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man, was killed the following month.
• Here are some questions and answers about the program:
• Q: Why do Wyden and Paul object to the program?
• ___

• WASHINGTON (AP) -- Seeking to fill yet another second-term Cabinet vacancy, President Barack Obama is set to nominate Thomas Perez, an assistant attorney general, to be the next secretary of labor, the White House says.
• If confirmed by the Senate, Perez, who has been head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division for 3½ years, would take over the Labor Department as Obama undertakes several worker-oriented initiatives, including an overhaul of immigration laws and an increase in the minimum wage.
• Before taking the job as assistant attorney general, Perez was secretary of Maryland's Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, which enforces state consumer rights, workplace safety and wage and hour laws.
• Obama plans to nominate Perez, 51, on Monday.
• In choosing Perez, the son of immigrants from the Dominican Republic, Obama would be placing an already high-ranking Hispanic official in a Cabinet slot. Perez, a lawyer with a degree from Harvard Law School, would replace Hilda Solis, a former California congresswoman and the nation's first Hispanic labor secretary.
• ___

• ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- Dozens of celebrities may be running afoul of the law as they unite under the banner of one group that is seeking to prevent a method of gas drilling in New York state.
• Artists Against Fracking opposes hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and boasts members including Yoko Ono and actors Mark Ruffalo and Susan Sarandon.
• The group says forcing water and chemicals deep into shale deposits to extract gas threatens drinking water and the environment. The group's website implores, "Tell Governor Cuomo: Don't Frack New York."
• But the group and nearly 200 entertainers who are gaining attention and support in the dispute, which is splitting New Yorkers, aren't registered lobbyists, according

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