Thread: Prelates Urge Bush to Veto Secure Fence Act

MW
we know that this one was signed. It is NOT the bill that's been hanging around, so to speak. There is another bill that has NOT been signed that has the meat in it that counts. It's been ignored up to now.

MW
we know that this one was signed. It is NOT the bill that's been hanging around, so to speak. There is another bill that has NOT been signed that has the meat in it that counts. It's been ignored up to now.

That is the bill CrocketsGhost was talking about. I didn't mean to offend you, just showing Crocket what I found regarding the signing of the fence bill he was asking about.

As for the fence bill being weak, that is a matter of opinion. At this point, no bill that helps secure the border should be considered weak. We're not going to get everything we want in one fell-swoop. Plus, I thought we had already agreed to disagree on this.

It is NOT the bill that's been hanging around, so to speak. There is another bill that has NOT been signed that has the meat in it that counts.

Could you be more specific?

MW
You didn't offend me........sorry if that's how it sounded. I get upset with myself when I can't remember all the details and it might have come out that way. My brain is filled with so much unbelievable information that it's exploding, lol. Seriously, I have an incredible memory for certain things but finite detail, numbers and names aren't included.

Anyhooo, no, that's not the bill....99.99 % positive. I'm pulling my hair out now. I'm so backed up here that I don't have time to dig to find it.
If I do, I'll post it.

2ndamendsis: After doing a little surfing I found this. The article goes into a little more depth on what exactly is covered in the bill signed on Wed. Check out the section I bolded:

Border fence bill signed by President Bush

By Paul Giblin, Tribune
East Valley Tribune
Oct. 5

President Bush, appearing at a Paradise Valley resort at the foot of Camelback Mountain, authorized a Homeland Security Department funding bill Wednesday that features $1.2 billion for additional fences, technology and manpower along the U.S.-Mexico border. "That's what the people of this country want. They want to know that we're modernizing the border so we can better secure the border," Bush said, surrounded by Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., three Republican U.S. representatives from Arizona and Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano.

The measure provides money for fences, vehicle barriers, lighting, high-tech ground-based radar and infrared cameras designed to prevent and detect illegal border crossings.

The bill also criminalizes construction of tunnels under the border, and provides funding for 1,500 additional U.S. Border Patrol agents and detention centers that will hold at least 6,700 people.

The detention centers are crucial to border security efforts because they will be used to house illegal immigrants until authorities are able to deport them. Currently, Border Patrol agents often use a "catch and release" approach when apprehending illegal immigrants, Bush said.

"Because there was no detention beds, the Border Patrol would say, 'Why

don't you check back in with us after awhile? There's no place to hold you, so check back in with the judges.' And of course, they didn't check back in. It created a lot of frustration with the Border Patrol," Bush said.

Specific placement of fencing and high-tech sensors along the 2,000-mile border has yet to be determined, Kyl said. Those decisions will be based on Homeland Security data.

Arizona, which has become the focal point of illegal crossings, is certain to receive a significant amount of the resources authorized by the bill, Kyl said after the ceremony.

"It's not like Arizona gets money from this, but for example, when more Border Patrol agents are trained, they will be deployed here, fencing will be constructed here, vehicle barriers will be constructed here," he said.

Overall, the appropriations bill provides $33.8 billion for a variety of programs within the Homeland S ecurity Department. The money also will be used to strengthen the Federal Emergency Management Agency, deploy nuclear detection equipment at ports of entry and raise security standards at chemical plants.

While the legislation is aimed at helping secure the border, the measure fell well short of a five-point immigration plan Bush championed during a tour of the border near Yuma in May.

The president wanted 6,000 new Border Patrol agents by 2008, a guest worker program that would allow foreign nationals to work legally in the United States, creation of tamperproof identification cards to verify workers' immigration status and a path to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants already in the United States.

Bush renewed his call for those measures Wednesday. "The funds that Congress has appropriated are critical for our efforts to secure this border and enforce our laws," he said.

"Yet, we must also recognize that enforcement alone is not going to work. You need comprehensive reform that provides a legal way for people to work here on a temporary basis. It's going to relieve pressure on the border. It will enable our Border Patrol agents to do a better job when we reduce the number of people trying to sneak into the country," the president said.

While the legislation doesn't address the entire immigration matter, it's a start, said Napolitano, who attended the signing ceremony at the president's invitation.

"Congress needs to go back and look at the migration issues and the visa issues and temporary worker issues," she said.

Earlier, during the fundraising portion of the program at the Camelback Inn, Bush urged those who paid at least $500 each for Danishes and coffee to support Republican candidates because of their dedication to the war on terrorism.

Dozens of anti-war protesters demonstrated along Lincoln Drive outside the resort.

The breakfast event, which attracted about 350 people, raised about $500,000 for Rep. Rick Renzi, according to his aides. Renzi represents the 1st Congressional District which includes regions of rural eastern and northern Arizona.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15144943/

As you can see, the bill covers several areas. Are you sure there is another bill?

99.99999% positive. Unless I can pull it up, I don't want to say 100%. Isn't that called, CYA, lol.

Seriously though, there should be another bill. The problem, imho, is that these numbnuts love their pork and by separating and inflating all these bills, are able to move money around without our being able to keep track. When they don't want to get something accomplished, they split everything into many different bills so that the chances of accomplishing said goal never comes to fruition.
IT'S A MESS. {vent over}

Again, from memory........I believe this bill had funding SPECIFICALLY for certain border security goals and this is the reason why it's come up all of a sudden.

THE WASHINGTON TIMES : October 12 , 2006 -- by Stephen Dinan and Joseph Curl

"Mr. Bush last week signed the homeland-security spending bill, which includes $1.2 billion for fencing and other infrastructure, such as cameras, vehicle barriers and ground-based radar.

He has also promised to sign the Secure Fence Act, which Congress passed last month and which authorizes 698 miles of wall along the border. That bill passed 283-138 in the House and 80-19 in the Senate.

Yep, two separate bills... Ya gotta keep an eye on these scumbags 'cuz the 'double-shuffle' is SOP!

Originally Posted by PinestrawGuys

THE WASHINGTON TIMES : October 12 , 2006 -- by Stephen Dinan and Joseph Curl

"Mr. Bush last week signed the homeland-security spending bill, which includes $1.2 billion for fencing and other infrastructure, such as cameras, vehicle barriers and ground-based radar.

He has also promised to sign the Secure Fence Act, which Congress passed last month and which authorizes 698 miles of wall along the border. That bill passed 283-138 in the House and 80-19 in the Senate.

Yep, two separate bills... Ya gotta keep an eye on these scumbags 'cuz the 'double-shuffle' is SOP!

Right you are PINE!

This FENCE crap is just that.........CRAP. It's one of their ways to confuse the true goal - AMNESTY. They want us to spend our precious time in the opposite direction. Cornyn was telling the truth for once.

It's like that old game with three little cups and a pea!! Switch them around in front of your eyes........now pick one. YOU LOOSE

Not this gal, lol. I've been in this game a little too long for that ruse.

U.S. bishops' president presses Bush to veto bill on border fence

By Patricia Zapor - Catholic News Service



A mix of homeless men and migrants deported from the United States line up to receive food and water from the migrant assistance group Angeles del Desierto during the group's weekly visit to the Tijuana River levee. Bishop William S. Skylstad of Spokane , Wash., president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said that a recent bill passed by Congress authorizing a 700-mile fence along the border "would send the wrong signal to our peaceful neighbor to the south, Mexico, as well as to the internat ional community." (CNS photo/David Maung)

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Extending the fence along the U.S.-Mexican border will lead to more deaths and violence, warned the president of the U.S. bishops' conference in a letter urging President George W. Bush to veto the Secure Fence Act.

The bill, passed by Congress in the waning days of the session before the October campaign break for midterm elections, "could lead to the deaths of migrants attempting to enter the United States and increases smuggling-related violence along our border," said Bishop William S. Skylstad of Spokane, Wash., president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Bishop Skylstad said the 700-mile fence authorized in the bill also "would send the wrong signal to our peaceful neighbor to the south, Mexico, as well as to the international community." The letter, dated Oct. 10 and released by the USCCB Oct. 11, said the fence also will not solve the problem of illegal immigration.

Meanwhile, Mexico's foreign secretary said his nation is considering taking the issue of the fence to the United Nations.

Bishop Skylstad cited a Government Accountability Office report showing that the number of deaths of those crossing the border has doubled since 1995, when the U.S. government launched enforcement campaigns at official ports of entry and points where people have traditionally entered the country illegally.

Nearly 3,000 people have died in that period in remote parts of the southwestern United States, he said.

"The erection of a border fence would force migrants, desperate to find employment to support their families, to seek alternative and more dangerous ways to enter the country, contributing to an increase in deaths," wrote Bishop Skylstad. It also would drive people who feel they need to cross into the United States to seek help from smugglers, some of whom would exploit them and place them in dangerous situations, he said.

The construction of a 700-mile fence also "would send a signal to Mexico and other countries in the hemisphere that the United States is not willing to work cooperatively to address the problem of illegal immigration," the letter said. "It could harm our relations with these countries and inhibit bilateral progress on mutual interests."

Bishop Skylstad said that as the world's "greatest democracy and lone superpower" the U.S. "should be able to address the issue of illegal immigration without resorting to the construction of fences and barriers."

He pointed out that nearly half of all the illegal immigrants in the United States arrive legally and overstay the terms of their visas.

The Catholic Church "is a universal organization" that witnesses the conditions in countries such as Mexico that lead people to choose to immigrate illegally, Bishop Skylstad said, and as such believes a fence will not deter people who are desperate to escape poverty.

He recommended that efforts instead go toward global economic and trade policies aimed at developing jobs that pay a living wage, and would enable people to remain at home and support themselves and their families.

A funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security that Bush signed in early October included funding for border security measures, including some designated for about 90 miles of additional fencing. But the Secure Fence Act is a stand-alone bill, which does not include funding.

Bush has vetoed just one bill in his nearly six years in office.

During a European tour Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez told reporters in Paris Oct. 10 that Mexican legal authorities were looking into whether the country has a case over the planned fence in which it might ask the United Nations to intervene.

http://www.catholicexplorer.com/explore ... pres.shtml