Ivanka Trump pushes GOP tax plan at Pennsylvania town hall

Ivanka Trump traveled to Pennsylvania Monday for a town hall event on the GOP’s tax-reform plan, as Republicans work to pass legislation before the end of the year.

The White House adviser and daughter of President Trump said the plan was centered on “supporting the American family.”

“For me this tax plan really couples two things that are really core values as a country, which is work and supporting the American family,” the first daughter said.

Trump also said the plan contains elements “squarely targeted at creating jobs, creating growth and offering relief to our middle-income families.”
"This is about the recognition that, as a country, we have to have policies that mirror our values,” Trump said. “We have to encourage the next generation to be competitive and compassionate.”

President Trump unveiled his tax-reform plan last month, which calls for three individual tax rates of 12 percent, 25 percent and 35 percent.

The plan also lowers the corporate rate from 35 percent to 20 percent, as well as nearly doubling the standard deduction and repealing the estate tax and the alternative minimum tax.

Ivanka Trump also spoke about increasing the child tax credit at the event, which she praised as a “well-designed” way to make “a big difference in the lives of many families.”

The Senate passed a fiscal 2018 budget last week that includes instructions that will allow tax reform to pass without any Democratic votes.

Donald Trump will join Senate Republicans at their weekly policy lunch on Tuesday for the first time as president to push the tax-reform plan.

Putin critic cleared to travel to US.:

The Department of Homeland Security says that a critic of Russian president Vladimir Putin can travel to the United States following outcry over revelations that his travel privileges had been revoked.

Bill Browder, a British financier and advocate for the Magnitsky Act, said earlier that he had temporarily been blocked from traveling to the U.S. after Russia had added his name to the Interpol wanted list.

Browder told The Hill that he discovered last week that his status on Homeland Security’s Global Entry program and his privileges to enter the U.S. as a citizen of Great Britain had been revoked.

A spokesperson at Customs and Border Protection (CBP) told The Hill late Monday afternoon that Browder had been cleared for travel to the U.S., indicating that the department had initiated a manual review of his application last week, which would result in it being placed in a “pending status.”
Browder’s entry into the U.S. is covered through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), which allows him to travel under the Visa Waiver Program as a citizen of Great Britain.

“U.S. Customs and Border Protection regularly screens law enforcement systems in order to determine if any travelers present a security or law enforcement risk,” the CBP spokesperson said. “This vetting is done on a recurrent basis and decisions on travel are made on the latest information available.”

“The decision to approve or deny an ESTA application is made on a case-by-case basis on the totality of the circumstances. When possible matches to derogatory information are found, applications will be vetted through normal CBP procedures which include a manual review by a CBP analyst and a supervisor prior to a determination being made,” the spokesperson said.

“Applications being manually reviewed may temporarily be placed in a pending status until a final determination is made.”

Browder’s application was manually approved by a CBP agent on Oct. 18, the spokesperson said, and he is now cleared for travel to the U.S. The spokesperson did not dispute Browder’s account that he was unable to travel to the U.S. for a period of time.

However, Browder told The Hill that he was initially notified by CBP via email that his status on the Global Entry program had been changed on Oct. 19, one day after Homeland Security says that his application had been manually approved. That email notification set off the chain of events resulting in Browder discovering that his travel privileges had been suspended.

Browder’s account triggered alarm on Capitol Hill, with Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.) urging Homeland Security to immediately review the decision to revoke his travel privileges.

“It would be unfortunate if the U.S. decided to bar him based on a decision by those same Russian officials who have been targeted by this important legislation,” the lawmakers said in a statement.

Browder is a proponent of the Magnitsky Act, which was signed into law in 2012 in order to punish human rights abusers in Russia. The law is named for Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer who died under suspicious circumstances in a prison in Russia after uncovering a fraud scheme.