Rand Paul to Speak at Iowa Republican Dinner

Senator Rand Paul will speak at the Iowa Republicans’ Lincoln Day Dinner in Cedar Rapids on May 10. The fund-raiser for the state party offers Mr. Paul an early chance to introduce himself to potential caucusgoers as he considers a bid in 2016.

Mr. Paul, who is in many ways the more pragmatic heir to his father’s libertarian-leaning following, has heightened his profile in recent weeks. Republicans applauded his 13-hour filibuster of John O. Brennan’s nomination to lead the Central Intelligence Agency, and his assessment, delivered at the Conservative Political Action Conference last week, that the “G.O.P. of old has grown stale and moss-covered” was a forceful salvo in the party’s internal debate about its direction after losses in 2012. And earlier on Monday, he waded into the debate on immigration.

Last year, Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, Virginia’s attorney general, was the featured speaker at the dinner. He is running for governor this year.

Q&A: Keeping Adobe Flash Player Secure

Q.

I frequently get notices that Flash Player needs an update â€" why does it need so many new versions Can I skip some updates

A.

Adobe updates its Flash, Reader and Acrobat software for several reasons, including bug fixes, performance improvements and security issues. While the Flash Player is a common plug-in that Web browsers use to display video and animation, the program has become a popular target for hackers.

To fix vulnerabilities in the software when they are discovered, Adobe releases security updates for its programs as needed to keep computers protected. For the curious, Adobe’s site has a page that explains what each new security update addresses. Hackers have also disguised malicious software as updates to Adobe programs, so you may want to check Adobe’s site anyway to make sure the software-update notice you have received is legitimate.

Speech by Paul Expected to Support Citizenship Path for Illegal Immigrants

WASHINGTON â€" In a speech before the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, Senator Rand Paul is expected to lay out his position on immigration, including a pathway to citizenship contingent on border security for the 11 million illegal immigrants already in the country.

“If you wish to live and work in America, then we will find a place for you,” Mr. Paul, Republican of Kentucky, is expected to say, according to excerpts of his speech.

Mr. Paul, who is often mentioned as a possible 2016 presidential candidate, has previously explained his views on a comprehensive immigration overhaul, including in a February op-ed in The Washington Times, “From Illegals to Taxpayers: Make Path to Citizenship Conditioned on Border Security.”

In his op-ed, Mr. Paul made clear that he would offer a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants, but only after the border was secured â€" and after a report on the state of the border by the Government Accountability Office had been presented to, and voted on, by Congress.

“After ensuring border security, I then would normalize the status of 11 million undocumented citizens so they can join the work force and pay taxes,” Mr. Paul wrote. “I would normalize them at a rate of about two million per year.”

Mr. Paul’s speech comes a day after the Republican National Committee released a report calling on the Republican Party to embrace comprehensive immigration reform. The report left vague just what such “comprehensive” reform would include.

“Immigration reform will not occur until conservative Republicans, like myself, become part of the solution,” Mr. Paul will say, according to the excerpts. “I am here today to begin that conversation.”

After the 2012 presidential election, in which Mitt Romney lost the Hispanic vote by a wide margin, Republicans have engaged in extensive soul-searching, trying to find to a way to win back â€" or, at the very least, not further alienate â€" Hispanic voters.

A bipartisan group of eight senators is working toward introducing comprehensive immigration legislation that would include a path to citizenship. Similar to Mr. Paul’s plan, the pathway would be contingent on first securing the country’s borders.

A parallel effort is occurring in the House, though the group has yet to make any formal announcements regarding its progress, and it is unclear whether the House plan would include a full path to citizenship, or simply one to some form of legalization.

Though Mr. Paul, a Tea Party favorite and fierce civil libertarian, is not part of the Senate group of eight, his involvement in the immigration effort could give cover to some fellow Tea Party and conservative members, who represent solidly red districts and fear a primary challenge but are willing to get on board with some sort of immigration overhaul.

The Early Word: Goals and Challenges

Today’s Times

• Mark Landler analyzes the obvious goals and behind-closed-door challenges that President Obama faces on his trip to Israel this week.

• Stateside, Mr. Obama is gearing up for another fight with Congress after nominating Thomas E. Perez for labor secretary, Peter Baker and Steven Greenhouse report. As the head of the Civil Rights Division at the Justice Department, Mr. Perez racked up record discrimination and housing claims and pursued cases that have been priorities for the president, signaling that this may be a fight Mr. Obama wants to have.

• Republican leaders issued a 100-page assessment on Monday calling for better outreach and a new brand of conservatism to appeal to broader audiences in preparation for the 2016 presidential election. Even thought the report offered solutions that pertained more to logistics than to new policies, the Republican establishment in Washington has so far shown little interest in altering its political trajectory, Sarah Wheaton and Michael D. Shear write.

• Gov. John W. Hickenlooper of Colorado is poised to sign some of the toughest gun control laws in the nation on Wednesday, Jack Healy writes. The legislation illustrates how Mr. Hickenlooper, a popular Western Democrat who takes his son shooting, became the frontman for bringing new gun laws into the center of the United States.

Around the Web

• The women’s organization Emily’s List is focusing its political muscle on getting women elected in several high-profile mayoral races, hoping to set the stage for more women governors in 2014 - “and perhaps putting a woman in the White House two years after that,” Politico reports.

• Michelle Obama has invited the mother and brother of Hadiya Pendleton, the Chicago teenager who was shot to death in her hometown after performing at the president’s inauguration, to the White House Easter Egg Roll, CBS Chicago reports.

Happenings in Washington

• Mr. Obama will meet with Prime Minister Enda Kenny of Ireland in the Oval Office before they both head to the United States Capitol for the Friends of Ireland luncheon.  Later, the president and Mrs. Obama will host a St. Patrick’s Day reception with the prime minister in the White House, where they will participate in the annual Shamrock ceremony, which began under President Harry S. Truman. Mr. Kenny will present Mr. Obama with a cluster of shamrock plants.