Monday,  June 17, 2013 • Vol. 14--No. 332 • 23 of 28

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versity is forcing him and his family to leave at the end of this month because of pressure from the Chinese government. The university denied Chen's allegations.
• Chen said in a statement that China's Communist Party had been applying "great, unrelenting pressure" on NYU to ask him to leave, though he did not provide details or evidence to back his claim. Chen said Beijing's authoritarian government has more influence on the American academic community than is perceived.
• "The work of the Chinese Communists within academic circles in the United States is far greater than what people imagine, and some scholars have no option but to hold themselves back," he said. "Academic independence and academic freedom in the United States are being greatly threatened by a totalitarian regime."
• NYU officials called Chen's account puzzling, saying that his fellowship was meant to be a one-year position and had simply concluded as planned, and that school officials have been talking with him for months about what his next step might be.
• Chen sparked a diplomatic crisis between China and the U.S. last year when he fled to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing from house arrest. Since last May, he'd been a special student at NYU's U.S.-Asia Law institute. He has been working on a book due out later this year.
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Senator warns Republicans' 2016 hopes could hinge on fate of immigration overhaul

• WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republicans' hopes to reclaim the White House in the 2016 elections hinge on whether they support -- or sabotage -- the immigration overhaul being debated in the Senate, two lawmakers who helped write the proposal warn.
• Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on Sunday told conservatives who are trying to block the measure that they will doom the party and all but guarantee a Democrat will remain in the White House after 2016's election. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., went a step further and predicted "there'll never be a road to the White House for the Republican Party" if immigration overhaul fails to pass.
• The Senate is moving forward with an overhaul and appears to be on track to have a vote from the full Senate by July 4. A timeline for a House proposal is less certain, although leaders say they are working on plans that more closely follow conservatives' wish list.
• The Senate last week overcame a procedural hurdle in moving forward on the

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