Thread: FAIR Legislative Update

From: Federation for American Immigration Reform Date: 2006/05/22 Mon PM 06:47:45 EDT
Subject: FAIR Legislative Update 5-22-2006

Latest News Releases

National Guard "Photo Op" Not a Substitute for Real Enforcement
(May 15, 2006)

Encouraged Reverse Migration: A Sensible Seven-Step Strategy for Promoting the Outbound Flow of Illegal Immigration (May 10, 2006)

U.S. Government Endangers Law Abiding Citizens
(May 10, 2006)

Amnesty or Mass Deportation Not the Only Options for Dealing with Illegal Immigration
(May 10, 2006)

Check out our Stein Report for the latest immigration news and information!

May 22, 2006


In this update:
Senate Expected to Pass Guest Worker Amnesty Bill by Mid-Week
Will the House Represent the Will of the American People?
U.S. Rep. Chris Cannon Forced into Runoff Based on His Immigration Stance
New Cosponsors of Key Bills
Recent Floor Statements
Upcoming Events
Senate Expected to Pass Guest Worker Amnesty Bill by Mid-Week
This week, the U.S. Senate is expected to pass S.2611, the massive guest worker amnesty proposal drafted by Senators Specter and Kennedy with help from Senators Hagel and Martinez. Last week, enforcement-only Senators made several attempts to gut the horrific legislation, but sadly those attempts failed and the Senate debate continues to move forward. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has repeatedly stated he intends to schedule a vote on the bill this week, and thus the Senate is set to pass the largest rewriting of immigration law since 1986-legislation that would amnesty the entire illegal alien population and import hundreds of thousands of new guest workers each year.

All attempts to make changes that deviate outside the bill's guest worker amnesty framework have been beaten. Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and many GOP Senators were aggressive in making sure no amendments were approved that would have moved away from the "comprehensive" nature of the bill. As in 1986, when Congress passed an amnesty for illegal aliens (then less than 3 million), this bill also requires that border security and enforcement of immigration laws be improved. The U.S. Senate will choose to ignore history. Because of the '86 amnesty we now have 12 million illegal aliens, and yet again, we will reward their illegal behavior with granting them amnesty.

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Will the House Represent the Will of the American People?
Congress is now looking ahead to the conference committee where the Senate's amnesty plan will meet head-to-head with H.R.4437, the House passed enforcement-only measure. Many Members are speculating how the conference committee will meld two starkly different bills. "Ultimately," said Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), who opposes the Senate bill, "we all understand where this bill's going to be written. It's going to be written in the conference committee between the House and the Senate…" Backers of the Senate amnesty plan have the White House's support when they go to conference with the House. According to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, the Senate will send 26 Senators to the conference committee. The full list of the Senate conferees has not been released, but to date, these are the known members:

Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA)
Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE)
Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI)
Senator Mike DeWine (R-OH) Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI)
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY)
Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL)
Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL)
Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE)

Rumblings in the House indicate that the House may in fact provide some resistance to the Senate's massive amnesty program. House Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner, who will be the House's chief negotiator on any final immigration package, is not pleased to see the White House championing the Senate amnesty. Sensenbrenner told the AP, "We worked very closely with White House in the fall in putting together the border security bill that the House passed," he said. "… What we heard in November and December, he seems to be going in the opposite direction in May. That is really at the crux of this irritation." He continued by saying, "The overwhelming majority of those that I talked to…believe that he dissed the House Republicans."

As FAIR informed our members in the fall of 2005, the House bill was limited to its effectiveness and enforcement of immigration laws based on the White House's demands. The plan for amnesty and greatly increasing immigration levels has been a goal of the White House even after September 11, 2001.

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U.S. Rep. Chris Cannon Forced into Runoff Based on His Immigration Stance
Congressman Chris Cannon (R-UT) lost the Utah Republican Convention on Saturday May 14, 2006 to John Jacob forcing them into a June primary election. Fifty-two percent of the delegates voted for Jacob to run for Congress as the Republican, while only 48 percent voted for Chris Cannon. "Immigration is huge with the [Utah] delegates," said Jacob. "Chris Cannon tells them, 'I'm tough on illegal immigration-look at my record.' Well, his record does not show that."

Jacob told the Salt Lake Tribune that Americans want a change. "These delegates sent a message to Washington, D.C., that we will replace a Republican with a Republican, if necessary." Cannon acknowledging the upset stated, "Obviously, there's a lot of unhappiness in America with the government, and we are seeing it here."

Prepare to Hold Your Senators Accountable! Every Senate Action Listed Here and Updated Daily!

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New Cosponsors of Key Bills

New Cosponsors of Key Bills The following members signed on to good immigration legislation this past week. If your legislators are listed, please use the phone numbers provided to thank them for supporting good legislation. Follow the links below to learn more about these bills.

Thank this member for supporting good reform legislation!

H.R. 1438 - No Social Security for Illegal Immigrants Act of 2005

Rep. Candice Miller (R-MI) 202-225-2106
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Recent Floor Statements
Rep. Joe Baca (D-CA) commented on Denouncing Anti-Immigrant Hate Messages (May 19, 2006)
Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) commented on Securing Our Borders (May 19, 2006)
Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) commented on Effects Of Illegal Immigration (May 19, 2006)
Rep. Steven King (R-IA) commented on Border Immigration (May 19, 2006)
Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) commented on Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act Of 2006 (May 18, 2006)
Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) commented on Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act Of 2006 (May 17, 2006)
Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) commented on Questioning The President's Border Plan (May 17, 2006)
Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) commented on Border Security And Immigration Law Enforcement (May 17, 2006)
Rep. Ric Keller (R-FL) commented on Hypocrisy Has Crossed The Border (May 17, 2006)
Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) commented on Border Security (May 17, 2006)
Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) commented on Immigration Reform (May 17, 2006)
Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN) commented on Immigration And Border Security (May 16, 2006)
Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) commented on Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act Of 2006 (May 16, 2006)
Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) commented on Illegal Immigration (May 16, 2006)
Rep. Steve King (R-IA) commented on Illegal Immigration (May 16, 2006)
Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) commented on Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act Of 2006 (May 16, 2006)
Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) commented on Immigration Reform (May 15, 2006)
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Upcoming Events
Senate meets at 1 p.m. to resume consideration of S.2611, the Immigration Reform bill. The first roll call vote will begin at approx. 5:30 p.m. on amendments to S.2611. For current information on the Senate's legislative program please check with contacts listed below. Location: Senate Chamber. When: 1:00pm (May 25, 2006) Telephone: Republican Cloakroom, 202-224-8601, or Democratic Cloakroom, 202-224-8541, Internet:

Immigration, Border Security, and Claims Subcommittee will hold a hearing on "Alien Smuggling: Issues and Responses." When: 2:00pm (May 25, 2006), Where: 2141 Rayburn House Office Building.
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