Thread: Lawmakers tell Hispanic Chamber of Commerce no vote 2006

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Senators discuss bill's future
By DANIEL GILBERT
dgilbert@potomacnews.com
Wednesday, April 5, 2006


Two days before the Senate is set to vote on its version of an immigration bill, several of the bill's key proponents said Tuesday they doubted whether Congress would send a bill to President Bush this year.
Lawmakers from both parties told the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce that they doubted that the House and Senate would agree on immigration reform. An agreement is needed for the legislation to become law.

"I am not optimistic about the passage of a reform in 2006," said Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., who will retire from the House at the end of the year.

Kolbe spoke in reference to vastly different approaches between a House bill passed Dec. 16 and a bill the Senate is currently debating.

The House bill deals mainly with border security and creates new felony offenses for illegal immigrants and their employers. It does not include provisions for guest workers, which the Senate legislation does.

Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., who collaborated on drafting the Senate bill, addressed the difficulty of reconciling the House and Senate bills, calling them "diametrically opposed."

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a sponsor of the Senate bill and one of the strongest proponents of comprehensive reform, offered advance consolation in the event that the legislation does not pass the Senate, or a compromise is not reached with the House.

"If we don't pass a bill -- and I pray every night that we will -- this issue is not going away," McCain said.

The scant optimism exuded by the legislators for the passage of comprehensive immigration reform this year reflects the tremendous gulf the Senate and the House would have to overcome in order to pass reform.

House Resolution 4437 passed 239 to 182 in December, and takes an "enforcement only" approach to immigration reform, turning illegal immigration into a felony, expanding the definition of alien smuggling and mandating the construction of a 700-mile fence along the border with Mexico.

The House bill makes no mention of a guest worker program and has sparked protests nationwide among the Latino community, which views the penalties for illegal immigration as disproportionately harsh for the offense.

The Senate bill, approved 12 to 6 by the Judiciary Committee on March 27, provides for an expanded guest worker program, a track for illegal immigrants to become citizens, and contains no provisions that would make illegal immigration a felony.

Enhanced border security is the only significant common ground between the two bills.

In order for Congress to pass immigration reform, a conference committee made up of senators and representatives would have to agree on a version of the bill.

Some Republican senators are reaching out to House members with a compromise that allows only illegal immigrants who can show proof of residency in the U.S. for five years to apply for legal guest worker status and begin a track to citizenship.

More recent illegal immigrants would not have access to legal status.

The Senate faces a deadline of this Friday to pass an immigration bill, and will need 60 votes in order to gag a filibuster.

While apparently doubtful about reaching a compromise this session, McCain was adamant about one thing on Tuesday:

"The status quo of broken borders is unacceptable," he said. "We can't enforce our borders without a comprehensive plan."

"Some Republican senators are reaching out to House members with a compromise that allows only illegal immigrants who can show proof of residency in the U.S. for five years to apply for legal guest worker status and begin a track to citizenship."

With all their fake documents, they all will have proof of 5 yrs. here!

Moose:

This is TRUE, and we need to fight it....especially since even though here less than five years would STILL NOT HAVE TO LEAVE THE US, they would only have to go to the border, pay their fine, and apply for a work visa that would be INSTANTLY granted....It's full AMNESTY for 8 million with the other 4 millon or more brought in through the back door.

Pinto Bean

U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

OK, I gotta ask. Who are these people?? Is there and English Chamber of Commerce? European? African? Asian? How many Chamb er of Commercess do we need?

Originally Posted by JohnB2012

U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

OK, I gotta ask. Who are these people?? Is there and English Chamber of Commerce? European? African? Asian? How many Chamb er of Commercess do we need?

Apparently they are the business equivalent of LaRaza. My town only has one Chamber of Commerce. The President is a Hispanic guy. One of the officers is a black American. So why do we need more than than one Chamber of Commerce, unless it is to get special treatment for one particular group?

I'm going to start a white chamber of commerce myself. Lets see how long it takes for the talking heads to start screaming.

We need to plan for the very real possibility, that no immigration bill will pass Congress before the November elections. Does ALIPAC have a contingency plan for that? I'm telling my Senators and Representatives, that if a very serious attempt to stop illegal immigration, is not evident by November, I will vote them all out.