Tony Clark on controversy surrounding Bush's pick for labor secretary
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Tony Clark
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CNN National Correspondent Tony Clark is reporting from Austin, Texas, on the latest surrounding President-elect George W. Bush's pick for labor secretary, Linda Chavez. Bush officials have said that Chavez in the early 1990s had an illegal immigrant from Guatemala living in her home.
Q: Why such a controversy over this revelation?
CLARK: Linda Chavez is the target of labor unions, with John Sweeney of the AFL-CIO saying he is going to fight her nomination.
What's happened is that right now people are focusing on this relationship with the Guatemalan woman. In 1991-1992, a friend recommended to Linda Chavez that she help out a woman from Guatemala. According to Bush officials, Ms. Chavez did not know the woman was an illegal alien. The woman stayed at Ms. Chavez's home and did some odd jobs and chores around the home. Ms. Chavez gave her some spending money and took
her to appointments, and that sort of thing.
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The question that senators have is whether or not the money that was given was in
payment for the odd jobs done around the house. If it was, then there is a problem,
because there was no income tax filed and no taxes were filed.
So, it raises the specter of the old Zoe Baird case, when President Clinton nominated her to be attorney general and we went through what became known as Nannygate for non-payment of taxes of a nanny.
The Bush folks say this is a much different case, that Linda Chavez has a history of helping out people in need. They point to a couple people from Vietnam she has helped, as well as a young lady of Dominican Republic descent who Chavez paid her tuition to go to school.
So, the Bush folks say this is different (than the Baird case), that this is a woman who simply reaches out and helps those in need.
Q: But Democrats aren't likely to give up easy on this, are they?
CLARK: Democrats have said they will press it. Sen. Tom Daschle said Sunday that this could be a serious problem for her and that he thinks it's something that needs to be thoroughly investigated. In fact, his words were that the Senate should `find out what the facts are,' adding that the labor secretary ought to set by example, ought to enforce all the laws.
The Senate is expected to look at this very closely. But the Bush folks feel that they have answers and that Ms. Chavez has answers. Again, they say it's just a case of her reaching out to help people.
One other name that could face some difficulty in getting nominated is John Ashcroft, Bush's pick to be attorney general. At the time of his nomination, it was expected to be relatively smooth sailing because, as a courtesy to a former senator, the Senate often goes ahead and confirms.
Now, questions are being raised by senators like Joe Biden on the Judiciary Committee about Ashcroft's stance on civil rights. Some have said that there are concerns about whether or not Aschcroft would vigorously pursue the civil rights laws, and that that's a very important question needed to be posed to Ashcroft.
Meanwhile, Sen. Orrin Hatch, chairman of the committee, has said he would take it
personally if the committee tried to block the Ashcroft nomination. So, there's another battle set.
Q: Unlike Ashcroft, Linda Chavez doesn't have the backing of being a former senator. Does that make the likelihood of her nomination even tougher?
CLARK: She doesn't have that extra `oomph' of being a former senator, but I think people are going to look at this and what the Bush folks are going to try to show is that this is a different case than the Zoe Baird case.
What Linda Chavez faces possibly more than anything else is the objection of organized labor. As I say, John Sweeney of the AFL-CIO said that he is going to try to fight her nomination. I guess this is just the first shot across the bow being made at her confirmation.
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