Thread: Senate votes to fund federal lawsuit against Arizona

Senate votes to fund federal lawsuit against Arizona

From: Roy Beck, President, NumbersUSA
Date: Thursday 22JUL2010 2 p.m. EDT

PHONE & FAX YOUR SENATORS WHO VOTED TO STOP STATES FROM HELPING THE FEDS MOVE OUT ILLEGAL ALIENS

Thanks to all of you who have been phoning and faxing Senators to force a vote. You succeeded and surprised most of us.

(See the vote tally below.)

The vote was on an amendment by Sen. DeMint to forbid the use of funds to press the Obama Administration's suit to block the Arizona enforcement law.

A vote against the amendment was a vote against states doing something about the illegal populations taking jobs from legal residents and driving up the taxpayer burden.

ACTION: Call the pro-illegal-alien Senators at 202-224-3121 and protest their vote.

Please go to your Action Board over the next few hours as we put up phone talking-point notes and faxes for you. http://www.numbersusa.com/hub?action=ro ... 4574&lid=9

This roll call vote was very important so we could put these Senators on public record.

Now we have a roll call record of those U.S. Senators who oppose the Arizona enforcement law that polls show is one of the most popular public policies in America now.

While most Americans of all types like the idea of states acting to help enforce existing federal immigration laws and policies, 55 U.S. Senators voted to protect funding of federal lawsuits to handcuff states.

"Our federal government should be doing its job securing the borders, rather than trying to bully and intimidate the people of Arizona," DeMint said in support of his amendment.

The vote was 55-43 against the DeMint amendment.

5 Democrats voted FOR consideration of the amendment and for state enforcement:

Max Baucus (D-MT)
John Tester (D-MT)
Mark Pryor (D-AR)
Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
Ben Nelson (D-NE)

Those of you in Arkansa, Montana and Nebraska will see ways to thank these Senators on your Action Board.

And all the rest of us in the country thank the NumbersUSA activists in those three states for doing such a good job of helping these Senators understand what their constituents want on this issue and then doing it.

All other Democrats (except Bayh of Indiana who didn't vote) voted NO on the amendment, taking the pro-illegal-alien position.

2 Republicans voted AGAINST consideration of the amendment and against state enforcement:

George Voinovich (R-OH)
Mike Johanns (R-NE)

Voinovich is a lame duck Senator who has always been a problem for us. We really are depending on you members in Ohio to put more pressure on both the Republican and Democratic candidates to promise a more pro-worker immigration position than Voinovich has provided. None of your candidates at this moment is particularly promising. The time to make any difference with them is now while they are running.

All other Republicans (except Vitter of Lousiana who didn't vote) voted YES on the amendment, taking the pro-state-enforcement position.

It is very important than all NO voters feel some constituent pain for what they did on this. Be sure to check your Action Board for opportunities for action.

THANKS,

ROY BECK

received by e-mail from
Roy Beck - NumbersUSA.com immigrationinfo@numbersusa.com
Fri, Jul 23, 2010 12:50 am

Numbers USA
1601 N. Kent Street
Suite 1100
Arlington, VA 22209

I just talked to Testers office in DC and they claim he voted to support the amendment ... He is anti illegal and states it all the time...

thanks...I am working on the calls and faxes now. This should be a call to action post!!!!

'Your World': Senator Jim DeMint on Plan to Stop DOJ's Arizona Lawsuit
Thursday, July 15, 2010


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Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C.
This is a rush transcript from "Your World With Neil Cavuto," July 14, 2010. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

NEIL CAVUTO, ANCHOR: Man, oh, man, now it is immigration war.

Welcome, everybody. I’m Neil Cavuto.

And stopping the government from stopping Arizona — two Republican senators just introducing an amendment moments ago that would stop the White House from legally challenging Arizona’s crackdown, once and for all. One of the guys leading that charge with us now, South Carolina Republican Senator Jim DeMint.

Senator, early reaction, what have you had so far?

This is going to be a dicey vote, right?

SEN. JIM DEMINT, R-S.C.: Well, it will be. And the question is whether we can break it into the current bill that they’re considering on the floor. And I think we can, through a procedural move. But the Obama administration needs to stop bullying Arizona and start securing our borders and protecting our people.

All the people of Arizona are doing is enforcing the federal law. And most of the reports about what this law says, as you know, Neil, are not really true.

CAVUTO: So what does your amendment do? What would it prevent?

DEMINT: It would disallow any funding to be used to — to carry out this lawsuit. And that’s one way Congress can restrict the action of the executive branch is just by stopping the funding. So this is just one way to force a vote so America will know where all the senators are on this issue.
CAVUTO: So the vote would be, what, in the next few days? What’s the timeline?

DEMINT: Well, we think it will be this week. It probably won’t be today, but we’re looking for a place where we can insert this. Obviously, Senator Reid does not want us to force this vote, but I think we can. Senator Vitter is working with me, and I think we’ve got a good floor team to make sure it happens.


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CAVUTO: As you know, we’re still waiting on this follow-up suit that will involve issues of racial profiling. And, of course, all you need is a single case where someone might have been pulled aside based on the color of his or her skin and obviously the attorney general of the United States and others believe that’s their — their win in the courts. Do you agree with that?

DEMINT: No. That — it appears to be completely false. This law does not allow them to pull someone over except if there’s been another offense of some kind.

CAVUTO: Right, right.

DEMINT: It has nothing to do with their status. So the ability to ask your legal status is something the federal government is — it’s part of the federal law. And so I don’t know where they’re going to find any constitutional problems with the Arizona law. It seems to be pretty...

CAVUTO: Well, the bigger constitutional problem, Senator, right, is on whether a state can usurp what the federal government should be doing.

Now you’re quite right to say the federal government has botched it, so that’s a moot point. But if it is defeated on that original ground, then is this whole puppy done?

DEMINT: Well, I don’t know that — how it could be if this is the federal law that they’re enforcing. They’re certainly not usurping any federal law.

CAVUTO: Right.

DEMINT: They’re just enforcing it. And we do that in a lot of other areas. The EPA and other state agencies enforce federal law. I don’t know how they can make the case, Neil, but obviously, they’re going to try to unless we can some way back them down.

CAVUTO: Senator, thank you very much. Good seeing you again.

DEMINT: Thanks, Neil.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepubli ... s-law.html

Who were the 55? Where was McNasty?