Thread: Senate border fence bill advances

http://www.currentargus.com/ci_4413656

Senate border bill advances
Days before recess, chamber passes proposal to build 700-mile fence. House members remain at odds with senators on such provisions as a guest-worker program.
By Suzanne Gamboa
The Associated Press



Washington - Senate Republicans mustered enough support Thursday to move forward on a proposal to erect 700 miles of fence along the U.S-Mexican border.

The 71-28 vote, a few days before Congress leaves for the November elections, opens the way for a final Senate vote by Saturday in favor of the proposal.

But it was uncertain Thursday whether the House would have enough time to vote on the Senate changes and send the bill to President Bush before lawmakers depart Washington this weekend.

Bush's signature would give Republicans one more border- security achievement to promote in a year when the House and Senate were unable to break an impasse on major immigration legislation.

The Senate approved an immigration bill that would provide some border security, create a pathway to legal status for many of the estimated 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants in the country and create a guest-worker program for new immigrant workers. Bush has backed similar proposals.

The House approved an enforcement-focused bill that included the fence and other tough measures aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration, but no guest-worker or legal-status language, which House leaders and activists such as Colorado's U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo have decried as amnesty for lawbreakers.

The two chambers have not been able to reconcile their visions of immigration reform. Instead of negotiating with their Senate counterparts, House members staged a lengthy series of field hearings around the country on immigration topics over the past several months.

Meanwhile, House leaders have offered pieces of their immigration bill as separate measures.

The House has passed the fence proposal as a separate bill, dictating where the fence should be built.

The Senate changed the legislation to allow border communities to have more input on where the fences are built.

Senators also softened some House language that gave the Homeland Security Department 18 months to prevent all illegal entries of people or contraband into the United States.

Might Vote on Saturday?

OhMiGoodness...well, we are making an impact now aren't we?

The US Senate working the WEEKEND for US?

If you don't work this weekend, pass the bill as the House prepared it and get it signed by Bush before you hit the Election Trail....you will Pay on Election Day!

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

Listen to US! Listen to US!

OR...it's "Take The Bus Gus"!!

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/29/washi ... immig.html

September 29, 2006
Senate Moves Toward Action on Border Fence
By RACHEL L. SWARNS
WASHINGTON, Sept. 28 — The Senate agreed on Thursday night to end debate and press ahead with a final vote on the construction of 700 miles of fencing along the United States border with Mexico to help stem the tide of illegal immigration.

The bill would require construction of two layers of reinforced fencing in stretches of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas that are considered among the most porous parts of the 2,000-mile border with Mexico.

It would also require officials of the Department of Homeland Security to establish “operational control” over all American land and sea borders by using Border Patrol agents, fencing, satellites, cameras and unmanned aerial vehicles. The Senate, which voted 71 to 28 to end debate, is expected to hold a final vote on the measure by Saturday.

The fence represents one of the few elements from the broad bipartisan immigration measure approved by the Senate in May to win support from House Republicans, who passed their own fencing bill this month. The Senate bill also provided for the creation of a guest worker program and the legalization of most of the nation’s illegal immigrants, measures hailed by President Bush.

House Republicans rejected that approach, refusing to consider any bill that could be called amnesty for illegal immigrants, and choosing instead to focus on toughening border security.

On Thursday, the Republican architects of the Senate bill — including Senators John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Mel Martinez of Florida and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska — supported the decision to bring the fencing measure to a final vote. The lawmakers, who still favor the legalization of illegal immigrants, have said they view the fence as one step toward achieving their broader legislative goals.

One Republican, Senator Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, voted against shutting off debate on the fence. Eighteen Democrats voted in favor of it.

Senator Jeff Sessions, Republican of Alabama, described the vote as a crucial effort toward stopping the flood of illegal immigrants pouring into the United States.

“We know that fencing works,” Mr. Sessions said. “It’s time to make it a reality. Then we’ll have some credibility with the American people. Then we can talk comprehensively about how to fix an absolutely broken immigration system.”

Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, derided the bill as “a good-feel, bumper-sticker vote” intended to energize conservative voters before the midterm elections. He noted that nearly half of the illegal immigrants in the country entered the country legally, without sneaking across the Mexican border, and overstayed their visas.

“This is a waste of money,” Mr. Kennedy said. “It isn’t going to work, and it’s going to be enormously costly.”

The fence is one of several border security measures the Senate hopes to pass this week before Congress recesses to campaign for the Nov. 7 elections. On Monday, House and Senate negotiators agreed to provide $1.2 billion for several hundred miles of fencing as part of a $34.8 billion spending plan for the Department of Homeland Security for the coming year.

The border security spending is one of several major policy initiatives that Congressional leaders decided to insert into the annual appropriations bill. It includes money to hire 1,500 new Border Patrol agents, increasing the force to 14,800, and to add 6,700 detention beds. The $1.2 billion for border security is designated for a traditional fence, vehicle barriers and a so-called virtual fence, which includes lighting, cameras and ground sensors.

The fence would be built near Tecate, Mexico, and Calexico, Calif.; Columbus, N.M.; and El Paso, Del Rio, Eagle Pass, Laredo and Brownsville in Texas.

Senators still sparred late into the night on Thursday, however, over two amendments to the fencing measure.

One amendment, proposed by Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, Republican of Texas, would require the Department of Homeland Security to work with state and local officials in border states to determine where the fencing should be.

The second amendment, proposed by Mr. Martinez, would give the secretary of homeland security greater flexibility in determining when operational control of the borders is achieved.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 01590.html

U.S. border fence bill clears Senate hurdle

Reuters
Thursday, September 28, 2006; 8:27 PM



WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bill authorizing construction of a fence along the U.S. border with Mexico advanced in the U.S. Senate on Thursday as Republican backers pushed to get an immigration measure to President George W. Bush desk before the November 7 elections.

The Senate voted 71-28 to limit debate on the bill, which calls for construction of about 700 miles of fence. With the congressional elections looming, Republican backers of the fence bill seek to burnish their credentials on border security and on stemming illegal immigration before lawmakers leave this weekend to campaign.

"We know that fencing works," said Sen. Jeff Sessions, an Alabama Republican.

But Sen. Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat who helped write a broad immigration overhaul passed by the Senate earlier this year, said an expensive fence would do little to stop illegal immigration. He accused Republicans of pushing the measure for political gain.

"This is a feel-good bumper-sticker vote," Kennedy said.

The House passed the legislation earlier this month, but it is unclear whether the bill will receive final passage in Congress before lawmakers leave.

The bill authorizes construction of the fence along parts of the 2,000-mile border. Separately, Congress is considering a homeland security spending bill that includes $1.2 billion for border fencing and other barriers. Lawmakers are expected to pass that bill and send it to Bush by this weekend.

Environmentalists have warned that the planned fence may harm migration routes used by animals including rare birds and jaguars along a wildlife corridor linking northern Mexico and the U.S. southwest known as the "Sky Islands."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld ... -headlines

Border Bill Takes a Detour
The Senate moves to vote on a 700-mile fence, but a farmworker program is now at issue.
By Nicole Gaouette
Times Staff Writer

September 29, 2006

WASHINGTON — The Senate set the stage Thursday for a vote by week's end on a bill to wall off 700 miles of the U.S. border from Mexico, but a lastminute push by senators concerned about the severe shortage of agricultural workers could derail the measure's progress.

Senators agreed, by a vote of 71-28, to limit debate on the House-passed measure — a tally that many see as an indicator of the outcome of a final vote, which could come as early as today.

But a surprise move by Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Larry E. Craig (R-Idaho) to add a guest worker program for agricultural workers has complicated matters.

The two senators planned to meet with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) this morning to press him yet again to consider adding their AgJobs proposal, intended to help farmers faced with rotting crops and thousands of dollars in lost revenue because they do not have enough workers to harvest their crops this year.

The senators' move creates a dilemma for Frist, eager for victories to counter criticism of a GOP "do-nothing Congress."

It also highlights the long-standing tension over immigration that is coming to a head in these waning days of the 109th Congress.

Republicans have built a broad-based election campaign based on security, saying their party can make America safer at the border and in the fight against terrorism. As part of this, House Republicans insist on an enforcement-only approach to immigration.

If Frist adds an agricultural guest worker program to the fence bill, the House is very unlikely to support it. If he refuses to add the agricultural program, as he has done for some time now, he will face strong opposition from Feinstein and Craig, who could rally other lawmakers against the measure. Craig said 80 lawmakers supported the AgJobs proposal.

On Thursday night, Craig said he believed there would be enough votes in the House to support the AgJobs proposal, but he acknowledged the tension surrounding immigration. "The House is in such a political panic about this issue," he said.

In introducing the Secure Fence Act of 2006, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) described fences as "absolutely effective" at stopping illegal immigration and reducing crime.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) blasted the measure. "They think this simple bumper sticker will work, but it won't," he said. "It's a crass political effort by those more interested in saving their seats than securing the border."

Approval of a fencing requirement could represent a victory for the House in its ongoing battle with the Senate over how immigration laws should be overhauled.

The chambers' approaches differ: The Senate has supported a guest worker program and a path to citizenship for those now here illegally, along with stronger border security. The House has focused solely on enforcement. House leaders, who have refused to negotiate with the Senate, have pushed this week to get a series of enforcement-only measures through Congress.

But in a quiet power struggle that has unfolded behind closed doors this week, influential Republican senators have blocked House leaders from attaching the enforcement provisions to a series of spending bills.

The measures, which the House passed last week, include a provision that would make it easier to detain and deport suspected gang members.

The struggle over these provisions continues even as the legislative session enters its final days, and is holding up a defense policy bill.

Lacking legislative triumphs, Republicans in both chambers are representing the Homeland Security spending bill, with its funding for border security, as a victory.

The entire budget for border protection, immigration enforcement and related activity for fiscal 2007 is $21.3 billion, a 10% increase from last year.

"I think it's very important for the American people to know that … regardless of what happens to the fence bill, which I support, we will have, through the appropriations process, added 4,000 new border agents. We will have 10,000 detention beds, we will have $1.2 billion for building that fence, at the end of the week whether or not that fence bill passes," Frist said Wednesday.

When asked about stymied House attempts to attach additional enforcement measures to spending legislation, House Majority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) acknowledged: "There is clearly some concern about some of the border security issues that the House passed last week. We would have liked to have seen them in, but having said that … if you look at the additional funds that did get in there, we've taken a big step on securing our border."

The Secure Fence Act would direct the Department of Homeland Security to study installing a state-of-the-art security system along the border with Canada, and would encourage the Customs and Border Protection agency to consider new ways of stopping smugglers — options that Republican staffers say could include the use of rubber bullets.

The legislation recommends unmanned aerial vehicles, vehicle barriers and all-weather access roads, and specifically outlines requirements for at least two layers of reinforced fencing. Whereas the House bill dictates exactly where the fence should go in areas around Tecate and Calexico, Calif., and near border towns in New Mexico, Arizona and Texas, the Senate bill allows these communities to have more input on placement.

It also tones down House language giving Homeland Security 18 months to stop all illegal entries into the U.S.

Cost estimates for the 700-mile fence range from $2 billion to $9 billion.

The Senate approved its own 370-mile fence measure this year.

The fence requirement prompted fierce opposition from border communities, religious groups, advocates and lawmakers. The Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona, whose land runs along 75 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border, has also expressed deep concern that the fence would threaten wildlife and the desert ecosystem.

Critics have also argued that it would make the border more violent; would force illegal immigrants to take more dangerous routes through the desert; would harm trade and relations with Mexico; and still wouldn't solve the problem of illegal immigration.

Kennedy pointed out that at least 40% of illegal immigrants had entered the U.S. legally, through an airport, and simply overstayed their visas.

Supporters of such fences argue that they are an invaluable aid to border patrol agents and reduce the impact of illegal immigration on border communities. They often cite a 56% drop in crime in San Diego County since a fence was built in that area.

If the Secure Fence Act is not approved, the Homeland Security spending bill for fiscal 2007 will provide the department with $1.2 billion to continue adding physical reinforcements and barriers along the southern boundary with Mexico.

The department already erects fences, roads, vehicle barriers, lights and cameras along the border, complying with relevant laws and working with private and public land owners in doing so.


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nicole.gaouette@latimes.com

NO AGJOBS!!

It's Amnesty.

NO NO NO NO NO!!

NO.

We lobbied our hearts out last year to kill that Amnesty Bill.

NO NO NO NO!!

I'd prefer a delay on the fence than the AGJOBS Bill. That's between 1 and 2 million people affected.

NO NO NO NO NO!

Environmentalists have warned that the planned fence may harm migration routes used by animals including rare birds and jaguars along a wildlife corridor linking northern Mexico and the U.S. southwest known as the "Sky Islands."

Stupid environmentalists. What about the tons of garbage left for hundreds of miles throughout the desert? These guys are so worried about some birds and jaguars. Obviously they don't realize if the waste accumulation continues, there won't be any more rare birds or any other animals. The land will be so contaminated, its doubt nothing but bacteria would be able to live there. I really despise tree huggers.

The entire budget for border protection, immigration enforcement and related activity for fiscal 2007 is $21.3 billion, a 10% increase from last year.

This is still much cheaper than granting 20 million illegals amnesty.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) blasted the measure. "They think this simple bumper sticker will work, but it won't," he said. "It's a crass political effort by those more interested in saving their seats than securing the border."

Kennedy is such a joke. He should have a bit T tattooed on his head for traitor. I cannot wait until this dork is voted out.

“This is a waste of money,” Mr. Kennedy said. “It isn’t going to work, and it’s going to be enormously costly.”

Hey Teddyboy, it's OUR money, and we WANT it spent on a fence! Do your damned job, you murdering drunk, and quit trying to tell US what's best for us! We know better than your pickled arse what's best! Sit down, shut up and quit posing, you Globalist piece of dung!

Originally Posted by Judy

NO AGJOBS!!

It's Amnesty.

NO NO NO NO NO!!

NO.

We lobbied our hearts out last year to kill that Amnesty Bill.

NO NO NO NO!!

I'd prefer a delay on the fence than the AGJOBS Bill. That's between 1 and 2 million people affected.

NO NO NO NO NO!

Now they want to resurrect that disgrace again? Haven't they beat this dead horse enough? Much like a rapist, they just can't take no for an answer. WAKE UP AMERICA, THESE TRAITORS IN OUR GOVERNMENT ARE RAPING YOU AGAINST YOUR WILL.