress. California’s $68 billionsystem broke ground in Jan-uary. Efforts areunderway tobringhigh-speedrailprojectsto Texas, Florida, MinnesotaandNorthCarolina.

Republicans in Congresshave cut off additional fund-ing for the president’s pro-gram, and theCalifornia pro-ject in particular still has itsskeptics, in both parties. Butsupporterssayit’s just thebe-ginning of a decades-long ef-forttoimprovepassengerrailservice throughout thecoun-try.

Dan Richard, chairman ofthe California High-SpeedRailAuthority,noted that theGoldenGate Bridge generat-ed 2,300 lawsuits against theprojectwhen itwas first pro-posed. The California railproject,hesaid,hassofartrig-

geredonly four.Criticshavecalleditatrain

tonowhere. ButRichard saidpeople said that initiallyaboutSanFrancisco’sBayAr-eaRapidTransit.

“Ourprojecthasbeencon-troversial,” he told a confer-ence of the U.S. High SpeedRail Association. “But it’s al-ways good to remind our-selves that these things arenever,evereasy.”

Someof the project’smostvocal critics are prominentmembers of Congress fromCalifornia’s Central Valley,where construction is underway on the first segment oftrack.Among them:Republi-can Reps. Kevin McCarthy,the House majority leader,andJeffDenham.

Denham, chairman of theHouse rail subcommittee,calledtheproject“a failure10years in the making” when it

brokegroundinJanuary.“It’s hard to celebrate

breaking ground on what islikely to become abandonedpieces of track that neverconnecttoausablesegment,”Denhamsaid.

Speaking to project sup-porters onTuesday, Rep. JimCosta,aCaliforniaDemocrat,said that his Republican col-leagues from California sup-ported high-speed rail whenthey were members of thestate legislature but turnedagainst it when they wereelectedtoCongress.

“People can always find areason to be against some-thing,”hesaid.

The California projectdoes have the backing ofsome Republicans. FresnoMayor Ashley SwearenginstoodwithGov. JerryBrown,a Democrat, at the Januarygroundbreaking.

Other stateswithRepubli-can governors and legisla-turesaretakingaseriouslookat theirownrailplans.

North Carolina, for exam-ple, is two years away fromcompletinga$520millionup-grade for passenger trainsthat connect three of thestate’s largest populationcenters: Charlotte, Greens-boroandRaleigh.Althoughitwon’t meet the definition ofhigh-speed rail, that could becoming.

“It’s for the future,” saidPaul Worley, director of theraildivisionat theNorthCar-olina Department of Trans-portation,“but it’salsoforthepresent, too.”

NorthCarolinaisstudyinga220mphraillinkfromChar-lotte to Atlanta, one thatwould eventually connect toWashington, where it wouldmeet Amtrak’s NortheastCorridor.

Many critics say theNortheast Corridor shouldget the investment in high-speed rail first because of itspopulationdensity.ButRich-ard of the California High-Speed Rail Authority saidthat his state has its ownver-sion of the Northeast Corri-dor, LosAngeles toSanFran-cisco, one of the most con-gested short-haul air routesin the country. He said hehoped to connect the twocitieswithin15years.

LIGHT RAIL

High-speed trains? Who’s on board?Projects are popular inmany parts of the U.S.,despite critics.

BY CURTIS TATE

MCCLATCHYWASHINGTON

BUREAU

/ THEWASHINGTON POST

The Linear Chuo Shinkansen reached a speed of 375 mph ina test run last week. High-speed trains have big support inJapan and Europe, but in the U.S. they prove more contro-versial.