Cornyn Says Momentum Building Against Senate Immigration. ..
Cornyn Says Momentum Building Against Senate Immigration Plan
By Nicholas Johnston
June 22 (Bloomberg) -- Momentum is building against immigration legislation among Senate Republicans, said Senator John Cornyn of Texas, who is opposing his old ally, President George W. Bush, on this issue.
``We're beginning to see some of the people that would have ordinarily voted to proceed with the bill to say, `hey, this process is not fair, it's not transparent,''' Cornyn said in an interview with Bloomberg Television's ``Political Capital with Al Hunt,'' scheduled to air today. ``The way this bill has come up has caused it some serious problems.''
The Senate will need 60 votes on June 26 to resume debate on the biggest overhaul of U.S. immigration policy since 1986. The measure, Bush's top domestic priority, would create a guest- worker program and a path to legal status for 12 million immigrants in the U.S. illegally.
Cornyn cited fellow Texan Kay Bailey Hutchison, as well as Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson of Georgia, as examples of Republicans who may have supported the measure and are now opposed. Supporters said they weren't counting on those senators to reach 60 votes.
A June 7 Senate vote fell 15 short of the total needed, with seven Republicans joining 37 Democrats and one independent to move toward final passage. Cornyn voted in opposition.
In an attempt to resuscitate the measure, Senate leaders agreed this week on a limited package of about two dozen amendments to be considered next week.
`Behind Closed Doors'
Cornyn said that isn't enough.
``This is a bill that was written behind closed doors by a small group of senators, and now it's being brought to the floor again without an opportunity to offer, freely offer, amendments and to have the kind of debate that I think this topic deserves,'' the senator said.
Cornyn said the congressional debate on what to do with the 12 million immigrants illegally in the U.S. has ``fallen short'' because it has focused only on whether to give them citizenship or deport them.
The current proposal, which would let undocumented immigrants gain legal status after paying a fine, isn't sufficient punishment for people in this country illegally, the senator said. ``It looks like we're selling American citizenship,'' he said.
Cornyn said the U.S. would be in ``big trouble'' if failure to pass immigration legislation blocked an increase in the number of visas for skilled workers, as sought by technology companies including Google Inc., owner of the most popular Internet search engine, and Microsoft Corp., the world's largest software maker.
`The Best and the Brightest'
``This is more than just about low-skilled, relatively poorly educated individuals who are picking crops or working on construction sites,'' he said.
``This is about keeping the best and the brightest, the kind of people who train in American universities and who we end up now, under our current policy, sending home so they can compete with us and take jobs overseas,'' the senator said. ``I actually would like to see us pass comprehensive immigration reform.''
With the backing of Democrats who backed the legislation earlier this month, supporters will need almost two dozen Republicans to move forward.
``We'll find out on Tuesday if there's 60 senators,'' Cornyn said. ``It really changes minute by minute.''
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Re: Cornyn Says Momentum Building Against Senate Immigration
Quote:
This is a bill that was written behind closed doors by a small group of senators, and now it's being brought to the floor again without an opportunity to offer, freely offer, amendments and to have the kind of debate that I think this topic deserves,'' the senator said.
Not only does the pro-amnesty crowd not believe in the rule of law, they don't believe in the democratic process either!!!! :evil: :evil:
Congress is missing a great opportunity
Immigation reform should not even be under discussion, not while our nation has a very large population starving for work.
High school and college age students are having an increasingly difficult time finding work. It is not that they will not work. Most of the jobs once reserved for our youth have gone to unskilled immigrants, most of them here illegally.
Millions of college graduates now leave college burdened with staggering debt, and the problem is intensifying to epidemic proportions. It is a debt they have had to undertake as jobs that were once theirs, and would have funded their college costs have been given to illegal immigrants. High school students wanting to save toward a college education see that first part of their dream shattered by the lack of jobs.
Our youth are unskilled like the illegal immigrants replacing them, but they are citizens with great hopes, energy and visions. They are teens and young adults. The jobs that were once traditionally reserved for this population has been moved to illegal immigrants by businesses in search of better profits. The bottom line really is money.
Would it not be better for Congress to undertake a wholly domestic problem, work for our teens and young adults that benefit this legal population and business together? Is anyone really comfortable with any bill before Congress that is intended to prop up business profits on the backs of non-citizens while we watch our own young citizens struggle? An added benefit to business is that such a program could be successfully employed to train future mid and top-level management personnel.
Any bill in Congress addressing immigration should be shelved and Congress should immediately take up the issue of pairing our youth with business in a manner that benefits our whole nation.
