Thread: Bush to meet with GOP over immigration

Bush to meet with GOP over immigration

http://www.jconline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a ... 9/70610017

By KATHY KIELY
USA Today
06-10-07 9:56 PM EST

WASHINGTON - President Bush plans a rare trip to Capitol Hill on Tuesday in an effort to resurrect a bipartisan immigration deal that collapsed last week amid partisan recriminations.

Bush will join Republican senators at their weekly luncheon meeting, White House spokesman Tony Fratto said Sunday. Backers of the bill that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., pulled from the Senate agenda late Thursday are hoping that Bush's personal lobbying will help revive the measure.

"The fact that he's coming to the Hill is kind of dramatic and shows his dedication to this issue," Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., told USA TODAY on Sunday. Martinez, who also serves as general chairman of the Republican National Committee, acknowledged that the immigration stalemate threatens to drive a wedge between his party and Hispanic voters.

In a crucial procedural vote last week, 38 Republicans and 12 Democrats voted against moving the immigration bill to a final vote.

Among the bill's key provisions: a path to citizenship for an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants now living in the United Statse and expanded work opportunities for foreigners. The measure also would beef up border security and impose tougher penalties on those who come here illegally in the future. For the first time, more emphasis would be placed on job skills - instead of family ties - to determine who can become an American.

"It's an opportune moment to blame Republicans because it looked as though we were against the bill," Martinez said in a telephone interview.

A number of Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said they would be prepared to vote in favor of the immigration bill if conservatives in their party had a chance to propose changes to it.

Democrats accused Republicans of threatening the bill with death by amendment. "We need a breakthrough on the Republican side," Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Reid's deputy, said on "Fox News Sunday." "We're not going to waste more time on procedural slowdowns."

Although the bill has bipartisan support - including the endorsements of Reid and McConnell - it is a lightning rod for interest groups at both ends of the political spectrum. Some Republicans, such as Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, see the bill's provisions for illegal immigrants as tantamount to amnesty. Some Democrats, such as Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, worry that expanded opportunities for foreign "guest workers" will cost Americans their jobs.

Martinez said the bill was stymied by a "coalition of the extremes." He noted that both Sens. Jeff Sessions, a conservative Republican from Alabama, and Barbara Boxer, a liberal California Democrat, opposed the immigration measure.

Frank Sharry of the National Immigration Forum, one of the groups lobbying for passage of the immigration bill, put the chances for resurrecting it at "50-50." He said that Democrats can't afford to sit back and enjoy GOP infighting. "If they want to find a way to avoid the 'do-nothing' label, they'll find a way to get this done," Sharry said Sunday.

Bush's trip to Capitol Hill follows a call from the immigration bill's chief Democratic sponsor, Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, for "the president's personal involvement." In a news conference Friday, Kennedy called Bush's stand "courageous" and added: "I think his influence is important to have."

Also on Friday, Bush held phone consultations with the Senate's top GOP leaders, all supporters of the bill. Bush called McConnell, Sens. Trent Lott, R-Miss., and Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., from Air Force One as he headed from Poland to Rome. Later, Bush told reporters he had discussed immigration Saturday with Pope Benedict XVI.

"I told him I was a person who strongly supports comprehensive immigration reform," Bush said. "On the one hand, we'll enforce our law; on the other hand, we need to treat people with dignity."

This could get ugly........hope Sessions gets a chance to respond to anything Bush spews!