Cruz to America: Hold Senators Accountable on Border Security

by Matthew Boyle 25 Jun 2013, 9:39 AM PDT
breitbart.com

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Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said on Tuesday that he thinks Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will block any attempt by conservative senators to launch a filibuster against the “Gang of Eight” immigration bill this week.

Conservative radio host Andrea Tantaros asked Cruz during an interview on her program if he planned to launch an old-fashioned talking filibuster if necessary so the American people could have more time to learn about the loopholes, waivers, and kickbacks in the bill before senators voted on it. While Cruz did not rule out such a possibility, he did suggest such a move would be unlikely because Reid and Senate Democrats will block any attempt at making it happen.

“I think what’s likely the way it’s going to play out in the Senate is that Harry Reid is not going to relinquish the Senate floor," Cruz responded. "So, there’s not going to be an opportunity to do that."

Cruz clarified that he does not mean to suggest the grassroots cannot help him and others stop the bill. “What this is going to come down to is ultimately the American people,” Cruz said. “It is likely that by the end of the week the Senate will vote on this Gang of Eight bill. The Gang of Eight bill is a mess.”

Cruz added that “there are 20 Republicans who are on the fence, who are wavering and who have not decided how to vote.”

“The most important thing that could happen this week is for grassroots conservatives all over the country to stand up,” he explained. "In particular if you don’t want to see a bill passed that does legalization now and postpones border security to sometime in the future where it will never happen, which is the exact same thing we saw in 1986 that didn’t work, there are two things grassroots conservatives need to do this week."

"Number one, we have launched a national petition. It is at SecureBordersNow.com," Cruz said. "In just a week, we’ve had 100,000 people from all over the country sign that petition speaking out to say 'Do not do legalization first. Secure the borders first, fix the problem.'"

Cruz said that the “second thing that is absolutely critical... is for everyone listening to this show, if you don’t want to see the same mistake of amnesty first and no border security, pick up the phone, call your senators, email your senators, email your House members, call your House members and tell them, 'Do not pass this bill if it doesn’t secure the borders first.'"

“There is nothing that has a greater impact on elected officials like hearing from their constituents who demand that we be accountable to the people and that we stand for principle,” Cruz said.

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JUNE 24, 2013 11:52 AM
Gang of Eight Giveaways
By Andrew Stiles

The Senate will vote this afternoon to end debate on the latest version of the Gang of Eight’s immigration-reform bill, which now runs more than 1,200 pages. That includes the Corker-Hoeven border-security amendment, along with a laundry list of other amendments that have been tacked on to the original bill in the last few days. Senators will have had a little over 72 hours to read the amended text before casting their votes.


Several of the amendments added to the Gang of Eight bill bring to mind the special carve-outs thrown in to help push Obamacare across the legislative finish line in 2010 (the Cornhusker Kickback, the Louisiana Purchase, and so on). For example:


The Collins Cash-Out
The revised bill includes an amendment from Senator Susan Collins (R., Maine) that eliminates a requirement that at least 90 percent of funding for a new program to increase law-enforcement preparedness along U.S. borders be devoted to the southwest border region. Without the requirement, northern states will be eligible to receive more of those funds. Senator Jon Tester (D., Mont.) cosponsored the amendment.


The Alaska Purchase
Senators Lisa Murkowski (R.) and Mark Begich (D.) won a special carve-out for Alaska’s seafood-processing industry, which is referenced specifically in the amended legislation. For reasons that are not explained, the bill now stipulates that certain low-skilled jobs — specifically, ”seafood processing positions in Alaska” — are to be classified as ”shortage occupations,” which will make it easier for the industry to bring in cheap labor in the form of low-skilled and temporary workers. Alaska is the only state to receive special treatment along these lines.


The Socialist’s Slush Fund
Avowed socialist Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) has argued, as he and other liberal lawmakers did in 2007, that increasing the flow of low-skilled immigrants and temporary workers, which the current bill calls for, is unwise during a time of such high unemployment, particularly among the young and less educated. The revised version of the bill includes an amendment from Sanders to provide $1.5 billion in federal grants to state and local governments intended to fund job opportunities for (in Sanders’s words) 16- to 24-year-olds “who were hard hit by the Wall Street-caused recession.” The amendment is similar to a provision in President Obama’s much-touted jobs plan, the American Jobs Act.
http://www.nationalreview.com/node/351847/print